10019. 'And you shall fill the hand of Aaron and the hand of his sons' means consecration to represent the Lord's Divine Power exercised through Divine Truth springing from Divine Good ¹ . This is clear from the meaning of 'filling the hand' as being consecrated to represent the Lord in respect of Divine Truth springing from Divine Good, consequently to represent His power. Two practices existed through which consecration to the priesthood was effected, anointing and filling the hand. Through anointing consecration to represent the Lord in respect of His Divine Good was effected, for the oil used in anointing was a sign of the good of love, 10011; and through filling the hand consecration to represent the Lord in respect of Divine Truth springing from Divine Good, and so to represent His power, was effected, since 'the hand' means power, 878, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 6947, 7011, 7188, 7189, 7518, 7673, 8050, 8069, 8153, and 'hand' is used in reference to truth that springs from good, 3091, 3563, 4931, 8281, 9025. Because all power belongs to truth springing from good, 5623, 6344, 6423, 6948, 8200, 8304, 9327, 9410, 9639, 9643, and since the head and whole body exercise their power through the hands, and this power is the capacity to act that a human life possesses, 'the hand' also means whatever resides with a person, thus the entire person's capacity to act, 9133. From all this it may be seen what 'filling the hand' means. All power belongs to the Lord alone, and none whatever exists with any angel, spirit, or man other than that derived from Him, see 8200, 8281, 9327, 9410, 9639. The reason why consecration to the priesthood was effected through the two practices of anointing and filling the hand was that all things without exception that exist or come into existence in heaven and on earth have connection with good and with truth.

[2] But in what way filling the hand was carried out is described in verses 9-36 ² of the present chapter and in Leviticus 8:22-end. It was carried out by the use of the second ram, which for that reason is also called 'the ram of fillings [of the hand]'. The procedure was that after this ram had been slaughtered some of its blood was put on the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of Aaron and his sons. Some blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil was then sprinkled over Aaron and his sons, and over their garments. The fat, the tail, the fat covering the intestines, the omentum on the liver, the kidneys with their fat, and the right flank of that ram, also unleavened bread, cakes, and wafers from the basket were placed on the palms of Aaron and his sons, and waved, after which they were burned on top of the burnt offering made from the first ram. But the breast, after it had been waved, and the left flank were for Aaron and his sons; the flesh from these was boiled in the holy place and, together with the remainder of the bread in the basket, was eaten by them at the door of the tent of meeting. Such was the procedure for 'filling the hand'. What is meant by each detail however will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated further on.

[3] The Lord's Divine Power, which was represented by filling the hand of Aaron and his sons, is the Divine Power of saving the human race; and the power of saving the human race is power over the heavens and over the hells. By that power of the Lord's and by no other is a person saved; for all good that belongs to love and all truth that belongs to faith flow in from the Lord by way of the heavens. But neither can flow in unless the hells are removed, for the hells are the source of all evil and of all falsity arising from it. It is by the removal of the evils and consequent falsities which come from the hells, and at the same time by the inflow of the good of love and the truth of faith from the Lord by way of heaven, that a person is saved. When He was in the world the Lord overcame the hells and restored the heavens to order, and acquired for Himself Divine Power over them, see 9486, 9715, 9809, 9937, and the places referred to in 9528 (end). This power that is the Lord's is what was represented by filling the hand of priests; for the Lord's whole work of salvation was meant by the priestly office, 9809.

[4] The truth that the Lord possesses this power is His own explicit teaching in Matthew,

All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Matthew 28:18.

And in Luke,

Jesus spoke to the seventy who were saying that the demons obeyed them, Behold, I give you the power to trample on serpents and on scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, that nothing whatever may hurt you. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father. Luke 10:19, 22.

These words describe the Lord's power over the hells. 'The demons' are those in the hells, 'serpents and scorpions' are evils and the falsities of evil, 'trampling on them' is destroying them. The hells are also meant by 'the enemy' whom they would have power over.

[5] The truth that the Lord acquired that power for Himself when He was in the world is clear in Isaiah,

Who is This who comes from Edom, marching in the vast numbers of His strength, mighty to save? My own arm brought salvation to Me. Therefore He became their Saviour. Isaiah 63:1-10.

The fact that these words refer to the Lord is well known in the Church, as in like manner do those which occur elsewhere in the same prophet,

His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness lifted Him up. Consequently He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon His head. And the Redeemer came to Zion. Isaiah 59:16-21.

