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.

7439. Let My people go, that they may serve Me. That this signifies that they should release those who are of the spiritual church in order that they may worship their God in freedom, is evident from the signification of “letting go,” as being to release; from the representation of the sons of Israel, here “My people,” as being those who are of the spiritual church (n. 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223); and from the signification of “serving Jehovah,” as being to worship. That they should worship in freedom is plain from what follows (verses 21-23), and also from the fact that all worship which is truly worship must be in freedom.

[2] The sons of Israel being called “the people of Jehovah” was not because they were better than other nations, but because they represented the people of Jehovah, that is, those who are of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. That they were not better than other nations is plain from their life in the wilderness, in that they did not at all believe in Jehovah, but in their hearts believed in the gods of the Egyptians, as is evident from the golden calf which they made for themselves, and which they called their gods who had brought them forth out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 32:8). The same is evident also from their subsequent life in the land of Canaan, as described in the historicals of the Word, and from what was said of them by the prophets, and finally from what was said of them by the Lord.

[3] For this reason also few of them are in heaven, for they have received their lot in the other life according to their life. Therefore do not believe that they were elected to heaven in preference to others; for whoever so believes, does not believe that everyone’s life remains with him after death, nor that man must be prepared for heaven by his whole life in the world, and that this is done of the Lord’s mercy, and that none are admitted into heaven from mercy alone, regardless of how they have lived in the world. Such an opinion about heaven and the Lord’s mercy is induced by the doctrine of faith alone, and of salvation by faith alone without good works; for those who hold this doctrine have no concern about the life, and so believe that evils can be washed away like dirt by water, and thus that man can in a moment pass into the life of good, and consequently be admitted into heaven. For they do not know that if the life of evil were taken away from the evil, they would have no life whatever, and that if they who are in a life of evil were admitted into heaven, they would feel hell in themselves, and this the more grievously, the more interiorly they were admitted into heaven.

[4] From all this it can now be seen that the Israelites and Jews were by no means elected, but only accepted to represent the things that belong to heaven; and that this must needs be done in the land of Canaan, because the Lord’s church had been there from the most ancient times, and from this all the places there became representative of heavenly and Divine things. In this way also the Word could be written, and the names in it could signify such things as belong to the Lord and His kingdom.

6280. As regards 'the redeeming angel' - that the Lord's Divine Human is meant - this is clear from the consideration that by His assumption of the Human and making it Divine the Lord redeemed man, that is, delivered him from hell, on account of which, in respect of His Divine Human, the Lord is called the Redeemer. The reason why the Divine Human is called an angel is that the word 'angel' means one who has been sent, and the Lord's Divine Human is called 'the One who has been sent', as is evident from quite a number of places in the Word, in the Gospels. Furthermore the Divine Human that existed before the Lord's Coming into the world was Jehovah Himself flowing in by way of heaven when He was declaring His Word. Jehovah was above the heavens, but what passed from Him through the heavens was the Divine Human at that time; for by means of Jehovah's flowing into heaven a human image was presented, and the Divine itself as present by this inflowing was the Divine Man. This is the Divine Human which has existed from eternity and is called the One who has been sent, by which is meant that which goes forth and which is one and the same as 'the angel' spoken of here.

[2] But because Jehovah was no longer able to reach men by flowing into them through that Divine Human of His, for the reason that they had distanced themselves so far away from that Divine, He took on a human form and made it Divine. Then by flowing in from this into heaven, He could reach right out to those members of the human race who would accept the good of charity and the truth of faith from His Divine Human, which had thus been made visible, and so could deliver them from hell - a deliverance which could not possibly have been accomplished in any other way. This deliverance is what is called Redemption, and the Divine Human itself effecting that deliverance or redemption is what is called 'the redeeming angel'.

[3] But the Lord's Divine Human, it should be recognized, is above heaven - as the Divine itself is - since the Lord is the Sun that gives heaven its light; thus heaven is far below Him. The Divine Human present in heaven is the Divine Truth going forth from Him, which is the light radiating from Him as from the sun. In Essence the Lord is not Divine Truth, for that Truth is what goes forth from Him like light from the sun; rather, His Essence is Divine Goodness itself, which is one with Jehovah.

[4] The Lord's Divine Human is also called 'the angel' in other places in the Word, for example when He appeared to Moses in the bramble-bush, described as follows in Exodus,

When Moses came to the mountain of God, to Horeb, the angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire from the middle of a bramble-bush. Jehovah saw that Moses turned aside to see, therefore God called to him from the middle of the bramble-bush. And He went on to say, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Exodus 3:1-2, 4, 6.

It is the Lord's Divine Human that is referred to here by the name 'the angel of Jehovah'. He was really Jehovah, which he is also explicitly called. Jehovah's presence there within His Divine Human may be recognized from the consideration that the Divine itself could not become visible except through the Divine Human, as the Lord's words in John declare,

Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:18.

And in another place,

You have never heard the Father's voice nor seen His shape. John 5:37.

[5] The Lord's Divine Human is also called 'an angel' where the leading of the people into the land of Canaan is the subject, referred to in Exodus as follows,

Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Take notice of his face; for he will not tolerate your transgression, since My name is within him. Exodus 23:20-21, 23.

Here 'an angel' is the Divine Human. This is evident from the fact that it says 'since My name is within him', that is, Jehovah Himself is within him. 'My name' means Jehovah's essential nature, present in the Divine Human. For more about the meaning of 'the name of Jehovah' as the Lord's Divine Human, see 2628; and for more about the meaning of 'the name of God' as His essential nature, and so everything in its entirety by which God is worshipped, 1724, 3006.

[6] In Isaiah,

In all their affliction He suffered affliction, and the angel of His face delivered them; because of His love and His compassion He redeemed them, and took them and carried them all the days of eternity. Isaiah 63:9.

'The angel of Jehovah's face' is plainly the Lord's Divine Human, for it says that 'He redeemed them'. In Malachi,

Behold, suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you seek, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says Jehovah Zebaoth. But who can endure the day of His Coming, and who will stand when He appears? Then the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Jehovah, as in the days of eternity, and as in former years. Malachi 3:1-2, 4

'The angel of the covenant' quite clearly means the Lord's Divine Human, for the subject is the Lord's Coming. 'Then the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Jehovah' means that worship offered out of love and faith in Him will be acceptable then. It is perfectly plain that 'Judah' is not used in these verses to mean Judah, or 'Jerusalem' to mean Jerusalem, for neither at that time nor any later time was the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem acceptable. 'The days of eternity' are the states of the Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial Church, while 'former years' are the states of the Ancient Church, which was a spiritual one, see 6239. Furthermore 'angel' in the Word does not mean in the internal sense any angel but some Divine attribute within the Lord, 1925, 2319, 2821, 3039, 4085.