9372. And He said unto Moses. That this signifies that which concerns the Word in general, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being the Word (of which below); and from the signification of “He said,” as involving those things which follow in this chapter, thus those which concern the Word (see n. 9370). (That Moses represents the Word, can be seen from what has been often shown before about Moses, as from the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 4859, 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 8601, 8760, 8787, 8805.) Here Moses represents the Word in general, because it is said of him in what follows, that he alone should come near unto Jehovah (verse 2); and also that, being called unto out of the midst of the cloud, he entered into it, and went up the mount (verses 16-18).

[2] In the Word there are many who represent the Lord in respect to truth Divine, or in respect to the Word; but chief among them are Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist. That Moses does so, can be seen in the explications just cited above; that so do Elijah and Elisha, can be seen in the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 2762, 5247; and that John the Baptist does so is evident from the fact that he was “Elias who was to come.” He who does not know that John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, cannot know what all those things infold and signify which are said about him in the New Testament; and therefore in order that this secret may stand open, and that at the same time it may appear that Elias, and also Moses, who were seen when the Lord was transfigured, signified the Word, some things may here be quoted which are spoken about John the Baptist; as in Matthew:

After the messengers of John had departed, Jesus began to speak concerning John, saying, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken by the wind? But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft things are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, even more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold I send Mine angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee. Verily I say unto you, Among those who are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he. All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye are willing to believe, he is Elias who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew 11:7-15; and also Luke 7:24-28).

No one can know how these things are to be understood, unless he knows that this John represented the Lord as to the Word, and unless he also knows from the internal sense what is signified by “the wilderness” in which he was, also what by “a reed shaken by the wind,” and likewise by “soft raiment in kings’ houses;” and further what is signified by his being “more than a prophet,” and by “none among those who are born of women being greater than he, and nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he,” and lastly by his being “Elias.” For without a deeper sense, all these words are uttered merely from some comparison, and not from anything of weight.

[3] But it is very different when by John is understood the Lord as to the Word, or the Word representatively. Then by “the wilderness of Judea in which John was” is signified the state in which the Word was at the time when the Lord came into the world, namely, that it was “in the wilderness,” that is, it was in obscurity so great that the Lord was not at all acknowledged, neither was anything known about His heavenly kingdom; when yet all the prophets prophesied about Him, and about His kingdom, that it was to endure forever. (That “a wilderness” denotes such obscurity, see n. 2708, 4736, 7313.) For this reason the Word is compared to “a reed shaken by the wind” when it is explained at pleasure; for in the internal sense “a reed” denotes truth in the ultimate, such as is the Word in the letter.

[4] That the Word in the ultimate, or in the letter, is crude and obscure in the sight of men; but that in the internal sense it is soft and shining, is signified by their “not seeing a man clothed in soft raiment, for behold those who wear soft things are in kings’ houses.” That such things are signified by these words, is plain from the signification of “raiment,” or “garments,” as being truths (n. 2132, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 6914, 6918, 9093); and for this reason the angels appear clothed in garments soft and shining according to the truths from good with them (n. 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216). The same is evident from the signification of “kings’ houses,” as being the abodes of the angels, and in the universal sense, the heavens; for “houses” are so called from good (n. 2233, 2234, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4622, 4982, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997); and “kings,” from truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148). Therefore by virtue of their reception of truth from the Lord, the angels are called “sons of the kingdom,” “sons of the king,” and also “kings.”

[5] That the Word is more than any doctrine in the world, and more than any truth in the world, is signified by “what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet;” and by, “there hath not arisen among those who are born of women a greater than John the Baptist;” for in the internal sense “a prophet” denotes doctrine (n. 2534, 7269); and “those who are born,” or are the sons, “of women” denote truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3704, 4257).

[6] That in the internal sense, or such as it is in heaven, the Word is in a degree above the Word in the external sense, or such as it is in the world, and such as John the Baptist taught, is signified by, “he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he;” for as perceived in heaven the Word is of wisdom so great that it transcends all human apprehension. That the prophecies about the Lord and His coming, and that the representatives of the Lord and of His kingdom, ceased when the Lord came into the world, is signified by, “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” That the Word was represented by John, as by Elijah, is signified by his being “Elias who is to come.”

[7] The same is signified by these words in Matthew:

The disciples asked Jesus, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? He answered and said, Elias must needs first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias hath come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. And they understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).

