127. Men's desire to probe into mysteries of faith by means of sensory evidence and factual knowledge was not only the cause of the downfall of the Most Ancient Church, that is to say, of its descendants - to be dealt with in the next chapter; it is also the cause of the downfall of every Church. For that desire leads not only to falsities but also to evils of life.

10460. 'And Moses grew hot with anger' means that nation's turning away from the internal side of the Word, the Church, and worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'growing hot with anger', when it has reference to the Lord, as a person's turning away from internal and so Divine things, dealt with above in 10431. The like is meant by 'growing hot with anger' when this is attributed to Moses, because 'Moses' represents the Word or Divine Truth which comes from the Lord, or what amounts to the same thing, the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, regarding which representation, see in the places referred to in 9372. The expression 'from the internal side of the Word, the Church, and worship' is used because the person who turns away from what exists on the internal side of the Word turns away as well from what exists on the internal side of the Church and also on the internal side of worship, since what resides internally in the Church and internally in worship derives from that which resides internally within the Word. For the Word teaches what a member of the Church must be like or what the Church as it exists with a person must be like, and also what the worship with a member of the Church must be like. For the forms of good and the truths of love and faith are what compose the Church internally and also worship internally; they are what the Word teaches, and they are what compose the Word internally.