10177. And thou shalt make an altar for the burning of incense. That this signifies a representative of the grateful hearing and reception by the Lord of all things of worship from love and charity, is evident from the signification of the “altar for burning incense,” as being a representative of such things of worship as are uplifted to the Lord; that these are from love and charity will be plain in what follows. By the “altar” is signified the same as by that which is upon it, because the altar is the containant, and that which is upon it is the thing contained; and the containant and the thing contained make a one; as do a table and the bread which is upon it; and a cup and the wine which is in it.

[2] The reason why an altar was made for burning incense, and not a table, was because among the Israelitish nation altars were the principal representatives of worship from love, for there was fire upon them, and by “fire” is signified love and charity, from which is the worship. (That altars were the principal representatives of worship, see n. 4192, 4541, 8623, 8935, 8940, 9714)

[3] That the altar of incense represented the hearing and reception of all things of the worship which is from love and charity, was because by smoke, and consequently by fumigation, was signified that which is lifted on high; and by the odor of the smoke was signified that which is grateful, consequently that which is heard and received by the Lord; and that alone is grateful, and is received by the Lord, which is from love and charity; and for this reason that altar was covered over with gold, and was called “the golden altar,” because “gold” signifies the good of love and of charity (see the places cited in n. 9874, 9881).

[4] The reason why that alone is grateful, and is therefore heard and received by the Lord, which is from love and charity, is because love makes the whole man, for every man is such as is his love. From this it is that the angels in the heavens are loves and charities in form; the very form they have is from this the human form, because in respect to the Divine Human, the Lord, who is in them and forms them, is the Divine love itself. From this it is that their quality in respect to love is clearly perceived from their faces, their speech, their gestures, and especially from the spheres of the affections which flow forth from them to a distance.

[5] And because love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are from the Lord, and because love is spiritual conjunction, therefore whatever proceeds from this source is heard and received by the Lord. Whereas the holiness and piety that are not from this source are indeed heard, but are not gratefully received, for they are a hypocritical holiness and piety, because they are a mere external without an internal; and a holy external without an internal penetrates no further than to the first threshold of heaven, and is there dispersed. Whereas a holy external from a holy internal penetrates even into heaven, according to the quality of the internal, thus to the Lord. For a holy external without an internal is merely from the mouth and the gestures, whereas a holy external from an internal is at the same time from the heart. (Concerning the latter and the former holiness, see what (8252-8257) was said and shown in n. 8252-8257.)

[6] In the Tent without the veil was the table on which were the breads of faces, also the lampstand with the lamps, and the altar of incense; by the breads of faces was represented love to the Lord; by the lamps of the lampstand, charity and faith; and by the incense upon the altar, the worship from these, and therefore it was burned every morning and every evening when the lamps were prepared. From this also it is evident that by “burning incense” was represented the worship of the Lord from love and charity; and by the Tent itself in which it took place, was represented heaven, where all worship is of this nature. (That the breads represented celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord, see n. 9545; that the lampstand represented spiritual good, which is the good of charity toward the neighbor and the good of faith, n. 9548-9561; and that the Tent represented heaven, n. 9457, 9481, 9485, 9784, 9963)

[7] When worship is spoken of, that holiness is meant which is effected by means of prayers, adorations, confessions, and the like, that proceed from the internals which are of love and charity. These are the acts of worship which are meant by “burning incense,” as can be seen from the following passages, in David:

Accepted are my prayers as incense before Thee (Psalms 141:2).

The four animals, and the twenty-four elders, fell down before the Lamb, having everyone harps, and golden vials full of incensings, which are the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8).

An angel came having a golden censer, and there were given unto him many incensings, that he should offer them with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that was before the throne. And the smoke of the incensings went up from the prayers of the saints (Revelation 8:3-4).

[8] As by “incense” was signified worship and its elevation, thus hearing and reception by the Lord, therefore it was commanded by Moses that “they should take incense boxes with frankincense and burn it before Jehovah, that from this they might know whom Jehovah would choose, thus whom He would hear” (Numbers 16:1, and following verses); and when the people murmured, “Aaron ran into the midst of the congregation with incense, when the plague had begun, and thus stayed it” (Numbers 16:44-49).

In Malachi:

From the rising of the sun even unto its going down, the name of Jehovah shall be great among the nations, and in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a clean meat-offering (Malachi 1:11);

“a clean meat-offering” is added, because by it is signified the good of love (n. 10137).

