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.

'To ride upon the clouds,' as in Isaiah 19:1, signifies being in the wisdom of the Word.

'To ride upon the Word of truth and of meekness of righteousness' in Psalm 45:1, 5 is teaching the doctrine of truth and goodness.

'To ride upon a cherub,' as in Psalm 18:9, 10, denotes the Lord's providence preventing a person from entering the mysteries of faith contained in the Word.

'To ride' signifies being elevated regarding the intellectual part of the mind.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 3190)

1288. That 'words were one' means that they held to the same doctrine in its particular details is clear from what has been stated already, for 'lip' means doctrine in general, as has been shown, while 'words' means doctrine in detail, that is, particular details of doctrine. These, as has been stated make no difference provided they have the same end in view, which is to love the Lord above all things and the neighbour as oneself. When they do so they are the details that contribute to the general whole.

[2] That 'the Word' means all doctrine concerning charity and faith derived from it and that 'words' means the details that constitute doctrine is clear in David,

I will confess You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgements I will keep Your statutes. How will a young man make pure his path? By observing Your Word. With my whole heart I have sought You; cause me not to wander from Your commandments I have laid up Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Jehovah; teach me Your statutes! With my lips I have declared all the judgements of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies. I meditate on Your commands and look to Your ways. I delight in Your statutes, I do not forget Your Word. Psalms 119:7-16.

'The Word' stands for doctrine in general. The fact that here commandments, judgements, testimonies, commands, statutes, way, and lips, are distinguished shows plainly that they are all features of the Word, that is, of doctrine. The same applies wherever else in the Word these terms are used with different meanings.

[3] In the same author,

A love song. My heart is pondering ¹ a goodly theme. ² My tongue is the pen of a ready scribe You are the fairest of the sons of man. Grace has poured out from your lips. Ride on the word of truth, and of the meekness of righteousness Your right hand will teach you marvellous things. Psalms 45:1-2, 4.

'Riding on the word of truth, and of the meekness of righteousness' is teaching the doctrine of truth and good. Here, as elsewhere in the Word, word, mouth, lip, and tongue mean differing things. The fact that they all have to do with doctrine concerning charity is clear because it is called 'a love song', and it is to this doctrine that 'the fairest of the sons of man', 'grace on the lips', and 'a right hand that teaches marvellous things' have reference.

[4] In Isaiah,

The Lord ³ has sent a word into Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel. Isaiah 9:8.

'A word' stands for the doctrine of internal and external worship. Here 'Jacob' stands for external worship, 'Israel' for internal. In Matthew,

Jesus said, Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that goes out of the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4.

In the same gospel,

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not give heed to it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. Matthew 13:19

'The word' is again referred to in verses 20-23 of that chapter. In the same gospel,

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. Matthew 24:35.

Here 'word' stands for the Lord's doctrine and 'words' for the things that constitute His doctrine.

[5] Since the term 'words' stands for everything that constitutes doctrine the Ten Commandments are therefore called 'words' in Moses,

Jehovah. wrote on the tables the words of the covenant, the ten words. Exodus 34:28.

In the same author,

He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the ten words, and He wrote them on two tables of stone. Deuteronomy 4:13; 10:4.

In the same author,

Take heed, and guard your soul diligently, lest perhaps you forget the things ⁴ which your eyes have seen. Deuteronomy 4:9.

And there are further examples besides these.

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