8945. 'And you shall not go up to My altar by steps' means not raising themselves to more internal levels, that is, celestial ones. This is clear from the meaning of 'going up by means of steps' as raising oneself to higher or more internal levels (whether you say more internal or higher it amounts to the same thing, since more internal things are seen as higher ones, 2148, 3084, 4210, 4599); and from the meaning of 'altar' as the chief representative of the Lord, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811. Thus 'going up by steps to My altar' means raising oneself to the Lord, consequently to more internal levels, which are celestial ones; for the Lord's presence is greater on more internal levels. The term 'celestial' is used for things in the inmost heaven, but 'spiritual' for those in the middle heaven. For heaven is divided into two kingdoms - the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. Those in the celestial kingdom are in the inmost or third heaven, and so are nearest the Lord; for they are governed by love to the Lord, possessing innocence and consequently wisdom in greater measure than all the rest. But those who are in the spiritual kingdom are in the middle or second heaven, and so are more remote from the Lord; and those there am governed by charity towards the neighbour, and through charity dwell with the Lord. Regarding those two kingdoms and the difference between them, see 2048, 2088, 2227, 2507, 2669, 2708, 2715, 2718, 3235, 3246, 3374, 3887, 4448, 4585, 4938, 4939, 5113, 5922, 6367, 6435, 7877.

[2] Let a brief explanation be given of what is implied by raising oneself towards more internal levels, that is, celestial ones, which is meant by 'going up by steps to the altar'. No one in the next life is allowed to be raised into heaven to a level higher than that of the good which governs him. If he is raised to some higher level the foul things about him are revealed, that is, the evils he loves, and the resulting falsities; for the more internal something is, the purer and holier it is in heaven. Those whose state is not so pure are kept in a lower sphere in which impurities go unnoticed or are not apparent; for such people are governed by grosser good and guided by duller truth.

[3] Sometimes it happens that those coming into heaven have a strong desire to go to a more internal heaven, believing that by doing this they will experience greater joy. To the end that this strong desire which clings to them may be removed, they are indeed raised to a more internal heaven. But when they get there they start to feel anguished, on account of those evils they love which are then perceptible to them; they also become visibly disfigured on account of the falsities that spring from the evils residing with them. Having perceived these things they cast themselves down from the more internal heaven, and do not attain a calm and peaceful state until they return to the position they occupied previously. These are the things that are meant by 'you shall not go up to My altar by steps, in order that your nakedness may not be revealed on it'.

[4] The same applies to those below heaven, if they have a strong desire to rise to heaven before they have been prepared for it. When they are raised there they feel torment almost hellish and seem to themselves to be like dead bodies. Their life becomes laboured, like that of those in the throes of death. Therefore they cast themselves down headlong from there, and after that no longer have any desire to rise above the state of life in which they live.

[5] It should be recognized that the Lord refuses heaven to no one in the next life, and that people can be allowed in as often as they wish. Heaven consists of communities of angels, who are governed by the good of love towards the neighbour and of love to the Lord. When introduced into heaven people are let into communities of such angels. But when the sphere of their life, that is, the life of their love, is out of agreement, conflict arises, as a result of which they feel anguished and cast themselves down from there. From this experience they learn about the life of heaven, and about the condition of their own life in comparison. They also learn from it that heaven does not become anyone's simply by his being received or let in, as the common idea is in the world, and also that a person must live in such a way in the world that he becomes fit to be with those in heaven. But see what has already been stated and shown from experience previously regarding these matters, in 3938, 4225, 4226, 4299, 4674, 5057, 5058, 7186, 7519, 8794, 8797. These are the considerations which are meant by the regulation that they must not go up by steps to the altar, in order that their nakedness may not be revealed on it, and also by a similar regulation at Exodus 28:42-43.

[6] The words 'going up by steps' are used because a raising to more internal levels is seen in the world of spirits - where celestial and spiritual realities are presented within forms similar to those in the world - as raising oneself by means of steps. I have often been allowed to see this representative sight. So it was too that in a dream Jacob saw angels going up to the Lord by the steps of a stairway, Genesis 28:12. Therefore also by 'steps' in the Word is meant going up to higher, that is, more internal levels, as in Ezekiel 40:6, 22, 26, 31, 34; and in Amos,

The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth builds His steps in the heavens. Amos 9:6.

