9965. 'That they may not bear iniquity and die' means the elimination of the whole of worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing the iniquity', when the subject is the priestly office of Aaron and his sons, as a removal or shifting away of falsities and evils with those who are governed by good derived from the Lord, dealt with above in 9937. But when it speaks of them 'bearing iniquity and dying' the elimination of the whole of worship is meant, see 9928; for the representative worship died because nothing of it appeared any longer in heaven. The situation in all this may become clear from what has been stated and shown above in 9959-9961. They also died when they did not act in accordance with the statutes, ¹ as is evident from Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, who were devoured by fire from heaven when they did not take the fire of the altar to burn incense but foreign ² fire, Leviticus 10:1-2ff. 'The fire of the altar' represented God's love, thus love from the Lord, whereas 'foreign fire' represented love from hell. The elimination of worship was meant by their burning incense with this fire and their consequent death. For the meaning of 'fire' as love, see 5215, 6832, 7324, 7575, 7852.

[2] Many places in the Word state that they would bear iniquity when they did not do things in accordance with the statutes, and by this was meant damnation because sins had not been removed. Not that they themselves were condemned on account of disobeying the statutes. Rather by doing so they eliminated representative worship and in so doing represented the damnation of those who remain in their sins. For none are condemned because they fail in their performance of outward religious observances, only because of evils in the heart, thus because of failing in such observances as a result of evil in the heart. This is what 'bearing iniquity' means in the following places: In Moses,

If a soul sins and acts against any of Jehovah's commandments regarding what ought not to be done, ³ though he does not know it, yet he will be guilty and will bear his iniquity. Leviticus 5:17-18.

Here the retention of evils and consequent damnation should not be understood literally by 'bearing iniquity', although that is the spiritual meaning; for it says 'though he does not know it', implying that what the person has done does not spring from evil in the heart.

[3] In the same author,

If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, the one offering it will not be accepted. It is an abomination, and the soul that eats it will bear his iniquity, and will be cut off from his people. Leviticus 7:18; 19:7-8.

Here also 'bearing iniquity' means remaining in his sins and being as a result in a state of damnation. It does so not because the person ate some of his sacrifice on the third day, but because 'eating it on the third day' represented something abominable, namely an action leading to damnation. Thus 'bearing iniquity and being cut off from his people' represented the damnation of those who performed the abomination meant by that deed. Nevertheless there was no condemnation on account of his having eaten it, for interior evils that were represented are what condemn, not exterior actions in which those evils are not present.

[4] In the same author,

Every soul who eats a carcass ⁴ or that which has been torn, and does not wash his clothes and bathe his flesh shall bear his iniquity. Leviticus 17:15-16.

Since 'eating a carcass or that which has been torn' represented making evil or falsity one's own, the expression 'bearing iniquity' also has a representative meaning. In the same author,

If a man who is clean fails to keep the Passover, this soul shall be cut off from his people, because he did not bring the offering of Jehovah at its appointed time; he shall bear his sin. Numbers 9:13.

'The Passover' represented deliverance by the Lord from damnation, 7093 (end), 7867, 7995, 9286-9292; and 'the Passover supper' represented being joined to the Lord through the good of love, 7836, 7997, 8001. And since these things were represented it was decreed that anyone who did not keep the Passover should be cut off from his people and that he should bear his sin. The failure to keep it was not really so great a crime; rather it represented those who at heart refuse to accept the Lord and consequently deliverance from sins, and so who have no wish to be joined to Him through love. Thus it represented their damnation.

[5] In the same author,

The children of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, or else they will bear iniquity and die. ⁵ Levites shall perform the work of the tent of meeting, and these shall bear the iniquity. Numbers 18:22-23.

The reason why the people would bear iniquity and die if they were to go near the tent of meeting to do the work there was that they would thereby eliminate the representative worship assigned to the function of the priests. The function of the priests or the priestly office represented the Lord's entire work of salvation, 9809; and this is why it says that the Levites, who also were priests, should bear the people's iniquity, by which expiation or atonement was meant, that is, removal from evils and falsities with those who are governed by good derived from the Lord alone, 9937. 'Bearing iniquity' means real damnation when this expression is used in reference to those who perform evil deeds because their heart is evil, such as those mentioned in Leviticus 20:17, 19-20; 24:15-16; Ezekiel 18:20; 23:49; and elsewhere.

അടിക്കുറിപ്പുകൾ:

7206. 'And with great judgements' means in accordance with the laws of order that spring from the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'judgements' as truths, dealt with in 1235, 6797, and in the highest sense, in which that word is used in reference to the Lord, as Divine truths, truths which are nothing other than the laws of order that spring from the Lord's Divine Human. For He is the origin of all order and so of all the laws of order. Those laws form the structure for the whole of heaven, consequently for the universe also. The laws of order or truths, which emanate from the Lord, forming the structure of the whole of heaven and of the universe, are what are called, in John 1:1-3, the Word by which all things were made; for the Word is Divine Truth emanating from the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Human. This means that all things in the spiritual world and also in the natural world have a connection with truth, as anyone who stops to reflect may recognize.

[2] In the proximate sense here the expression 'great judgements' is used to mean the truths in accordance with which those people will be judged who have molested others by introducing falsities, the ones meant by 'the Egyptians' and by 'Pharaoh'. The expression is also used to mean the truths in accordance with which those will be judged who will be released from molestations, the ones meant by 'the children of Israel'. By these judgements people steeped in falsities arising from evil are shown to be damned, and by these judgements people guided by truths arising from good are shown to be saved. Not that the truths which emanate from the Lord damn anyone, for all truths emanating from the Lord spring from His Divine Goodness, and so are nothing other than expressions of mercy. Rather, people expose themselves to damnation because they do not accept the Lord's mercy; for then they are governed by evils, and evils are damning. Nor do the truths emanating from the Lord save anyone if he believes that he is saved by virtue of the truths of faith present with him and not by mercy. For a person is full of evils and left to himself is in hell, but by the Lord's mercy he is withheld from evil and maintained in good, and with great force. The fact that both are meant by 'judgements', that is to say, both the damnation of those who are evil and the salvation of those who are good, is evident from those places in the Word where the last judgement is the subject, such as Matthew 25:31-45, and elsewhere.