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.

333. And we shall reign on the earth. That this signifies the power that belongs to the Lord alone by means of the Divine truth, united to the Divine good, and the power and wisdom thence to those who are of the Lord's spiritual and celestial kingdom, is clear from the signification of reigning, as denoting to be in truths and goods, and thence, from the Lord, to be in the power of resisting the evils and falsities that are from hell; and because truths and goods are from the Lord alone, and all power is in truths from good, therefore by reigning is signified the power that belongs to the Lord alone by means of the Divine truth united to the Divine good, and the power thence to those who are in the Lord's spiritual and celestial kingdom. He who does not rightly understand the Word in the spiritual sense, will suppose that they will be as kings and priests, and reign with the Lord; but, in the spiritual sense, by kings are meant truths, and by priests goods apart from persons, or in persons, from the Lord; hence it follows that truths from good shall reign, thus the Lord alone, from whom they are. The angels indeed possess great power; but still they have no power of themselves; indeed should one who is in heaven believe that he has power from himself, he is instantly deprived of it, and then he is altogether impotent. The reason it is said in the sense of the letter, that they shall reign, is, because the sense of the letter is personal; wherefore, when in that [sense] it is said, that they shall be kings and priests, it is also said that they shall reign; but in the spiritual sense everything associated with person is put off, and thence everything of dominion belonging to it, and it is left to the Lord alone.

Similar to this case is that in which the Lord said to His disciples, that they should sit upon twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30). Then what the Lord said to Peter, That to him belonged the keys of the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 16:19). By this is not meant that the disciples and Peter should have that power, but the Lord alone; because, in the spiritual sense, by the twelve disciples are meant all the truths and goods of the church from the Lord; and by Peter is meant truth from good from the Lord. (That by the disciples are meant all the truths and goods of the church from the Lord, may be seen above, n. 100, 122. That Peter signifies truth from good from the Lord, may be seen in the small work concerning the Last Judgment 57; and above, n. 9, 206, 209. That all power belongs to truth from good from the Lord, thus to the Lord alone, and that thence the angels have power, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 228-233.) That by, we shall reign, is also signified that they have wisdom from the Lord, is, because by kings and priests are signified truths and goods, and all wisdom is from truths that are from good from the Lord. It is said that they shall reign upon the earth, because by the earth is meant the Lord's church in the heavens and in the earths (see above, n. 304). That the earth also here does not signify the earth, is evident; thus neither that we shall be kings and priests. The reason why to reign signifies to be in truths from good, and thence in power and wisdom from the Lord, is, because a kingdom signifies heaven and the church as to truths, and a king truth from good. (That kingdom in the Word signifies heaven and the church as to truths, may be seen above, n. 48; and a king, truth from good, also above, n. 31. The same is signified by reigning in the following passages, 20:4, 6; 22:4.)