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.

9872. 'A tarshish, and a shoham, and a jasper' means the spiritual love of truth, in which higher things terminate. This is clear from the meaning of these stones, which they derive from their colours; for the colour of all the stones in this row is on the white side tinged with blue. The fact that tarshish means the spiritual love of truth is clear from places in the Word where it is mentioned, as in Ezekiel,

Behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubs; the appearance of the wheels was like that of tarshish stone. Ezekiel 1:16; 10:9.

The cherubs' wheels are similar in meaning to a person's arms and feet, which is the power to act and go forward, this power being that of truth springing from good, see 8215. This explains why the appearance of those wheels was like that of tarshish stone; for 'tarshish' means truth springing from spiritual good, which possesses power.

[2] In Daniel,

I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz, and his body was like tarshish; and his face was like [the appearance] of lightning, and his eyes were like fiery torches. Daniel 10:5-6.

'A man clothed in linen' was an angel from heaven. 'Linen' means truth that is the clothing of good, 7601. By 'loins' conjugial love, which belongs to goodness and truth, is meant, 3021, 4280, 5050-5062. This is why the man's loins are said to have been 'girded with gold of Uphaz', for 'gold' means the good of love, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 9490, 9510. 'The body' however, by virtue of its correspondence, means the good of celestial love and also the good of spiritual love, 6135, while the surface of the body means the truth that springs from that good, which is why the man's body looked like tarshish. So it is that 'tarshish' means the truth that spiritual love desires.

[3] For the meaning of a shoham, the second stone in this row, as the truths of faith that spring from love, see what has been shown in 9476, 9841. As for a jasper, the third and last stone belonging to this row, that it means the truth of faith, this is clear in John's Revelation,

The light of the city, the holy Jerusalem, was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, shining like crystal. Revelation 21:11.

'The holy Jerusalem' means the Church that is going to take the place of the one that is ours at the present day. Its 'light' is the truth of faith and resulting intelligence, 9548, 9551, 9555, 9558, 9561, 9684. Therefore it is likened to 'a jasper stone, shining like crystal'. 'Crystal' as well means the truth of faith springing from good, in the same book,

The construction of the wall of the holy Jerusalem was jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass. Revelation 21:18.

The wall of the city is described as jasper because 'the wall' means the truth of faith protecting the Church, 6419. And since 'the wall' has this meaning, verse 19 of that chapter says that the first stone constituting its foundations was jasper. For by 'foundation' is meant the truth of faith springing from good, see 9643.