9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

4574. A nation and a company of nations shall be from thee. That this signifies good and the Divine forms of good, is evident from the signification of a “nation,” as being the good of the church (see n. 1259, 1260, 1362, 1416, 1849); and from the signification of a “company of nations,” as being the truths which are from good, or what is the same, the forms of good; and in the supreme sense, in which the Lord is treated of, the Divine truths which are from Divine good, or the Divine forms of good.

[2] I will first state what the forms of good are, and then show that a “company of nations” signifies them. The truths that are from good are said to be the forms of good because they are nothing else than goods formed. He who conceives of truths in any other way, and especially he who separates them from good, does not know what truths are. Truths do indeed appear as if separate from good, thus as a form by themselves, but only to those who are not in good, or to those who think and speak otherwise than as they will and thence act. For man is so created that his understanding and will may constitute one mind, and they do constitute one mind when the understanding acts as one with the will, that is, when the man thinks and speaks as he wills and thence acts, for in this case the things of his understanding are forms of his will. The things of the understanding are what are called truths, for truths are properly of the understanding, whereas the things of the will are what are called goods, for goods are properly of the will. From this it follows that regarded in itself the understanding is nothing but the will formed.

[3] But as the term “form” savors of human philosophy, the matter shall be illustrated by an example, from which will be seen that truths are the forms of good. In civil and moral life there exist what is honorable [honestum] and what is becoming [decorum]. What is honorable is to will well to others from the heart in the affairs of civil life, and what is becoming is to testify this in speech and gesture. Thus regarded in itself what is becoming is nothing but the form of what is honorable, for this is its origin, and therefore when what is honorable shows itself by what is becoming (that is, in a becoming manner by speech and gesture), that which is honorable appears in every detail of that which is becoming, insomuch that whatever is uttered in the speech or shown in the gesture appears honorable, and is the form or image through which that which is honorable shines forth. In this way the two things make a one, like an essence and its form, or like what is essential and what is formal. But if anyone separates what is honorable from what is becoming, that is, if anyone wills evil to a companion, and yet speaks well and behaves himself well toward him, there is then no longer anything of what is honorable in the speech and gestures, however much he may study to make a show of the form of what is honorable by what is becoming; for it is really dishonorable, and every discerning person so calls it, because it is either feigned, or fraudulent, or deceitful.

[4] From all this we can see how the case is with truths and goods; for truths in spiritual life are circumstanced as is what is becoming in civil life; and hence it is evident what is the quality of truths when they are the forms of good, and what when separated from good; for when they are not from good they are from some evil, and are its forms, however much they may counterfeit the forms of good. That a “company of nations” denotes the forms of good, may be seen from the signification of “nations,” as being goods, of which just above. Hence a “company” or congregation of them denotes a collection of them, which is nothing else than a form; and that this is truth has been shown. And as truths are what are signified, and by a “nation” is signified good, it is therefore said not only that a “nation” shall be from him, but also a “company of nations;” otherwise one expression would have sufficed. Moreover in the Word a “company,” a “congregation,” and a “multitude” are said of truths. (Regarding “multitude” and “being multiplied” see n. 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847).

5871. 'Make every man go out from me' means that incompatible and contradictory factual knowledge was to be cast away from the centre. This is clear from the meaning of 'every man from him' as factual knowledge, for the men were Egyptians, and by 'Egyptians' is meant factual knowledge, see 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 5700, 5702; and since it was cast aside it follows that it was incompatible and contradictory. For the situation is this: When the truths present in the external or natural man become joined to the good present in the internal man - that is, when the truths of faith are joined to the good of charity - all factual knowledge which is incompatible, and especially that which is contradictory, is cast away from the centre to the sides, thus from the light in the centre to the shadowy parts at the sides. When this happens that knowledge is in part disregarded and in part treated as valueless. But from the remaining factual knowledge which is compatible and harmonious, a kind of extraction - or if one can use the expression, a kind of distillation - takes place, from which the inner meaning of things is obtained, a meaning that no one perceives while in the body except through some joyful feeling, like that experienced at daybreak. Such is the way in which the joining of the truth of faith to the good of charity is effected.