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.

261. XI. The Lord when in the world fulfilled everything in the Word, and thus became the Word, that is, Divine truth, even in its outermost form.

The Lord's fulfilling when in the world everything in the Word, and thus becoming Divine truth, that is, the Word, even in its outermost form, is what is meant by these words in John:

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, John 1:14.

Being made flesh is becoming the Word in its outermost form. The Lord showed the disciples, when He was transfigured, what the Word is like in its outermost form (Matthew 17:2ff; Mark 9:2ff; Luke 9:28ff). In these places it is said that Moses and Elijah were seen in glory; Moses means the Word which was written by means of him, and the historical part of the Word in general, Elijah the prophetical part. The Lord as seen by John in Revelation (Revelation 1:13-16) was also represented as the Word in its outermost form. All the details of His description there mean the outermost form of Divine truth, that is, the Word. The Lord had indeed previously been the Word or Divine truth, but in its first beginnings; for it is said:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, John 1:1-2.

But when the Word was made flesh, then the Lord became the Word even in its outermost form. That is why He is called 'the First and the Last' (Revelation 1:8, 11, 17; 2:8; 21:6; 22:12-13; Isaiah 44:6).