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.

2813. And bound Isaac his son. That this signifies the state of the Divine rational thus about to undergo as to truth the last degrees of temptation, is evident from the signification of “binding,” and also of “Isaac his son.” That to “bind” is to put on the state for undergoing the last degrees of temptation, is evident from the fact that he who is in a state of temptation is no otherwise than as bound or chained. That “Isaac the son” is the Lord’s Divine rational, here as to truth, may be seen above (n. 2802, 2803). All the genuine rational consists of good and truth. The Lord’s Divine rational as to good could not suffer, or undergo temptations; for no genius or spirit inducing temptations can come near to Good Divine, as it is above all attempt at temptation. But Truth Divine bound was what could be tempted; for there are fallacies, and still more falsities, which break in upon and thus tempt it; for concerning Truth Divine some idea can be formed, but not concerning Good Divine except by those who have perception, and are celestial angels. It was Truth Divine which was no longer acknowledged when the Lord came into the world, and therefore it was that from which the Lord underwent and endured temptations. Truth Divine in the Lord is what is called the “Son of man,” but Good Divine is what is called the “Son of God.” Of the “Son of man” the Lord says many times that He was to suffer, but never of the Son of God. That He says this of the Son of man, or of Truth Divine, is evident in Matthew:

Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered, unto the chief priests and scribes, and they shall condemn Him, and shall deliver Him unto the Gentiles to mock and to scourge, and to crucify (Matthew 20:18-19).

Jesus said to His disciples, Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is delivered into the hands of sinners (Matthew 26:45).

In Mark:

Jesus began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again (Mark 8:31).

It is written of the Son of man, that He shall suffer many things, and be set at nought. And the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; but when He is killed He shall rise again on the third day (Mark 9:12, 31).

Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him unto the Gentiles, and they shall mock Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him, and the third day He shall rise again (Mark 10:33-34).

The hour is come; behold the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners (Mark 14:41).

In Luke:

The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day rise again (Luke 9:22, 44).

We go up to Jerusalem, where all the things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished; He shall be delivered up unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and shamefully entreated, and spit upon, and they shall scourge and kill Him, and the third day He shall rise again (Luke 18:31-33).

The angel said to the women, Remember what He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying that the Son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again (Luke 24:6-7).

[2] In all these places by the “son of man” is meant the Lord as to Truth Divine, or as to the Word in its internal sense, which was rejected by the chief priests and scribes, was shamefully entreated, scourged, spit upon, and crucified, as may be clearly evident from the fact that the Jews applied and arrogated everything to themselves according to the letter, and were not willing to know anything about the spiritual sense of the Word, and about the heavenly kingdom, believing that the Messiah was to come to raise up their kingdom above all the kingdoms of the earth, as they also believe at this day. Hence it is manifest that it was Truth Divine which was rejected by them, shamefully treated, scourged, and crucified. Whether you say Truth Divine, or the Lord as to Truth Divine, it is the same; for the Lord is the Truth itself, as He is the Word itself (n. 2011, 2016, 2533 at the end).

[3] The Lord’s rising again on the third day also involves that Truth Divine, or the Word as to the internal sense, as it was understood by the Ancient Church, will be revived in the consummation of the age, which is also the “third day” (n. 1825, 2788); on which account it is said that the Son of man (that is, Truth Divine) will then appear (Matthew 24:30, 37, 39, 44; Mark 13:26; Luke 17:22, 24-26, 30; 21:27, 36).

[4] That the “Son of man” is the Lord as to Truth Divine, is evident from the passages adduced, and further from the following.

In Matthew:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man, the field is the world. In the consummation of the age the Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend (Matthew 13:37, 41-42); where the “good seed” is the truth; the “world” is men; “He that soweth the seed” is the Son of man; and the “things that offend” are falsities.

