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.

3317. And Esau came from the field. That this signifies the pursuit of the good of life, is evident from the representation of Esau, as being the good of life of natural truth (concerning which see n. 3300); and from the signification of “coming from the field,” as being the pursuit of good; for meditating in the field denotes cogitating in good (n. 3196), because a “field” denotes the good of the church (n. 2971).

10432. 'And let Me make you into a great nation' means a Word somewhere else which would be good and perfect. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, dealt with in the places referred to in 9372; and from the meaning of 'a nation' as those governed by good, and so in the abstract sense, without reference to persons, as that which is good, dealt with in 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849, 6005, 8771. In various places the Word uses the terms 'nation' and 'people', and in them 'nation' means those governed by good, and 'people' those guided by truth; or in the abstract sense, without reference to persons, 'nation' means good and 'people' truth, 10288. When therefore the Word is meant by 'Moses' good springing from it is meant by the nation descending from him.

[2] The implications of all this are that the children of Israel were accepted because among them it was possible for a Word to be written whose outward or literal sense consists of merely outward things to which inward realities correspond. Everything representative among the Israelite nation was of this nature; and because this nation was in that way involved in outward things it was possible for a Word to be written among them. From this it is evident that when the Word is meant by 'Moses' and it is said of the Israelite nation that they would be consumed or destroyed, Jehovah's declaration then that He would make Moses into a great nation means that a Word might be written somewhere else that was good and perfect.

[3] It is not apparent in the literal statement that this is the meaning of these words; nevertheless it may be recognized from the consideration that the names of persons do not pass into heaven but are converted there into the realities meant by them. When for example Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David, and others are mentioned by name those in heaven are completely unconscious of the fact that those persons are understood by man. There they instantly cease to be seen as those actual persons and take on a spiritual meaning, namely the realities they stand for. From this it is evident what kind of meaning those in heaven see in these words regarding Moses, that he will become a great nation.