10284. And in the quality thereof ye shall not make any like it. That this signifies no imitation from the study of man, is evident from the signification of “making any like it in quality,” that is, making the like oil by means of the like spices, as being to prepare in imitation by the study of man. That these things are signified by these words, follows from the connection of the things in the internal sense; for it is said first, that it should “not be poured upon the flesh of man,” by which is signified that which is not communicative to what is man’s own; and next that it shall be “holy unto you;” whereas that which is made from man, and by his study, is made from what is his own, and is not holy, because study from what is man’s own is nothing but falsity from evil, for it regards itself and the world as the end, and not the neighbor and God; and therefore it is called “imitation.”

[2] The case herein is this. Everything that is from the Lord is good and true. But the good and truth in imitation of this by man is not good and true, for the reason that everything good and true has life in it from its end. An end from man is merely for the sake of himself; whereas that which is good and true from the Lord is for the sake of good itself and truth itself as ends, thus for the sake of the Lord, because everything good and true is from Him. With man the end is himself, for it is his will, and it is his love; because that which a man loves, and that which he wills, this he has as his end. All the love with man from man is the love of self and the love of the world for the sake of self; but the love with man from the Lord is love toward the neighbor and love to God. The difference between these loves is as great as that between hell and heaven; and indeed the love of self, and the love of the world for the sake of self, reign in hell and are hell; whereas love toward the neighbor and love to the Lord reign in heaven and are heaven. Moreover, a man is such, and such remains to eternity, as is his love; for love is everything of man’s will, and from this of his understanding, because the love which makes the will continually flows into the understanding, and kindles it, and enlightens it. From this it is that when those who love what is evil are thinking by themselves, they think what is false in conformity with the evil of their love; although before men they speak differently, from hypocrisy, and some from persuasive faith, the quality of which may be seen above (n. 9364, 9369).

[3] Be it known that before men a man is able by study to imitate Divine things themselves, and to present himself as an angel of light; whereas before the Lord and before the angels the external form does not appear, but the internal; and when this is from what is man’s own, it is filthy. Within such persons there is merely what is natural, and nothing spiritual; they see only from natural light, and not at all from the light of heaven. Nay, they do not know what the light of heaven is, and what the spiritual is, for all their interiors are turned outward, almost like the interiors of animals, nor do they suffer themselves to be raised upward by the Lord; when yet man possesses this special privilege above the beasts, that he is capable of being raised by the Lord to heaven and to the Lord, and thus of being led. All those are so raised who love good and truth for the sake of good and truth, which is the same as loving the neighbor and God; for in a general sense the neighbor is what is good and true, and in a lower sense what is just and right; and moreover God is what is good and true, and what is just and right, because these are from God.

[4] From all this it can be seen what it is to imitate Divine things by the study of man; the quality of those who do this is described in the Word throughout by “Egypt” and “Pharaoh,” for by “Egypt” and “Pharaoh” are signified the memory-knowledges that belong to the natural man; and it is also described by “Asshur,” by whom is signified reasoning from memory-knowledges (concerning “Egypt” see the places cited in n. 9340, 9391; and concerning “Asshur,” n. 1186).

[5] Among spirits there are great numbers who imitate Divine things by study and art; for they counterfeit what is sincere, upright, and pious, insomuch that good spirits would be led astray unless the Lord enlightened them, and made them see the interiors of those who would lead them astray, at the sight of which the good are seized with horror, and flee away. But such spirits are stripped of their externals, and are let into their interiors which are diabolical, and thus of themselves they sink down into hell. (More may be seen concerning these spirits in a following article, n. 10286)

7026. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand. That this signifies that these things were from Divine power, is evident from the signification of “rod,” as being power (n. 4013, 4015, 4876, 4936) thus “the rod of God” denotes Divine power. (That “rod” denotes the power of the natural, and “hand” the power of the spiritual, and that the natural has power from the spiritual, thus that by “rod” is signified power when it is in the hand, see n. 7011.) That a “rod” denotes power, originates from the representatives in the other life, for in that life they who practice magical arts appear with rods, which also serve them for powers. Hence also the Egyptian magicians had rods, whereby they performed what appeared like miracles; and from this the ancients in their writings everywhere assign rods to magicians. From all this it can be seen that a rod is a representative of power, and that it is also a real correspondence, for power is actually exercised by means of rods; but with magicians this is an abuse of correspondence, neither is it of avail except within the hells where they are, and it avails there because illusions and phantasies reign there. And because there is a real correspondence of a rod with power, Moses was commanded to take a rod in his hand, and by it to do signs; and for the same reason also kings have a scepter, which is a short rod, and by it is signified royal power. The correspondence of a rod and of power, is from the fact that a rod or staff supports the hand and arm, thus at the same time the body, and in the Grand Man the hand and arm correspond to power (n. 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 5544, 6947, 7011).