And in David,

Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make your enemies as your footstool. Jehovah will send the rod of your strength from Zion; have dominion in the midst of [your] enemies. The Lord is at your right hand. Psalms 110:1ff.

The fact that these statements refer to the Lord is His own teaching in Matthew 22:44. His dominion over the hells is described there by 'sitting at the right hand', for 'the right hand' means the power that Divine Truth springing from Divine Good possesses. The hells and the evils and falsities coming from them are the enemies that were to be made as His footstool; they are also the enemies in whose midst He was to have dominion.

[6] The truth that 'Jehovah's right hand' means Divine Power is evident from a large number of places in the Word, as in Moses,

Your right hand, O Jehovah, is magnificent in strength; Your right hand, O Jehovah, breaks the enemy in pieces. Exodus 15:6.

In David,

O God, You give me the shield of salvation, and Your right hand supports me. Psalms 18:35.

In the same author,

Their arm did not save them, but Your right hand, and Your arm, and the light of Your face. Psalms 44:3.

The words 'Your right hand, and Your right arm, and the light of [Your] face' are used because 'right hand' means power, 'arm' strength, and 'light of the face' Divine Truth springing from Divine Good. For the meaning of 'arm' as strength, see 4932, 4934, 4935, 7205; 'light' as Divine Truth, 9548, 9684; and 'Jehovah's face' as Divine Good, 222, 5585, 9306. In the same author,

O God, Your right hand supports me. Psalms 63:8.

In the same author,

O Jehovah, You have an arm with power; strong is Your hand. Your right hand will be lifted up. Psalms 89:13.

In Isaiah,

Jehovah has sworn by His right hand, by His mighty arm ³ . Isaiah 62:8.

And in David,

O Jehovah, let Your hand be for the man of Your right hand, for the son of man [whom] You have made strong for Yourself. Then we will not turn back from You. Psalms 80:17-18.

[7] From these things it may now be seen what the meaning of the Lord's words in Matthew is,

Jesus said, Hereafter you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power. Matthew 26:64.

And in Luke,

Hereafter the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. Luke 22:69.

'The Son of Man' means the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, see 9807, while 'right hand', as is clear from what has been shown immediately above, means Divine Power; and this also accounts for the expression 'the right hand of power'.

From all this it is now evident what the anointing of Aaron and his sons represented, and what filling their hand represented, namely that anointing them represented the Divine Good of Divine Love within the Lord, 9954 (end), and filling their hand Divine Truth and therefore Divine Power. For all power resides with Divine Good exercised through Divine Truth, and that power belongs to the Lord alone, see the texts quoted above. Here also is the reason why in the Old Testament Word the Lord is called Hero, Man of War, and also Jehovah Zebaoth, that is, Jehovah of Armies.

Footnotes:

86. People in heaven are amazed that people here believe they are intelligent when they think of something invisible in the process of thinking about God, something that cannot be comprehended in any form, and that they call people who think otherwise unintelligent and even simpleminded, when the opposite is in fact the case. They assert that if people who regard themselves as intelligent on this account would examine themselves, they would find nature in the place of God - for some, the nature in front of their eyes, for others, a nature they cannot see with their eyes. They would find that they are so blind that they do not know what God is, what an angel is, what a spirit is, what the soul is that will live after death, what the life of heaven is for us, or many other things that are matters of intelligence. Yet all the people whom they call simple know these things in their own way. They have an image of God as a Divine Being in human form, an image of an angel as a heavenly person, a concept of their soul that will live after death as being like an angel, and a concept of the life of heaven for us here as living by the divine commandments. Angels refer to these people as intelligent and fit for heaven, but the others they call unintelligent.

[2] References to Passages in Secrets of Heaven Concerning the Lord and His Divine Human: The Lord had a divine element from his very conception: 4641, 4963, 5041, 5157, 6716, 10125. Only the Lord had a divine seed: 1438. His soul was Jehovah: 1999, 2004-2005, 2018, 2025. So the inmost of the Lord was the Divine itself, and its clothing was from his mother: 5041. The Divine itself was the very reality of the Lord's life, and his human nature then emerged and became the manifestation from that reality: 3194, 3210, 10270 [10269?], 10372.

[3] Within the church, where there is the Word and where the Lord is known through it, there must be no denial of the Lord's divine nature or of the holy emanation from him: 2359. People within the church who do not acknowledge the Lord have no union with the Divine; it is different for people outside the church: 10205. The essence of the church is to acknowledge the Lord's divine nature and his oneness with the Father: 10083, 10112, 10370, 10738 [10728?], 10730, 10816-10818, 10820.

