8680. 'And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God' means worship springing from the good of love and the truths of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'a burnt offering and sacrifices' as representatives of celestial and spiritual realities that belong to internal worship, 'burnt offerings' being representative of celestial realities, that is, aspects of the good of love, and 'sacrifices' being representative of spiritual ones, that is, aspects of the truth of faith, dealt with in 922, 923, 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3218, 3519, 6905. The representation of 'burnt offerings' as aspects of the good of love, and of 'sacrifices' as aspects of the truth of faith, is clear from their institution - from the requirement that in burnt offerings everything was to be burnt, both the flesh and the blood, but that in sacrifices the flesh was to be eaten, as may be seen in chapters 1-5 of Leviticus; Numbers 28; and in Deuteronomy, where the following words occur,

You are to present, your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Jehovah your God; the blood of the sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Jehovah your God, and the flesh you shall eat. Deuteronomy 12:27.

The reason why those two realities were represented by the burnt offerings and sacrifices is that burnt offerings and sacrifices represented all worship of God in general, 923, 6905; and worship of God in general is founded on love and faith. Without these it is not worship, only ritual such as is performed by the external man who has no internal and so no life within him.

3219. When angels are engaged in discussion about thoughts and ideas, and about influx, birds are seen at the same time in the world of spirits - the forms which the birds take being determined by the subject under discussion. This explains why birds in the Word mean rational concepts or things comprising thought, 40, 745, 776, 991. On one occasion birds came into view, and I saw that one was dark and ugly, two fine and beautiful. When I saw them, behold! certain spirits were there who then descended on me so violently as to send a tremor into my sinews and bones. I supposed that then, as had happened several times before, evil spirits were assailing me in an attempt to destroy me; but that was not so. When the tremor ceased and the spirits who had descended on me stopped moving, I spoke to them asking what it was all about. They said that they had fallen from a certain angelic community in which discussion was taking place about thoughts and influx, and that they had been of the opinion that the things which comprise thought flow in from without, that is to say, by way of the external senses, as is the appearance. But the angelic community in which they were present were of the opinion that it flowed from within. And because they themselves had been governed by falsity they had fallen from there. No one had cast them down, for angels do not cast anyone down from among themselves. It was owing to the falsity reigning in them that they had fallen from there. This had been the reason why it had happened. From this I was given to know that discussion in heaven about thoughts and influx is represented by birds - the discussion of those in whom falsity reigns by dark and ugly birds, but that of those who are governed by truth by fine and beautiful birds. I was at the same time told that all the ideas comprising thought enter into it from within, not from without, even though those ideas seem to do so. I was also told that it is contrary to order for what is posterior to flow into what is prior, or what is grosser into what is purer, and so for body to flow into soul.