In Moses:

The sons of Leviticus shall teach Jacob Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law; they shall put incense in Thy nose, and a burnt-offering upon Thine altar (Deuteronomy 33:10);

it is said, “shall put incense in Thy nose” because by the “nostrils” is signified perception (n. 4624-4634); a “burnt-offering” is here added because by it also is signified that which is from the good of love.

[9] But in the opposite sense by “burning incense” is signified worship from contrary loves, which are the loves of self and of the world; as by “burning incense to other gods” (Jeremiah 1:16; 44:3, 5); by “burning incense to idols” (Ezekiel 8:116:18); and by “burning incense to the baals” (Hosea 2:13).

[10] As the “burnings of incense” signified such things as are raised upward and are accepted by the Divine, therefore they were employed by the Gentiles also in their religious ceremonials. That frankincense, censers, and incense boxes were in use among the Romans and among other nations is known from history. A religious ceremonial of this kind was derived from the Ancient Church, which was spread through many regions of Asia; as through Syria, Arabia, Babylon, Egypt, and Canaan. This church had been a representative church, thus consisting in external things that represented internal ones, which are celestial and spiritual; and from this church many religious ceremonials were carried over to the nations round about, and among these the burning of incense, and from them through Greece into Italy; and in like manner the perpetual fires, for guarding which chaste virgins were appointed, whom they called vestals.

vestals.

[11] The offerings of incense in the Ancient Church, and from this in the Israelitish, were prepared from fragrant substances, such as stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense; for the reason that odor signified perception, and a fragrant odor a grateful perception (n. 925, 1514, 1517-1519, 3577, 4624-4634, 4748, 10054). But frankincense in particular signifies the truth of faith, and therefore when “frankincense” is mentioned in the Word, there is joined with it “oil,” “bread,” a “meat-offering,” or “gold,” by all of which is signified the good of love; as in Isaiah:

All they from Sheba shall come, they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah (Isaiah 60:6).

In like manner those who came from the east, of whom it is written in Matthew,

There came wise men from the east, seeking the Lord just then born, and opening their treasures they offered gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:1-2, 11).

(That those who were from the east and were called “sons of the east,” in the Word signify those who were in the knowledges of good and truth, see n. 3249, 3762; in like manner “Sheba,” n. 1171, 3240; that “gold” signifies the good of love, see the places (9881) cited in n. 9874, 9881.)

[12] In Jeremiah:

They shall bring a burnt-offering and sacrifice, and a meat-offering and frankincense (Jeremiah 17:26).

By “a meat-offering” is likewise signified the good of love (n. 9992, 10137). From this it is evident that by “frankincense” in the Word is signified the truth which is of faith; for in the Word, where good is spoken of, truth also is spoken of, on account of the heavenly marriage which is that of good and truth in every detail therein (see the places cited in n. 9263, 9314). For this reason also “upon the meat-offering there was oil, and also frankincense” (Leviticus 2:1-2, 15); but not upon the meat-offering which was for sin (Leviticus 5:11); nor upon the meat-offering of jealousy (Numbers 5:15). The reason why there was no oil or frankincense on these meat-offerings, was because they were given as an expiation from evils, and so long as a man is in expiation he cannot receive the good of love and the truth of faith, because the evils stand in the way; but it is otherwise after expiation, or the removal of the evils.

[13] As the good of love is not possible except together with the truth of faith (for good produces truth, and in truth procures for itself its quality, and forms itself), therefore it was that “upon every meat-offering there was frankincense,” and also “upon the breads of faces” which were upon the table in the Tent of meeting (Leviticus 24:7); for “breads” signified the good of love (n. 3478, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 8410, 9323, 9545, 10040, 10137).

4735. Shed no blood. That this signifies that they should not do violence to what is holy is evident from the signification of “blood” as being what is holy-of which in what follows; hence “to shed blood” is to do violence to what is holy. All the holy in heaven proceeds from the Lord’s Divine Human, and therefore all the holy in the church; wherefore that violence might not be done to it, the Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord, in which it is expressly said that the bread is His flesh, and the wine His blood, thus that it is his Divine Human from which the holy then comes. With the ancients, flesh and blood signified the human own, because the human consists of flesh and blood; thus the Lord said to Simon, “Blessed art thou, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in the heavens” (Matthew 16:17). The flesh and the blood, therefore, signified by the bread and the wine in the Holy Supper, denote the Lord’s Human Own. The Lord’s Own Itself, which He acquired to Himself by His own power, is Divine. His Own from conception was what He had from Jehovah His Father, and was Jehovah Himself. Hence the Own which He acquired to Himself in the Human was Divine. This Divine Own in the Human is what is called His flesh and blood; “flesh” is His Divine good (n. 3813), and “blood” is the Divine truth of Divine good.

