9371. THE INTERNAL SENSE.

Verses 1-2. And He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and bow yourselves afar off; and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah; and they shall not come near; and the people shall not come up with him. “And He said unto Moses,” signifies that which concerns the Word in general; “come up unto Jehovah,” signifies conjunction with the Lord; “thou and Aaron,” signifies the Word in the internal sense and the external sense; “Nadab and Abihu,” signifies doctrine from both senses; “and seventy of the elders of Israel,” signifies the chief truths of the church which are of the Word, or of doctrine, and which agree with good; “and bow yourselves afar off,” signifies humiliation and adoration from the heart, and then the influx of the Lord; “and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah,” signifies the conjunction and presence of the Lord through the Word in general; “and they shall not come near,” signifies no separate conjunction and presence; “and the people shall not come up with him,” signifies no conjunction whatever with the external apart from the internal.

368. Verses 5, 6. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third animal saying, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse; and he that sat on him had a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four animals saying, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

"And when he had opened the third seal," signifies prediction concerning a further succeeding state with those who belong to the church where the Word is; "I heard the third animal saying," signifies out of the inmost heaven from the Lord; "Come and see," signifies attention and perception; "and lo, a black horse," signifies the understanding of the Word destroyed as to truth; "and he that sat on him had a balance in his hand," signifies the estimation of truth from the Word in that state of the church.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four animals saying, "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny," signify that the genuine good of the church is of no account to them, and also the genuine truth of the church; "and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine," signifies that it is provided that the internal or spiritual. sense of the Word should not be injured either as to good or as to truth.