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.

9003. Her food, her raiment, and her conjugial due, he shall not diminish. That this signifies no deprivation of the interior life which is “food,” nor of the exterior life which is “clothing,” thus no deprivation of conjunction which is the “conjugial due,” is evident from the signification of “food,” as being the sustenance of the interior life, for in the spiritual sense “food,” or meat and drink, denote the knowledges of good and truth, “meat,” the knowledges of good (n. 5147), and “drink,” the knowledges of truth (n. 3168, 3772); and therefore “food” denotes the things which nourish the spiritual life of man (n. 5293, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562); from the signification of “covering,” or “clothing,” as being the sustenance of the exterior life, for in the spiritual sense “covering,” or “clothing,” denotes lower memory-knowledges, because these are what sustain the external life of man (n. 5248, 6918); from the signification of the “conjugial due,” as being conjunction; and from the signification of “not to diminish,” as being not to deprive of.

[2] The case herein is that natural affection conjoined with spiritual truth, which is signified by “a maidservant betrothed to a son,” requires continual sustenance of life from the spiritual truth with which it has been conjoined; for affection without sustenance therefrom perishes. It is with the affection of man as it is with man himself-unless it is sustained with food it dies. Moreover in respect to his interiors man is nothing but affection; a good man the affection of good and the truth thence derived; but an evil man the affection of evil and the falsity thence derived. This is especially evident from a man when he becomes a spirit, for the sphere of life which then flows forth from him is a sphere either of the affection of good, or of the affection of evil. His nourishment or sustenance then is not from natural food and drink, but from spiritual food and drink, which are falsity from evil to an evil spirit, and truth from good to a good spirit. The nourishments of human minds during their life in the body in the world, are no other, and from this it is that all things which relate to food, such as bread, flesh, wine, water, and many other things, in the spiritual sense in the Word signify such things as belong to spiritual nourishment.

[3] From this it is also plain what is meant by these words of the Lord:

Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that goeth forth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

Ye shall eat and drink upon My table in My kingdom (Luke 22:30).

I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this product of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom (Matthew 26:29);

saying these words after He had instituted the Holy Supper, in which “the bread and the wine” denote those things which are of love and faith; in like manner also “the flesh and the blood.” From this it may be clearly known what is meant by “the flesh and blood” of the Lord in John 6:49-58; and also by these words in the same chapter:

My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed (John 6:55).

(That “flesh” in the Word denotes the good of love, see n. 3813, 7850 also that “blood” denotes the good of faith, n. 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7846, 7850, 7877; in like manner “bread and wine,” n. 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915, 6118, 6377)

5248. 'And changed his clothes' means the change made so far as coverings of the interior natural were concerned, by the putting on of what was rightly suited to this. This is clear from the meaning of 'changing as removing and casting aside, and from the meaning of 'clothes' as the coverings of the interior natural, dealt with below. The putting on of what was rightly suited, meant by 'new clothes', follows on from this. Frequent reference is made in the Word to clothes, by which are meant lower or outward things which, being such, serve to cover higher or inward ones. 'Clothes' consequently means the external part of man and therefore what is natural, since this covers the internal and the spiritual part of him. In particular 'clothes' means truths that are matters of faith since these cover forms of good that are embodiments of charity. This meaning of 'clothes' has its origin in the clothes that spirits and angels are seen to be wearing. Spirits are seen dressed in clothes that have no brightness, whereas angels are seen dressed in clothes full of brightness and so to speak made of brightness. For the actual brightness that surrounds them looks like a robe, much like the Lord's garments when He was transfigured, which were 'as the light', Matthew 17:2, and 'glistening white', Luke 9:29. From the clothes they wear one can also tell what kinds of spirits and angels they are so far as truths of faith are concerned since these are represented by their clothes, though only truths of faith such as exist within the natural. The truths of faith such as exist within the rational are revealed in the face and in the beauty it possesses. The brightness of their garments has its origin in the good of love and charity, for that good shines through and is the producer of the brightness. From all this one may see what is represented in the spiritual world by clothes and as a consequence what is meant in the spiritual sense by 'clothes'.

[2] But the clothes which Joseph changed - that is, cast aside - were those of the pit or prison-clothing, which mean the delusions and false ideas that are stirred up by evil genii and spirits in a state involving temptations. Consequently the expression 'he changed his clothes' means a casting aside and a change made in the coverings of the interior natural. And the clothes which he put on were ones such as were properly suitable, so that the putting on of what was rightly suited is meant. See what has been stated and shown already regarding clothes,

Celestial things are unclothed, but not so spiritual and natural ones, 297.

'Clothes' are truths, which are of a lower nature when they are compared with what they cover, 1073, 2576.

'Changing one's garments' was representative of the need to put on holy truths, and therefore 'changes of garments' had the same meaning, 4545.

'Rending one's clothes' was representative of mourning on account of the loss of truth, 4763.

What is meant by someone entering who was not wearing a wedding garment, 2132.