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.

1671. Came Chedorlaomer. That this signifies the apparent good in the external man, is evident from the signification of “Chedorlaomer,” explained in the preceding verse, as being apparent good and truth, here good only, because it is said also, “and the kings that were with him,” and by “the kings” is signified the truth.

9963. 'When they go into the tent of meeting' means in worship representative of all things of heaven and the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'going into the tent of meeting' as worship representative of all things of heaven and the Church. For 'the tent' represented heaven where the Lord was, 9457, 9481, 9485, 9784, so that 'going into it', when it refers to Aaron and his sons, means worship of the Lord. Furthermore all the worship at that time took place within the tent and at the altar; for within the tent the loaves of the presence were laid out, the lamps were lit, and incense was offered, and at the altar sacrifice took place. These things primarily were the ones in which representative worship consisted. Representative worship is the outward performance of worship representing the inward virtues of love derived from the Lord and offered back to Him, thus all things of heaven and the Church; for in heaven and in the Church everything has connection with the good belonging to love and the truth belonging to faith which are derived from the Lord and offered to Him.