In John:

The multitude said, We have heard out of the Law that the Christ abideth forever; and how sayest Thou that the Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man ? Jesus answered them, A little while is the Light with you; walk while ye have the Light, that darkness overtake you not; for he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the Light, believe in the Light, that ye may become the sons of Light (John 12:34-35); where, when they asked who the Son of man is, Jesus answered concerning the Light, which is the Truth, and that He is the Light or Truth in which they should believe. (As regards the Light which is from the Lord, and which is the Divine Truth, see above, n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 1619-1632)

[5] But that the Son of God, or the Lord as to Good in His Human Divine could not be tempted, as was said above, this is manifest also from the Lord’s answer to the tempter, in the Evangelists:

The tempter said, If Thou art the Son of God cast Thyself down; for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, lest haply Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (Matthew 4:6-7Luke 4:9-12).

6907. 'That the king of Egypt will not allow you to go' means that falsity will set itself in opposition. This is clear from the meaning of 'not allowing you' as setting itself in opposition, for he who does not allow something when it is said to be a Divine command, 6903, and he who refuses to let someone worship God, sets himself in opposition, as is common among all those who are under the influence of falsity of which they have become firmly convinced; from the representation of Pharaoh or 'the king of Egypt' as falsity, dealt with in 6651, 6679, 6683; and from the meaning of 'to go' - that is to say, a three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to Jehovah God - as to lead a life in keeping with truth in a state totally removed from falsities, and in so doing to worship the Lord, 6904.

[2] The situation when those under the influence of falsity, who are represented by 'the king of Egypt', set themselves against those guided by truths must be described. In the world those under the influence of falsity do not openly set themselves in opposition to those who are guided by truth, for they are held back from doing so by external restraints, which consist in the fear that others may see them as people who behave contrary to the laws of state and Church, in which case they would not seem to be good citizens. For everyone wishes the world to see him as righteous and true in outward appearance, and the wicked desire this more than the upright, in order that they may captivate people's minds and mislead them for reasons of gain and exalted positions. But inwardly they set themselves in opposition, for as often as they hear anyone proclaiming the truths of the Church not because it is his job to do so but because he loves them passionately, they laugh to themselves; and if at that time there were no external restraints to prevent them they would openly deride him. When such people enter the next life they are no longer held back by external restraints, since these are taken away from them in order that what each person is really like may be exposed to view. Then they openly set themselves in opposition to those who are guided by truths and molest them in every possible way; and this is now for them the absolute delight of their life. And when they are warned not to do such things because if they do not desist they will at length be removed completely and thrust down into hell, they nevertheless take no notice at all and carry on constantly with their molestation as before; for such is the strength of the delight they feel in living in accord with falsity. It takes them over so completely that they accept nothing whatever that makes for intelligence. These are the things that are meant by 'the king of Egypt will not allow you to go' and that are represented by Pharaoh's setting himself in opposition so many times. The removal of such spirits and the thrusting down of them into hell is represented by the destruction of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the Sea Suph.

[3] Those who lead an evil life and are consequently under the influence of falsity see by the light of the world, since it is the light in which a person sees things with his understanding. With those who are under the influence of falsity arising from evil this light is glowing; and the more they are under the influence of falsity arising from evil, the brighter it glows. The glory of the world, which has its origin in self-love, is what ignites it and gives it its glow. This being so, those people see truths in that light as nothing but falsities, and falsities as nothing but truths. The reason for this is that this light's rays cannot be infused with heavenly light; with that kind of light heavenly light becomes thick darkness. This is why such people believe firmly but wrongly in falsities as against truths, for this is how that inferior light leads them to see falsities and truths in relation to each other. With those however who are guided by truths that spring from good the light of the world is not glowing but dim, while the light of heaven is with them brightly shining. And because it is brightly shining, truths in that light look like truths, and falsities like falsities. For when that light falls onto falsities, which look like truths in the light of the world separated from the light of heaven, it does not merely dim them but altogether blots them out. This light - the light of heaven - becomes gradually brighter and brighter with them, till at length it is so bright that the light of the world cannot be compared with it. From all this one may see why those who are steeped in falsities arising from evil set themselves, because of the great strength of their wrong belief, in opposition to those guided by truths, an opposition which has been described just above.