Arcana Coelestia #10238
10238. 'And put water in it' means the truths of faith by means of which purification in the natural is accomplished. This is clear from the meaning of 'water' as the truths of faith, dealt with in 28, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568, 9323; and from the meaning of 'the laver' as the natural, dealt with above in 10235. Anyone who does not know that 'water' means the truths of faith will fail to grasp the meaning of very many statements in the Word, such as unless a person is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God, John 3:5. Those who take water here to mean nothing other than water think that the water of baptism is the means by which a person is regenerated. But in fact the water does nothing towards regeneration, only the truth of faith and the good of love do so; for water washes away solely dirt that is on the body and by no means evils present in the heart.
[2] Anyone who does not know that 'water' means the truths of faith cannot know what baptism means, either. He thinks that the external act saves a person, when in fact the external act does not accomplish anything, only the inner reality meant by it, namely regeneration by means of the truths of faith. Baptism makes people belonging to the Church different from everyone else throughout the world, because unlike those outside the Church they are able to be regenerated by means of the truths of faith. For the Word, which contains the truths of faith, exists within the Church.
[3] Nor can anyone who does not know that 'water' means the truths of faith know what is meant in Genesis 1:6-10 by the waters above the expanse and the waters under the expanse. Truths of faith within the internal man are meant by 'the waters above the expanse', and truths of faith in the external by 'the waters under the expanse'; for the subject in that chapter is the new creation, thus the regeneration, of members of the Most Ancient Church.
[4] Nor can anyone who does not know that 'water' means the truths of faith know what is meant by 'water' in John,
He who drinks of the water that I shall give will never thirst. But the water that I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life. John 4:13-14.
And in Isaiah,
The poor and the needy are seeking water, but there is none; their tongue is parched with thirst. I will open streams on the sloping heights, and I will place springs in the midst of valleys; I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into wellsprings of water. Isaiah 41:17-18.
And again in the same prophet,
They will not thirst. He will make water flow for them from the rock; and He will cleave the rock so that water flows out. Isaiah 48:20-21.
And in very many other places. But see what has been stated and shown previously on these matters,
Purification from evils and falsities is accomplished by means of the truths of faith, 2799, 5954(end), 7044, 7918, 9089, 10229.
So too is regeneration, see the places referred to in 9959.
'Baptism' means regeneration by means of the truths of faith, 4255, 5120(end), 9089.
Purification is accomplished within the natural, 3147, 9572.
And so is regeneration, see the places referred to in 9325.
Exodus 30
1
"You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood.
2
Its length shall be a cubit, and its breadth a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.
3
You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it.
4
You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it.
5
You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
6
You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you.
7
Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it.
8
When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations.
9
You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it.
10
Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh."
11
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
12
"When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are numbered among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you number them; that there be no plague among them when you number them.
13
They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; (the shekel is twenty gerahs;) half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh.
14
Everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh.
15
The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.
16
You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls."
17
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
18
"You shall also make a basin of brass, and its base of brass, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.
19
Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it.
20
When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
21
So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations."
22
Moreover Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
23
"Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty;
24
and of cassia five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil.
25
You shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil.
26
You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony,
27
the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense,
28
the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base.
29
You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.
30
You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office.
31
You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations.
32
It shall not be poured on man's flesh, neither shall you make any like it, according to its composition: it is holy. It shall be holy to you.
33
Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.'"
34
Yahweh said to Moses, "Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be an equal weight;
35
and you shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy:
36
and you shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy.
37
The incense which you shall make, according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh.
38
Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people."