[4] The Word has a great deal to say about the Lord's glorification: 10828. This is everywhere in the inner meaning of the Word: 2249, 2523, 3245. The Lord glorified his human nature but not his divine nature, because the latter was intrinsically glorified: 10057. The Lord came into the world to glorify his human nature: 3637, 4286 [4287?], 9315. The Lord glorified his human nature by means of the divine love that was within him from conception: 4727. The Lord's love for the whole human race was the Lord's life in this world: 2253. The Lord's love transcends all human understanding: 2077. The Lord saved the human race by glorifying his human: 4180, 10019, 10152, 10655, 10659, 10828. Otherwise, the whole human race would have perished in eternal death: 1676. On the Lord's states of glorification and humiliation: 1785, 1999, 2159, 6866. When "glorification" is attributed to the Lord, it means his human becoming one with the Divine, and "glorifying" means "making divine": 1603, 10053, 10828. When the Lord glorified his human, he laid aside the human he had received from his mother so completely that he was no longer her son: 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036, 10829 [10830?].

[5] The Son of God from eternity was the divine truth in heaven: 2628, 2798, 2803, 3195, 3704. The Lord also made his human nature divinely true from the divine good that was in him when he was in the world: 2803, 3194-3195, 3210, 6716, 6864, 7014, 7499, 8127, 8724, 9199. The Lord then arranged everything within himself in the heavenly form that accords with divine truth: 1928, 3633. Therefore the Lord is called the Word, which is divine truth: 2533, 2818 [2813?], 2859, 2894, 3393, 3712. Only the Lord possessed perception and thought from himself and above all angelic perception and thought: 1904, 1914-1915 [1919?].

The Lord made the divine truth that was himself one with the divine good that was in himself: 10047, 10052, 10076. This uniting was reciprocal: 2004, 10067.

[6] When the Lord left this world, he also made his human divinely good: 3194, 3210, 6864, 7499, 8724, 9199, 10076. This is what is meant by "going out from the Father" and "returning to the Father": 3194, 3210. This is how he became one with the Father: 2751, 3704, 4766. Since this union, divine truth emanates from the Lord: 3704, 3712, 3969, 4577, 5704, 7499, 8127, 8241, 9199, 9398. Examples of the way divine truth emanates: 7270, 9407. The Lord united his human to his divine nature by his own power: 1616, 1749, 1753 [1752?], 1813, 1921, 2025-2026, 2523, 3141, 5005, 5045, 6716. It therefore stands to reason that the Lord's human nature was not like the human nature of any other person, because it was conceived by the Divine itself: 10125, 10826. His union with the Father, who was the source of his soul, was not like a union between two entities, but like that between soul and body: 3737, 10824.

[7] The earliest people were not able to worship a divine reality but a divine manifestation, which is the divine human; so the Lord came into the world in order to become the divine manifestation from the divine reality: 4687, 5321. The early people acknowledged the Divine because it appeared to them in human form, and this form was the divine human: 5110, 5663, 6846, 10737. The infinite reality cannot flow into heaven among angels or into people on earth except through the divine human: 1646 [1676?], 1990, 2016, 2035 [2034?]. In heaven, no other Divine is perceived except the divine human: 6475, 9303, 9267 [9315, 9356], 10067. The divine human from eternity was the divine truth in heaven and the divine nature passing through heaven; so it was the divine manifestation, which later, in the Lord, became the divine reality in its own right, the source of the divine manifestation in heaven: 3061, 6280, 6880, 10579. What the state of heaven was like before the Coming of the Lord: 6371-6373. The Divine was not perceptible except as it passed through heaven: 6982, 6996, 7004.