That “Elias hath come, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished” signifies that the Word has indeed taught them that the Lord is to come, but that still they did not wish to comprehend, interpreting it in favor of the rule of self, and thus extinguishing what is Divine in it. That they would do the same with the truth Divine itself, is signified by “even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them.” (That “the Son of man” denotes the Lord as to truth Divine, see n. 2803, 2813, 3704)

[8] From all this it is now evident what is meant by the prophecy about John in Malachi:

Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh (Malachi 4:5).

Moreover, the Word in the ultimate, or such as it is in the external form in which it appears before man in the world, is described by the “clothing” and “food” of John the Baptist, in Matthew:

John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, had His clothing of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:1, 4).

In like manner it is described by Elijah in the second book of Kings:

He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins (2 Kings 1:8).

By “clothing,” or a “garment,” when said of the Word, is signified truth Divine there in the ultimate form; by “camel’s hair” are signified memory-truths such as appear there before a man in the world; by the “leathern girdle” is signified the external bond connecting and keeping in order all the interior things; by “food” is signified spiritual nourishment from the knowledges of truth and of good out of the Word; by “locusts” are signified ultimate or most general truths; and by “wild honey” their pleasantness.

[9] That such things are signified by “clothing” and “food” has its origin in the representatives of the other life, where all appear clothed according to truths from good, and where food also is represented according to the desires of acquiring knowledge and growing wise. From this it is that “clothing,” or a “garment,” denotes truth (as may be seen from the citations above; and that “food” or “meat” denotes spiritual nourishment, n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562, 9003; that “a girdle” denotes a bond which gathers up and holds together interior things, n. 9341; that “leather” denotes what is external, n. 3540; and thus “a leathern girdle” denotes an external bond; that “hairs” denote ultimate or most general truths, n. 3301, 5569-5573; that “a camel” denotes memory-knowledge in general, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145, 4156; that “a locust” denotes nourishing truth in the extremes, n. 7643; and that “honey” denotes the pleasantness thereof, n. 5620, 6857, 8056). It is called “wild honey,” or “honey of the field,” because by “a field” is signified the church (n. 2971, 3317, 3766, 7502, 7571, 9139, 9295). He who does not know that such things are signified, cannot possibly know why Elijah and John were so clothed. And yet that these things signified something peculiar to these prophets, can be thought by everyone who thinks well about the Word.

[10] Because John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, therefore also when he spoke of the Lord, who was the Word itself, he said of himself that he was “not Elias, nor the prophet,” and that he was “not worthy to loose the latchet of the Lord’s shoe,” as in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The Jews from Jerusalem, priests and Levites, asked John who he was. And he confessed, and denied not, I am not the Christ. Therefore they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? But he said, I am not. Art thou the prophet? He answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet. They said therefore, Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? He answered, I baptize with water; in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not; He it is who is to come after me, who was before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose. When he saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man who was before me; for he was before me (John 1:1, 14, 19-30).

From these words it is plain that when John spoke about the Lord Himself, who was Truth Divine itself, or the Word, he said that he himself was not anything, because the shadow disappears when the light itself appears, that is, the representative disappears when the original itself makes its appearance. (That the representatives had in view holy things, and the Lord Himself, and not at all the person that represented, see n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4307, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.) One who does not know that representatives vanish like shadows at the presence of light, cannot know why John denied that he was Elias and the prophet.

[11] From all this it can now be seen what is signified by Moses and Elias, who were seen in glory, and who spoke with the Lord when transfigured, of His departure which He should accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:29-31); namely, that they signified the Word (“Moses” the historic Word, and “Elias” the prophetic Word), which in the internal sense throughout treats of the Lord, of His coming into the world, and of His departure out of the world; and therefore it is said that “Moses and Elias were seen in glory,” for “glory” denotes the internal sense of the Word, and the “cloud” its external sense (see the preface to Genesis 18, and n. 5922, 8427).

