9371. THE INTERNAL SENSE.

Verses 1-2. 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; and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah; and they shall not come near; and the people shall not come up with him. “And He said unto Moses,” signifies that which concerns the Word in general; “come up unto Jehovah,” signifies conjunction with the Lord; “thou and Aaron,” signifies the Word in the internal sense and the external sense; “Nadab and Abihu,” signifies doctrine from both senses; “and seventy of the elders of Israel,” signifies the chief truths of the church which are of the Word, or of doctrine, and which agree with good; “and bow yourselves afar off,” signifies humiliation and adoration from the heart, and then the influx of the Lord; “and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah,” signifies the conjunction and presence of the Lord through the Word in general; “and they shall not come near,” signifies no separate conjunction and presence; “and the people shall not come up with him,” signifies no conjunction whatever with the external apart from the internal.

2805. Where is the lamb [pecus] for a burnt-offering? That this signifies, Where are they from the human race who are to be sanctified? is evident from the representation of sacrifices, especially of burnt-offerings. That burnt-offerings and sacrifices were representative of internal worship, may be seen above (n. 922, 923); that they were made from the flock and from the herd; that when made from the flock, they consisted of lambs, sheep, she-goats, kids, rams, he-goats, and when from the herd, of oxen, bullocks, or calves; and that these signified various kinds of celestial and spiritual things (n. 922, 1823, 2180); also that by means of them sanctifications were to be effected (n. 2776). It may be seen from this, that by Isaac’s inquiry, “Where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?” is signified, Where are they from the human race who are to be sanctified?—which is more plainly manifest from what follows, that is, from the answer of Abraham his father, “God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering” (verse 8); by which is signified that the Divine Human will provide those who are to be sanctified. This is also evident from the fact that a ram was afterwards seen behind them, held by the horns in a thicket, which was offered for a burnt-offering (verse 13), by which are signified those of the human race who are of the Lord’s spiritual church. And the same is evident from what follows in verses 14 to 17.