4299. 'For I have seen God face to face, and my soul is delivered' means that He suffered the severest temptations, seemingly attributable to the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing God' as going closer to Him by means of interior things, that is to say, by means of goods and truths, and consequently as presence, dealt with in 4198; and from the meaning of 'the face' as interior things, dealt with in 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066, and so as thoughts and affections, for affections and thoughts are interior things because they belong to the disposition and mind (animus et mens) and reveal themselves in the face; and from the meaning of 'my soul is delivered' as suffering God's presence. The fact that all these words mean that He suffered the severest temptations seemingly attributable to the Divine, cannot be seen from anything else than the immediate causes and the remote causes of temptations. The evils and falsities present with a person which lead him into temptations, and therefore the evil spirits and genii who instill them are the immediate causes, 4249. Nevertheless, no one can be tempted, that is, undergo any spiritual temptation, except him who has a conscience. Indeed spiritual temptation is nothing else than the torture of a person's conscience, and consequently none can be tempted but those who are governed by celestial and spiritual good. For the latter have conscience, but all others do not; indeed they do not even know what conscience is.

[2] Conscience is a new will and a new understanding received from the Lord, and so is the Lord's presence with a person, a presence which becomes all the closer the more the person is stirred by the affection for good or for truth. If the closeness of the Lord's presence exceeds the amount of affection for good or for truth in him, he enters into temptation. The reason why is that the evils and falsities which reside with him, and which are moderated by the goods and truths residing with him, cannot suffer that closer presence. This becomes clear from the following things that happen in the next life: Evil spirits cannot by any means move towards any heavenly community without starting to feel distress and torment; also, evil spirits cannot stand angels looking at them because they are instantly tormented and collapse unconscious. And in addition there is the fact that hell is remote from heaven, for the reason that it cannot suffer heaven, that is, the Lord's presence in heaven. This explains why in the Word it is said in reference to evil spirits,

Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. Luke 23:30.

And elsewhere,

They will say to the mountains and rocks, Rush down on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne. Revelation 6:16.

Also the sphere of cloud and thick darkness which emanates from the evils and falsities of those in hell looks like a mountain or rock beneath which they are hidden, see 1265, 1267, 1270.

[3] From these considerations it can now be recognized that 'I have seen God face to face and my soul is delivered' means the severest temptations, seemingly attributable to the Divine. Temptations and torments do seem to be attributable to the Divine because they arise, as has been stated, through the Lord's Divine presence. Yet they do not originate in the Divine or the Lord but in the evils and falsities residing with the person who is being tempted or tormented. From the Lord nothing else proceeds but a holiness which is good and true and merciful, and it is this holiness - which is good, true, and merciful - that those subject to evils and falsities cannot suffer; for such evils and falsities are opposite or contrary to it. Evils, falsities, and lack of mercy are bent all the time on doing violence to those qualities belonging to holiness; and in the measure they assail these, they themselves suffer torment. And when they assail them and consequently suffer torment they imagine that it is the Divine who torments them. These are the considerations meant by 'seemingly attributable to the Divine'.

[4] It was well known to the ancients that no one can see Jehovah face to face and live, and from them knowledge of the same came down to the descendants of Jacob. This explains why they were so glad when they saw any angel and remained alive, as in the Book of Judges,

Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah, therefore Gideon said, O Lord Jehovih! Inasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said to him, Peace be to you; do not fear, for you will not die. Judges 6:22-23.

In the same book, Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, for we have seen God. Judges 13:22.

And in Moses, Jehovah said to Moses, You cannot see My face, for no man will see Me and live. Exodus 33:20.

[5] The reason why it is said of Moses that he spoke to Jehovah face to face, Exodus 33:11, and that Jehovah knew him face to face, Deuteronomy 34:10, is that He showed Himself to him in a human form suited to his reception, which was an external form - as a bearded old man sitting with him, as I have learned from angels. For the same reason the Jews had no other idea of Jehovah than of one who was very old with a long white beard, who was better able to perform miracles than other gods. They did not have the idea of His being the most holy because they did not know what holiness was, let alone that they could not in any way see the holiness proceeding from Him because they were governed by bodily and earthly love devoid of internal holiness, 4289, 4293.