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.

3653. From all this it is now evident that in these verses there is fully described the state of devastation of the church in respect to the goods of love and the truths of faith, and that at the same time there is given an exhortation to those who are in these goods and truths in regard to what they ought then to do. There are three kinds of men within the church; namely, those who are in love to the Lord; those who are in charity toward the neighbor; and those who are in the affection of truth. Those who belong to the first class, who are in love to the Lord, are specifically signified in the words, “let them that are in Judea flee into the mountains.” Those in the second class, who are in charity toward their neighbor, are specifically signified in the words, “let him that is upon the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.” Those in the third class, who are in the affection of truth, are specifically signified in the words, “and let him that is in the field not return back to take his garment.” (See what has been said and explained above in regard to these words, n. 2454; and what is meant by “returning back,” and “looking behind him.”)

7048. And He ceased from him. That this signifies that it was permitted that they should represent, is evident from the signification of “ceasing from him,” namely, from killing him, as being permission that they should represent; for that “Jehovah sought to kill him,” signified that a representative church could not be instituted with that nation (see n. 7043); and therefore when it is now said that “He ceased from him,” it signifies that it was permitted that they should represent, that is, that there should be instituted with that nation the representative of a church, but not a church. That it is one thing to represent a church, and another to be a church, is evident from the fact that even the evil can represent a church, but none except the good can be a church; for to represent a church is merely external (n. 3670, 4208, 4281).