Arcana Coelestia #1664
1664. That the wars here mentioned signify nothing else, in the internal sense, than spiritual wars, or temptations, was said above, at the beginning of this chapter. By the wars mentioned in the Word, especially in the Prophets, nothing else is signified. The wars of men can have no place in the internals of the Word; for such things are not spiritual and celestial, such as alone belong to the Word. That combats with the devil, or what is the same, with hell, are signified by the wars mentioned in the Word, may be seen from the passages that now follow, besides many others.
In John:
They are spirits of demons, doing signs, to go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of that great day of God Almighty (Revelation 16:14); where everyone can see that no other war is signified, on the “great day of God Almighty.”
[2] Again:
The beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war (Revelation 11:7); where “the abyss” is hell. Again:
The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17).
Again:
It was given unto him to make war with the saints (Revelation 13:7).
All of these “wars” are combats such as are those of temptations. The wars of the kings of the south and of the north, and the other wars mentioned in Daniel (chapters 8 and 11), also the things said of Michael (Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1; Revelation 12:7), mean the same.
[3] That “wars” signify nothing else is evident also from the other Prophets. As in Ezekiel:
Ye have not gone up into the breaches, neither have ye built up the fence for the house of Israel, to stand in the war in the day of Jehovah (Ezekiel 13:5); where this is said concerning the Prophets.
In Isaiah:
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4); where it is plain that no other wars are meant; and consequently that by the weapons of war, as by swords, spears, shields, and others, nothing else is meant in the Word than the things that pertain to such wars.
[4] Again in Isaiah:
Bring ye water to him that is thirsty; ye inhabitants of the land of Tema, meet with his bread him that is wandering; for they shall wander before the swords, before the drawn sword, and before the bent bow, and before the grievousness of war (Isaiah 21:14-15).
In Jeremiah:
Shepherds and their flocks shall come unto the daughter of Zion; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed down everyone his space; sanctify a war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon (Jeremiah 6:3-5); where no other war is meant, for it is against the daughter of Zion, that is, the church.
[5] Again:
How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy; therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day (Jeremiah 49:25-26);
“the city of praise and of joy” denotes the things which are of the church; “the men of war,” those who combat.
[6] In Hosea:
In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild beast of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the ground; and I will break the bow, and the sword, and war out of the land, and will make them to lie down in confidence (Hos. 2:18); where in like manner “war” denotes combats, and the various arms of war those things which pertain to spiritual combat; these are “broken” when, yearnings and falsities ceasing, the man comes into the tranquillity of peace.
[7] In David:
Behold the works of Jehovah, who hath made solitudes in the earth, making wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariots in the fire (Psalms 46:8-9); where the meaning is similar. Again:
In Salem is the habitation of God, and his dwelling place in Zion. There He brake the fiery shafts of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the war (Psalms 76:2-3).
As the priests represented the Lord, who alone combats for man, their service is called “warfare” (Numbers 4:23, 35, 39, 4 4:43, 47).
[8] That Jehovah alone, that is, the Lord, combats and overcomes the devil that is with man when he is in the combats of temptations, although it does not so appear to the man, is a constant truth; for not even the smallest thing can be brought upon a man by evil spirits that is not by permission; and nothing, however small, can be averted by angels, except from the Lord; so that it is the Lord alone who sustains all the combat, and who overcomes; which also is everywhere represented by the wars waged by the sons of Israel against the nations. That it is the Lord alone, is also declared in Moses:
Jehovah your God who walketh before you, He shall fight for you (Deuteronomy 1:30).
Again:
Jehovah your God is He that walketh with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you (Deuteronomy 20:4; so too in Joshua, as chapter 23, 5).
[9] For the wars there that were carried on against the idolatrous inhabitants of the land of Canaan, all represented the Lord’s combats with hell; and consequently those of His church, and those of the men of His church. This also accords with the following words in Isaiah:
As the lion roareth, and the young lion, over his prey, when a multitude of shepherds come running against him, he will not be dismayed at their voice, nor afflicted by their tumult; so Jehovah Zebaoth shall come down to fight upon Mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof (Isaiah 31:1).
[10] For this reason, also, Jehovah or the Lord is also called a “Man of War.” As in Moses:
Jehovah is a Man of War, Jehovah is His name (Exodus 15:9). And in Isaiah:
Jehovah shall go forth as a Hero, He shall stir up zeal like a Man of wars; He shall cry, yea, He shall shout aloud, He shall prevail against His enemies (Isaiah 42:13).
This also is why many things that pertain to war are attributed to the Lord; as here to “cry” and “shout aloud.”
[11] Spirits and angels also appear as men of war when a representation is made. As in Joshua:
Joshua lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold there stood a man over against him, and his sword drawn in his hand. And he said unto Joshua, I am the prince of Jehovah’s army. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth (Josh. 5:13-14).
These things were so seen because they were representative; and for the same reason the posterity of Jacob called their wars the Wars of Jehovah.
[12] The same also was the case in the Ancient Churches; and among them were books which also were called The Wars of Jehovah; as is evident in Moses:
It is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah (Numbers 21:14-15).
This was written in a manner not unlike that in which wars are treated of in this chapter; but the wars of the church were signified. Such a mode of writing was familiar in those times; for then there were interior men, and they thought of exalted things.
Numbers 4
1
Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
2
"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
3
from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
4
"This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, the most holy things.
5
When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it,
6
and shall put a covering of sealskin on it, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.
7
"On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it.
8
They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.
9
"They shall take a blue cloth, and cover the lampstand of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it.
10
They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame.
11
"On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.
12
"They shall take all the vessels of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.
13
"They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it.
14
They shall put on it all its vessels, with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the flesh hooks, the shovels, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.
15
"When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.
16
"The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings."
17
Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
18
"Don't cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;
19
but thus do to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them everyone to his service and to his burden;
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but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die."
21
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
22
"Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses, by their families;
23
you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old; all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
24
"This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:
25
they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin that is above on it, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,
26
and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. Therein shall they serve.
27
At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden, and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities.
28
This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting: and their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
29
"As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers' houses;
30
you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.
31
This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,
32
and the pillars of the court around it, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name you shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden.
33
This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest."
34
Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
35
from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting.
36
Those who were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty.
37
These are those who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
38
Those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their fathers' houses,
39
from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting,
40
even those who were numbered of them, by their families, by their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty.
41
These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh.
42
Those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
43
from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting,
44
even those who were numbered of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred.
45
These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
46
All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
47
from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,
48
even those who were numbered of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty.
49
According to the commandment of Yahweh they were numbered by Moses, everyone according to his service, and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