9937. 'And Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things' means a consequent removal or shifting away of falsities and evils with those who are governed by good derived from the Lord. This is clear from the representation of 'Aaron' as the Lord in respect of the good of love, dealt with in 9806, and from the representation of 'the priestly office' in which Aaron served as all the service performed by the Lord as the Saviour, dealt with in 9809; from the meaning of 'bearing the iniquity' as a removal of falsities and evils with those who are governed by good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the holy things' as the gifts which they offered to Jehovah or the Lord to expiate them from sins, those gifts being burnt offerings, sacrifices, and minchahs. It is plain that these should be understood by 'the holy things', for it says, Which the children of Israel shall sanctify, even in all their gifts of holy things. The reason why 'bearing the iniquity' means a removal or shifting away of falsities and evils, or sins, with those who are governed by good is that what is said refers to the Lord; for the Lord is represented by Aaron, and all the work of salvation by his service or priestly office. It is well known in the Church that the Lord is said to have borne sins on behalf of the human race, yet there is no knowledge of what to understand by bearing iniquities and sins. Some think it means that He took the sins of the human race onto Himself and allowed Himself to be condemned even to death on a cross, and that since, because of this, the condemnation for sins was cast onto Him, people in the world have been made free from condemnation. It is also thought that condemnation was taken away by the Lord through His fulfilling the law, for the law would have condemned everyone who did not fulfill it.

[2] But no such ideas should be understood by 'bearing iniquity', for every individual person's deeds await him after death, when he is judged according to the essential nature of those deeds either to life or to death. The essential nature of them depends on his love and faith, for love and faith constitute the life of a deed. No one's deeds therefore can be taken away by transference onto another who will bear them. From these considerations it is evident that something other than those ideas should be understood by 'bearing iniquities'; but what should be understood may be recognized from the actual bearing of iniquities or sins by the Lord. The Lord bears them when He fights on behalf of a person against the hells; for no one is able by himself to fight against them. Rather the Lord alone does so, indeed constantly for every individual person, yet differently with each one according to their reception of Divine Good and Divine Truth.

[3] When He was in the world the Lord fought against all the hells and completely subdued them, as a result of which also He became Righteousness. By doing that He has rescued from damnation those who receive Divine Good and Truth from Him. If the Lord had not done so no person could have been saved, for the hells are unceasingly present with a person, exercising control over him to the extent that the Lord does not shift them away. And He shifts them away to the extent that the person refrains from evils. He who is victorious once over the hells is victorious forever over them; and to achieve this the Lord made Divine His Human. The One therefore who alone fights for a person against the hells - or what amounts to the same thing, against evils and falsities, since they arise from the hells - is said to bear sins; for He bears that burden, alone. The reason why 'bearing sins' also means moving evils and falsities away from those who are governed by good is that this is the consequence. For the more remote the hells are from a person, the more remote evils and falsities are, since falsities and evils come, as has been stated, from the hells - evils and falsities being sins and iniquities. For the implications of all this, see what has been shown above in 9715, 9809, where the Lord's merit and righteousness, and also the subjugation of the hells by Him, are dealt with.

[4] The reason for its being said that Aaron would bear iniquities was that He represented the Lord, while his priestly office represented the Lord's entire work of salvation, see 9806, 9809; and the work of salvation consists primarily in rescuing and delivering a person from hell, and so in shifting evils and falsities away. The expression 'a shifting of evils and falsities away' is used because deliverance from sins or forgiveness of them is nothing other than a shifting away of them; for they still remain with the person. But to the extent that the good of love and the truth of faith are implanted evil and falsity are shifted away. The situation in this is like that with heaven and hell. Heaven does not annihilate hell or those who are there, but moves it away from itself; for the good and truth received from the Lord are what compose heaven, and they are what move hell back. The situation is similar with a person. In himself a person is an embodiment of hell, but when he is being regenerated he becomes an embodiment of heaven; and to the extent that he becomes an embodiment of heaven, hell is moved away from him. It is commonly supposed that evils, that is, sins, are not shifted away in that manner, but that they are completely separated from a person. But those who think this do not know that in himself the whole of a person is nothing but evil, and that to the extent that the person is maintained by the Lord in good, the evils that are his appear as though they have been obliterated. For when a person is maintained in good he is withheld from evil. Yet nobody can be withheld from evil and maintained in good except one in whom the good of faith and charity received from the Lord is present, that is, one who allows himself to be regenerated by the Lord. For through regeneration heaven is implanted with a person, and through this the hell residing with him is moved away, as stated above.

