10239. And Aaron and his sons shall wash from it. That this signifies a representative of the purification and regeneration of man by the Lord, is evident from the signification of “washing,” as being purification (see above, n. 10237); from the representation of Aaron, as being the Lord as to Divine good celestial (n. 9806, 10068); and from the representation of the sons of Aaron, as being the Lord as to Divine good spiritual (n. 9807, 10068); from which it is evident that by Aaron and his sons “washing from the laver” is signified a representative of the purification of man by the Lord. That it is also a representative of regeneration, is because regeneration also was represented by washing, but by the washing of the whole body, which washing was called “baptizing” (that “baptizing,” or “baptism,” signifies regeneration, see n. 4255, 9088).

[2] But regeneration differs from purification in that regeneration precedes, and purification follows; for no one can be purified from evils and falsities except the man who is being regenerated, and after he has been regenerated; for he who has not been regenerated is indeed withdrawn from evils insofar as he allows; but he is not purified from them, for he is always impure. It is otherwise with the regenerate man, who is being purified from day to day, which is meant by the Lord’s words to Peter:

He that hath been washed needeth not save to be washed as to his feet, and so is wholly clean (John 13:10).

“He who hath been washed” signifies one who is regenerate.

[3] That the washing of everything was called “baptizing,” is evident in Mark 7:4; and the washing of the whole body, in Matthew 3:13-16; Mark 1:9; an. 2 Kings 5:10, 14. The Jordan, in which the washings took place, which were baptizings (Matthew 3:6-13; Mark 1:5; 2 Kings 5:10, 14), signified the natural (n. 1585, 4245). By the washing of baptism is also signified temptation (Matthew 20:21-23), because all regeneration is effected by means of temptations (n. 5036, 5773, 8351, 8958, 8959).

[4] A few words shall be added to say why the Lord, when He was in the world, Himself also wished to be baptized, when yet by baptizing is signified the regeneration of man by the Lord. It was because the baptizing of the Lord Himself signified the glorification of His Human; for in the Word that which signifies the regeneration of man signifies also the glorification of the Human in the Lord, because the regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the the Lord, (n. 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4401, 5688). Therefore when the Lord suffered John to baptize Him, He said:

Thus it becometh us to fulfil all the righteousness of God (Matthew 3:15).

“To fulfill all the righteousness of God” denotes to subdue the hells by His own power, and reduce them and the heavens into order, and at the same time glorify His Human; which things were done by means of temptations admitted into Himself, thus by means of continual combats with the hells, even to the last on the cross. (That this is the “righteousness” which the Lord fulfilled, see n. 9486, 9715, 9809, 10019, 10152) The like things are also signified by “all things being fulfilled which were written concerning the Lord in the Law and the Prophets” (Luke 18:31; 22:37; 24:44); and by the Lord’s coming “to fulfill all things of the law” (Matthew 5:17-18).

[5] He who does not know the arcana of the Word believes that the Lord became righteousness by fulfilling all things of the Law, and that by this fulfillment He set free the human race from the yoke of the Law, thus from damnation. But this is not the meaning of these words; but that He became righteousness through the subjugation of the hells, the reduction of the heavens into order, and the glorification of His Human; for by this He introduced Himself into power, so that He could, from His Divine Human, eternally subjugate the hells, and keep the heavens in order, and so regenerate man, that is, deliver him from the hells, and save him.

5068. That the Lord calls Himself “King”—in these words: When the Son of man shall come in His glory, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, then shall the King say unto them; is because the Lord’s royalty is the Divine truth, from which and according to which judgment is effected. But from and according to it the good are judged in one way, and the evil in another. The good, because they have received Divine truth, are judged from good, and thus from mercy; the evil, because they have not received Divine truth, are judged from truth, and thus not from mercy; for this they have rejected, and hence they continue to reject it in the other life. To receive Divine truth is not only to have faith, but also to practice it, that is, to cause that which is of doctrine to become of the life. It is from this that the Lord calls Himself “King.” (That the Lord’s royalty is the Divine truth has been shown above, n. 1728, 2015, 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966)