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Exodus 19

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1 In the third month, when the children of Israel had gone forth from the land of Egypt, the same day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

2 For they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mount.

3 And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;

4 Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself.

5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

6 And ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak to the children of Israel.

7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.

8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people to the LORD.

9 And the LORD said to Moses, Lo, I come to thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.

10 And the LORD said to Moses, Go to the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes,

11 And be ready against the third day: for on the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

12 And thou shalt set bounds to the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up upon the mount, or touch the border of it: whoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:

13 There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through: whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.

14 And Moses went down from the mount to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.

15 And he said to the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.

16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.

17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

18 And mount Sinai was altogether in a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke of it ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount trembled greatly.

19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.

20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

21 And the LORD said to Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through to the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.

22 And let the priests also who come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.

23 And Moses said to the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.

24 And the LORD said to him, Away, go down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: But let not the priests and the people break through, to come up to the LORD, lest he break forth upon them.

25 So Moses went down to the people, and spoke to them.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 8819

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8819. And Mount Sinai smoked, the whole of it. That this signifies the appearing of celestial good in the greatest obscurity, is evident from the signification of “Mount Sinai,” as being celestial good (see just above, n. 8818); and from the signification of “smoking,” as being an appearing in obscurity. By obscurity is meant the obscurity of faith, such as is theirs who are of the spiritual church as compared with the faith of those who are of the celestial church (n. 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 2935, 2937, 3241, 3833, 6289). By the greatest obscurity, which is signified by “Mount Sinai smoked, the whole of it,” and by what is said just below, that “the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace,” is meant that obscurity in which was the Israelitish nation, before whom the appearing took place; for Jehovah or the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality (see n. 8788, 8814), thus as love and as the light of truth to those who are in good, but as an enemy and avenger to those who are in evil. That so did He appear to the Israelitish people, is also evident from other passages in Moses:

The appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain before the eyes of the sons of Israel (Exodus 24:17).

Ye came near and stood under the mountain; when the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven, darkness, and cloud, and thick darkness. And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire (Deuteronomy 4:11-12; 5:22).

It came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and the mountain did burn with fire, that ye came near unto me, and ye said, why shall we die? because this great fire will devour us: if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God anymore, we shall die (Deuteronomy 5:23-25).

[2] The reason for this is that no one can see God otherwise than from such things as are in himself, so that he who is in hatred sees Him from hatred, he who is in unmercifulness sees Him in unmercifulness; and on the other hand, they who are in charity and mercy see Him from, and thus in, charity and mercy. The case herein is as it is with the rays of light, which when they fall into ugly forms are turned into ugly colors; but when they fall into beautiful forms are turned into beautiful colors. (That “smoke” denotes the obscurity of truth and also the thick darkness which is of falsity, is evident in Isaiah 9:18-19; 34:9-10; in Joel 2:30-31; in Hos. 13:3; and in Revelation 9:17-18; 18:18; 19:3.)

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.