From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9371

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

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.

  
/ 10837  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2971

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

2971. The field and the cave that was therein. That this signifies as to the good and the truth of faith, is evident from the signification of “field” as being the church, also the good itself of the church. The celestial, or good, which is of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, is compared to “ground,” and also to “field;” it is also called “ground” and “field;” because the celestial or good is that which receives the truths of faith, which are compared to seeds and are also called “seeds.” The same is evident also from the signification of a “cave,” as being the truth of faith which is in obscurity (see n. 2935); it is said to be in obscurity because it is with the spiritual (see n. 1043, 2708, 2715).

  
/ 10837  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10468

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

10468. 'And Moses said to Aaron' means perception from the internal regarding that kind of external. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as perception, dealt with in the places referred to 10290; from the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, dealt with in the places referred to in 9372, at this point the internal side of it; and from the representation of 'Aaron' as the external side of the Word, the Church, and worship, dealt with above in 10397. The reason why 'Moses' here represents the internal is that he is talking to Aaron, who represents the external. Here it makes no difference whether you say the internal and the external sides of the Word or simply the internal and the external. For the Word is Divine Truth, the source of perception that a person has, at this point perception regarding the kind of external that existed with the Israelite nation, not only in its worship but also in everything belonging to the Church and everything belonging to the Word. It should be remembered that all perception regarding what is external comes from what is internal. For things present on an external level are visible from an internal level; but they are not visible from the external level on which they are present, and those present on the internal level are even less visible from there. This explains why those whose interest lies in external things and not in what is internal do not acknowledge internal things, because they do not discern and see them with their bodily senses, and also why some deny the existence of those things, and everything heavenly and Divine along with them.

  
/ 10837  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.