9393. And Moses took half of the blood. That this signifies Divine truth that has been made of the life and of worship, is evident from the signification of “blood,” as being the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord (see n. 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7850, 9127). That the Divine truth which has been made of the life and of worship is signified, is because it was the blood that Moses sprinkled on the people (verse 8), by which “blood” is signified Divine truth received by man, thus which has been made of the life and of worship. For that truth is said to be received by man which has been made of the life and thus of worship; and it has become of the life and of worship when the man is affected by it, that is, loves it, or what is the same thing, wills it, and from willing does it from love and affection. Until this is the case, truth is indeed with man in his memory, and is sometimes called forth thence to the internal sight or understanding, from which it again falls back into the memory. But so long as truth Divine has not entered more interiorly, it is indeed with man, but still it is not implanted in the life and will; for the life of man is his will. And therefore when truth is called forth from the memory into the understanding, and from the understanding enters the will, and from the will goes forth into act, then the truth becomes of the man’s life, and is called good. From all this it is evident what is meant by Divine truth being made of the life. It is the same with the truth that is made of the worship. Worship from truth that cleaves to the mere memory, and from this appears in the understanding, is not worship. But worship from truth that goes forth from the will, thus from affection and love, is worship. This worship is called in the Word worship “from the heart,” but the former is worship “of the mouth” only.

[2] It has indeed already been shown, in passages cited above, that “blood” denotes the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord. But as many of the church at this day have no other conception of the blood in the Holy Supper than of the blood of the Lord shed on the cross; and in a more general sense, the passion itself of the cross; it may here be shown in a few words that it is not blood which is there meant, but the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord. The reason why this is unknown within the church, is that at the present day nothing whatever is known about correspondences, consequently nothing about the internal sense of the Word, which is the sense in which the angels are when the Word is read by man.

[3] That “blood” does not denote blood, but truth Divine, can be seen from many passages in the Word, and plainly from this in Ezekiel:

Say to the bird of every wing, and to every wild animal of the field, Be ye assembled, and come; assemble yourselves from around upon My sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the strong ones, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. Ye shall eat fat to satiety, and drink blood unto drunkenness, of My sacrifice that I will sacrifice for you. Ye shall be sated upon My table with horse and chariot, and with every man of war. Thus do I set My glory among the nations (Ezekiel 39:17-21).

That by “blood” is not here meant blood, is very evident, for it is said that they “shall drink the blood of the princes of the earth, and the blood of the sacrifice, even unto drunkenness,” when yet to drink blood, and especially the blood of princes, is an abominable thing, and was forbidden the sons of Israel under the penalty of death (Leviticus 3:17 7:26; 17 (Leviticus 17:4) (Leviticus 17:9-10) (Leviticus 17:14); Deuteronomy 12:17-26; 15:23). It is also said that they “shall be sated with horse, chariot, and every man of war.” He therefore who does not know that “blood” signifies Divine truth; “princes,” primary truths; a “sacrifice,” the things of worship; a “horse,” the understanding of truth; a “chariot,” doctrine; and a “man of war,” truth fighting against falsity; must be amazed at the details of this passage.

[4] In like manner at the Lord’s words in John:

Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye will have no life in you. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him (John 6:53-56).

But see what has been already said about these words in n. 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7850, 9127. That flesh corresponds to good, in like manner bread; and that blood corresponds to truth, in like manner wine; has very often been told me from heaven; as also that the angels perceive the Word no otherwise than according to correspondences; and that in this way man has conjunction with heaven through the Word, and through heaven with the Lord.

[5] In like manner I have been told that the Holy supper was instituted by the Lord in order that by it there might be a conjunction of all things of heaven, that is, of all things of the Lord, with the man of the church; because in this supper the flesh and the bread denote the Divine good of the Lord’s Divine love toward the whole human race, and man’s reciprocal love to the Lord; and the blood and the wine denote the Divine truth proceeding from the Divine good of the Lord’s Divine love, and this received in turn by man; and in heaven to eat and drink these things denotes appropriation and conjunction. (But see what has been already shown on this subject in n. 2165, 2177, 3464, 4211, 4217, 4581, 4735, 5915, 6789, 7850, 9323)

2165. I will take a piece of bread. That this signifies something celestial adjoined, is evident from the signification of “bread,” as being what is celestial (explained before, n. 276, 680-681, 1798). That “bread” signifies what is celestial, is because “bread” means all food in general, and thus in the internal sense all celestial food. What celestial food is, has been stated in Part First (n. 56-58, 680-681, 1480, 1695). That “bread” means all food in general, is evident from the following passages of the Word. We read of Joseph that:

He said to him who was over his house, that he should bring the men-his brethren-home, and should slay what was to be slain, and should make ready; and afterwards, when they had made ready, and were to eat, he said, Set on bread (Genesis 43:16, 31);

meaning that they should make ready the table; “bread” thus denoting all kinds of food. We read concerning Jethro that,

Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God (Exodus 18:12),

where also “bread” denotes all kinds of food. Concerning Manoah, in the Book of Judges:

Manoah said unto the Angel of Jehovah, Let us I pray detain thee, and let us make ready before thee a kid of the goats. And the Angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread (Judg. 13:15-16),

where “bread” denotes a kid of the goats. When Jonathan ate of the honeycomb, they told him that Saul had adjured the people, saying:

Cursed be the man that shall eat bread this day (1 Samuel 14:27-28),

where “bread” denotes all food. Again, concerning Saul:

When Saul sat down to eat bread, he said unto Jonathan, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to bread either yesterday or today? (1 Samuel 20:24, 27),

meaning to the table, where were all kinds of food. We read concerning David that he said to Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan:

Thou shalt eat bread on my table continually (2 Samuel 9:7, 10).

