10326. Exodus 31

1. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2. See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, belonging to the tribe of Judah.

3. And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all [manner of] work ¹ ,

4. To compose designs ² , to work ³ in gold, and in silver, and in bronze,

5. And in the cutting of stones for filling ⁴ , and in the carving of wood, to work ¹ in all [manner of] work ¹ .

6. And I, behold, I have appointed ⁵ with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, belonging to the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the heart of everyone wise in heart. And they shall make all the things that I have commanded you -

7. The tent of meeting, and the ark of the Testimony, and the mercy-seat which is over it, and all the vessels of the tent,

8. And the table and its vessels, and the pure lampstand and all its vessels, and the altar of incense,

9. And the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its pedestal,

10. And the garments of ministry, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to serve in the priestly office,

11. And the anointing oil, and the incense of spices for what is holy. According to all the things which I have commanded you they shall do.

12. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

13. And you, speak to the children of Israel, saying, Surely you shall keep My sabbaths; for it is a sign between Me and you [throughout] your generations, that you may know that I Jehovah am sanctifying you.

14. And you shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy to you. He who profanes it must certainly die; for everyone who does work on that [day], that soul will be cut off from the midst of his people.

15. Work shall be done for six days, and on the seventh day there is the sabbath of rest ⁶ , holy to Jehovah; whoever does any work on the sabbath day must certainly die.

16. And the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath [throughout] their generations, the covenant of an age ⁷ .

17. This is a sign between Me and the children of Israel into an age ⁸ ; for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and recovered His breath.

18. And He gave to Moses, when He had finished talking to him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

CONTENTS

The subject here in the internal sense is first the establishment of the representative Church among those in whom the good of love to the Lord and the good of faith in Him are present. This is meant by the objects, listed briefly, which were to be made by Bezalel from the tribe of Judah and Aholiab from the tribe of Dan. Further on the subject is the joining of the Lord to that Church by means of representatives. This is meant by the sabbath, to be kept in a holy manner.

Bilješke:

2069. 'Kings of peoples will be from her' means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, meant by 'kings of peoples'. This is clear from the meaning of 'kings' as all truths in general, dealt with above in 2015, and from the meaning of 'peoples' also as truths, in general all things that are spiritual. For 'kings' are spoken of in reference to peoples, and not so much in reference to nations except when the nations mean evils, dealt with in 1259, 1260. In the prophetical part of the Word kings and peoples are mentioned many times, but nowhere are they used to mean kings and peoples, for at no point are kings and peoples the subject in the Word proper, which is the internal sense, but the celestial and spiritual things comprising the Lord's kingdom, and so goods and truths. The sense of the letter expresses itself by means of perceivable objects, as anyone does with words, merely to enable understanding.

[2] Since the subject here is Sarah and the promise that 'kings of peoples will be from her', and since 'Sarah' means Divine Truth which was the Lord's, 'kings of peoples' clearly means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, which are all the truths of the internal Church, that is, the interior truths of faith. Because these truths come from the Lord, they are frequently called 'kings' in the Word, and also 'a king's sons', as shown above in 2015.

[3] Anyone may see that some internal Divine matter lies concealed in the words that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. For the subject in this verse is Isaac, of whom it is said, 'I will bless him, and he will become nations', but of Sarah that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. Almost the same was also said of Abraham in verse 6 above, that 'kings will go out of him'; but it did not say as it does of Sarah, 'kings of peoples'. The arcanum within this lies too deep to allow it to be uncovered and described in a few words. From the representation and meaning of 'Abraham' as Divine Good and from the representation and meaning of 'Sarah' as Divine Truth the arcanum is to some extent evident, namely that from the Lord's Divine Good meant by 'Abraham' all celestial truth will come forth and have its being, and from the Lord's Divine Truth meant by 'Sarah' all spiritual truth will do so. Celestial truth is the truth which exists with celestial angels, and spiritual truth that which exists with spiritual angels. Or what amounts to the same, celestial truth was the truth which existed with members of the Most Ancient Church which came before the Flood and which was a celestial Church, spiritual truth that which existed with members of the Ancient Church which came after the Flood and was a spiritual Church. For angels, as also members of the Church, are distinguished into celestial and spiritual. That which distinguishes the celestial from the spiritual is love to the Lord, and that which distinguishes spiritual from celestial is love towards the neighbour.

[4] No more can be said about celestial truth and spiritual truth however until the difference between the celestial and the spiritual is known, or what amounts to the same, the difference between the celestial Church and the spiritual. For this see Volume One, in 202, 337, 1577; then concerning the nature of the Most Ancient Church and the nature of the Ancient Church, in 597, 607, 640, 765, 1114-1125, and in many other places. On the point that possessing love to the Lord constitutes the celestial, and possessing love towards the neighbour the spiritual, see 2023.

[5] These considerations now show what the arcanum is, namely that 'the kings who will go out of Abraham', referred to in verse 6, mean celestial truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Good, while 'the kings of peoples who will be from Sarah', referred to in the present verse, mean spiritual truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Truth. For the Lord's Divine Good is unable to flow in except with the celestial man since it is an influx into the will part of his mind, as was the case with the Most Ancient Church, whereas with the spiritual man the Lord's Divine Truth is flowing in since the influx is solely into the understanding part, which in him has been separated from the will part, 2053 (end). Or what amounts to the same, celestial good is flowing in with the celestial man, and spiritual good with the spiritual man. As a consequence the Lord is seen by celestial angels as the Sun, but by spiritual angels as the Moon, 1529, 1530.