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.

6304. And shall bring you back unto the land of your fathers. That this signifies to the state of both Ancient Churches, is evident from the signification of “land,” as being the church (see n. 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535, 4447, 5577); and from the signification of “fathers,” as being the men of the Ancient and Most Ancient Churches (n. 6075). It is said “to the state of both Ancient Churches,” because the sons of Israel and their descendants, like those who belonged to the Ancient Churches, in every particular represented the Lord’s kingdom, celestial and spiritual. The representative itself was also instituted; with the Jewish nation that of the celestial kingdom, and with the Israelitish that of the spiritual kingdom; but with that generation nothing but a mere representative could be instituted, and not anything of the church or kingdom of the Lord; for they desired to see and acknowledge in the representatives absolutely nothing but what was external, and not anything internal. Nevertheless in order that there might exist a representative, and thereby some communication with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, they were kept in externals; and it was then provided by the Lord that communication should exist by means of a mere external representative without an internal. This was the state to which the descendants of Jacob could be brought back; nevertheless in their external representatives there lay inwardly hidden Divine things; in the highest sense such as regarded the Lord’s Divine Human; and in the relative sense such as regarded the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens, and the church. This state of both Ancient Churches is signified by the words, “God shall bring you back unto the land of your fathers.”

4696. And behold the sun and the moon. That this signifies natural good and natural truth, is evident from the signification of the “sun,” as being celestial good (n. 1529, 1530, 2120, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060); and from the signification of the “moon,” as being spiritual good, or truth (n. 1529, 1530, 2495). The “sun” in the supreme sense signifies the Lord, because He appears as a sun to those in heaven who are in celestial love; and the “moon” also in the supreme sense signifies the Lord, because He appears as a moon to those in heaven who are in spiritual love; all the light in heaven is thence. Therefore the light from the sun there is the celestial of love, or good, and the light from the moon there is the spiritual of love, or truth; in the present passage therefore the “sun” is natural good, and the “moon” natural truth, because they are predicated of Jacob and Leah, as is evident from verse 10, where Jacob says, “Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” for by Jacob is represented natural good, and by Leah natural truth, as before occasionally shown. The Divine which comes from the Lord is in the supreme sense the Divine in Him; but in the relative sense is the Divine from Him. The Divine good from Him is what is called celestial, and the Divine truth from Him is what is called spiritual. When the rational receives these, the good and the truth of the rational are what are signified; but when the natural receives them, the good and truth of the natural are what are signified. Here they are the good and truth of the natural, because they are predicated of Jacob and Leah.