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.

2014. I will make thee nations. That this signifies that all good is from Him, is evident from the signification of “nations” in its genuine and primitive sense, as being good (spoken of in Part First, n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849).

3146. And he gave straw and provender for the camels. That this signifies instruction in truths and goods, is evident from the signification of “straw,” as being the truths of the natural man, and from the signification of “provender” as being the goods therein (concerning which see above, n. 3114). Because these things are signified by “straw and provender,” it follows that to “give straw and provender” is to instruct in truths and goods. That freedom is for the sake of these things, namely, that man may be instructed in the affection and from the affection of truth, and thus that truths may be insinuated even to the spiritual man, or even to the soul, and may there be conjoined with good, may be seen from what was shown above concerning freedom (n. 2870-2893). Such is the inrooting of faith, or of the truth which is of faith, that unless it is coupled with good in the rational, the truth of faith never receives any life, nor does any fruit come from it; for all that which is called the fruit of faith, is the fruit of the good of love and charity through the truth of faith. Unless spiritual heat, which is the good of love, operated by spiritual light, which is the truth of faith, the man would be as ground hard frozen as in winter time, when nothing grows, still less bears fruit. For as light without heat produces nothing, so faith produces nothing without love.