4364. 'He said, What do you mean by all this camp which I met?' means the specific things which came from the good of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'camp' here as things that are specific, for these are meant by the animals mentioned in verses 14, 15 of the previous chapter - two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred sheep and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their colts, forty young cows and ten young bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals. By these are meant the goods and truths together with the things that are subservient, by means of which the instillation was to be effected, see 4263, 4264, and so mean those that are specific. The specific ones meant here are nothing other than those which serve to prove that truths really are truths and forms of good really are forms of good. They support a person's thoughts and affections - that is, the things he knows and the things he loves - which lead him to favour an idea and maintain that it is true. The gifts which in the Church of old were made to kings and to priests also held the same meaning It is well known that another is led to one's own way of thinking - that is, to the things which one says are good and true - both by the use of rational arguments and by the appeal to affections. It is the actual supporting proofs to which the term 'specific' applies and that are meant at this point by 'this camp'. This is the reason why the words 'to find favour in the eyes of my lord' appear, explaining why 'the camp' was sent, and after that, 'If now I have found favour in your eyes, then take my gift from my hand'.

[2] It is similar with spiritual things or matters of faith, when these are being joined to the good of charity. People believe that goods and truths flow in immediately from heaven, and so without any intermediate agents in man; but in this they are much mistaken. The Lord leads everyone through the agency of his affections and in so doing bends him by means of a Providence working silently; for He leads people by means of their freedom, 1937, 1947. All freedom entails a person's affection or love, see 2870, 2873. Consequently every joining together of good and truth takes place in freedom and not under compulsion, 2875-2878, 2881, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4031. When therefore a person has been brought in freedom to good, truths find acceptance and are implanted. That person also starts to be stirred by an affection for them and is in this manner introduced little by little into heavenly freedom. One who is regenerate, that is, who loves the neighbour - more so one who loves the Lord - will discover, if he reflects on his life before then, that he has been led to that point by many ideas present in his thought and many impulses of his affection.

[3] What exactly is meant here by the things which came from the good of truth may be seen more easily from examples. Let truth which has to be introduced into good be exemplified by the truth that man has life after death. Unless this is supported by specific truths, it does not find acceptance, that is, not unless it is supported by the following: Man is able to think not only about the things he sees and perceives with the senses but also about those which he does not see or perceive with the senses. Also his affection can be stirred by them; and through his affection he can become linked to them and therefore to heaven, indeed to the Lord Himself. And those who are able to be linked to the Divine can never die. These and many more like them are the specific truths which present themselves before that truth is instilled into good, that is, before it is believed fully. That truth does indeed submit itself first, yet these specific truths nevertheless cause it to find acceptance.

[4] Take as another example the truth that man is a spirit and that he is clothed with a body while he lives in the world. This also is a truth that has to be instilled into good, for if it is not instilled he has no concern for heaven, in which case he looks on himself in the same way as he does on animals. But this truth cannot be instilled except by means of specific ones such as the following: The body which a person carries around ministers to uses in the world; that is to say, it enables him by means of material eyes to see things that are in the world, and to perform actions by means of material muscles, which give him power that is sufficient to lift heavy objects. Nevertheless some more interior part of him exists which thinks and wills, and for which the body is the instrumental or material organ. Also his spirit is his true self, or the person himself, who performs actions and has sensory perception through these organic forms. And there are many other personal experiences by which he can prove that truth to be so once he believes it. All of these are specific truths which are put forward first and which cause that truth itself to be instilled into good and also to come from it. It is these and other things like them that are meant here by 'a camp'.

10127. 'Seven days you shall make propitiation on the altar' means the completeness of the influx into heaven and into the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'seven days' as what is complete, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'making propitiation' as purification from evils and consequently falsities, also dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the altar' as that which is representative of the Lord's Divine Human in respect of Divine Good, dealt with in 9388, 9389, 9714, 9964, at this point in heaven and in the Church, 10123. The reason why the sacrifice of a young bull to make propitiation and sanctify the altar should be carried out for seven days was that 'seven days', the same as 'a week', means a whole period, long or short, from start to finish. Therefore also 'seven days' means what is complete. The number three likewise means a whole period from start to finish, and therefore also what is complete. But the difference is that the word 'seven' is used where something holy is referred to, but 'three' when anything whatever is the subject.

[2] It should be remembered that spiritual realities are meant by all numbers in the Word, as is very well known in the next life, where sometimes sheets of paper full of numbers are sent down from heaven to spirits below. Those spirits who receive influx from the Lord see in them a whole chain of realities meant by the numbers, just as if letters had been used. I too have been allowed on several occasions to see such sheets of paper; and also I have been told about certain of the most ancient people, who inwardly lived in fellowship with angels, that they used numbers to embody matters of importance to their Church, and heavenly arcana, and stored those numbers away for themselves as a way of remembering. From this it becomes clear that all numbers in the Word serve to mean spiritual realities. For in the Word not a syllable is devoid of meaning, since the Word has been written not only for people in the world but also at the same time for angels in heaven. Consequently the Word consists of the Divine passing through all the heavens.

[3] All numbers in the Word mean spiritual realities or real things, see 575, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175, 9659.

Seven in the Word implies holy things, 395, 433, 716, 881, 5265, 5268.

Seven also means a whole period from start to finish, thus a complete state, 6508, 9228, as does 'a week', 2044, 3845.

The number three has the same meaning, 2788, 4495, 4901, 5123, 5159, 7715, 9198, 9488, 9489, 9825.

[4] As regards 'making propitiation', it means purification from evils and consequently falsities, or what amounts to the same thing, the removal of them. And since 'making propitiation and expiation' has this meaning it also implies the implantation of goodness and truth and the joining together of the two by the Lord. The reason why this implantation is also implied is that to the extent that a person is purified from evils and falsities, goodness and truth are implanted and joined together by the Lord. When therefore the one has been postulated, the other is postulated. For the Lord is present with every person with the good of love; He loves all people and in His love wishes to join them to Himself, which is achieved through the good of love and the truth of faith. But the evils and consequent falsities which a person makes his own by a life of evil stand in the way and block influx from Him. From all this it is evident what propitiation and expiation is; see also 9506.