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.

7836. In the number of the souls, everyone for the mouth of his eating ¹ shall ye count for the lamb. That this signifies thus the filling up of the good, conformably to the innocence, from so many truths of good, according to the appropriation of the innocence, is evident from the signification of “the number of the souls,” as being so many truths of good, for “number” in the Word is predicated of truth, and “soul” of spiritual good; from the signification of “for the mouth of his eating,” as being according to the appropriation of it (that “to eat” denotes appropriation, see n. 3168, 3513, 3596, 3832); and from the signification of a “lamb,” as being innocence (n. 7832). The filling up of the good conformably to the innocence, is signified by “taking from the house of a near neighbor” such a number as may be sufficient for the lamb. (That “house” denotes good, see above, n. 7833.) It is said, “the truth of good,” and by this is meant the truth which is from good. For when they who are of the spiritual church are being regenerated, they are introduced to the good of charity by means of the truth of faith; but when they have been introduced to the good which is of charity, the truths which are afterward born thence are called the “truths of good.”

[2] But how the case is with what is contained in this verse cannot possibly be known unless it is known how it is with the societies in heaven; for the consociations of the sons of Israel according to tribes, families, and houses represented these societies. With the societies in heaven the case is this. The universal heaven is one society, which is ruled by the Lord as one man; the general societies there are as many as are the members, the viscera, and the organs in man; but the specific societies are as many as are the little viscera contained within each viscus, member, and organ; and the particular societies are as many as in these little viscera there are lesser parts constituting a greater one. That this is the case is plain from the correspondences of man, and of his members, organs, and viscera, with the Grand Man, that is, with heaven, which has been treated of from experience at the end of many chapters. From all this it can be seen how the case is with the distinctions of societies in heaven.

[3] But with each society in particular the case is this: it consists of many angels who are in agreement in respect to goods; these goods are various, for each angel has his peculiar good; but these various concordant goods are disposed by the Lord into such a form that together they present one good. Such societies were represented by the houses of the fathers among the sons of Israel. This is the reason why the sons of Israel were distinguished not only into tribes, but also into families and houses; and when they are mentioned, that the names of their fathers in order even to the tribe are mentioned; as of the father of Samuel, that he was of Mount Ephraim, whose “name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph” (1 Samuel 1:1); also of the father of Saul, that he was “of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a man a Benjamite” (1 Samuel 9:1); and so of very many others. Such mention was made in order that in heaven might be known the quality of the good which, being successively derived from the first, was represented by the one spoken of.

[4] Moreover, in heaven the case is this. If a society is not complete, as it should be, there are then taken from elsewhere, from some neighboring society, as many as will fill up the form of that good, according to the necessity in each state, and its changes; for the form of the good varies as the state is changed. But be it further known that in the third or inmost heaven, which is next above the heaven where the spiritual are (for these constitute the middle or second heaven), innocence reigns, because the Lord, who is innocence itself, flows in immediately into that heaven; whereas into the second heaven, where the spiritual are, the Lord flows in with innocence mediately, namely, through the third heaven.

[5] This influx is that by which the societies in the second heaven are disposed or arranged in order according to their goods; and therefore the states of the good are changed according to the influx of innocence; and consequently the conjunctions of the societies there are varied. From all this it can be seen how is to be understood that which is in this verse in the internal sense, namely, that if the particular good of anyone is not sufficient for the innocence, conjunction shall be effected with the nearest good of truth, in order that the good may be filled up, conformably to the innocence, from so many truths of good, according to the appropriation of the innocence.

Note a piè di pagina:

489. That by “sons and daughters” are signified the truths and goods which they had a perception of, and indeed by “sons” truths, and by “daughters” goods, is evident from many passages in the Prophets; for in the Word, as also in olden time, the conceptions and births of the church are called “sons and daughters” as in Isaiah:

The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising; lift up thine eyes round about and see; all they gather themselves together and come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side; then thou shalt see and flow together, and thy heart shall be amazed, and shall be enlarged (Isaiah 60:3-5),

in which passage “sons” signify truths, and “daughters” goods.

[2] In David:

Deliver me and rescue me from the hand of the sons of the stranger, whose mouth speaketh vanity; that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, that our daughters may be as corner-stones hewn in the form of a temple (Psalms 44:11-12),

where the “sons of the stranger” signify spurious truths, or falsities; “our sons” signify doctrinals of truth; “our daughters” doctrinals of good.

[3] In Isaiah:

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not back; bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; bring forth the blind people, and they shall have eyes; the deaf, and they shall have ears (Isaiah 43:6, 8),

in which passage “sons” signify truths; “daughters” goods; the “blind” those who would see truths; and the “deaf” those who would obey them.

[4] In Jeremiah:

Shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth; their flocks, their herds, their sons, and their daughters (Jeremiah 3:24),

where “sons” and “daughters” signify truths and goods. That “children” and “sons” signify truths, is plain from Isaiah: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale; for when he shall see his children the work of My hands in the midst of him, they shall sanctify My name, and shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel; they also that erred in spirit shall know understanding (Isaiah 29:22-24,

where the “Holy One of Jacob, the God of Israel” signifies the Lord; “children” signify the regenerate, who have the understanding of good and truth, as is indeed explained.

[5] Again:

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, for more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married wife (Isaiah 54:1),

where the “sons of the desolate” signify the truths of the primitive Church, or that of the Gentiles; the “sons of the married wife” the truths of the Jewish Church.

[6] In, Jeremiah:

My tent is laid waste and all My cords are plucked out; My sons are gone forth of Me, and are not (Jeremiah 10:20),

where “sons” signify truths. Again:

His sons shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before Me (Jeremiah 30:20),

where “sons” signify the truths of the Ancient Church.

In Zechariah:

I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, with thy sons, O Javan, and make thee as the sword of a mighty man (Zechariah 9:13),

signifying the truths of the faith of love.