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.

4544. Put away the gods of the stranger which are in the midst of you. That this signifies that falsities should be rejected, is evident from the signification of “to put away,” as being to reject; and from the signification of the “gods of the stranger,” as being falsities. For by “gods” in the Word are signified truths, and in the opposite sense falsities (n. 4402); and those were called “strangers” who were outside of the church, consequently those who were in falsities and evils (n. 2049, 2115). Therefore the “gods of the stranger” denote falsities.

4834. 'And Judah said to Onan' means so as to preserve a representative of the Church. This is clear from the words which follow, since these here have regard to them. That is, he said that Onan was to perform for his brother the duty of a husband's brother, by which the preservation and continuation of the Church, to be discussed next, is represented.