[5] From all this it may again be recognized that 'bearing iniquities', when the Lord is the subject, means fighting constantly for a person against the hells, thus constantly moving them away, for that removal of them goes on unceasingly not only while a person is in the world but also forever in the next life. No mere human being is able to move evils away in that manner, for by himself no one is able to move even the smallest amount of evil away, less still to move the hells, and least of all to do so forever. But see what has been shown previously about these matters -

Evils with a person are not completely separated from him, but they are moved away to the extent that he is governed by good received from the Lord, 8393, 9014, 9333-9336, 9444-9454.

While in the world the Lord overcame the hells by means of conflicts brought about by temptations, and thereby set all things in order; He was stirred by Divine Love to do this, in order that the human race might be saved; and He also thereby made Divine His Human, see the places referred to in 9528 (end).

The Lord fights for a person in temptations, which are spiritual conflicts against evils that come from hell, 1692, 6574, 8159, 8172, 8175, 8176, 8273, 8969.

In what way the Lord bore the iniquities of the human race when He was in the world, that is, fought with the hells and subdued them, and in so doing acquired Divine power to Himself to remove them with all who are governed by good, and that He thereby became merit and righteousness, is described in Isaiah 59:16-20, and also 63:1-9, for explanations of which, see 9715, 9809.

[6] From all this, once it is understood, people may then know what all those things mean that are stated regarding the Lord in Chapter 53 of the same prophet, a chapter dealing from beginning to end with the state of temptations He underwent, thus with the state He was passing through when He was engaged in conflict with the hells. For temptations are nothing other than conflicts with them. This state is described in [verses Isaiah 53:4-6, 9-12, of] that chapter in the following way,

He bore our griefs ¹ and carried our sorrows.

He was pierced because of our transgressions and bruised because of our iniquities.

Jehovah has laid on ² Him the iniquity of us all.

So He consigned the wicked to [their] grave.

The will of Jehovah will prosper by means of His hand.

Out of the distress ³ of His soul He will see and be satisfied, and through His wisdom He will justify many, because He has carried their iniquities.

So He has borne the sin of many.

The Lord is also called there [in Isaiah 53:1] the arm of Jehovah, by which Divine Power is meant, 4932, 7205. 'Carrying griefs, sorrows, and iniquities', and 'being pierced and bruised because of them' self-evidently means the state of temptations; for at that time there are experiences involving distress of mind, anguish, and despair, which cause the pain described in those verses. The hells bring such feelings about; for in temptations they assault the actual love of the one against whom they fight. Everyone's love is the inmost core of his life. The Lord's love was that of saving the human race; and this love was the Essential Being (Esse) of His life, since the Divine within Him was that love. This too is so described in Isaiah, where the Lord's conflicts are the subject, in the following words,

He said, Surely they are My people. Therefore He became their Saviour. In all their affliction He suffered affliction; because of His love and His compassion He redeemed them, and took them and carried them all the days of eternity. Isaiah 63:8-9.

[7] The description of the Lord's suffering of such temptations when He was in the world is brief in the Gospels, but in the Prophets, and especially in the Psalms of David, it is extensive. The Gospels merely state that He was led into the wilderness, where He was then tempted by the devil, and that He was there forty days, and was with the beasts, Mark 1:12-13; Matthew 4:1. But the fact that He had been undergoing temptations from earliest childhood through to the end of His life in the world, that is, had been engaged in conflicts with the hells, was not revealed by Him, as accords with the following words in Isaiah,

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He is led like a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers is dumb, He did not open His mouth. Isaiah 53:7.

His final temptation was in Gethsemane, Matthew 26; Mark 14, followed by the passion of the Cross. Through this temptation He completely subdued the hells, as He Himself teaches in John,

Father, rescue Me from this hour. But on account of this I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name. [Then] a voice came from heaven, [saying,] I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Then Jesus said, Now is the judgement of this world, now will the prince of this world be cast outdoors. John 12:27-28, 31.

'The prince of [this] world' is the devil, thus all hell. 'Glorifying' means making Divine the Human. The reason why only the temptation after the forty days in the wilderness is mentioned is that 'forty days' means and implies temptations to completeness, thus over a number of years, see 8098, 9437. 'The wilderness' means hell, 'the beasts' He fought with there being the devil's crew.

