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.

2803. That the Divine Truth is the “son,” and the Divine Good the “father,” is evident from the signification of a “son,” as being truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2633); and of a “father,” as being good; and also from the conception and birth of truth, which is from good. Truth cannot be and come forth [existere] from any other source than good, as has been shown many times. That the “son” here is the Divine Truth, and the “father” the Divine Good, is because the union of the Divine Essence with the Human, and of the Human Essence with the Divine, is the Divine marriage of Good with Truth, and of Truth with Good, from which comes the heavenly marriage; for in Jehovah or the Lord there is nothing but what is infinite; and because infinite, it cannot be apprehended by any idea, except that it is the being and the coming forth [esse et existere] of all good and truth, or is Good itself and Truth itself. Good itself is the “Father,” and Truth itself is the “Son.” But because as before said there is a Divine marriage of Good and Truth, and of Truth and Good, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:

Jesus saith unto Philip, Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me ? Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in me (John 14:10-11).

And again in the same Evangelist:

Jesus said to the Jews, Though ye believe not Me, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:36, 38).

And again:

I pray for them; for all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee (John 17:9-10, 21).

And again:

Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself. Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee (John 13:31-32; 17:1).

[2] From this may be seen the nature of the union of the Divine and the Human in the Lord; namely, that it is mutual and alternate, or reciprocal; which union is that which is called the Divine Marriage, from which descends the heavenly marriage, which is the Lord’s kingdom itself in the heavens—thus spoken of in John:

In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

And again:

I pray for them, that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, I in them and Thou in Me; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:21-23, 26).

That this heavenly marriage is that of good and truth, and of truth and good, may be seen above (n. 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729 and following numbers).

[3] And because the Divine Good cannot be and come forth without the Divine Truth, nor the Divine Truth without the Divine Good, but the one in the other mutually and reciprocally, it is therefore manifest that the Divine Marriage was from eternity; that is, the Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:

And now O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thyself, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:5, 24).

But the Divine Human which was born from eternity was also born in time; and what was born in time, and glorified, is the same. Hence it is that the Lord so often said that He was going to the Father who sent Him; that is, that He was returning to the Father. And in John:

In the beginning was the Word (the “Word” is the Divine Truth itself), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-3, 14; see also John 3:13; 6:62).

900. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours. That this signifies, that they shall have to fight no longer against evils and falsities, nor suffer infestation from them, is evident from the signification of, saith the Spirit, as denoting asseveration that it is true. For by "angel" is signified truth from the Lord; the same also is meant by "spirit"; and from the signification of labours, as denoting combats against evils and falsities, and also infestation from them, thus, temptations; of which we shall speak presently. Hence to rest from them, signifies, that they shall no longer be in them. It is evident, therefore, that by the Spirit saying, that they may rest from their labours, is signified, that it is true that they shall have to fight no longer against evils and falsities, nor suffer infestation from them.

In the preceding verse, the subject treated of is the temptations of those who live according to the Lord's precepts, and who acknowledge His Divine; therefore in this verse the consolations which follow spiritual temptations, are treated of. For, as was said above (n. 897), joys come into being after all spiritual temptations.

[2] The reason why by labours are meant temptations is, that temptations are labours of the soul, or spiritual labours. They are also meant by labour in Isaiah:

"Jehovah willed to bruise him, he weakened him; if he shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand; he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied" (53:10, 11).

These things are said of the Lord, who is treated of in the whole of that chapter. The Lord's temptations, which were most grievous, because they were endured against the hells, are described by, Jehovah willed to bruise him, He weakened him. For by temptations the loves of the proprium are broken, thus the body is bruised and weakened. If he shall make his soul an offering for sin, signifies, if he shall undergo temptations even unto death. He shall see his seed, signifies that Divine truth shall proceed from Him, seed denoting truth; and where it is said of the Lord, Divine truth. He shall prolong his days, signifies Divine good, which shall also proceed from Him. Long, and hence to prolong are said of goodness (see above, n. 629); and days signify states. And the will of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand, signifies that thus all things in general and particular, in the heavens and on the earth, shall be kept in Divine Order. Of the labour of his soul, signifies by temptations. He shall see, and shall be satisfied, signifies glorification. These things are signified by these words, in the highest sense, in which the Lord is treated of. But, in the relative sense, by the same words, the salvation of the human race, for which the Lord fought from Divine Love is described. It is said, if he shall make his soul an offering for sin, as if it were a matter of doubt that he would so make it.

[3] But this involves the same as that which He Himself says in John:

"I lay down my soul, and I take it again; no one taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from my Father" (10:17, 18).

The mystery that lies hid in these words, only he can see who knows the nature of the temptations by which man is regenerated. For a man therein is preserved in his own freedom, from which it appears to him as if he fought from himself. In fact, in temptations a man has spiritual freedom more strongly than when not in them; for it is more interior. Unless he fought from it in temptations, he could not become spiritual; for all freedom is of love; a man therefore then fights from the love of truth, and consequently from the love of life everlasting. Thus and no otherwise is the internal opened, and a man regenerated. From these few things, it may in some degree be seen what these words of the Lord involve, that is, that He fought from His own freedom, and at last laid down His soul, in order that He might do all things from His own proper power, and consequently might become righteousness, from Himself; this He could not have become except by virtue of His freedom. Hence it is said, "I lay down my soul of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command have I received from my Father."

[4] Those who do not know this mystery, interpret these words like the Arians, saying that the Lord was not the actual, but the adopted, Son of God; thus, that He was adopted because He was willing to lay down His life, or undergo the death of the cross. They do not know that those words involve that He, by His own power, fought from His Human against the hells and overcame them, and by His own proper power glorified His Human, that is, united it to the very Divine in Himself, and by that means made it Divine; and this, had he not been left to Himself in absolute freedom as to the Human, could not have been accomplished. From these things it is now evident why it is said in Isaiah, "If he shall make his soul an offering for sin."

That freedom is that which belongs to the love and the will, and thence to the life of man, and that this appears to be, as it were, his own, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 141, 145). That a man must be in a state of freedom in order to be regenerated, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3158, 4031, 8700). That otherwise the love of good and truth cannot be implanted in man, and appear to be appropriated to him as his own (n. 2877, 2879, 2880, 8700). That nothing that is done from compulsion can be conjoined to a man (n. 2875, 8700). That to compel oneself, is from freedom; but not to be compelled (n. 1937, 2881). That in all temptation there is freedom, but that this freedom is more interiorly within a man from the Lord; this is why he fights and desires to conquer, and not to be conquered, which without freedom he would not do (n. 1937, 1947, 2881). That the Lord alone fought against all the hells, and from His own proper power, and overcame them (n. 1692, 1813, 2816, 4295, 8273, 9937). That hence the Lord was made righteousness, from Himself alone (n. 1813, 2025, 2026, 2027, 9715, 9809, 10019). That the Lord's last temptation was in Gethsemane and upon the cross, when He obtained complete victory, by means of which He subjugated the hells, and at the same time glorified His Human (n. 2276, 2803, 2813, 2814, 10655, 10659, 10828). All these things are from the Arcana Coelestia, still more may be seen collected from the same work in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, where man's freedom is treated of (n. 148, 149); concerning temptations in general (n. 196-200); and concerning the Lord's temptations (n. 201, 302).