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.

491. The same things are signified by “sons” and “daughters” in this chapter (verses 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 26, 30), but such as is the church, such are the “sons and daughters” that is, such are the goods and truths; the truths and goods here spoken of are such as were distinctly perceived, because they are predicated of the Most Ancient Church, the principal and parent of all the other and succeeding churches.

343. 'A shepherd of the flock' means someone who practises good flowing from charity. Anyone can know this, for it is a recurrent feature of the Old Testament and of the New. He who leads and teaches is called the Shepherd, those who are led and taught are called the flock. One who does not lead to good flowing from charity, and does not teach that good is not a true shepherd; and one who is not being led to good and learning it is not the flock. Really it is superfluous to confirm from the Word that this is the meaning of the Shepherd and flock; but even so let the following be referred to: In Isaiah,

The Lord will give rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread of the produce of the ground. On that day, He will pasture your cattle in a broad grassland. Isaiah 30:23.

Here 'bread, the produce of the ground' means charity. In the same the prophet, The Lord Jehovih will pasture His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs into His arm, and will carry them in His bosom: He will gently lead those that are with young. ¹ Isaiah 40:11.

In David,

Harken, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock. You who are seated on the cherubim, shine forth. Psalms 80:1.

In Jeremiah,

I have likened the daughter of Zion to one comely and delicately bred. Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents near her round about; they will pasture each in his own space. Jeremiah 6:2-3.

In Ezekiel,

The Lord Jehovah has said, I will multiply them like the flock of mankind, like the flock of holy things, like the flock of Jerusalem, in her appointed seasons. Thus will the deserted cities be filled with the flock of mankind. Ezekiel 36:37-38.

In Isaiah,

The whole flock of Arabia will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will minister to you. Isaiah 60:7

Those who lead the flock to the good of charity are those who 'gather the flock together', but those who do not lead to such good are those who scatter it, for all bringing together and unity is the product of charity, while all scattering and disunity result from the lack of it.

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