The Bible

 

Leviticus 2

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1 When any one shall offer an oblation of sacrifice to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense,

2 And shall bring it to the sons of Aaron the priests: and one of them shall take a handful of the flour and oil, and all the frankincense, and shall put it a memorial upon the altar for a most sweet savour to the Lord.

3 And the remnant of the sacrifice shall be Aaron's, and his sons', holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord.

4 But when thou offerest a sacrifice baked in the oven of flour, to wit, loaves without leaven, tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers, anointed with oil:

5 If thy oblation be from the fryingpan, of flour tempered with oil, and without leaven,

6 Thou shalt divide it into little pieces, and shalt pour oil upon it.

7 And if the sacrifice be from the gridiron, in like manner the flour shall be tempered with oil:

8 And when thou offerest it to the Lord, thou shalt deliver it to the hands of the priest.

9 And when he hath offered it, he shall take a memorial out of the sacrifice, and burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour to the Lord.

10 And whatsoever is left, shall be Aaron's, and his sons', holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord.

11 Every oblation that is offered to the Lord shall be made without leaven, neither shall any leaven or honey be burnt in the sacrifice to the Lord.

12 You shall offer only the firstfruits of them and gifts: but they shall not be put upon the altar, for a savour of sweetness,

13 Whatsoever sacrifice thou offerest, thou shalt season it with salt, neither shalt thou take away the salt of the covenant of thy God from thy sacrifice. In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt.

14 But if thou offer a gift of the firstfruits of thy corn to the Lord, of the ears yet green, thou shalt dry it at the fire, and break it small like meal, and so shalt thou offer thy firstfruits to the Lord,

15 Pouring oil upon it and putting on frankincense, because it is the oblation of the Lord.

16 Whereof the priest shall burn for a memorial of the gift, part of the corn broken small and of the oil, and all the frankincense.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8680

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8680. 'And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God' means worship springing from the good of love and the truths of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'a burnt offering and sacrifices' as representatives of celestial and spiritual realities that belong to internal worship, 'burnt offerings' being representative of celestial realities, that is, aspects of the good of love, and 'sacrifices' being representative of spiritual ones, that is, aspects of the truth of faith, dealt with in 922, 923, 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3218, 3519, 6905. The representation of 'burnt offerings' as aspects of the good of love, and of 'sacrifices' as aspects of the truth of faith, is clear from their institution - from the requirement that in burnt offerings everything was to be burnt, both the flesh and the blood, but that in sacrifices the flesh was to be eaten, as may be seen in chapters 1-5 of Leviticus; Numbers 28; and in Deuteronomy, where the following words occur,

You are to present, your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Jehovah your God; the blood of the sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Jehovah your God, and the flesh you shall eat. Deuteronomy 12:27.

The reason why those two realities were represented by the burnt offerings and sacrifices is that burnt offerings and sacrifices represented all worship of God in general, 923, 6905; and worship of God in general is founded on love and faith. Without these it is not worship, only ritual such as is performed by the external man who has no internal and so no life within him.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.