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.

7439. Let My people go, that they may serve Me. That this signifies that they should release those who are of the spiritual church in order that they may worship their God in freedom, is evident from the signification of “letting go,” as being to release; from the representation of the sons of Israel, here “My people,” as being those who are of the spiritual church (n. 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223); and from the signification of “serving Jehovah,” as being to worship. That they should worship in freedom is plain from what follows (verses 21-23), and also from the fact that all worship which is truly worship must be in freedom.

[2] The sons of Israel being called “the people of Jehovah” was not because they were better than other nations, but because they represented the people of Jehovah, that is, those who are of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. That they were not better than other nations is plain from their life in the wilderness, in that they did not at all believe in Jehovah, but in their hearts believed in the gods of the Egyptians, as is evident from the golden calf which they made for themselves, and which they called their gods who had brought them forth out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 32:8). The same is evident also from their subsequent life in the land of Canaan, as described in the historicals of the Word, and from what was said of them by the prophets, and finally from what was said of them by the Lord.

[3] For this reason also few of them are in heaven, for they have received their lot in the other life according to their life. Therefore do not believe that they were elected to heaven in preference to others; for whoever so believes, does not believe that everyone’s life remains with him after death, nor that man must be prepared for heaven by his whole life in the world, and that this is done of the Lord’s mercy, and that none are admitted into heaven from mercy alone, regardless of how they have lived in the world. Such an opinion about heaven and the Lord’s mercy is induced by the doctrine of faith alone, and of salvation by faith alone without good works; for those who hold this doctrine have no concern about the life, and so believe that evils can be washed away like dirt by water, and thus that man can in a moment pass into the life of good, and consequently be admitted into heaven. For they do not know that if the life of evil were taken away from the evil, they would have no life whatever, and that if they who are in a life of evil were admitted into heaven, they would feel hell in themselves, and this the more grievously, the more interiorly they were admitted into heaven.

[4] From all this it can now be seen that the Israelites and Jews were by no means elected, but only accepted to represent the things that belong to heaven; and that this must needs be done in the land of Canaan, because the Lord’s church had been there from the most ancient times, and from this all the places there became representative of heavenly and Divine things. In this way also the Word could be written, and the names in it could signify such things as belong to the Lord and His kingdom.

1182. And one strong angel tools up a stone, as it were a great millstone, and cast it into the sea.- That this signifies the confirmations of their doctrines from the Word cast down into hell with them, is evident from the signification of a strong angel, as denoting Divine truth in its power, concerning which see n. 130, 200, 302, 593, 800; and from the signification of a millstone, as denoting the confirmation of truth from the Word, and also the confirmation of falsity from the same, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of casting into the sea, as denoting into hell with them. That the sea also signifies hell, may be seen above (n. 537, 538).

The reason why a millstone signifies confirmation from the Word in both senses, is because wheat signifies good, and fine flour its truth; therefore a millstone, by which wheat is ground into fine flour, or barley into meal, signifies the production of truth from good, or the production of falsity from evil, thus also the confirmation of truth or falsity from the Word. This is also evident from the following passages.

In Jeremiah:

"I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of the millstones, and the light of the lamp" (25:10).

The joy of heaven and the Church is there also described. The voice of joy signifies exultation of heart from the good of love, and the voice of gladness signifies glorification of soul from the truths of faith; for joy, in the Word, is said of good, and gladness of truth. The voice of millstones signifies the same as the voice of joy, and the light of the lamp the same as gladness, namely, from the truth of faith. The reason why the voice of millstones signifies joy of heart from the good of love, is, that a millstone grinds wheat into fine flour; and wheat signifies the good of love, and fine flour truth from that good.

[2] Similar things are mentioned in this chapter of the Apocalypse, namely,

"The voice of the mill shall be heard in thee no more, and the light of a lamp shall shine in thee no more, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, shall be heard in thee no more" (verses 22, 23).

These words will be explained presently.

So in Isaiah:

"Take the millstone and grind meal, make bare the thigh, passing through the rivers" (47:2).

This is said of Babel and Chaldaea. To take the millstone and grind meal signifies to produce falsities from evil, and confirm them by the Word; while to uncover the thigh, passing through the rivers, signifies to adulterate goods by reasonings.

In Lamentations:

"The young men they have led away to grind, and the boys fall in wood" (5:13).

To take away the young men to grind, signifies to compel those who are capable of understanding truth to falsify truths. The boys fall in wood, signifies to compel those who are capable of being in the will of good, to adulterate goods. To grind denotes to falsify truths, or to confirm falsities by the Word, and wood denotes good.

