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.

5248. And changed his garments. That this signifies as to what is of the interior natural, by putting on what is suitable, is evident from the signification of “changing,” as being to remove and reject; and from the signification of “garments,” as being what is of the interior natural (of which presently); hence it follows that what was suitable (signified by the new “garments”) was put on. “Garments” are often mentioned in the Word, and thereby are meant things beneath or without, and that cover things above or within; and therefore by “garments” are signified man’s external, consequently his natural, because this covers his internal and spiritual. Specifically by “garments” are signified truths that are of faith, because these cover the goods that are of charity. This signification has its origin from the garments in which spirits and angels appear clothed. Spirits appear in garments devoid of brightness, but angels in garments that are bright and are as it were made of brightness, for the very brightness around them appears as a garment, as appeared the raiment of the Lord when He was transfigured, which was “as the light” (Matthew 17:2), and was “white and flashing” (Luke 9:29). From their garments also the quality of spirits and angels can be known in respect to the truths of faith, because these are represented by garments, but truths of faith such as they are in the natural; for such as they are in the rational appears from the face and its beauty. The brightness of their garments comes from the good of love and of charity, which by shining through causes the brightness. From all this it is evident what is represented in the spiritual world by the garments, and consequently what is meant by “garments” in the spiritual sense. But the garments that Joseph changed, that is, put off, were the garments of the pit or prison, and by these are signified things fallacious and false, which in a state of temptations are excited by evil genii and spirits; and therefore by his “changing his garments” is signified rejection and change in respect to what is of the interior natural, and the garments he put on denoted such things as would be suitable, and therefore the putting on of things suitable is signified. See what has before been said and shown concerning garments: that what is celestial is not clothed, but what is spiritual and natural (n. 297); that “garments” denote truths relatively lower (n. 1073, 2576); that changing the garments was a representative of holy truths being put on, whence also came the changes of garments (n. 4545); that rending the garments was representative of mourning over truth lost and destroyed (see n. 4763 and what is signified by him that came in, not having on a wedding garment (n. 2132).

9477. 'For the ephod and for the breastplate' means which should be for a covering for celestial realities, external and internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ephod' as that which covers celestial good. For Aaron as a high priest represented the Lord in respect of the good of love, and his garments, especially his ephod, represented the truth of faith that springs from the good of love. The good of love is a celestial reality, and the truth of faith is its covering, since truths cover forms of good. This is why truths are meant in the Word by garments or clothes, 4545, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9093, 9212. For in heaven the celestial realities that belong to the good of love are represented as being naked, for which reason those belonging to the Lord's celestial kingdom appear naked, whereas those belonging to the spiritual kingdom, namely those who have been brought by the Lord by means of the truths of faith to the good of charity, appear wearing clothes. This kingdom lies below the celestial kingdom, and what lies below is the covering for what is higher; for the lower is more external, the higher more internal, 2148, 3084, 4599, 5146, 8325. From this it is evident what 'the ephod' means when Aaron represents the Lord in respect of the Divine Celestial; for priests represented the Lord in respect of Divine Good, and kings in respect of Divine Truth, see 6148. But it should be recognized that 'the ephod' was the sign of the covering for external celestial realities, and 'the breastplate' the covering for internal celestial realities. But more will be stated later on about these, where the ephod and the breastplate, which had the Urim and Thummim in it, are the subject.