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Leviticus 1

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1 And Jehovah called to Moses, and spoke to him from the Tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

2 Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, If any man of you offer an offering to Jehovah, you shall offer your offering from the beast, from the herd, and from the flock.

3 If his offering be a burnt·​·offering from the herd, let him offer a perfect male; he shall offer it for his own good·​·pleasure at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation before Jehovah.

4 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt·​·offering; and it shall be·​·well·​·pleasing for him to make·​·atonement on him.

5 And he shall slaughter the young of the herd before Jehovah; and the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall offer the blood, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

6 And he shall strip·​·off the skin of the burnt·​·offering, and section it into her sections.

7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and arrange the wood upon the fire;

8 and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall arrange the sections, with the head and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar;

9 but its inward·​·parts and its legs shall he bathe in water; and the priest shall burn· it all ·as·​·incense on the altar, for a burnt·​·offering, a fire·​·offering, a restful smell to Jehovah.

10 And if his offering be from the flock, from the sheep*, or from the goats, for a burnt·​·offering, he shall offer it, a perfect male.

11 And he shall slaughter it on the flank* of the altar northward before Jehovah; and the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall sprinkle its blood all around upon the altar.

12 And he shall section it into its sections, and with its head and its fat; and the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar:

13 but he shall bathe its inward·​·parts and its legs with water; and the priest shall offer it all, and burn· it ·as·​·incense on the altar; it is a burnt·​·offering, a fire·​·offering, a restful smell to Jehovah.

14 And if the burnt·​·offering for his offering to Jehovah be of fowls, then he shall offer his offering of turtledoves, or of young doves.

15 And the priest shall offer it to the altar, and wring·​·off its head, and burn· it ·for·​·incense on the altar; and its blood shall be pressed·​·out on the wall of the altar;

16 and he shall remove its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar eastward, to the place of the burnt fatness;

17 and he shall split* it with its wings, he shall not separate it; and the priest shall burn· it ·for·​·incense on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire: it is a burnt·​·offering, a fire·​·offering, a restful smell to Jehovah.


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Aaron

The Third Plague of Egypt, by William de Brailes, illustrates the flies, or gnats, rising from the dust.

This page from Walters manuscript W.106 depicts a scene from Exodus, in which God rained plagues upon Egypt. After plagues of blood and frogs, Pharaoh hardened his heart again and would not let the Israelites leave Egypt. God told Moses to tell Aaron to stretch forth his rod and strike the dust of the earth that it may become gnats throughout the land of Egypt. Here, Moses, horned (a sign of his encounter with divinity), carries the rod, while Aaron, wearing the miter of a priest, stands behind him. The gnats arise en masse out of the dust from which they were made and attack Pharaoh, seated and crowned, and his retinue.

Aaron was the brother of Moses. He symbolizes two things, at different stages of the story.

During the first part of the exodus, when he was Moses' spokesperson, Moses represents the Word as it truly is, as it is understood in heaven, while Aaron represents the Word in its external sense, as it is understood by people in the world. This is why Aaron talks for Moses, and the Lord says of him "he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God." (Exodus 4:16)

Later, after the Tabernacle was built and he was inaugurated as high priest (see Leviticus 8,9), Aaron represents the Lord as to the Divine Good, and Moses represents the Lord as to the Divine Truth.

In Exodus 28:1, Aaron signifies the conjunction of Divine Good with Divine Truth in the Divine Human of the Lord. (Arcana Coelestia 9806, 9936)

In Exodus 32:1, Aaron represents the external of the Word, of the church, and of worship, separate from the internal. (Arcana Coelestia 10397)

In Exodus 4:14, before he was initiated into the priesthood, Aaron represents the doctrine of good and truth. (Arcana Coelestia 6998)

De obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #9936

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9936. 'And it shall be on Aaron's forehead' means from the Lord's Divine Love. This is clear from the representation of 'Aaron' as the Lord in respect of Divine Good, which is the Good of His Divine Love, dealt with in 9806; and from the meaning of 'forehead', when the Lord is the subject, as His Divine Love. 'The Lord's face', which is the same as 'Jehovah's face', means all attributes of Divine Love, such as mercy, peace, goodness, or wisdom, 222, 223, 5585, 6848, 6849, 9306, 9545, 9546. These are meant by 'Jehovah's face' or 'the Lord's face' because in general 'the face' means a person's interiors, that is, a person's affections and consequent thoughts, thus the things which constitute his love and faith, see the places referred to in 9546. These are meant by 'the face' because they shine from the face, as if seen in their imprint or image, which also is why the face is called the image of the mind. So it is that when 'face' is mentioned in connection with Jehovah or the Lord the attributes of His Divine Love are meant. 'Forehead' in particular means Divine Love itself, because interiors have been allotted their own provinces in the face. The interiors that belong to love reside in the province of the forehead, those belonging to wisdom and intelligence in the province of the eyes, those belonging to perception in the province of the nose, and those belonging to utterance in the province of the mouth.

[2] From all this it is evident why 'forehead' - when the Lord, represented by Aaron, is the subject - means Divine Love. Since someone's forehead corresponds to his love those governed by celestial love, that is, by love to the Lord derived from the Lord, are said 'to have a sign on their foreheads', meaning that they are under the Lord's protection because they abide in His Love, as in Ezekiel,

Jehovah said, Go through the middle of Jerusalem and make a sign on the foreheads of the men (vir) who groan and sigh over all the abominations done in the midst of it, and strike; do not let your eye spare. But against any man (vir) on whom there is a sign do not go near. Ezekiel 9:4-6.

In John, in the Book of Revelation,

Behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads. Revelation 14:1.

In the same book,

They will see the face of God and of the Lamb, and His name will be on their foreheads. Revelation 22:4.

In the same book,

It was declared that they should not harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only the people who did not have God's sign on their foreheads. Revelation 9:4.

[3] 'Having God's sign on their foreheads' and 'having God and the Lamb's name on them' stand for their being kept safe from molestation by evils from hell, because they abide in the Lord through love. 'The grass' and 'any green thing', which were not to be harmed, stand for true factual knowledge by means of which the truth of faith develops, 7571, 7691; and 'any tree', which too was not to be harmed, stands for the perception of truth springing from good, 103, 2163, 2722, 2972, 4552, 7692.

[4] In Moses,

You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. You shall bind these words as a sign onto your hand, and let them be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 8.

'As frontlets' stands for as a sign of love to Jehovah God. The words 'between your eyes' are used because intelligence and wisdom which are born from that love are meant by 'eyes'; and wisdom born from that love consists in having God constantly before one's eyes. This is self-evidently so because the subject is love to Jehovah God. The declaration that they should love Him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their strength, means that they should do so with all their human powers. 'With the heart' means with the will where the good of love resides, 7542, 9050, 9300, 9495; and 'with the soul' means with the understanding where the truth of faith resides, and so with faith, 9050. These two powers belong to the internal man. 'With all their strength' means with those powers of will and understanding as they exist in the external man. The strength and power of the love of both, of the external man and of the internal, are meant by 'hands', 4931-4937, 7518; and this is why it says that those words were to be bound 'as a sign on the hand'.

[5] Since 'the forehead' by virtue of its correspondence means celestial or heavenly love with those who are good, with those who are bad it accordingly means hellish love, which is the opposite of heavenly. The forehead of the latter is called a bronze forehead in Isaiah 48:4, and an obstinate forehead in Ezekiel 3:7-8. And in reference to those ruled by hellish love it is said that they had the mark of the beast on their foreheads, Revelation 13:16; 14:9; 20:4, and also the name of Babylon on their foreheads, Revelation 17:5.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.