9370. EXODUS 24

1. And He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and bow yourselves afar off.

2. And Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah; and they shall not come near; and the people shall not come up with him.

3. And Moses came and reported to the people all the words of Jehovah, and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words that Jehovah hath spoken we will do.

4. And Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

5. And he sent youths of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace sacrifices of bullocks to Jehovah.

6. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it into basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

7. And he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the ears of the people; and they said, All things that Jehovah hath spoken we will do and hear.

8. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant that Jehovah hath made with you upon all these words.

9. And there went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel.

10. And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet as a work of sapphire stone, and as the substance of heaven in respect to cleanness.

11. And unto the sons of Israel who were set apart He sent not His hand: and they saw God, and did eat and drink.

12. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Come up to Me into the mountain, and be thou there; and I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law, and the commandment, which I will write to teach them.

13. And Moses rose up, and Joshua his minister; and Moses went up unto the mountain of God.

14. And he said unto the elders, Sit ye here for us, until we return unto you; and behold Aaron and Hur are with you; whosoever hath words, let him come near unto them.

15. And Moses went up unto the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

16. And the glory of Jehovah tarried upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

17. And the aspect of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel.

18. And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up unto the mountain; and Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights.

THE CONTENTS.

The subject treated of in the internal sense is the Word given by the Lord through heaven; what is the nature of it; that it is Divine in both senses, the internal and the external; and that through it there is conjunction of the Lord with man.

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When we decide that we want a new life, we have to LIVE it. Sometimes this means we're faking our responses and actions, but as long as we're faking it with the intention to make it, God will turn that fake feeling into a real one.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 4281, 6592, 8389, 8588; Conjugial Love 281; Genesis 32:22-31, 50:24-25)

10397. 'And the people gathered together to Aaron' means that they directed themselves to the outward features of the Word, the Church, and worship, detached from what was inward. This is clear from the meaning of 'gathering themselves together' as directing themselves; and from the representation of 'Aaron' here as the outward aspect of the Word, the Church, and worship, detached from the inward. The reason why Aaron has this representation here is that in the absence of Moses he was the head of that nation, and Moses, who was absent, represents the Word, from which the Church and worship are derived, in both its inward and its outward senses, see in the places referred to in 9372. The fact that Aaron has such a representation here is also evident from every single thing that is mentioned in what follows regarding Aaron, namely that it was he who made the calf, proclaimed the feast, and caused the people to become undisciplined, all of which is in exact accord with the outward aspect of the Word, the Church, and worship, when detached from the inward. Anyone who separates the inward aspect of the Word, the Church, and worship from the outward separates from it that which is Divine and holy. For the inward aspect of these is their spirit, whereas the outward is the body belonging to that spirit; and the body without the spirit is dead. To worship what is dead therefore is to worship an idol, in this instance to worship a golden calf, proclaim a feast to it, and so cause the people to become undisciplined, from all of which it becomes clear what 'Aaron' means in the present chapter. What the inward aspect of the Word, the Church, and worship is, and what their outward aspect is, has been shown in what has gone before.