[8] The removal of sins with those who are governed by good or who have repented was represented in the Jewish Church by the he-goat called Azazel. Aaron was to lay his hands on its head and to confess the iniquities of the children of Israel and all transgressions in respect of all their sins, after which he was to send it into the wilderness; thus the he-goat was to bear on itself all their iniquities into a land of separation, Leviticus 16:21-22. 'Aaron' here represents the Lord, 'the he-goat' means faith, 'the wilderness' and 'a land of separation' hell, and 'bearing the iniquities of the children of Israel to that place' removing and casting them into hell. Nobody can know that such things were represented except from the internal sense. For anyone can see that the iniquities of the entire assembly could not have been carried off into the wilderness by any he-goat; for what did a he-goat have in common with iniquities? But since everything representative at that time was a sign of such things as belong to the Lord, heaven, and the Church, so were these things that were done with the he-goat. The internal sense therefore teaches what those things imply, namely that the truth of faith is the means by which a person is regenerated, consequently by which sins are removed. And since faith or belief in what is true is derived from the Lord, the Lord Himself is the One who accomplishes that removal of them, as accords with what has been stated and shown in the Preface to Genesis 22, and also in 2046, 3332, 3876, 3877, 4738. Aaron represents the Lord, see 9806, 9808; and 'a he-goat of the she-goats' is the truth of faith, 4169 (end), 4769. The reason why 'the wilderness' is hell, is that the camp where the children of Israel were meant heaven, 4236; and for the same reason also the wilderness is called 'a land of separation' or a land that is cut off. 'Bearing iniquities into that land' or into the wilderness accordingly means casting evils and falsities into hell from where they come; and they are cast into that place when they become so remote that they cannot be seen, which is what happens when a person is withheld from them because he is maintained in good by the Lord, as accords with what has been stated above.

[9] The same thing as is meant by casting out sins into the wilderness is also meant by casting them into the depths of the sea, as in Micah,

He will be merciful to us, He will sink our iniquities, and He will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:19.

'Depth of the sea' too means hell.

[10] From all this it is now evident that the words saying that Aaron was to bear the iniquity of the holy things means a removal or shifting away of sins from those who are governed by good derived from the Lord, and that this removal of them is done constantly by the Lord. This is what 'bearing iniquities' means, as also in another place in Moses,

Jehovah said to Aaron, You and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary. Also you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. The children of Israel shall no longer come near the tent of meeting, or else they will bear sin and die. ⁴ But Levites shall perform the work of the tent, and these shall bear their iniquity. Numbers 18:1, 22-23.

'Bearing' or 'carrying' is used with a similar meaning in Isaiah,

Hearken to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel who have been carried from the womb. Even to [your] old age I am the Same, and even to grey hair I will carry [you]; I have made, and I will carry, and I will bear, and I will deliver. Isaiah 46:3-4.

[11] 'Bearing iniquity' means making expiation, thus removing sins, in Moses,

Moses was annoyed with Eleazar and Ithamar, because the he-goat of the sin-sacrifice had been burnt, saying, Why have you not eaten it in a holy place, since Jehovah has given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make expiation for them before Jehovah? Leviticus 10:16-17.

For the meaning of 'expiation' as cleansing from evils, thus removal from sins, see 9506. Also Aaron was commanded to make expiation for the people, and to pardon their sins, Leviticus 4:26, 31, 35; 5:6, 10, 13, 16, 18; 6:7; 9:7; 15:15, 30. But bearing sins, when the phrase is not used in reference to the priesthood, means being damned, and so means dying, Leviticus 5:1, 17; 7:18; 17:16; 19:8; 20:17, 19-20; 22:9; 24:15; Numbers 9:13; 18:22; Ezekiel 18:19-20; 23:49.

V:

4735. Shed no blood. That this signifies that they should not do violence to what is holy is evident from the signification of “blood” as being what is holy-of which in what follows; hence “to shed blood” is to do violence to what is holy. All the holy in heaven proceeds from the Lord’s Divine Human, and therefore all the holy in the church; wherefore that violence might not be done to it, the Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord, in which it is expressly said that the bread is His flesh, and the wine His blood, thus that it is his Divine Human from which the holy then comes. With the ancients, flesh and blood signified the human own, because the human consists of flesh and blood; thus the Lord said to Simon, “Blessed art thou, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in the heavens” (Matthew 16:17). The flesh and the blood, therefore, signified by the bread and the wine in the Holy Supper, denote the Lord’s Human Own. The Lord’s Own Itself, which He acquired to Himself by His own power, is Divine. His Own from conception was what He had from Jehovah His Father, and was Jehovah Himself. Hence the Own which He acquired to Himself in the Human was Divine. This Divine Own in the Human is what is called His flesh and blood; “flesh” is His Divine good (n. 3813), and “blood” is the Divine truth of Divine good.

