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.

9093. And they shall divide the silver of it. That this signifies that the truth thereof shall be dissipated, is evident from the signification of “dividing,” as being to banish and dissipate (see n. 6360, 6361); and from the signification of “silver,” as being truth (n. 1551, 2048, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999). That “to divide” denotes to dissipate, is because if those things which have been associated together are divided, they are also scattered, as he who divides his mind destroys it. For the mind of man is an association of two parts, one part being called the understanding, the other the will. He who divides these two parts scatters the things which belong to one part, for one part must live from the other; consequently the other also perishes. It is the same with him who divides truth from good, or what is the same, faith from charity. He who does this destroys both. In a word, all things which ought to be united in a one, if divided perish.

[2] This division is meant by the Lord’s words in Luke:

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will prefer the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13).

That is, by faith serve the Lord, and by love the world; thus acknowledge truth, and do evil. He who does this has a divided mind, from which comes its destruction. From all this it is evident whence it is that “to divide” denotes to dissipate; as is also evident in Matthew:

The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall divide him, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites (Matthew 24:50-51); where “to divide” denotes to separate and remove from goods and truths (n. 4424), thus to dissipate.

[3] In Moses:

Cursed be their anger, for it was vehement; and their wrath, for it was hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:7); where Israel speaks prophetically of Simeon and Levi. By Simeon and Leviticus are there represented those who are in faith separate from charity (n. 6352), by Jacob and Israel the church external and internal, and also the external and internal man (n. 4286, 4598, 5973, 6360, 6361). “To divide them in Jacob” denotes to expel them from the external church; and “to scatter them in Israel” denotes from the internal church; thus to dissipate the goods and the truths of the church appertaining to them.

[4] That “dividing” has this signification is also plain from the words written on the wall when Belshazzar king of Babel, together with his lords, his wives, and his concubines, drank wine from the vessels of gold and of silver which belonged to the temple that was at Jerusalem. The writing was:

Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided (Daniel 5:2-4, 25-28); where “divided” means separated from the kingdom. In this passage it is plain how all things were at that time representative. In it is described the profanation of good and truth, which is signified by “Babel” (that Babel” denotes profanation, see n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326); “vessels of gold and of silver” denote the goods of love and the truths of faith from the the Lord, (n. 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917). Profanation is signified by “drinking therefrom, and at the same time praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone,” as we read in the fourth verse of the chapter, which denote evils and falsities in a series (n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8941). By the “temple at Jerusalem” from which the vessels came, is signified in the supreme sense the Lord, in the representative sense His kingdom and church (n. 3720). The kingdom of Belshazzar being “divided” signified the dissipation of good and truth, and he himself being “slain that night” signified the loss of the life of truth and good, thus damnation; for “to be divided” denotes to be dissipated; “a king” denotes the truth of good (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148); the like is signified by “kingdom” (n. 1672, 2547, 4691); “to be slain” denotes to be deprived of the life of truth and good (n. 3607, 6767, 8902); and the “night” in which he was slain denotes a state of evil and falsity (n. 2353, 7776, 7851, 7870, 7947). From this it is plain that all things there were representative.

[5] It says in David:

They divided My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast a lot (Psalms 22:18).

They divided His garments, casting a lot; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Matthew 27:35).

The soldiers took His garments, and made four parts; and the tunic, the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore, Let us not divide it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:23-24).

He who reads these words and knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, is not aware that anything secret lies hidden in them, when yet in each word there is a Divine secret. The secret was that Divine truths had been dissipated by the Jews, for the Lord was the Divine truth; and hence He is called “the Word” (John 1). “The Word” denotes Divine truth; His garments represented truths in the external form; and His tunic, truths in the internal form; the division of the garments represented the dissipation of the truths of faith by the Jews. (That “garments” denote truths in the external form, see n. 2576, 5248, 5954, 6918; also that “a tunic” denotes truth in the internal form, n. 4677.) Truths in the external form are such as are those of the Word in the literal sense; but truths in the internal form are such as are those of the Word in the spiritual sense. The division of the garments into four parts signified total dissipation, in like manner as the division in Zechariah 14:4, and in other passages; likewise the division into two parts, as we read of the veil of the temple (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38). The rending of the rocks also at that time (Matthew 27:51) represented the dissipation of all things of faith, for a “rock” denotes the Lord as to faith, consequently it denotes faith from the Lord.

6000. And God said to Israel in the visions of the night. That this signifies obscure revelation, is evident from the signification of “God said in the visions” as being revelation. For revelations were made either by dreams, or by night visions, or by day visions, or by speech within the man, or by speech without him from angels that were seen, and also by speech without him from angels that were not seen. By all these are signified in the Word various kinds of revelations, and by a “vision of the night,” obscure revelation; for “night” signifies what is obscure (see n. 1712, 2514), and obscurity in the spiritual sense is that truth does not appear. Moreover in the Word “night” signifies falsity from evil, for they who from evil are in falsity are in the obscurity of night. Thus all who are in hell are said to be in night. They indeed are in a kind of light there, for they see one another; but this light is like the light from a hard-coal fire, and is turned into darkness and thick darkness when heavenly light flows in. Hence it is that they who are in hell are said to be in night, and that they are called angels of night and of darkness; and on the other hand they who are in heaven are called angels of day and of light.

