10456. 'And he said, It is not the noise of the cry in victory, and it is not the noise of the cry in defeat' means heaven acting from one side and hell from the other, thus falsity acting against truth, and truth against falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'the noise of the cry', or the noise of shouting, as the essential nature of that nation's interiors, dealt with above in 10454; from the meaning of 'neither victory nor defeat' as the indecisive nature of the conflict between falsity and evil and its failure to be resolved. And since all falsity comes from hell and truth from heaven the same words serve to mean that heaven acts from one side and hell from the other. ('Cry' means falsity, see 2240, also thought with full intention to act, 7119, and deep grief, 7782.) The words used here describe the condition of that nation's interiors when hell with them acts against heaven, and heaven acts against hell, thus when they are held between the two, as happened when with their internal closed they were engaged in an outward act of worship. Their internal was closed in order that through outward observances, which were representative of more internal things, there might be contact with heaven, a subject that has been dealt with above.

10692. 'And Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses' means what is discerned by those whose interest lies in things of the Church, worship, and the Word on an outward level devoid of those on the inward level. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as discerning, dealt with in 2150, 3764, 4567, 4723, 5400; and from the representation of 'Aaron and the children of Israel', in this and the two previous chapters, as those interested solely in things of the Church, worship, and the Word on an outward level and not in those on an inward one.

For this representation of Aaron, see 10397.

For this representation of the children of Israel, see in the places referred to in 9380, 10396; and in addition what is said in 10430, 10453-10457, 10461-10466, 10492, 10498, 10500, 10526, 10531, 10533, 10535, 10549-10551, 10566, 10570, 10575, 10603, 10629, 10632.