9371. THE INTERNAL SENSE.

Verses 1-2. And He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and bow yourselves afar off; and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah; and they shall not come near; and the people shall not come up with him. “And He said unto Moses,” signifies that which concerns the Word in general; “come up unto Jehovah,” signifies conjunction with the Lord; “thou and Aaron,” signifies the Word in the internal sense and the external sense; “Nadab and Abihu,” signifies doctrine from both senses; “and seventy of the elders of Israel,” signifies the chief truths of the church which are of the Word, or of doctrine, and which agree with good; “and bow yourselves afar off,” signifies humiliation and adoration from the heart, and then the influx of the Lord; “and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah,” signifies the conjunction and presence of the Lord through the Word in general; “and they shall not come near,” signifies no separate conjunction and presence; “and the people shall not come up with him,” signifies no conjunction whatever with the external apart from the internal.

4736. Cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness. That this signifies that they should conceal it meanwhile among their falsities, that is, that they should regard it as false, but still retain it because it was of importance to the church, is evident from the signification of a “pit,” as being falsities (see n. 4728); and from the signification of a “wilderness,” as being where there is no truth. For the word “wilderness” has a wide signification, it means where the land is uninhabited, and thus not cultivated; and when predicated of the church, it denotes where there is no good, and consequently no truth (n. 2708, 3900). Thus by a “pit in the wilderness” are here meant falsities in which there is no truth, because no good. It is said in which there is no truth because no good; for when anyone believes that faith saves without works, truth may indeed exist, but still it is not truth in him, because it does not look to good, nor is it from good. This truth is not alive, because it has in it a principle of falsity, consequently with anyone who has such truth, the truth is but falsity from the principle which rules in it. The principle is like the soul, from which the rest have their life. On the other hand there are falsities which are accepted as truths, when there is good in them, especially if it is the good of innocence, as with the Gentiles and also with many within the church.

4137. And I would have sent thee away with gladness, and with songs. That this signifies the state in which from its own it (that is, the good signified by “Laban”) had believed itself to be in respect to truths, is evident from the signification of “I would have sent thee away,” as being that it would have separated itself in freedom; but that it had not separated itself when in that state, is evident from what has been said above (n. 4113); which shows that these words were said by Laban in the state in which from his own he had believed himself to be; for to believe from one’s own is to believe from what is not true; whereas to believe not from one’s own, but from the Lord, is to believe from what is true. That the state here referred to is a state as to truths, is signified by “sending with gladness and with songs;” for “gladness” and “songs” are predicated of truths.

[2] There is occasional mention in the Word of “gladness” and of “joy,” and sometimes they are mentioned together; but “gladness” is mentioned when the subject treated of is truth and its affection, and “joy” when it is good and its affection, as in Isaiah:

Behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine (Isaiah 22:13); where “joy” is predicated of good, and “gladness” of truth. In the same:

There is a cry in the streets because of the wine; all gladness shall be made desolate, and all joy shall be banished (Isaiah 24:11).

In the same:

The redeemed of Jehovah shall return, and shall come to Zion with singing, and everlasting joy upon their head; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isaiah 35:10; 51:11).

In the same:

Jehovah shall comfort Zion; joy and gladness shall be found therein, confession and the voice of singing (Isaiah 51:3).

In Jeremiah:

I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste (Jeremiah 7:34 25:10).

In the same:

The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say, Confess ye to Jehovah Zebaoth (Jeremiah 33:11).

In the same:

Gladness and exultation have been gathered from Carmel, and from the land of Moab (Jeremiah 48:33).

In Joel:

Is not the food cut off before our eyes, gladness and exultation from the house of our God? (Joel 1:16).

In Zechariah:

The fast shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness and good feasts (Zech. 8:19).

[3] He who does not know that in everything of the Word there is the heavenly marriage (that is, the marriage of good and truth), might believe that joy and gladness are one thing, and that both are mentioned merely for the sake of greater emphasis, thus that one of the expressions is superfluous. But this is not the case, for not the smallest part of a word is used without a spiritual meaning. In the passages that have been adduced, and in others also, “joy” is predicated of good, and “gladness” of truth (see also n. 3118). That “songs” also are predicated of truth is evident from many passages in the Word, where “songs” are mentioned, as Isaiah 5:1; 24:9; 26:1; 30:29; 42:10; Ezekiel 26:13; Amos 5:23; and other places.

[4] Be it known that all things in the Lord’s kingdom relate either to good or to truth, that is, to the things of love, and to those of the faith of charity. Those which relate to good, or which are of love, are called celestial; but those which relate to truth, or which are of the faith of charity, are called spiritual. For in all things of the Word both in general and in particular the Lord’s kingdom is treated of, and in the supreme sense the Lord Himself; and the Lord’s kingdom is the marriage of good and truth, or the heavenly marriage; and the Lord Himself is He in whom is the Divine marriage, and from whom is the heavenly marriage; and therefore in everything of the Word there is this marriage, as is especially evident in the Prophets, where repetitions of one thing occur, with merely a change of words. But these repetitions are never without meaning, and by one of the expressions is signified what is celestial (that is, what is of love and good), and by the other what is spiritual (that is, what is of the faith of charity or of truth); all of which shows in what manner the heavenly marriage (that is, the Lord’s kingdom), and in the supreme sense the Divine marriage itself (that is, the Lord) is in everything of the Word.