10290. 'And Jehovah said to Moses' means enlightenment and perception once again from the Lord through the Word. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying', when it refers to Jehovah, as enlightenment and perception (for its meaning enlightenment, see 7019, 10215, 10234, and for its meaning perception, 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2862, 3509, 5877); and from the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, dealt with in 6752, 7014, 7089, 'Jehovah' in the Word being the Lord, see in the places referred to in 9373. From all this it is evident that 'Jehovah said to Moses' means enlightenment and perception from the Lord through the Word.

[2] These things are meant because the Lord speaks to a member of the Church in no other way than through the Word; for when He does so He sheds light to enable the person to see the truth, and also provides perception to enable him to perceive it to be such. How far He does so however is determined by the nature of the person's desire for truth, and that desire is determined by his love. Those who love truth for truth's sake possess enlightenment, and those who love truth for goodness' sake have perception. What perception is, see 483, 495, 521, 536, 597, 607, 784, 1121, 1387, 1919, 2144, 2145, 2171, 2515, 2831, 5228, 5920, 7680, 7977, 8780. But the Lord spoke to Moses and the prophets by word of mouth, to the end that the Word might be disseminated, its nature being such that every detail had an inner meaning. This also is the reason why these words, Jehovah said to Moses, are used. The angels, who discern that inner meaning, have no awareness of Moses, for the names of persons do not pass into heaven, 10282. Instead of Moses they perceive the Word, while the verb 'to say' is with them converted into something congruous with it, thus in this instance into 'to be enlightened' and 'to perceive'. Nothing else furthermore is understood, in the angelic way of thinking, by 'saying' or 'speaking' when done by the Lord through the Word.

1121. I have learned from members' of the Most Ancient Church about their state of perception - that they had a perception of everything that was a matter of faith, almost as the angels did with whom they were in communication. The reason they had it was that their interior man, which is the spirit, was joined - also by means of internal breathing - to heaven, and that love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour have heaven within them. Thus man is joined to the angels through their very life itself which consists in such love. They said that because they abided in love to the Lord and in love towards the neighbour they had the law inscribed within them. That being so whatever the laws dictated was in keeping with their perception and whatever the laws forbade was contrary to that perception. Nor did they doubt that all human laws, like Divine laws, are based on love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, and regard these as their foundation. Since they had this foundation in them from the Lord they could not help knowing all that arises from it. They also believe that all people living in the world today who love the Lord and the neighbour have this law inscribed within them as well, and are acceptable citizens everywhere on earth just as they are in the next life.