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)

7. The Word is not understood except by those on whom enlightenment has shone.

The human intellect cannot grasp divine ideas, nor even spiritual ones, unless it is enlightened by the Lord: 2196, 2203, 2209, 2654. In this way only the enlightened grasp the Word: 10323. The Lord grants to those who are enlightened understanding of truths, and discernment of things which appear to contradict one another: 9382, 10659. The Word in its literal sense may not be consistent with itself, and often appears to contradict itself: 9025. For that very reason it can be explained and interpreted by the unenlightened in order to confirm any opinion and heresy whatsoever, and to provide a justification for any earthly and bodily love whatsoever: 4783, 10330, 10400. Those who read the Word from a love of truth and goodness are enlightened by the Word, but not those who read it from a love of fame, gain, honour, or indeed a love of self: 9382, 10548-10551. Those who lead a life of good and so have an affection for the truth are enlightened: 8694. Those whose internal self is opened may be enlightened, and so they can be raised to the light of heaven as regards the internal man: 10400, 10402, 10691, 10694. Enlightenment is an actual opening of the interior parts of the mind, and also a raising into the light of heaven: 10330. Holiness from the internal self, that is, from the Lord through the internal self, flows into those who hold the Word sacred, even when they do not know it: 6789. Those people are enlightened, and see truths in the Word, who are led by the Lord, but not those who are led by themselves: 10638. Those are led by the Lord who love truth because it is the truth, who also love to lead a life according with divine truths: 10578, 10645, 10829. The Word is brought to life for a person in the same measure that a life of love and faith resides in that person: 1776. Things which come from a person's own personal understanding have no life in themselves, because nothing good derives from a person's own properties: 8941, 8944. Those who have confirmed themselves in large measure in false doctrine cannot be enlightened: 10640.

It is the understanding which is enlightened: 6608, 9300. It is the understanding which is a recipient of the truth: 6222, 6608, 10659. Regarding every doctrinal point of the Church, there are ideas from the understanding and so from thought, according to which the doctrinal point is perceived: 3310, 3825. The ideas of a person, as long as he or she lives on earth, are natural, because then a person thinks on the natural level; but further, spiritual ideas are concealed in people, at least among those who have affection for the truth because it is the truth; and a person comes to these ideas after death: 3310, 5510, 6201, 10237, 10240, 10551. Without ideas from the understanding and so from thought there is no perception about any thing at all: 3825. Ideas about matters of faith are revealed in the next life, and there they are seen as they truly are by the angels, and a person is then linked to other ideas, as far as those ideas proceed from an affection belonging to love: 1869, 3310, 5510, 6200, 6201, 8885. For that reason the Word is not understood other than by a person who sees truth in God's light; for to believe something without an idea of that thing and without any such insight of it is just to retain in the memory an utterance devoid of all life of perception and affection, which is [the same as] not believing: 2553. It is the literal sense of the Word which is enlightened: 3436, 9824, 9905, 10548.