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.

1032. Saying unto me, Come, I will show thee the judgment of the great whore. That this signifies their religious persuasion, in which all the good and truth of the church is adulterated and profaned, is evident from the signification of judgment, as denoting all that concerns their religious persuasion, and at length the damnation thereof; and from the signification of the great whore, as denoting the adulteration and profanation of the good and truth of the church, as may be seen above (n. 141, 161, 717, 881). The reason why these things are meant by the great whore is, that Babylon is thereby understood, as is evident from the fifth verse of this chapter, where it is said: "Upon the forehead of the whore was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the earth." And by Babylon is signified the adulteration and profanation of good and truth, as shown many times above in article 1029.

[2] The reason why Babylon is called the great whore, and the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the earth is, that the love of ruling over all things of the world, and also over all things of heaven and the church, and at last over the Lord Himself, cannot but entirely turn Divine truths into falsities, and Divine goods into evils; thus, the church into a religious persuasion, in which all its good and truth is adulterated and profaned. For, by that love, a man altogether turns himself away from the Lord, and turns towards himself alone. Consequently he can no longer be led by the Lord, but is led by his proprium; and to be led by this is to be led by hell. For a man is led either from heaven, or from hell; he cannot be led by both at the same time. And he is led from heaven, when he is led by the Lord, and from hell, when he is led by self. For a man is so created that he can be raised out of his proprium, and think in that state of elevation; and he is raised above his proprium, and thinks in that state of elevation, when he is thus raised by the Lord; and this takes place when he acknowledges the Lord, and His Divine power over heaven and earth. For by that confession and belief of the heart, he has conjunction with the Lord; and when conjunction takes place, then the Lord keeps under His view the interiors of his mind, or of his understanding and will, which takes place by raising him out of his proprium; and when he thinks in that state, he thinks truth from the Lord and does good from Him.

[3] The contrary is the case when a man seeks dominion over the world, over heaven, and over the Lord; for he then immerses the interiors of his mind, which are those of his thought and will, in his proprium, and when he is immersed in his proprium, he thinks and wills from hell, consequently falsities and evils. The reason is, that a man's proprium is nothing but evil, for it is his hereditary evil itself. Such therefore are the Babylonians. Therefore they have adulterated and profaned all the goods and truths of the church.

This is now why Babylon is called a whore, and the mother of the whoredoms, and abominations of the earth.

64. Clothed with a garment down to the foot. That this signifies Divine truth proceeding from Him, is evident from the signification of garments, as being truths which invest good (concerning which see Arcana Coelestia 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536). Mention is here made only of a garment reaching to the foot, which is a general covering; by which, as the Lord is treated of, is therefore signified in general all Divine truth. But as the Lord is here described as to the Divine Human, which in this case is the Son of man appearing in the midst of the lampstands, and it is said that He was "clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle," and afterwards that "His face shone as the sun in his power," I desire to give the explanation of what is related in the Evangelists concerning the Lord when He was transfigured, where some similar expressions occur; and then of what is said concerning the soldiers dividing His garments, and casting lots upon His vesture.

[2] Concerning the Lord's transfiguration it is thus written: Jesus took Peter, James, and John into an exceedingly high mountain, and was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment became white as the light. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him. And, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him" (Matthew 17:1-5; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36). The reason why the Lord took Peter, James, and John, was, that they represented the church as to faith, charity, and the works of charity. He took them into a high mountain, because by mountain is signified heaven. His face shone as the sun, because the face signifies the interiors, which, being Divine, shone as the sun; for the sun is the Divine love. His garments became white as the light, because garments signify Divine truth proceeding from Him; the same is also signified by light. Moses and Elias appeared, because they both signify the Word, Moses the historical Word, and Elias the prophetical Word. A bright cloud overshadowed them, because a bright cloud signifies the Word in the letter, in which is the internal sense. The voice out of the cloud said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him, because a voice out of a cloud signifies Divine truth from the Word, and beloved Son, the Lord's Divine Human; and because Divine truth, and therefore all the truth of the church, is from Him, it was said out of the cloud, "In whom I am well pleased; hear ye him."

[3] That the Divine Human of the Lord was thus seen, is clear, because the Divine itself cannot appear to any except by means of the Divine Human; this the Lord teaches also in John:

"No one hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath brought him forth to view" (1:18).

And in another place:

"Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape" (John 5:37).

(That such things are signified by these words in the Evangelists, is evident from Arcana Coelestia, where it is shown that, in the Word by Peter, James, and John are signified faith, charity, and the works of charity, n. 3750, and above, n. 9; that by a high mountain is signified heaven, n. 8327, 8805, 9420, 9422, 9434, 10608; that by face are signified the interiors of the mind, n. 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796, 5102, 9306, 9546, and by the face of the Lord, mercy, peace, and every good, n. 222, 223, 5585, 9306, 9546, 9888. That by the sun is signified Divine love, see n. 2495, 4060, 7083, and in the work, Heaven and Hell 116-125. That by garments, when the Lord is treated of, is signified Divine truth, see n. 9212, 9216; that the same is signified by light, see n. 3195, 3222, 5400, 8644, 9399, 9548, 9684, and in the work, Heaven and Hell 126-140. That Moses and Elias signify the Word; that Moses does so, see Arcana Coelestia 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 9372, 10234; and that Elias does, see n. 2762, 5247. That clouds signify the Word [in the letter], see above, n. 36; that beloved Son is the Divine Human of the Lord is evident.) From the signification of the Lord's garments, as being Divine truth, it may be known what is signified by the soldiers dividing the Lord's garments among them, and casting lots upon His vesture, concerning which it is thus written in John,

"The soldiers took his garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also his coat; now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not divide it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my garments among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did" (19:23, 24).

[4] He who does not know that in every particular of the Word there is an internal sense, which is spiritual, cannot see any arcanum in these things; he only knows that the soldiers divided the garments and not the coat, and he perceives nothing more than this, when, nevertheless, there is not only a Divine arcanum contained in this circumstance, but also in every particular of the things recorded concerning the Lord's passion. The arcanum which is contained in this circumstance is, that the Lord's garments signified Divine truth, thus the Word, because the Word is Divine truth; the garments which they divided, the Word in the letter, and the coat, the Word in the internal sense. To divide them, signifies to disperse and falsify; and soldiers signify those who belong to the church, who fight for Divine truth; wherefore it is said, "These things therefore the soldiers did." It is therefore clear, that by these words in the spiritual sense, is meant, that the Jewish Church dispersed the Divine truth which is in the sense of the letter; but that they could not disperse the Divine truth which is in the internal sense. (That the Lord's garments signified Divine truth, thus the Word, was shown above; that His coat signified Divine truth, or the Word, in the internal sense, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9826, 9942; that to divide is to disperse and separate from good and truth, thus to falsify, may be seen, n. 4424, 6360, 6361, 9094. That soldiers signify those who belong to the church, in this place to the Jewish church, who fought for Divine truth, is evident from the spiritual sense of warfare and of war; that war signifies spiritual combats, which are those of truth against falsity, may be seen, n. 1659, 1664, 8295, 10455; it is therefore said concerning the Levites, whose function was to deal with the things of the church, that they should go out to the warfare, and should serve in the warfare, by exercising the ministry in the tent of the assembly (Numbers 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47; 8:23, 24).