From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9371

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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.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9092

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9092. Then they shall sell the living ox. That this signifies that the affection of the one which has injured the affection of the other shall be alienated, is evident from the signification of “selling,” as being to alienate (see n. 4098, 4752, 4758, 5886); and from the signification of “the living ox,” as being the affection of truth which had injured the affection of truth of another (of which above, n. 9090).

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

Commentary

 

Cast

  
Moses changing Aaron's rod into a serpent, by Nicolas Poussin

For something to be cast down or cast out generally refers to a rather dramatic move from a higher spiritual state to a lower one. In most cases it's used in reference to evil desires or false thinking – or people spreading desires and false thinking – being removed and banished, even condemned to hell. Some uses are more moderate, though, and sometimes – when Moses casts down his rod in performing a miracle, for example – it signifies the sudden inflowing of the divine into the natural world.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 497, 1175; Apocalypse Revealed 252, 552, 835, 872; Arcana Coelestia 2657, 6693, 6948; The Apocalypse Explained 1181)