9506. 'And you shall make a mercy-seat from pure gold' means the hearing and reception of all things that belong to worship arising from the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'the mercy-seat' as the cleansing from evils or forgiveness of sins, consequently the hearing and reception of all things that belong to worship, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'gold' as the good of love, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914. The truth that 'the mercy-seat' means the cleansing from evils and forgiveness of sins is clear from those places in the Word where propitiation or expiation is referred to. ¹ The reason why the hearing and reception of all things belonging to worship is also meant is that only those who have made propitiation or expiation, that is, been cleansed from evils, are heard by the Lord and have their worship accepted by Him; it does not happen with those who are steeped in evils, that is, have not made expiation or propitiation. Therefore also Aaron was not allowed to approach the mercy-seat until he had been cleansed and had made propitiation for himself and the people.

[2] The truth that 'the mercy-seat' consequently means the hearing and reception of all things that belong to worship is also clear from the consideration that Jehovah spoke to Moses over the mercy-seat between the cherubs. The reason why worship arising from the good of love is that which is received is that no one is allowed to enter heaven and so approach the Lord other than a person who is governed by good, that is to say, by the good of love to the Lord and the good of charity towards the neighbour, see 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139, 9227, 9230, 9274; no one else is heard nor can anyone else's worship be received. This also explains why there were cherubs over the mercy-seat; for watchfulness and providence are meant by 'the cherubs', guarding against access to the Lord except through the good of love, that is, guarding against entrance into heaven by any apart from those who are governed by good, and also guarding against those in hell gaining access to the inhabitants of heaven and doing them harm. All this shows what was meant by the presence of the mercy-seat over the ark and by that of the cherubs over the mercy-seat, and by the fact that the mercy-seat and the cherubs too were made from pure gold; for 'gold' means the good of love, and 'the ark' heaven where the Lord is.

[3] The truth that 'the mercy-seat' means the cleansing from evils, and so the forgiveness of sins, is clear from places in the Word where 'propitiation' or 'expiation' ² is referred to, as in David,

O Jehovah, expiate our sins for Your name's sake. Psalms 79:9.

In the same author,

He, being merciful, has expiated iniquity. Psalms 78:38.

In the same author,

You will expiate me with hyssop and I shall become clean; You will wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow. Psalms 51:7.

In Isaiah,

Evil will come upon you, which you will not know how to ward off; calamity will befall you, which you will not be able to expiate. Isaiah 47:11.

And in Moses,

Sing, O nations, the people of Him who will avenge the blood of His servants, and will expiate His land, His people. Deuteronomy 32:43.

[4] Expiations were effected by means of sacrifices; and it says that when they were offered the priest would expiate him from sin, and he would be pardoned, ³ Leviticus 4:26, 31, 35; 5:6, 10, 13, 16, 18; 6:7; 9:7; 15:15, 30. Expiation was also effected by 'silver', Exodus 30:16; Psalms 49:7. Hence also the day of expiations ⁴ before the feast of tabernacles, Leviticus 23:27-32. But it should be recognized that none of those expiations constituted a real cleansing from evils or forgiveness of sins; it only represented it. For every religious observance among the Israelite and Jewish nation was merely representative of the Lord, His kingdom and Church, and such realities as belong to heaven and the Church. How representations brought such realities to angels' awareness in heaven, see 9229.

[5] Since the cleansing from evils and forgiveness of sins was meant by 'the mercy-seat', the hearing and reception of all things that belonged to worship was also meant; for one who has been cleansed from evils is heard and his worship is received. This was represented by Jehovah's speaking above the mercy-seat to Moses and His commanding what the children of Israel should do, as is clear from verse 22 of the present chapter, where it says,

And I will meet with you there, and I will speak to you from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubs which are over the ark of the Testimony, [declaring] everything that I shall command you for the children of Israel.

The like occurs elsewhere,

Whenever Moses spoke to Jehovah he heard the voice speaking from above the mercy-seat that was over the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubs. Numbers 7:89.

The fact that a person was heard and his worship was received when he had been cleansed from evils was represented by Aaron's not going into the holy place within the veil before the mercy-seat unless he had first made expiation for himself and the people, by ceremonial washing, sacrifices, incense, and blood, as stated in Leviticus 16:2-16, which concludes,

In this way he shall expiate the holy place from the uncleannesses of the children of Israel, and from their transgressions in regard of all their sins.

