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.

8571. 'To cause me, and my children, and my livestock to die of thirst?' means, in order for everything constituting spiritual life to perish, owing to the lack of truth? This is clear from the meaning of 'dying' as perishing, at this point so far as spiritual life is concerned; from the meaning of 'me, my children, and my livestock' as everything constituting spiritual life, since 'me' - or a person (homo) belonging to the Church - means the good of charity and faith, 'children' or 'sons' interior truths of faith, and 'livestock' exterior truths leading to good, thus everything constituting spiritual life (spiritual life consists of the good of charity and faith, and of the truth of faith, internal and external; for the meaning of 'person' or 'man' (homo) as good, see 4287; 'children' or 'sons' as the truths of faith, 489, 491, 533, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704; and 'livestock' as truths leading to good, 6016, 6045, 6049); and from the meaning of 'thirst' as the lack of truth, dealt with just above in 8568 (end).