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.

7967. 'Their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes' means delights that belong to affections and cling to truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'kneading bowls' as delights belonging to affections, dealt with in 7356; from the meaning of 'being bound' as clinging to; and from the meaning of 'clothes' as truths, dealt with in 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6918. What delights that belong to affections and cling to truths are must be stated. All the truths that enter and reside with a person have become linked to some delight; for without delight truths have no vitality. The delights that have become linked to the truths residing with a person reveal what the situation is with those truths. If his delights belong to evil affections the situation is bad, but if his delights belong to good affections it is good. For the angels present with a person enter in constantly with good affections and stir to life the truths that have become linked to them. On the other hand if truths have not become linked to good affections the angels strive in vain to arouse any stirrings of matters of faith and charity. These considerations show what one is to understand by delights that belong to affections and cling to truths, meant by 'kneading bowls bound up in their clothes'.