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.

5570. There are many, especially women, who have vested everything in adornment, nor have they thought higher, and scarcely anything about eternal life. This is pardoned to women until the age of womanhood, when the ardor which is wont to precede marriage ceases; but if they persist in such things in adult age, when they can know better, they then contract a nature which remains after death. Such appear in the other life with long hair spread over the face, which they also comb, vesting elegance therein; for “to comb the hair” signifies to accommodate natural things so that they appear becoming (see n. 5247). From this their quality is known by others; for spirits can tell from the color, length, and arrangement of the hair what the persons had been as to natural life in the world.

8254. Worship of the Lord consists primarily in a charitable life, and not in a religious life without it. A religious life without the charitable life is no more than a selfish wish to look after oneself; there is no concern in it for one's neighbour. But the pursuit of a religious life together with that of a charitable life is indeed a wish to look after oneself, yet out of concern for one's neighbour. The pursuit of a religious life alone is motivated by love directed towards self, but the pursuit of both together is motivated by love directed towards the neighbour.