9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.
Exodus 30
1
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
2
A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.
3
And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.
4
And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.
5
And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
6
And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
7
And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.
8
And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
9
Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.
10
And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.
11
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
12
When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.
13
This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.
14
Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD.
15
The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
16
And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
17
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
18
Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.
19
For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:
20
When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:
21
So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.
22
Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
23
Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,
24
And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:
25
And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
26
And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,
27
And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,
28
And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot.
29
And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.
30
And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.
31
And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.
32
Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.
33
Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.
34
And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:
35
And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:
36
And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.
37
And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.
38
Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.
Arcana Coelestia #4539
4539. Arise, go up to Bethel. That this signifies that the perception is concerning the Divine natural, is evident from the signification of “arising,” as being elevation (see n. 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927, 3171, 4103), here the elevation of the natural to the Divine; from the signification of “to go up,” as being more toward the interiors (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “Bethel,” as being the Divine in the natural, or in the ultimate of order (n. 4089). For in the original language “Bethel” means the “house of God,” and as the house of God is where the knowledges of good and truth are, by “Bethel” in the proximate sense are signified these knowledges (as shown above, n. 1453). But as the interiors are terminated and closed in the ultimates of order, and are together there, and as it were dwell together in one house; and as the natural in man is the ultimate with him in which his interiors are terminated, therefore by “Bethel” or the “house of God” is properly signified the natural (n. 3729, 4089), and indeed the good therein, for in the internal sense a “house” is good (n. 2233, 2234, 3720, 3729); moreover knowledges are in the natural, or in the ultimate of order.
[2] That “to go up” denotes toward the interiors is because interior things are what are called higher things (n. 2148), and therefore when progress toward interior things is treated of in the internal sense, the expression “to go up” is employed, as “to go up” from Egypt to the land of Canaan, and in the land of Canaan itself “to go up” to the interior parts, and from all parts of it to Jerusalem, and in Jerusalem itself to the house of God there. For example “to go up” from the land of Egypt to the land of Canaan, in Moses:
Pharaoh said to Joseph, Go up and bury thy father; and Joseph went up, and all the servants of Pharaoh went up with him; and there went up with him both chariots and horsemen (Genesis 50:6-7, 9).
And in the book of Judges:
And the angel of Jehovah went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and he said, I made you go up out of Egypt (Judg. 2:1);
for by “Egypt” in the internal sense is signified that memory-knowledge which is to serve for apprehending the things of the Lord’s kingdom; and by the “land of Canaan” is signified the Lord’s kingdom. And as memory-knowledges are lower, or what is the same, are exterior, and the things of the Lord’s kingdom are higher, or what is the same, interior, therefore one is said “to go up from Egypt to the land of Canaan,” and on the other hand “to go down from the land of Canaan to Egypt” (Genesis 42:2-3; 43:4-5, 15).
[3] In the land of Canaan itself “to go up” to its interior parts, in Joshua:
Joshua said, Go up and spy out the land; and the men went up and spied out Ai; and they returned unto Joshua and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; let about two thousand men or about three thousand men go up; so there went up thither of the people about three thousand men (Josh. 7:2-4);
as the “land of Canaan” signifies the Lord’s kingdom, the parts which were more remote from its ultimate boundaries signified things interior, and therefore the expression “to go up” is here used. In like manner from all the surrounding parts to Jerusalem; and in Jerusalem to the house of God (1 Kings 12:27-28; 2 Kings 20:5, 8; Matthew 20:18; Mark 10:33; Luke 18:31 other places). For Jerusalem was the inmost of the land, because by it was signified the Lord’s spiritual kingdom; and the house of God was the inmost of Jerusalem, because by it was signified the Lord’s celestial kingdom, and in the supreme sense the Lord Himself. Hence men spoke of “going up” to them. From all this it is evident what is signified by “arise, go up to Bethel,” namely, progress toward the interiors, which is the subject treated of in this chapter (n. 4536).