In Moses:

"Thou shalt not take a mill (mola) or an upper millstone (molaris) to pledge, for he taketh the soul to pledge" (Deuteronomy 24:6).

This was among the laws of the Israelites, all of which corresponded to spiritual things. That they should not take a mill or the upper millstone to pledge signifies in the spiritual sense, that they should not take away from any one the power to understand truths from good, thus that they should not deprive any one of goods and truths. It is because of this signification that it was said, "For he taketh the soul to pledge," which signifies that thus he would spiritually perish.

Again:

"They shall die even to the first-born of the maidservant who is behind the mill" (Exodus 11:5).

The first-born of the maid-servant who is behind the mill, signifies the primary things of the faith of the natural man, which have been falsified.

In Matthew:

In the consummation of the age, "two women shall be grinding, one shall be taken, the other shall be left" (24:40, 41).

The consummation of the age is the last time of the church. The two women grinding mean those who confirm themselves in truths, and those who confirm themselves in falsities from the Word; those who confirm themselves in truths being meant by her "who shall be taken"; and those who confirm themselves in falsities by her "who shall be left."

[3] In the Evangelists: Jesus said,

"He who shall cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it is better for him that an ass-millstone be hanged about his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2).

To cause one of the little ones who believe in Jesus to stumble, signifies to pervert those who acknowledge the Lord. It being better that an ass-millstone be hanged about his neck, signifies that it is better to be ignorant of any good and truth, and to know only evil and falsity, which is here meant by an ass-millstone; while to be hanged about the neck denotes cutting one off from knowing good and truth. To be drowned in the depth of the sea, signifies to be cast down into hell. The reason why this is better is that to know goods and truths and pervert them is to be guilty of profanation. What is meant by Moses burning the calf and grinding it to dust, and sprinkling it upon the faces of the waters and causing the sons of Israel to drink thereof (Exodus 32:20; Deuteronomy 9:21), may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia 10462-10466).

[4] Continuation.- Something shall now be said on the subject of spirits speaking with man. Many persons believe that man can be taught by the Lord by means of spirits speaking with him. But those who believe this, and desire to do so, are not aware that it is associated with danger to their souls. Man as to his spirit, as long as he lives in the world, is in the midst of spirits, but still the spirits do not know that they are with him, nor is he aware that he is with spirits. The reason is, that they are conjoined immediately as to the affections of the will, and mediately as to the thoughts of the understanding. For man thinks naturally, but spirits think spiritually; and natural and spiritual thought make one only by correspondence; it is this that prevents men and spirits from knowing anything of each other. But as soon as spirits begin to speak with man, they come out of their own spiritual state into man's natural state, and being then aware that they are with man, they conjoin themselves with the thoughts of his affection, and from these thoughts they speak with him. They can enter only into his natural state, for similar affection with the thought derived from it effects conjunction in all cases, but dissimilar affection causes separation.

It is owing to this circumstance, that when a spirit speaks he is in the same principles as the man with whom he speaks, whether these are true or false; and further, that he calls them into activity, and by means of his own affection conjoined to that of the man's strongly confirms them. Hence it is evident that only similar spirits speak with man, or manifestly act upon him; for manifest action coincides with speech. For this reason none but enthusiastic spirits speak with enthusiasts; none but Quaker spirits act upon Quakers, or Moravian spirits upon Moravians.

[5] The case would be similar with Arians, Socinians, and with other heretics (heraeticis). All spirits that speak with man were once men in the world, and were then of the same character. It has been granted me to know by repeated experience that this is the case. And what is ridiculous is that when a man imagines that the Holy Spirit is speaking with him, or acting upon him, the spirit who speaks with him also believes that he is the Holy Spirit. This is common in the case of enthusiastic spirits.

It is evident from these facts to what danger a man is exposed who speaks with spirits, or manifestly feels their operation. Man is ignorant of the nature of his own affection, whether it is good or evil, and with what other [affections] it is conjoined; and if he is proud of his own intelligence, the spirit humours every thought which proceeds from his affection. The same is the case if one has for certain principles a partiality kindled by a kind of fire which exists among those who are not in truths from genuine affection. For when a spirit from a similar affection humours a man's thoughts or principles, then one leads the other, like the blind leading the blind, until they both fall into the ditch.

The Pythonists of former times were of this description; the Magi also in Egypt and Babel; and because of their conversing with spirits, and of the action of these upon them being clearly felt in themselves, they were called wise. But it was by this means that the worship of God was converted into the worship of demons, and that the church perished. The sons of Israel were therefore, under penalty of death, forbidden to hold such intercourse.