[8] The inhabitants of all the planets worship the Divine in human form - therefore, the Lord: 6700, 8541-8547, 10736-10738. They are overjoyed when they hear that the Lord actually became a human: 9361. The Lord accepts everyone who is involved in what is good and worships the Divine in human form: 9359. It is impossible to think about God except in human form, and what is incomprehensible does not accord with any concept, so it does not accord with any faith: 9359, 9972. We can worship something of which we have some concept, but not something of which we have no concept: 4733, 5110, 5633 [5663?], 7211, 9267 [10067?], 10267. Therefore by most people worldwide the Divine is worshiped in human form; and this is the case because of an inflow from heaven: 10159. When people who are engaged in what is good in their behavior think about the Lord, they think about a divine human, and not about some human separated from the Divine. It is different for people who are not engaged in what is good in their behavior: 2326, 4724, 4731, 4766, 8878, 9193, 9198. The people nowadays who think about the Lord's human apart from the Divine are the ones in the church who are engaged in evil in their behavior and those who are in faith separated from thoughtfulness; also some reasons why they do not grasp what the divine human is: 3212, 3241, 4689, 4692, 4724, 4731, 5321, 6372 [6872?], 8878, 9193, 9198. The Lord's human was divine because he had his soul from the very reality of the Father; illustrated by the resemblance of a father in his children: 10270 [10269?], 10372, 10823. Also because it came from divine love, which was the very reality of his life from conception: 6872. The nature of every individual is determined by his or her deepest love; and each of us is his or her own deepest love: 6872, 10177, 10284. The Lord made his whole human nature divine - both its inward and its outward constituents: 1603, 1815, 1902, 1926, 2093, 2803 [2083?]. So, unlike any other person, he rose with his whole body: 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825.

[9] The divinity of the Lord's human is recognized in his omnipresence in the Holy Supper: 2343, 2359. It is also recognized in his transfiguration before the three disciples; 3212, and also from the Word of the Old Testament, where he is called "God": 10154; and where he is called "Jehovah": 1603, 1736, 1815, 1902, 2921, 3035, 5110, 6281, 6303, 8864, 9194, 9315. In the literal meaning, a distinction is made between Father and Son or between Jehovah and the Lord, but this is not the case in the inner meaning of the Word that angels attend to: 3035. In the Christian world, the Lord's human is not recognized as divine, a situation that has come about in order that the pope might be recognized as his vicar: 3035 [4738?].

[10] Some Christians in the other life were examined to determine what kind of concept of the one God they had, and it was discovered that they had a concept of three gods: 2329, 5256, 10736-10738, 10821. A trinity or divine trine in one person - and therefore a single God - is conceivable, but a trinity in three persons is not: 10738, 10821, 10824. A divine trine in the Lord is acknowledged in heaven: 14-15, 1729, 2005 [2004?], 5256, 9303. The trine in the Lord is the essential divine nature called the Father, the divine human called the Son, the emanating Divine called the Holy Spirit, and this divine trine is one: 2149, 2156, 2288, 2321 [2319?], 2329, 2447, 3704, 6993, 7182, 10738, 10822-10823. The Lord himself teaches that the Father and he are one: 1729, 2004-2005, 2018, 2025, 2751, 3704, 3736, 4766; and the holy Divine emanates from him and is his: 3969, 4673, 6788, 6993, 7499, 8127, 8302, 9199, 9228-9229, 9270 [9264?], 9407, 9818, 9820, 10330.

[11] The divine human flows into heaven and makes heaven: 3038. The Lord is everything in heaven, and is heaven's life: 7211, 9128. The Lord dwells among angels in what is his: 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157. So people who are in heaven are in the Lord: 3637-3638. The union of the Lord with angels takes place according to their acceptance of the quality of love and thoughtfulness from him: 904, 4198, 4206 [4205?], 4211, 4320 [4220?], 6280, 6832, 7042, 8819, 9680, 9682-9683, 10106, 10811 [10810?]. The whole heaven corresponds directly to the Lord: 551-552. The Lord is the common center of heaven: 3633. Everyone there turns toward the Lord, who is above the heavens: 9828, 10130, 10189. However, angels do not turn themselves toward the Lord; rather, the Lord turns them toward himself: 10189. There is no presence of angels with the Lord, but there is a presence of the Lord with angels: 9415. There is no union with the essential Divine in heaven, but there is with the divine human: 4211, 4724, 5633 [5663?].

[12] Heaven corresponds to the Lord's divine human, and heaven overall is therefore like a single person; and therefore heaven is called the universal human: 2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3636-3643, 3741-3745, 4625. The Lord is the only person, and only those who accept something divine from him are human: 1894. To the extent that they do so accept, they are human beings and images of him: 8547. Therefore angels are forms of love and thoughtfulness in human form, which is [given] by the Lord: 3804, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 9879, 10177.

[13] The whole heaven belongs to the Lord:

2751, 7086. He has all power in the heavens and on earth: 1607, 10089, 10827. Because the Lord rules the entire heaven, he also rules everything that depends on it - therefore everything in the world: 2026-2027, 4523-4524. The

Lord alone possesses the power to move the hells away from us, restrain us from evils and keep us in good, and thus to save us: 10019.

