1385. Er zijn geesten, die tot de streek van de huid, vooral van de schubachtige huid behoren, die over alles willen redeneren en geenszins gewaarworden, wat goed en waar is, en die het zelfs hoe meer zij redeneren, des te minder gewaarworden, doordat zij in het redeneren de wijsheid stellen, en ook zo als wijs gezien te worden. Hun werd gezegd, dat de wijsheid van de engelen bestaat in het innerlijk gewaarworden of iets goed en waar is, zonder geredeneer; maar zij begrijpen niet, dat zo’n innerlijke gewaarwording kan bestaan Het zijn diegenen, die in het leven van het lichaam het goede en het ware verward hebben door wetenschappelijke en filosofische dingen, en zich vandaar voor geleerder hielden dan anderen en die van te voren niet enig beginsel van het ware uit het Woord hadden opgenomen; en zij hebben daarom minder gezonde rede.

10154. 'And I will be their God' means the Lord's presence and His influx into truth in the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'being their God' as the Lord's presence and His influx into truth - into truth because in the Old Testament Word the Lord is called God where truth is the subject, but Jehovah where good is the subject. This also goes to explain why angels are called gods, because they are recipients of Divine Truth from the Lord, and in addition why in the original language the plural word Elohim is used to denote God; for truths are many but good is one, Matthew 19:16-17.

The Lord is called God where truth is the subject but Jehovah where good is the subject, see 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4287, 4402, 7010, 9167.

Angels are called gods, because they are recipients of Divine Truth from the Lord, 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8192, 8302, 8867, 8941.

In the Word Jehovah means the Lord, see the places referred to in 9373; and in Isaiah He is called explicitly 'Father from eternity' and also 'God',

To us a Boy is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder; His name is called, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of peace. Isaiah 9:6.

And in the same prophet,

A virgin will conceive and bear [a son], and His name will be called Immanuel, that is, God with us. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23.

The meaning of the words here 'I will be their God' as the Lord's presence and His influx into truth is also evident from the fact that 'I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel' means the Lord's presence and His influx through good. For wherever good is the subject in the Word, so too is truth, on account of the heavenly marriage, which is that of goodness and truth, in every single part of the Word, see the places referred to in 9263, 9314.

9992. 'And unleavened bread' means purification of what is celestial in the inmost part of a person. This is clear from the meaning of 'bread' as that which is celestial, dealt with in 2165, 2177, 3478, 9545; and from the meaning of what is 'unleavened' as what has been purified, dealt with below. The inmost part of a person is meant because what is celestial consists in the good of love, and the good of love is inmost. There are three degrees in a person that follow one another in order; and these three are called celestial, spiritual, and natural. The celestial degree is the good of love to the Lord, the spiritual is the good of charity towards the neighbour, and the natural descending from this is the good of faith, which, since it descends from the spiritual, is called spiritual-natural. The situation with a person resembles that in the heavens. The inmost heaven, also called the third heaven, is where the celestial degree is situated; the second or middle heaven is where the spiritual degree does so; and the first or lowest heaven is where the natural descending from the spiritual, or the spiritual-natural degree, does so. The reason why the situation with a person resembles that in the heavens is that a person in whom good is present is heaven in the smallest form it takes, see the places referred to in 9279. The celestial heaven or kingdom and the division of this too into three will be spoken of in what follows next where cakes and wafers made from fine wheat flour are the subject.

[2] 'Unleavened' means what has been purified because 'yeast' means falsity arising from evil, 2342, 7906, so that 'unleavened' or made without yeast means pure or free from that falsity. 'Yeast' means falsity arising from evil because such falsity defiles good, and truth as well, and also because it gives rise to conflict; for when that falsity gets near good, agitation occurs, and when it gets near truth, a collision takes place. All this explains why a minchah consisting of unleavened bread was included in burnt offerings and sacrifices. Therefore it was decreed that every minchah which they brought to Jehovah should be made without yeast, Leviticus 2:11; that they should not sacrifice the blood of a sacrifice with anything made with yeast, Exodus 23:18; and that during the feast of Passover they should not eat anything made with yeast, and that anyone eating it should be cut off from Israel, Exodus 12:15, 18-20. The reason why anyone who ate anything made with yeast during the feast of Passover should be cut off from Israel was that the feast of Passover was a sign of deliverance from damnation, and in particular of deliverance from falsities arising from evil, accomplished with those who allow themselves to be regenerated by the Lord, see 7093, 9286-9292. This also explains why it was called the feast of unleavened bread.