[2] That “night” denotes what is obscure, and likewise what is false, may also be seen from the following passages in the Word.

In John:

Jesus said, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walk in the day, he stumbleth not. But if anyone walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him (John 11:9-10);

“twelve hours” denote all states of truth; “walking in the day,” denotes to live in truth; and “walking in the night,” to live in falsity.

[3] Again:

I must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day; the night cometh when no one can work (John 9:4);

“day” denotes truth from good; and “night,” falsity from evil. It is the first time of the church which is meant by “day,” for then truth is received, because men are in good; and it is the last time of the church which is meant by “night,” for then nothing of truth is received, because men are not in good. For when man is not in good, that is, when he is not in charity toward the neighbor, then even if the veriest truths are told him, he receives them not, for then it is not at all perceived what is true, because the light of truth falls into such things as are of the body and the world, which alone are attended to, and alone are loved and estimated as real; but not into such things as are of heaven, because with such men these are relatively of little or no account. Thus the light of truth is absorbed and smothered in what is densely dark, as is the light of the sun in what is black. This is signified by “the night cometh when no one can work.” It is also such a time at this day.

[4] In Matthew:

While the bridegroom tarried, all the virgins slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh (Matthew 25:5-6);

“midnight” also denotes the last time of an old church, when there is nothing of faith because nothing of charity, and also the first time of a new church.

In Luke:

I say unto you, In that night there shall be two upon one bed; the one shall be accepted, and the other shall be left (Luke 17:34);

here in like manner “night” denotes the last time of an old church and the first of a new one.

[5] In Matthew:

Jesus said to the disciples, All ye shall be scandalized against Me in this night. And to Peter, In this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice (Matthew 26:31, 34).

That it pleased the Lord to be taken at night, signified that with them at that time Divine truth was in the obscurity of night, and that falsity from evil was in its place. And that Peter denied the Lord thrice in that night, also represented the last time of the church, when the truth of faith is indeed taught, but is not believed. Such a time is “night,” because the Lord is then utterly denied in the hearts of men; for the twelve apostles, like the twelve tribes of Israel, represented all things of faith (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3354, 3488, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060), and Peter represented the faith of the church (see the preface to Genesis 18; also to Genesis 22; and also n. 3750, 4738). Therefore it was that the Lord said unto Peter that “in that night he should deny Him thrice;” and to the disciples, “all ye shall be scandalized against Me in this night.”

[6] In Isaiah:

One calleth unto me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night 21:11-12, speaking of the coming of the Lord, which is the “morning,” which coming was when there was no longer any spiritual truth in the earth, and which is “night.”

[7] In Zechariah:

It shall be one day which is known to Jehovah; not day nor night; for about the time of evening there shall be light. It shall come to pass in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; and Jehovah shall be king over all the earth; in that day shall Jehovah be one, and His name one (Zech. 14:7-9); speaking here likewise of the Lord and also of a new church. “Jehovah who shall be king, and Jehovah being one and His name one,” is the Lord as to the Divine Human, which should be one with the Divine Itself which is called the “Father.”

Before the coming of the Lord the Divine Human was Jehovah in the heavens, for by passing through the heavens He presented Himself as a Divine Man before many on earth. But at that time the Divine Human was not so completely one with the Divine Itself which is called the “Father,” as when the Lord made it in Himself altogether one. That before this they were as it were distinct, is plain from the nineteenth chapter of Genesis, where it is said, “Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Jehovah out of heaven” (verse 24; see n. 2447).

The “day when it was not day nor night,” is when the Lord was born; for it was then “evening,” that is, the end of the representatives of the church; the “light about the time of evening” is the Divine truth which would then appear.

[8] In Isaiah:

Surely in the night Ar has been laid waste, Moab has been cut off; surely in the night Kir of Moab has been laid waste (Isaiah 15:1);

“Moab” denotes natural good, and in the opposite sense adulterated good (n. 2468); its vastation is here treated of. Vastations are said to be effected “in the night,” because truth is then obscured, and falsity enters.

In Jeremiah:

The great city weeping shall weep in the night, and her tear shall be on her cheek (Lam. 1:2); describing the desolation of truth; “night” denotes falsity.

[9] In David:

Thou shalt not be afraid of the dread of night, of the arrow that flieth by day, nor of the death that wasteth at noonday (Psalms 91:5-6); the “dread of night” denotes falsities of evil which are from hell; the “arrow that flieth by day,” falsity which is openly taught, whereby good is destroyed; the “death that wasteth at noonday,” evil which is lived in openly, whereby truth is destroyed.

In John:

The gates of the holy Jerusalem shall not be shut by day; for there is no night there (Revelation 21:25).

There shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light (Revelation 22:5).

“There shall be no night there” denotes that there shall be no falsity.

In Daniel:

Daniel said, I saw in my vision when it was night. After this I saw in the visions of the night (Daniel 7:2, 7); “visions of the night” here also denote obscure revelation, for in this passage the four beasts are treated of, and their horns, and many things which belong to obscure revelation.

It is similar with the horses of various colors which Zechariah saw “in the night” (Zech. 1:8, and following verses).