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.

'A reed shaken with the wind,' as in Matthew 11:7, signifies the Word when explained at pleasure, because 'a reed' in the internal sense is truth in the extreme, like the Word is in the letter.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 9372; Matthew 11:8)

5297. 'Food in the cities' means such things present in the interior parts of the natural mind. This is clear from the meaning of 'food' as all things that have a useful purpose, dealt with just above in 5293; and from the meaning of 'cities' as the interior parts of the natural mind. In the universal sense 'cities' means matters of doctrine known to the Church, see 402, 2268, 2449, 2451, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4491, 4493, but in a particular sense it means the interior parts of a person where matters of doctrine exist, or rather where truths joined to good exist. For the forms of truth and good existing with a person form a city so to speak, see 3584, which is why a person who has the Church within him is called 'the city of God'. The meaning that 'a city' has is similar to the meaning that 'a house' has. In a universal sense 'a house' means good; in a particular sense however it means a person, 3128, and in a specific sense it means his mind so far as goodness and truth are joined together there, 3538, 4973, 5023. Also a house with its rooms, surrounding buildings, and courtyards is a city in miniature.

[2] The interior parts of the natural mind are meant by 'cities' in Isaiah,

On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak in the lips of Canaan and swear to Jehovah Zebaoth. Isaiah 19:18.

Both forms of good and of truth present in the interior parts are meant by 'cities' in the Lord's parable in Luke,

He said to the one who used his mina to earn ten minas, Well done, good servant; because you have been faithful over a little, be over ten cities. And he said to the second who earned five minas, You also, be over five cities. Luke 19:11 and following verses.

The recommendation here therefore that they should store up food in cities and should guard it means that truths joined to good were to be stored away in the interior parts of the natural mind. When these truths and forms of good have been stored away there they are called remnants. These remnants are where a person's actual spiritual life resides, and they are what a person is nourished by spiritually whenever need and desire, that is, whenever spiritual famine, arises.