7696. 'And he said, I have sinned against Jehovah your God, and against you' means an admission that he had disobeyed the Divine and the truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'sinning' as acting contrary to Divine order, dealt with in 5076, and turning away and separating oneself from it, thus from goodness and truth, 5229, 5474, 5841, 7589. As an extension of this, 'sinning' also means disobeying the Divine and the truth, for one who disobeys turns himself away. The Divine is what 'Jehovah your God' is used to mean, and the truth what Moses and Aaron are used to mean, 7695.

5841. 'I shall be sinning against my father all my days' means a turning away, as a result of which the good of the Church ceases to exist. This is clear from the meaning of 'sinning' as a separation, dealt with in 5229, 5474, and so a turning away. And if the good of the external Church, which 'Judah' represents, turns away from the good of the internal Church, which 'Israel' represents, the good of the Church is made to go out of existence. The actual joining together causes the good from which the Church receives its being to exist. With those two kinds of good - the good of the internal Church and the good of the external Church - the situation is this: By means of influx the good of the internal Church, which is internal good, brings the good of the external Church, which is external good, into being. This being so, internal good raises external good up to itself so that such external good may look to it, and thereby look up towards the Lord. This is the situation when they exist joined together. But if they are separated external good turns away and looks downwards, and by doing that is destroyed. This turning away is what is meant by 'I shall be sinning against my father all my days'.