8940. 'And if you make for Me an altar of stones' means a representative kind of worship in general that is composed of truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'an altar' as a representative of Divine worship in general, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811, 4489; and from the meaning of 'stones' as truths, dealt with in 643, 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3773, 3789, 3798, 6426, 8609. There is worship of the Lord that springs from good, and there is worship of Him that springs from truth. Worship of the Lord springing from good was represented by an altar of soil, and worship springing from truth by an altar of stone. Regarding the first and the second kinds of worship, see above in 8935. It was because an altar of stone was a sign of worship springing from truth that they were commanded to set up such an altar as soon as they crossed the Jordan and came into the land of Canaan, and to write on it the Commandments contained in the Law, that is, God's truths from heaven. For by the Ten Commandments are meant all God's truths in summary form. That altar is spoken of in Moses as follows,

When you cross the Jordan you shall set up for yourself large stones, and coat them with lime. Then you shall write on them all the words of the Law. Afterwards, you shall build there an altar to Jehovah your God, an altar of stones, which you shall not hew with any iron tool. ¹ With whole stones you shall build the altar of Jehovah your God, and present ² on it burnt offerings and eucharistic offerings. And you shall write on the stones of the altar the words of the Law, expressing them very plainly. Deuteronomy 27:1-8; Joshua 8:30-32.

[2] The reason why they were to write the words of the Law on stones of the altar was that truths were meant by 'stones', and worship that springs from truths by 'an altar of stones'. This was also the reason why the Ten Commandments, which were a sign of Divine Truths in their entirety, were inscribed on tablets of stone. The reason why it had to be done as soon as they crossed the Jordan was that the Jordan, which was the first and outermost boundary of the land of Canaan on the side where the wilderness lay, meant introduction into the Church or heaven, which is accomplished through cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, thus through truths from the Word, 4255. For all the rivers serving as boundaries of that land meant the first and outermost reaches of the Lord's kingdom, 4116, 4240. By 'the stones of the altar' the truths of faith are also meant in Isaiah,

He will remove sin when He makes all the stones of the altar like chalk-stones scattered about. Isaiah 27:9

This refers to the ruination of the Church. 'The stones of the altar like chalk-stones scattered about' stands for the truths of faith that inspire worship after something similar has happened to them. As regards altars in general, they were made out of soil, stones, bronze, wood, and also gold - out of bronze, wood, and gold because these materials served to mean good. For an altar of bronze, see Ezekiel 9:2; for an altar of wood, Ezekiel 41:22; and for an altar of gold, which was the altar of incense, 1 Kings 6:22; 7:48; Revelation 8:3. That 'bronze' means good, see 425, 1551; that 'wood' does so, 643, 2784, 2812, 3720, 8354; and that 'gold' does so as well, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658.

Bilješke:

4255. 'For with just my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two camps' means that from having little He now had much. This is clear from the meaning of 'a staff' as power - a word used in reference to truth, and dealt with in 4013, 4015; from the meaning of 'Jordan' as introduction into cognitions of good and truth, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'two camps' as goods and truths, as above in 4250 - the two camps referred to here consisting of the people, flocks, herds, and camels, which he split into two groups. From this one may see what these words mean in the proximate sense - that when being introduced into cognitions He had only a small amount of truth but subsequently He had many truths and goods; or what amounts to the same, from having little He now had much. From the explanations given up to now it is evident that the subject in the internal sense has been the way in which the Lord made the Human within Him Divine, doing so step by step in keeping with order. So the subject has been His advance into intelligence and wisdom, at length into Divine intelligence and wisdom. This shows what the phrase 'from having little He now had much' is used to mean.

[2] The reason 'the Jordan' means introduction into cognitions of good and truth is that it was a boundary to the land of Canaan. For all the boundaries of that land meant things that are first and last in the Lord's kingdom, and also those that are first and last in the Church, and so those that are first and last in the celestial and spiritual things which constitute the Lord's kingdom and His Church, see 1585, 1866, 4116, 4240. Therefore, being a boundary, 'the Jordan' meant introduction into cognitions of good and truth, for these come first; but when at length a person becomes in himself a Church or the Lord's kingdom they come to be last.

[3] That 'the Jordan' means things that are first and those that are last may be seen from other places in the Word, as in David,

O my God, my soul bows itself down within me; ¹ therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan, and the Hermons from the little mountain. Psalms 42:6.

'Remembering from the land of Jordan' stands for doing so from what is last and so from a position of humbleness. In the same author,

Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominions. The sea saw and fled; the Jordan turned about backwards. Psalms 114:2-3, 5.

'Judah' stands for the good of celestial love, and 'Israel' for the good of spiritual love, 3654. 'The sea' stands for cognitions of truth, 28, 'the Jordan' stands for cognitions of good which are said 'to turn about backwards' when the good of love gains dominion, for in that case cognitions are viewed from that good, not the good from those cognitions - in accordance with the things that have often been shown already.

[4] In the Book of Judges,

Gilead dwelling at the crossing of the Jordan; and Dan, why will he fear ships? Judges 5:17.

'Gilead' stands for the sensory good or pleasure by means of which a person is first introduced into the path of his regeneration, 4117, 4124. 'Dwelling at the crossing of the Jordan' stands for the things effecting that introduction, and so things that are first and last in the Church and the Lord's kingdom. These introductory things were also represented by 'the Jordan' when the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, Joshua 3:14-end; 4:1-end; for 'the land of Canaan' represented the Lord's kingdom, 1413, 1437, 1607, 3038, 3481, 3686, 3705.

And the dividing of the Jordan and their passing through on dry ground meant the removal of evils and falsities and the admission into the Lord's kingdom of those who are governed by goods and truths. Similar in meaning is the dividing of the waters of the Jordan by Elijah when he was carried up into heaven, 2 Kings 2:8, and by Elisha when he entered in place of Elijah into the prophetic role, 2 Kings 2:14.

[5] The cure of Naaman's leprosy, effected by his having washed himself seven times in the Jordan according to Elisha's command, 2 Kings 5:1-14, represented baptism, for baptism means introduction into the Church and into the things that belong to the Church, and so into regeneration and the things that belong to regeneration. Not that anyone is regenerated by baptism; rather it is the sign of it, which he should call to mind. And because the things which constitute the Church are meant by baptism, and baptism is meant by 'the Jordan', as mentioned above, it was the Jordan therefore in which people were baptized by John, Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:5. And the Lord too was willing to be baptized in it by John, Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9.

[6] Because 'the Jordan' means things that are first and last in the Lord's kingdom and in the Church - such as the cognitions of good and truth, since these serve to introduce a person into His kingdom and Church - the Jordan is also for that reason referred to as a boundary of the new earth or holy land, in Ezekiel 47:18. The new earth or holy land means the Lord's kingdom and also the new Church which is the Lord's kingdom on earth, see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end).

Bilješke: