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.

5248. And changed his garments. That this signifies as to what is of the interior natural, by putting on what is suitable, is evident from the signification of “changing,” as being to remove and reject; and from the signification of “garments,” as being what is of the interior natural (of which presently); hence it follows that what was suitable (signified by the new “garments”) was put on. “Garments” are often mentioned in the Word, and thereby are meant things beneath or without, and that cover things above or within; and therefore by “garments” are signified man’s external, consequently his natural, because this covers his internal and spiritual. Specifically by “garments” are signified truths that are of faith, because these cover the goods that are of charity. This signification has its origin from the garments in which spirits and angels appear clothed. Spirits appear in garments devoid of brightness, but angels in garments that are bright and are as it were made of brightness, for the very brightness around them appears as a garment, as appeared the raiment of the Lord when He was transfigured, which was “as the light” (Matthew 17:2), and was “white and flashing” (Luke 9:29). From their garments also the quality of spirits and angels can be known in respect to the truths of faith, because these are represented by garments, but truths of faith such as they are in the natural; for such as they are in the rational appears from the face and its beauty. The brightness of their garments comes from the good of love and of charity, which by shining through causes the brightness. From all this it is evident what is represented in the spiritual world by the garments, and consequently what is meant by “garments” in the spiritual sense. But the garments that Joseph changed, that is, put off, were the garments of the pit or prison, and by these are signified things fallacious and false, which in a state of temptations are excited by evil genii and spirits; and therefore by his “changing his garments” is signified rejection and change in respect to what is of the interior natural, and the garments he put on denoted such things as would be suitable, and therefore the putting on of things suitable is signified. See what has before been said and shown concerning garments: that what is celestial is not clothed, but what is spiritual and natural (n. 297); that “garments” denote truths relatively lower (n. 1073, 2576); that changing the garments was a representative of holy truths being put on, whence also came the changes of garments (n. 4545); that rending the garments was representative of mourning over truth lost and destroyed (see n. 4763 and what is signified by him that came in, not having on a wedding garment (n. 2132).

1577. That 'let there not be strife, now, between me and you, [and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen]' means that there ought to be no disagreement between the two becomes clear from what has been stated already. This agreement, or unity, of the internal man and the external man contains more arcana than can ever be fully told. The internal man and the external man have never been united in anyone - for it never has been possible nor is it ever possible for them to be united - except in the Lord; and this is a further reason why He came into the world. With people who are regenerate the internal man and the external man appear as though they are united; but in fact they are the Lord's, for the things that are in agreement are the Lord's, whereas those that are not are man's.

[2] There are two sides to the internal man, namely the celestial and the spiritual, and these two form a single entity if the spiritual has its origin in the celestial. Or what amounts to the same, there are the two sides to the internal man known as good and truth. These two form a single entity if truth has its origin in good. Or what also amounts to the same, there are the two sides to the internal man, love and faith. These two form a single entity if faith has its origin in love. Or what yet again amounts to the same, there are the two sides to the internal man, will and understanding. These two form a single entity if the understanding has its origin in the will. The light from the sun can serve to make the point plainer still. If both warmth and light are present in light from the sun, as they are in spring-time, all things consequently start to grow and thrive. But if, as in winter, there is no warmth in the light from the sun all things at that time consequently fade and die.

[3] From this it is clear what constitutes the internal man. What constitutes the external man however is evident from the fact that with the external man everything is natural; for the external man is one and the same as the natural man. The internal man is said to be united to the external when the celestial-spiritual comprising the internal man flows into the natural comprising the external man and causes them to act as one. The natural as a consequence becomes celestial and spiritual as well, though it is a lower variety of celestial and spiritual. Or what amounts to the same, the external man as a consequence becomes celestial and spiritual as well, though it is a more exterior variety of celestial and spiritual man.

[4] The internal man and the external man are completely distinct and separate since celestial and spiritual things are what move the internal man but natural things the external man. But although they are distinct they are nevertheless united, that is to say, when the celestial-spiritual comprising the internal man flows into the natural comprising the external man and reorganizes it as its own. In none but the Lord has the Internal Man been united to the external Man. It has happened to nobody else except insofar as the Lord has united and does unite them. It is solely love and charity, that is, good, which effects union, and there can never be any love and charity, that is, any good, unless it comes from the Lord. Such is the union which these words of Abram are meant to convey - 'let there not be strife, now, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are men who are brothers'.

[5] The words 'between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen' are used for the following reason: just as the internal man has two elements, namely the celestial and the spiritual which, as has been stated, form a single entity, so too does the external man. The celestial side of the external man is called natural good, the spiritual side natural truth. 'Let there not be strife between me and you' has regard to good - that is, let there be no conflict between good in the internal man and good in the external, while 'let there be no strife between my herdsmen and your herdsmen' has regard to truth - that is, let there be no conflict between truth in the internal man and truth in the external.