[2] The Lord’s Human, after it was glorified or made Divine, cannot be thought of as human, but as the Divine love in human form; and this so much the more than the angels, who, when they appear (as seen by me), appear as forms of love and charity under the human shape, and this from the Lord; for the Lord from Divine love made His Human Divine; just as man through heavenly love becomes an angel after death, so that he appears, as just said, as a form of love and charity under the human shape. It is plain from this that by the Lord’s Divine Human, in the celestial sense is signified the Divine love itself, which is love toward the whole human race, in that it wills to save them and to make them blessed and happy to eternity, and to make its Divine their own so far as they can receive it. This love and the reciprocal love of man to the Lord, and also love toward the neighbor, are what are signified and represented in the Holy Supper-the Divine celestial love by the flesh or bread, and the Divine spiritual love by the blood or wine.

[3] From these things it is now evident what is meant in John by eating the Lord’s flesh and drinking His blood:

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me, and I in him. This is the bread which came down from heaven (John 6:51-58).

As “flesh and blood” signify as before said the Divine celestial and the Divine spiritual which are from the Lord’s Divine Human, or what is the same, the Divine good and the Divine truth of his love, by “eating and drinking” is signified making them one’s own; and this is effected by a life of love and charity, which is also a life of faith. (That “eating” is making good one’s own, and “drinking” making truth one’s own, may be seen above, n. 2187, 3069, 3168, 3513, 3596, 3734, 3832, 4017, 4018.)

[4] As “blood” in the celestial sense signifies the Divine spiritual or the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human, it therefore signifies the holy proceeding; for the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human is the holy itself.

[5] Holiness is nothing else, nor from any other source. That “blood” signifies this holy is evident from many passages in the Word, of which we may adduce the following:

Son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Say to every bird of the heaven, to every wild beast of the field, Assemble yourselves and come; gather yourselves from every side upon My sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, [of bullocks,] all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of My sacrifice which I will sacrifice for you. And ye shall be sated at My table with horse and chariot, with the strong, and with every man of war. And I will set My glory among the nations (Ezekiel 39:17-21).

The subject here treated of is the calling together of all to the Lord’s kingdom, and specifically the setting up again of the church among the Gentiles; and by their “eating flesh and drinking blood” is signified making Divine good and Divine truth their own, thus the holy which proceeds from the Lord’s Divine Human. Who cannot see that by “flesh” is not meant flesh, nor by “blood” blood, where it is said that they should eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, and that they should be sated with horse and chariot, with the strong, and with every man of war?

[6] So likewise in Revelation:

I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come and gather yourselves unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of the strong, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great (Revelation 19:17-18);

who would ever understand these words unless he knew what is signified in the internal sense by “flesh,” and what by “kings,” “captains,” “the strong” “horses,” “those that sit thereon,” and “free and bond?”

[7] Further in Zechariah:

He shall speak peace to the nations; and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, through the blood of Thy covenant I will send forth thy bound out of the pit (Zech. 9:10-11); where the Lord is spoken of; the “blood of Thy covenant” is the Divine truth proceeding from his Divine Human, and is the holy itself which, after He was glorified, went forth from Him. This holy is also what is called the Holy Spirit, as is evident in John:

Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. Whosoever believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).

That the holy proceeding from the Lord is the “spirit,” may be seen in John 6:63.

[8] Moreover, that “blood” is the holy proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human, in David:

Bring back their soul from deceit and violence; and precious shall their blood be in His eyes (Psalms 72:14);

“precious blood” denotes the holy which they would receive.

In Revelation:

These are they who come out of great affliction, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).

And again:

They overcame the dragon by the blood of the lamb, and by the Word of their testimony; and they loved not their soul even unto death (Revelation 12:11).