3563. 'And said, The voice is Jacob's voice, and the hands Esau's hands' means that the understanding consists in this case of truth existing inwardly, while the will consists in this case of good existing outwardly, so that an inversion of order exists with them. This is clear from the use of 'voice' to refer to truth and of 'hand' to refer to good. For 'voice' is used in reference to truth, as is evident from the places introduced in Volume One, in 219, 220, and from the fact that the actual words used are 'the voice is Jacob's voice', Jacob representing natural truth, as shown in various places above. And the reason why 'hand' is used in reference to good is that 'the hand' means power and ability, 878, 3541, the source of which is nothing other than good. All the power and ability that truth possesses comes from good, even though it seems to come from truth. This likewise is evident from the fact that the actual words used are 'the hands are Esau's hands', Esau representing natural good, as also shown above. The consequent existence of an inversion of order with them is evident from the consideration that proper order requires good, which belongs to the will, to exist inwardly, and truth, which belongs to the understanding, to exist outwardly. But these matters, as stated above, are such as can hardly be explained in any intelligible way because few have any knowledge of such things. For even if a perfectly clear explanation of them were given they would still not be understood if knowledge of them is lacking. Nevertheless the matter must be discussed since it is the subject at this point.

[2] The only source of the good of the natural which manifests itself in a person is interior good, that is, the good of the rational. Natural good can have no other source, though that which flows in from the one determines the nature of the good in the other. And since the good of the natural comes from no other source, neither does the truth of the natural, for where good is, so also is truth. Both must be present if they are to be anything at all. And again, that which flows in determines the nature of the truth there. Influx is such that the good of the rational flows into the natural along two different routes - one a very short and thus direct route into the good itself of the natural, and then on through the good of the natural into the truth there, this good and this truth being represented by Esau and his venison. In addition to this, the good of the rational flows into the natural along a second route which is less short, that is to say, through the truth of the rational, by means of which influx it forms something resembling good, but which in fact is truth.

[3] Everything is thus taking place according to order when the good of the rational flows directly into the good of the natural and at the same time into the truth there, and also indirectly by way of the truth of the rational into the good of the natural, and in a similar way both directly and indirectly into the truth of the natural. When all this is taking place the influx is according to order. Such is the influx with those who have been regenerated. But a different influx exists prior to regeneration, as has been stated above. That is to say, the good of the rational does not flow into the good of the natural directly but indirectly, by way of the truth of the rational, and so manifests something resembling good in the natural, which is not genuine good nor consequently genuine truth. Instead it is something such as does indeed possess good inmostly by virtue of influx through the truth of the rational; but there is nothing more. Therefore good too presents itself there under a different form, that is to say, outwardly as good represented by 'Esau' but inwardly as truth represented by 'Jacob'. And as this is not in accordance with order an inversion of order is said to exist with them. Yet insofar as nobody can be regenerated in any other way it is according to order.

[4] I realize that no matter how clearly these matters are stated and as a consequence are able to be perceived clearly by those who have a knowledge of the existence of such things, they still remain obscure to those who do not know what influx is, more so to those who do not know that the rational is distinct and separate from the natural, and more so still to those who do not have any distinct and clear idea of what good is or of what truth is. But the nature of natural good and of natural truth in the state prior to regeneration is plain to see only from the desires present at that time. When a person desires truth not because he has life in view but some other ends, such as to become learned, and to become this because of some desire to outdo others, which amounts to childish envy, and also because of some desire for glory, the order existing with the good of the natural and the truth of the natural is akin to that represented here by Jacob. As these two exist in relation to each other, there is a reversal of order, that is to say, the will, to which good belongs, exists outwardly, while the understanding, to which truth belongs, exists inwardly.

[5] But in the state following regeneration the situation is different. In this case the person desires truth not only because he has life in view but more still because he desires the good itself which constitutes that life. Previous desires, that is to say, those connected with outdoing, with childish envy, and with glory, now break away, so much so that they seem so to speak to have been dispelled. At this point good which belongs to the will exists inwardly, and truth which belongs to the understanding exists outwardly. The result then is that truth acts as one with good since it stems from good. This order is genuine order. The order existing previously also serves to bring this order about, for the will which at that time occupies an external position allows many things to come in which contribute to regeneration, like a sponge which absorbs water, clear or muddy, so that it absorbs such things as would otherwise be rejected. Indeed these things serve as means and also as ideas that have to be formed concerning genuine goods and truths, besides other uses which they serve.