[2] The Lord’s Human, after it was glorified or made Divine, cannot be thought of as human, but as the Divine love in human form; and this so much the more than the angels, who, when they appear (as seen by me), appear as forms of love and charity under the human shape, and this from the Lord; for the Lord from Divine love made His Human Divine; just as man through heavenly love becomes an angel after death, so that he appears, as just said, as a form of love and charity under the human shape. It is plain from this that by the Lord’s Divine Human, in the celestial sense is signified the Divine love itself, which is love toward the whole human race, in that it wills to save them and to make them blessed and happy to eternity, and to make its Divine their own so far as they can receive it. This love and the reciprocal love of man to the Lord, and also love toward the neighbor, are what are signified and represented in the Holy Supper-the Divine celestial love by the flesh or bread, and the Divine spiritual love by the blood or wine.

[3] From these things it is now evident what is meant in John by eating the Lord’s flesh and drinking His blood:

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For 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. This is the bread which came down from heaven (John 6:51-58).

As “flesh and blood” signify as before said the Divine celestial and the Divine spiritual which are from the Lord’s Divine Human, or what is the same, the Divine good and the Divine truth of his love, by “eating and drinking” is signified making them one’s own; and this is effected by a life of love and charity, which is also a life of faith. (That “eating” is making good one’s own, and “drinking” making truth one’s own, may be seen above, n. 2187, 3069, 3168, 3513, 3596, 3734, 3832, 4017, 4018.)

[4] As “blood” in the celestial sense signifies the Divine spiritual or the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human, it therefore signifies the holy proceeding; for the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human is the holy itself.

[5] Holiness is nothing else, nor from any other source. That “blood” signifies this holy is evident from many passages in the Word, of which we may adduce the following:

Son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Say to every bird of the heaven, to every wild beast of the field, Assemble yourselves and come; gather yourselves from every side upon My sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, [of bullocks,] all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of My sacrifice which I will sacrifice for you. And ye shall be sated at My table with horse and chariot, with the strong, and with every man of war. And I will set My glory among the nations (Ezekiel 39:17-21).

The subject here treated of is the calling together of all to the Lord’s kingdom, and specifically the setting up again of the church among the Gentiles; and by their “eating flesh and drinking blood” is signified making Divine good and Divine truth their own, thus the holy which proceeds from the Lord’s Divine Human. Who cannot see that by “flesh” is not meant flesh, nor by “blood” blood, where it is said that they should eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, and that they should be sated with horse and chariot, with the strong, and with every man of war?

[6] So likewise in Revelation:

I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come and gather yourselves unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of the strong, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great (Revelation 19:17-18);

who would ever understand these words unless he knew what is signified in the internal sense by “flesh,” and what by “kings,” “captains,” “the strong” “horses,” “those that sit thereon,” and “free and bond?”

[7] Further in Zechariah:

He shall speak peace to the nations; and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, through the blood of Thy covenant I will send forth thy bound out of the pit (Zech. 9:10-11); where the Lord is spoken of; the “blood of Thy covenant” is the Divine truth proceeding from his Divine Human, and is the holy itself which, after He was glorified, went forth from Him. This holy is also what is called the Holy Spirit, as is evident in John:

Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. Whosoever believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).

That the holy proceeding from the Lord is the “spirit,” may be seen in John 6:63.

[8] Moreover, that “blood” is the holy proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human, in David:

Bring back their soul from deceit and violence; and precious shall their blood be in His eyes (Psalms 72:14);

“precious blood” denotes the holy which they would receive.

In Revelation:

These are they who come out of great affliction, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).

And again:

They overcame the dragon by the blood of the lamb, and by the Word of their testimony; and they loved not their soul even unto death (Revelation 12:11).

