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.

9093. And they shall divide the silver of it. That this signifies that the truth thereof shall be dissipated, is evident from the signification of “dividing,” as being to banish and dissipate (see n. 6360, 6361); and from the signification of “silver,” as being truth (n. 1551, 2048, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999). That “to divide” denotes to dissipate, is because if those things which have been associated together are divided, they are also scattered, as he who divides his mind destroys it. For the mind of man is an association of two parts, one part being called the understanding, the other the will. He who divides these two parts scatters the things which belong to one part, for one part must live from the other; consequently the other also perishes. It is the same with him who divides truth from good, or what is the same, faith from charity. He who does this destroys both. In a word, all things which ought to be united in a one, if divided perish.

[2] This division is meant by the Lord’s words in Luke:

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will prefer the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13).

That is, by faith serve the Lord, and by love the world; thus acknowledge truth, and do evil. He who does this has a divided mind, from which comes its destruction. From all this it is evident whence it is that “to divide” denotes to dissipate; as is also evident in Matthew:

The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall divide him, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites (Matthew 24:50-51); where “to divide” denotes to separate and remove from goods and truths (n. 4424), thus to dissipate.

[3] In Moses:

Cursed be their anger, for it was vehement; and their wrath, for it was hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:7); where Israel speaks prophetically of Simeon and Levi. By Simeon and Leviticus are there represented those who are in faith separate from charity (n. 6352), by Jacob and Israel the church external and internal, and also the external and internal man (n. 4286, 4598, 5973, 6360, 6361). “To divide them in Jacob” denotes to expel them from the external church; and “to scatter them in Israel” denotes from the internal church; thus to dissipate the goods and the truths of the church appertaining to them.

[4] That “dividing” has this signification is also plain from the words written on the wall when Belshazzar king of Babel, together with his lords, his wives, and his concubines, drank wine from the vessels of gold and of silver which belonged to the temple that was at Jerusalem. The writing was:

Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided (Daniel 5:2-4, 25-28); where “divided” means separated from the kingdom. In this passage it is plain how all things were at that time representative. In it is described the profanation of good and truth, which is signified by “Babel” (that Babel” denotes profanation, see n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326); “vessels of gold and of silver” denote the goods of love and the truths of faith from the the Lord, (n. 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917). Profanation is signified by “drinking therefrom, and at the same time praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone,” as we read in the fourth verse of the chapter, which denote evils and falsities in a series (n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8941). By the “temple at Jerusalem” from which the vessels came, is signified in the supreme sense the Lord, in the representative sense His kingdom and church (n. 3720). The kingdom of Belshazzar being “divided” signified the dissipation of good and truth, and he himself being “slain that night” signified the loss of the life of truth and good, thus damnation; for “to be divided” denotes to be dissipated; “a king” denotes the truth of good (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148); the like is signified by “kingdom” (n. 1672, 2547, 4691); “to be slain” denotes to be deprived of the life of truth and good (n. 3607, 6767, 8902); and the “night” in which he was slain denotes a state of evil and falsity (n. 2353, 7776, 7851, 7870, 7947). From this it is plain that all things there were representative.

[5] It says in David:

They divided My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast a lot (Psalms 22:18).

They divided His garments, casting a lot; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Matthew 27:35).

The soldiers took His garments, and made four parts; and the tunic, the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore, Let us not divide it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:23-24).

He who reads these words and knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, is not aware that anything secret lies hidden in them, when yet in each word there is a Divine secret. The secret was that Divine truths had been dissipated by the Jews, for the Lord was the Divine truth; and hence He is called “the Word” (John 1). “The Word” denotes Divine truth; His garments represented truths in the external form; and His tunic, truths in the internal form; the division of the garments represented the dissipation of the truths of faith by the Jews. (That “garments” denote truths in the external form, see n. 2576, 5248, 5954, 6918; also that “a tunic” denotes truth in the internal form, n. 4677.) Truths in the external form are such as are those of the Word in the literal sense; but truths in the internal form are such as are those of the Word in the spiritual sense. The division of the garments into four parts signified total dissipation, in like manner as the division in Zechariah 14:4, and in other passages; likewise the division into two parts, as we read of the veil of the temple (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38). The rending of the rocks also at that time (Matthew 27:51) represented the dissipation of all things of faith, for a “rock” denotes the Lord as to faith, consequently it denotes faith from the Lord.

5397. GENESIS 42

1. And Jacob saw that there was produce in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why do ye look at one another?

2. And he said, Behold I have heard that there is produce in Egypt; get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; and we shall live, and not die.

3. And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn from Egypt.

4. And Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Peradventure mischief may befall him.

5. And the sons of Israel came to buy in the midst of those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6. And Joseph he was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land; and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth.

7. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke hard things with them; and he said unto them, Whence came ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

8. And Joseph knew his brethren; but they knew not him.

9. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

10. And they said unto him, Nay my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

11. We are all one man's sons; we are upright; thy servants are no spies.

12. And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

13. And they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

14. And Joseph said unto them, This is it that I spoke unto you, saying, ye are spies.

15. Hereby ye shall be proved; by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

16. Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and ye shall be bound, and your words shall be proved, whether there be truth with you; or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

17. And he shut them up in custody three days.

18. And Joseph said unto them in the third day, This do, and live; I fear God.

19. If ye be upright, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your custody; and go ye, bring produce for the famine of your houses.

20. And bring your youngest brother unto me; and your words shall be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

21. And they said a man to his brother, We are surely guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come unto us.

22. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spoke I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hearken? Moreover, behold his blood is searched for.

23. And they knew not that Joseph heard them; for there was an interpreter between them.

24. And he turned about from upon them, and wept; and he returned to them, and spoke unto them, and took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes.

25. And Joseph commanded, and they filled their vessels with corn, and to restore their silver everyone's into his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and he did thus to them.

26. And they lifted their produce upon their asses, and went thence.

27. And one opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, and he saw his silver; and behold it was in the mouth of his bag.

28. And he said unto his brethren, My silver is restored, and lo it is even in my bag; and their heart went forth, and they trembled a man to his brother, saying, What is this that God hath done to us?

29. And they came unto Jacob their father to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them, saying,

30. The man, the lord of the land, spoke hard things with us, and took us for spies of the land.

31. And we said unto him, We are upright; we are no spies.

32. We are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

33. And the man, the lord of the land, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are upright; let one of your brethren remain with me, and take for the famine of your houses, and go.

34. And bring your youngest brother unto me, then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are upright; I will give you your brother, and ye shall go about trading in the land.

35. And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, and behold everyone's bundle of silver was in his sack; and they saw the bundles of their silver, they and their father, and they were afraid.

36. And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved, Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin; all these things be come upon me.

37. And Reuben spoke unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons if I bring him not to thee; give him upon my hand, and I will bring him unto thee again.

38. And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left; and mischief will befall him in the way wherein ye shall go, and ye will make my gray hairs go down in sorrow to the grave.

5396a. The Contents.

In the latter part of the last chapter the subject treated of was the influx and conjunction of the celestial of the spiritual with the memory-knowledges in the natural; and now the subject treated of is the influx and conjunction of the celestial of the spiritual with the truths of faith therein which are of the church.

First is described the endeavor to appropriate these truths by means of the memory-knowledges of the church, which are “Egypt,” and without the intermediate, which is “Benjamin,” together with truth from the Divine, which is “Joseph;” but in vain, wherefore they were sent back and some good of natural truth was given freely.