[9] The church at this day does not know otherwise than that the “blood of the lamb” here signifies the Lord’s passion, because it is believed that they are saved solely by the Lord having suffered, and that it was for this that He was sent into the world; but let this view of it be for the simple, who cannot comprehend interior arcana. The Lord’s passion was the last of His temptation, by which He fully glorified His Human (Luke 24:26; John 12:23, 27-28; 13:31-32; 17:1, 4-5); but the “blood of the lamb” is the same as the Divine truth, or the holy proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human; thus the same as the “blood of the covenant” spoken of just above, and of which it is also written in Moses:

[10] Moses took the book of the covenant, and read in the ears of the people; and they said, All that Jehovah hath spoken will we do, and hear. Then Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which Jehovah hath made with you upon all these words (Exodus 24:7-8).

The “book of the covenant” was the Divine truth which they then had, which was confirmed by the blood testifying that it was from His Divine Human.

[11] In the rituals of the Jewish Church blood had no other signification than the holy proceeding from the Lord’s Divine Human, wherefore when they were sanctified, it was done by blood-as when Aaron and his sons were sanctified, blood was sprinkled upon the horns of the altar, the remainder at the bottom of the altar, also upon the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot, and upon his garments (Exodus 29:12, 16, 20; Leviticus 8:15, 19, 23, 30). And when Aaron entered within the veil to the mercy-seat, blood was also to be sprinkled with the finger upon the mercy-seat eastward seven times (Leviticus 16:12-15). So also in the rest of the sanctifications, and also in the expiations and cleansings (in regard to which see the following passages, Exodus 12:7, 13, 22; 30:10; Leviticus 1:5, 11, 15; 3:2, 8, 13; 4:6-7, 17-18, 25, 30, 34; 5:9; 6:27-28; 14:14-19, 25-30; 16:12-15, 18-19; Deuteronomy 12:27).

[12] As by “blood” in the genuine sense is signified the holy, so in the opposite sense by “blood” and “bloods” are signified those things which offer violence to it, because by shedding innocent blood is signified doing violence to what is holy. For this reason wicked things of life and profane things of worship were called “blood.” That “blood” and “bloods” have such a signification, is evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

When the Lord shall have washed the excrement of the daughters of Zion, and shall have washed away the bloods of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of expurgation (Isaiah 4:4).

The waters of Dimon are full of blood (Isaiah 15:9).

Again:

Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity (Isaiah 59:3, 7).

In Jeremiah:

Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor (Jeremiah 2:34).

[13] Again:

It is because of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of Jerusalem. They have wandered blind in the streets, they are polluted with blood; those which they cannot [pollute] they touch with their garments (Lam. 4:13-14).

In Ezekiel:

I have passed by thee, and saw thee trodden down in thy bloods, and I said unto thee, Live in thy bloods, and I said unto thee, Live in thy bloods. I washed thee with waters, and washed away thy bloods from upon thee, and I anointed thee with oil (Ezekiel 16:6, 9).

Again:

Thou son of man, Wilt thou debate with a city of bloods? Make known to her all her abominations. Thou art become guilty through thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled through thine idols which thou hast made. Behold the princes of Israel, everyone according to his arm, have been in thee and have shed blood; men of slander have been in thee to shed blood; and in thee they have eaten at the mountains (Ezekiel 22:2-4, 6, 9).

In Moses:

If anyone shall sacrifice elsewhere than upon the altar at the tent, it shall be blood; and as if he had shed blood (Leviticus 17:1-9).

[14] Falsified and profaned truth is signified by the following passages concerning blood.

In Joel:

I will set wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day come (Joel 2:30-31).

In Revelation:

The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood (Revelation 6:12).

Again

The second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood (Revelation 8:8).

Again:

The second angel poured out his vial into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial into the rivers, and into the fountains of waters, and there became blood (Revelation 16:3-4).

[15] Similar is what is said in Exodus (7:15-22), about the rivers, ponds, and pools of water in Egypt being turned into blood; for by “Egypt” is signified the memory-knowledge which from itself enters into heavenly mysteries, and hence perverts, denies, and profanes Divine truths (n. 1164, 1165, 1186). All the miracles in Egypt, being Divine, involved such things. The “rivers which were turned into blood” are the truths of intelligence and wisdom (n. 108, 109, 3051); “waters” have a similar signification (n. 680, 2702, 3058), and also “fountains” (n. 2702, 3096, 3424); “seas” are truths in the complex which are a matter of memory-knowledge (n. 28); the “moon” of which it is also said that it should be “turned into blood,” is Divine truth (n. 1529-1531, 2495, 4060). It is evident from this, that by the moon, the sea, fountains, waters, and rivers, being turned into blood, is signified truth falsified and profaned.