[9] The church at this day does not know otherwise than that the “blood of the lamb” here signifies the Lord’s passion, because it is believed that they are saved solely by the Lord having suffered, and that it was for this that He was sent into the world; but let this view of it be for the simple, who cannot comprehend interior arcana. The Lord’s passion was the last of His temptation, by which He fully glorified His Human (Luke 24:26; John 12:23, 27-28; 13:31-32; 17:1, 4-5); but the “blood of the lamb” is the same as the Divine truth, or the holy proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human; thus the same as the “blood of the covenant” spoken of just above, and of which it is also written in Moses:

[10] Moses took the book of the covenant, and read in the ears of the people; and they said, All that Jehovah hath spoken will we do, and hear. Then Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which Jehovah hath made with you upon all these words (Exodus 24:7-8).

The “book of the covenant” was the Divine truth which they then had, which was confirmed by the blood testifying that it was from His Divine Human.

[11] In the rituals of the Jewish Church blood had no other signification than the holy proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human, wherefore when they were sanctified, it was done by blood-as when Aaron and his sons were sanctified, blood was sprinkled upon the horns of the altar, the remainder at the bottom of the altar, also upon the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot, and upon his garments (Exodus 29:12, 16, 20; Leviticus 8:15, 19, 23, 30). And when Aaron entered within the veil to the mercy-seat, blood was also to be sprinkled with the finger upon the mercy-seat eastward seven times (Leviticus 16:12-15). So also in the rest of the sanctifications, and also in the expiations and cleansings (in regard to which see the following passages, Exodus 12:7, 13, 22; 30:10; Leviticus 1:5, 11, 15; 3:2, 8, 13; 4:6-7, 17-18, 25, 30, 34; 5:9; 6:27-28; 14:14-19, 25-30; 16:12-15, 18-19; Deuteronomy 12:27).

[12] As by “blood” in the genuine sense is signified the holy, so in the opposite sense by “blood” and “bloods” are signified those things which offer violence to it, because by shedding innocent blood is signified doing violence to what is holy. For this reason wicked things of life and profane things of worship were called “blood.” That “blood” and “bloods” have such a signification, is evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

When the Lord shall have washed the excrement of the daughters of Zion, and shall have washed away the bloods of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of expurgation (Isaiah 4:4).

The waters of Dimon are full of blood (Isaiah 15:9).

Again:

Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity (Isaiah 59:3, 7).

In Jeremiah:

Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor (Jeremiah 2:34).

[13] Again:

It is because of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of Jerusalem. They have wandered blind in the streets, they are polluted with blood; those which they cannot [pollute] they touch with their garments (Lam. 4:13-14).

In Ezekiel:

I have passed by thee, and saw thee trodden down in thy bloods, and I said unto thee, Live in thy bloods, and I said unto thee, Live in thy bloods. I washed thee with waters, and washed away thy bloods from upon thee, and I anointed thee with oil (Ezekiel 16:6, 9).

Again:

Thou son of man, Wilt thou debate with a city of bloods? Make known to her all her abominations. Thou art become guilty through thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled through thine idols which thou hast made. Behold the princes of Israel, everyone according to his arm, have been in thee and have shed blood; men of slander have been in thee to shed blood; and in thee they have eaten at the mountains (Ezekiel 22:2-4, 6, 9).

In Moses:

If anyone shall sacrifice elsewhere than upon the altar at the tent, it shall be blood; and as if he had shed blood (Leviticus 17:1-9).

[14] Falsified and profaned truth is signified by the following passages concerning blood.

In Joel:

I will set wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day come (Joel 2:30-31).

In Revelation:

The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood (Revelation 6:12).

Again

The second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood (Revelation 8:8).

Again:

The second angel poured out his vial into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial into the rivers, and into the fountains of waters, and there became blood (Revelation 16:3-4).

[15] Similar is what is said in Exodus (7:15-22), about the rivers, ponds, and pools of water in Egypt being turned into blood; for by “Egypt” is signified the memory-knowledge which from itself enters into heavenly mysteries, and hence perverts, denies, and profanes Divine truths (n. 1164, 1165, 1186). All the miracles in Egypt, being Divine, involved such things. The “rivers which were turned into blood” are the truths of intelligence and wisdom (n. 108, 109, 3051); “waters” have a similar signification (n. 680, 2702, 3058), and also “fountains” (n. 2702, 3096, 3424); “seas” are truths in the complex which are a matter of memory-knowledge (n. 28); the “moon” of which it is also said that it should be “turned into blood,” is Divine truth (n. 1529-1531, 2495, 4060). It is evident from this, that by the moon, the sea, fountains, waters, and rivers, being turned into blood, is signified truth falsified and profaned.