It also says in verse 2 that Jehovah would appear at the mercy-seat 'in the cloud', meaning in Divine Truth adjusted to people's ability to receive and understand it, such as the Word is in the sense of the letter, 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343 (end), 6752, 8106, 8443, 8781.

Footnotes:

9139. 'When a man devastates a field or a vineyard' means a stripping away of the Church's goodness and truth by evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'devastating' as a stripping away by evil desires, dealt with below in 9141; from the meaning of 'a field' as the Church in respect of good, dealt with in 2971, 3766, 4982, 7502, thus the Church's good; and from the meaning of 'a vineyard' as the Church in respect of truth, thus the Church's truth. The reason why 'a field' is the Church in respect of good is that the products of a field, such as wheat and barley, mean forms of good in the Church, internal and external ones, 3941, 7602, 7605; and the reason why 'a vineyard' is the Church in respect of truth is that 'wine', which is the product of a vineyard, means the truth of good, 1071, 6377.

[2] The origin of these meanings of 'a field' and 'a vineyard' lies in representatives in the spiritual world. For fields full of wheat and barley appear before the eyes of spirits when angels in a higher heaven are talking about an assembly of people governed by good; and vineyards full of grapes appear, together with winepresses in them, when angels are talking about an assembly of people governed by the truth of good. Those representatives are not due to the existence of such fields and vineyards on earth; rather, they are due to correspondences, in that wheat and barley, or bread made from them, nourish the body just as the good of love and charity nourishes the soul, and in that wine serving as drink nourishes the body just as the truth and good of faith nourish the soul. This is the reason why in the Word the good of love and the truth of faith are called food and drink; indeed in this sense they are heavenly food and drink, 56-58, 680, 681, 1973, 1974, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562.

[3] The fact that 'a vineyard' means the Church in respect of the good and truth of faith, which is called a spiritual Church, is clear from places in the Word in which a vineyard is mentioned, as in Jeremiah,

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled down My field; they have rendered the field of [My] delight into a lonely wilderness. They have made it (the vineyard) into a solitary place. Jeremiah 12:10-11.

Here 'vineyard' and 'field' plainly stand for the Church; and since the Church is the Church by virtue of the truth and good of faith and charity, it is evident that in these verses 'vineyard' is the Church in respect of truth and 'the field' the Church in respect of good. In Isaiah,

Jehovah enters into judgement with the elders of His people and with its princes. You set alight the vineyard. Isaiah 3:14.

Here also 'vineyard' plainly stands for the Church in respect of the good and truth of faith; for 'the elders' with whom Jehovah will enter into judgement are the Church's forms of good, 6524, 6525, and 'the princes' are its truths, 5044.

[4] In the same prophet,

I will sing to my beloved a song of my friend regarding His vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard in a horn of a son of oil, ¹ which he surrounded [with an enclosure], and planted with the choicest vine. Isaiah 5:1-2ff.

This refers to the Lord, who is the 'beloved' and 'friend'. 'The vineyard' is His spiritual Church, 'the choicest vine' is that Church's good of faith, and 'a horn of a son of oil' is that Church's good of faith growing out of the good of love. The person who knows nothing whatever about the internal sense of the Word cannot possibly know what 'a vineyard in a horn of a son of oil' means. Nevertheless this expression has a meaning lying hidden within it such as no words can express. They contain a full description of the Lord's spiritual kingdom linked to His celestial kingdom, that is, of the second heaven to the third, consequently a full description of the good of faith in the Lord, which is the spiritual kingdom's, linked to the good of love to the Lord, which is the celestial kingdom's. 'The vineyard' is the spiritual kingdom; 'in a horn' is in power, thus in that kingdom, 'a son of oil' being the external level of the good of love in the celestial kingdom. The celestial kingdom, which is the Lord's inmost heaven, is called the olive or an olive-grove, for 'oil' means the good of celestial love, 886, 4582, 4638. It should be recognized that the Lord's kingdom on earth is the Church. As regards the existence of two kingdoms, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, and the fact that the spiritual kingdom constitutes the second heaven and the celestial kingdom the third, see 3887, 4138, 4279, 4286; and with regard to their being linked together, 6435.

[5] In the same prophet,

On that day, a vineyard of unmixed wine; ² respond to it. I Jehovah am guarding it; every moment I will water it. Isaiah 27:2-3.

'A vineyard of unmixed wine' stands for the spiritual Church. In Amos,

In all vineyards there will be wailing; I will pass through you. Woe to you desiring the day of Jehovah! What will the day of Jehovah be for you? It will be one of darkness, and not of light. Amos 5:17-18.