So too concerning Evil-merodach, who said that,

Jehoiachin king of Judah should eat bread before him continually, all the days of his life (2 Kings 25:29).

Concerning Solomon also:

Solomon’s bread for each day was thirty cors of fine flour, and sixty cors of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides the hart and the wild she-goat, and the antelope, and fatted fowl (1 Kings 4:22-23),

where “bread” plainly denotes all of these things.

[2] Now as “bread” means all kinds of food in general, it therefore signifies in the internal sense all those things which are called celestial foods, as may be still more evident from the burnt-offerings and sacrifices that were made of lambs, sheep, she-goats, kids, he-goats, heifers, and oxen, which were called in one word the “bread of the offering made by fire unto Jehovah,” as is clearly evident from the following passages in Moses, where the various sacrifices are treated of, of which it is said that,

The priest should burn them upon the altar, the bread of the offering made by fire unto Jehovah, for an odor of rest (Leviticus 3:11, 16),

all those sacrifices and burnt-offerings being so called. Again:

The sons of Aaron shall be holy unto their God, neither shall they profane the name of their God; because the offerings to Jehovah made by fire, the bread of their God, they do offer. Thou shalt sanctify him, because he offereth the bread of thy God. A man of the seed of Aaron in whom there shall be a blemish, shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God (Leviticus 21:6, 8, 17, 21),

where also sacrifices and burnt-offerings are the “bread.” The same is true of Leviticus 22:25. Again:

Command the sons of Israel, and say unto them, My oblation, My bread for offerings made by fire, of an odor of rest, shall ye observe, to offer unto Me at their appointed time (Numbers 28:2).

Here also “bread” denotes all the sacrifices which are there enumerated.

In Malachi:

Offering polluted bread upon Mine altar (Malachi 1:7),

where also the sacrifices are spoken of. The hallowed things of the sacrifices, which they ate, were also called “bread,” as is evident from these words in Moses:

He that toucheth an unclean thing shall not eat of the hallowed things, but he shall wash his flesh in water, and when the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterwards he shall eat of the hallowed things, because this is his bread (Leviticus 22:6-7).

[3] The burnt-offerings and sacrifices in the Jewish Church represented nothing else than the celestial things of the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens, and of the Lord’s kingdom on earth (that is, in the church), also of the Lord’s kingdom or church with each person, and in general all those things which are of love and charity, for these are things celestial; and each kind of sacrifice represented something special and peculiar. All these were at that time called BREAD, and therefore when sacrifices were abolished, and other things succeeded in their place for external worship, it was commanded that bread and wine should be made use of.

[4] From all this we may now see what the “bread” [in the Holy Supper] signifies, namely, all the things represented by the sacrifices, thus in the internal sense the Lord Himself. And because the “bread” signifies the Lord Himself, it signifies love itself toward the universal human race, and what belongs to love; as also man’s reciprocal love to the Lord and toward the neighbor. The “bread” thus signifies all celestial things, and in the same way the “wine” signifies all spiritual things, as the Lord also teaches in plain words in John. They said,

Our fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven; for the bread of God is He that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. They said unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst (John 6:31-35).

Verily I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, and are dead; this is the bread that cometh down from heaven, that one may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eat of this bread, he shall live to eternity (John 6:47-51).

[5] Now because the “bread” is the Lord, it belongs to the celestial things which are of love, which are the Lord’s; for the Lord is the celestial itself, because He is love itself, that is, mercy itself; and because this is so, “bread” means all the celestial, that is, all the love and charity with man, for these are from the Lord; and therefore they who are not in love and charity have not the Lord with them, and thus are not gifted with the good and happy things that in the internal sense are signified by “bread.” This outward symbol was commanded because the greatest part of the human race are in external worship, and therefore without some outward symbol there would be scarcely anything holy with them. And therefore when they live in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, they nevertheless have appertaining to them what is internal, although they do not know that this love and charity is the veriest internal of worship. Thus in their external worship they are confirmed in the goods which are signified by the “bread.”

[6] In the Prophets also the celestial things of love are signified by “bread” (as in Isaiah 3:1, 7; 30:23; 33:15-16; 55:2; 58:7-8; Lam. 5:9; Ezekiel 4:16-17; 5:16; 14:13; Amos 4:6; 8:11; Psalms 105:16), in like manner by the “bread of faces” upon the table (mentioned Leviticus 24:5-9; Exodus 25:30; 40:23; Numbers 4:7; 1 Kings 7:48).