10218. 'They shall give - each one - an expiation for his soul when they are numbered' means purification or deliverance from evil through the acknowledgement and belief that all the truths and forms of the good of faith and love come from the Lord, not at all from man, as does their being arranged in order. This is clear from the meaning of 'giving an expiation for his soul' as being purified or delivered from evil by means of the truth of faith, which here consists in acknowledging that all truths and forms of good come from the Lord; and from the meaning of 'numbering Israel' as their being arranged in order by the Lord alone and not by man. The fact that these things are meant is clear from all that has been stated here about the half shekel which had to be given to Jehovah and about expiation by means of it when the people were being numbered. For 'the shekel of holiness' means truth that is the Lord's alone; 'expiation by means of it' means purification or deliverance from evil, 9506; and 'numbering the children of Israel' means arranging and setting all of the Church's truths and forms of good in order, 10217.

[2] The implications of all this are that numbering the children of Israel was forbidden, because 'numbering' meant arranging and setting in order, and the children of Israel, and the tribes into which they had been divided, meant all the truths and forms of the good of faith and love in their entirety. And since the arrangement and setting of these in order belonged to the Lord alone and not to man, numbering them was a transgression like that committed by those who lay claim to the truths of faith and forms of the good of love as their own and to the arrangement and setting in order of them as their own doing. What these people are like is well known in the Church, for they are those who justify themselves through crediting all matters of faith and love to themselves, and consequently believing that because of the faith they have and the deeds they perform they merit heaven by their own efforts. This bad way of thinking is what David's numbering of the people denoted, spoken of as follows in the second Book of Samuel,

Again the anger of Jehovah flared up in Israel; therefore He moved David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Judah. Therefore he said to Joab, Go through all the tribes of Israel and number the people, that I may know the number of the people. Joab said to the king, May Jehovah your God add to the people as many as there are already, as many a hundred times over! Yet why does my lord the king desire this thing ¹ ? But the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Consequently they went out to number the people Israel. Afterwards David's heart condemned ² him. Consequently he said to Jehovah, I have sinned greatly [in] what I have done; but nevertheless, O Jehovah, make Your servant's iniquity, I beg you, pass away, for I have done very foolishly. But Gad the prophet was sent to David to choose one bad thing out of three; and he chose the pestilence, from which men died, up to seventy thousand. 2 Samuel 24:1ff.

[3] From all this it is evident how great a sin it was to number Israel. Not that the numbering was in itself a sin; rather, David's numbering of the children of Israel was a sin because, as has been stated, the arrangement and setting in order of all matters of faith and love by self and not by the Lord were meant by it. (The actual numbering meant the arranging and setting in order, while the children of Israel meant all the truths and forms of the good of faith and love.) In order therefore that they might be delivered from sin when a numbering of the children of Israel took place half a shekel was given for expiation; for it says,

They shall give - each one - an expiation for his soul to Jehovah when they are numbered, that there may be no plague among them when they are numbered.

From this it is evident that these words mean purification or deliverance from evil through the acknowledgement that all the truths and forms of the good of faith and love come from the Lord, not at all from man, as does their being arranged in order.

[4] It is also well known in the Church that this is so, that is to say, that all the forms of good and the truths of faith and love come from the Divine and not at all from man. It is well known too that attributing them to oneself is bad, and that those people are delivered from that bad way of thinking who acknowledge and believe that these things come from the Lord; for then they do not lay claim to anything that is Divine or that springs from the Divine. But see what has been shown previously on these matters,

Those who think that the good deeds they perform commence in self and not in the Lord think that they merit heaven, 9974.

Good deeds that commence in self and not in the Lord are not really good, since those who perform good deeds commencing in self do them from a bad motive, 9975, 9980.

They despise the neighbour, and they are irate with God Himself if they do not receive a reward, 9976.

Such people cannot receive heaven into themselves, 9977.

By no means can they fight against the hells; but the Lord fights on behalf of those who acknowledge and believe that all forms of good and all truths come from Him, 9978.

The Lord alone is merit and righteousness, 9486, 9715, 9809, 9979-9984, 10019, 10152.

Footnotes:

7973. 'Around six hundred thousand men on foot' means all aspects of the truth and good of faith in their entirety. This is clear from the meaning of the number 'six hundred thousand' as all aspects of faith in their entirety, for this number is a multiple of six and also of twelve, and 'twelve' means all aspects of faith and charity, 577, 2089, 2129 (end), 2130 (end), 3272, 3858, 3913. This is why Jacob's sons were twelve in number, why their descendants were divided into the same number of tribes, and also why the Lord chose twelve disciples, that is to say, in order that they might represent all aspects of faith and charity. Regarding the tribes, see 3858, 3862, 3926, 3979, 4060, 6335, 6737, 6640, 7876, 7891; and regarding the disciples, 3354, 3488, 5858 (end), 6397.

[2] At this point 'six hundred thousand' has a similar meaning because a larger or smaller number that is a multiple or a factor carries a meaning similar to that of the simple numbers that are being multiplied or divided, 5291, 5335, 5708. This is plainly evident from the number twelve. Whether this is divided into six or multiplied into seventy-two, 144 (which is twelve twelves), 12000, or 144000, the meaning is similar, as with 144000 in John,

I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of Israel - out of each tribe twelve thousand. Revelation 7:4-5 and following verses.

Here 'the children of Israel' is not used to mean the children of Israel, 'tribes' the tribes, or 'the number' a number, but to mean the kinds of things contained in the internal sense, namely all aspects of faith and charity. Each tribe in particular accordingly means one kind or one group, in keeping with the explanations at Genesis 29, 30.

[3] Similarly with the following in the same author,

Behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144000, having His Father's name written on their foreheads. They were singing a new song before the throne, and no one could learn the song except 144000 bought from the earth. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were bought from men (homo), being the first fruits to God and the Lamb. Revelation 14:1, 3-4.

From this description it is evident that those governed by charity are meant by 144000. It is also evident that the sole purpose of this number is to indicate the state and its essential nature. That number is similar to twelve in what it indicates, for it is the product of 12000 and it multiplied.

[4] It is similar with the smaller number 144, Which is twelve times twelve, in the same author,

He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, 144 cubits, which is the measure of a man (homo), that is, of an angel. Revelation 21:2, 17.

'The wall of the holy Jerusalem' is not in the spiritual sense a wall; instead it is the truth of faith defending things of the Church, see 6419; and this also is why it is said to have been '144 cubits'. It is plainly evident that such must be meant, since it says 'it is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel'. 'Man' and 'angel' mean every aspect of the truth and good of faith.

[5] The same is also evident from the twelve precious stones that the foundation of the wall consisted of, and from the twelve gates, each of which was a pearl, Revelation 21:19-21. For by 'precious stones' truths of faith that spring from the good of charity are meant, 643, 3720, 6426, and similarly by 'gate' and also by 'pearl'. From this it is now clear that a smaller or larger number carries a meaning similar to the simple number that is divided or multiplied. As regards the fact that all numbers in the Word mean spiritual things, see 481, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4164, 4495, 4670, 5265.

[6] From these considerations one may now see that the number 'six hundred thousand' men going out of Egypt also means such things. But scarcely anyone is able to believe that such are meant by this number because it refers to a historical event; and any historical event fixes the mind all the time on the external sense and draws it away from the internal sense. Nevertheless that number too means such spiritual things, for there is not a part of a word, not even indeed one jot or one tittle in the Word, that is not in itself holy, because it holds what is holy within it. Anyone at all can see that there is nothing holy about a merely historical event.