This refers to the final period of the Church, when the good and truth of faith do not exist any longer, that final period being meant by 'the day of Jehovah, which will be one of darkness, and not of light'. This is why it says, 'In all vineyards there will be wailing'. In John, in Revelation,

The angel sent his sickle into the earth and harvested the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Revelation 14:18, 19.

'Harvesting the vine of the earth' means devouring the Church's truth and good, 'the earth' being the Church. From all this one may now see why it is that the Lord likened the kingdom of heaven so many times to a vineyard, as in Matthew 20:1ff; 21:28-29, 33-41; Mark 12:1-13; and why it is that the Lord called Himself 'the vine' in John,

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; apart from Me you cannot do anything. John 15:1ff.

'The vine' is faith in the Lord, and for that reason is the Lord in respect of faith. For the Lord is faith because faith originates in Him; no faith is faith except that which originates in Him. So it is also that 'the vine' means faith that is faith in Him.

Footnotes:

680. The fact that goods and truths are man's real food may be clear to anyone, for the person who is deprived of them has no life within himself, and is a dead man. The food on which the soul of the person feeds who is dead in this sense consists of the delights arising from evils, and of the pleasures gained from falsities. These are the food of death. These delights and pleasures also derive from bodily, worldly, and natural things, which have no life at all within them. Furthermore such a person does not know what spiritual and celestial food is. Every time 'food' or 'bread' is mentioned in the Word he assumes that food for the body is meant. In the words of the Lord's Prayer, 'Give us our daily bread', for example, he thinks purely of nourishment for the body. There are some whose ideas do extend further and who assert that this petition includes all other physical requirements, such as clothing, money, and so on. Indeed they will argue fiercely that no other kind of food is meant, even though they clearly see that the petitions coming before and after it entail purely celestial and spiritual things, and refer to the Lord's kingdom, and possibly know as well that the Lord's Word is celestial and spiritual.

[2] From this and other similar considerations it becomes sufficiently clear just how bodily-minded the man of today is, and that like the Jews, he is unwilling to accept anything stated in the Word except in a very crude and materialistic way. The Lord Himself clearly teaches what His Word means by 'food' and 'bread': He speaks of food in John as follows,

Jesus said, Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man gives you. John 6:27.

And of bread He says in the same gospel,

Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living Bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread he will live for ever. John 6:49-51, 58.

Even today there are people who, like those who first heard these words, declare,

This is a hard saying; who can listen to it? And some drew back and no longer walked with Him. John 6:60, 66.

To those people the Lord said,

The words which I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. John 6:63.

[3] It is similar with water, in that it means the spiritual things of faith: He speaks of water in John as follows,

Jesus said, Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but he who drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life. John 4:13-14.

Even today there are people like the woman to whom the Lord spoke at the spring, who replied,

Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst nor come here to draw. John 4:15.

[4] In the Word 'food' means nothing other than spiritual and celestial food, which is faith in the Lord and love. This is clear from many places in the Word, as in Jeremiah,

The enemy has stretched out his hand over all the desirable things of Jerusalem, because she saw the nations come into her sanctuary, concerning whom You did command, They shall not enter your congregation. All the people groan as they search for bread. They have given their desirable things for food to restore the soul. Lamentations 1:10-11.

Here no other bread or food is meant than spiritual, for the subject is the sanctuary. In the same author,

I called to my lovers, they deceived me. My priests and my elders breathed their last in the city, for they sought food for themselves to refresh their soul. Lamentations 1:19.

Here the meaning is similar. In David,

They all look to You to give them their food in due season. You givest to them - they gather it up. You openest Your hand - they are satisfied with good. Psalms 104:27-28.

This in like manner stands for spiritual and celestial food.

[5] In Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1.

Here 'wine and milk' stands for spiritual and celestial drink. In the same prophet,

A virgin is conceiving and bearing a son, and you will call His name Immanuel. Butter and honey will He eat that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. It will be that because of the abundance of milk they produce he will eat butter, for butter and honey will everyone eat that is left in the midst of the land. Isaiah 7:14-15, 22.

Here 'eating honey and butter' means that which is celestial-spiritual, and 'those who are left' stands for remnants, which are referred to in Malachi as well,

Bring all the tithes ¹ to the storehouse that there may be food in My house. Malachi 3:10.

'Tithes' ¹ stands for remnants. Further concerning the meaning of 'food', see 56-58, 276.

Footnotes: