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.

618. And it shall make bitter thy belly, signifies that inwardly it was undelightful, because outwardly it was adulterated. This is evident from the signification of "to be bitter" or "bitterness," as meaning undelightful because of adulterated truth (of which presently); and from the signification of the "belly," as meaning what is interior. The "belly" means what is interior, because after this it is said that "in the mouth it was as honey, sweet," and the "mouth" means what is exterior, for what is taken in by the mouth is chewed and passed down into the belly, thus going from the exterior to the interior and entering into the viscera of man; but as to the signification of "belly" it shall be told presently. "Bitter" (or bitterness) signifies what is undelightful because of adulterated truth, and therefore "to make bitter" signifies to render undelightful, because what is sweet becomes bitter and thus undelightful by a mixture with something offensive; from this comes the bitterness of wormwood, gall, and myrrh. Now as "sweet" signifies what is delightful from the good of truth and the truth of good, so "bitter" signifies what is undelightful because of adulterated truth. What is undelightful thence is not perceived and felt as bitter by anyone in the natural world, but by the spirit and angel in the spiritual world; for every adulterated good of truth, when it is changed with them into taste, is clearly perceived as bitter. For spirits and angels equally with men have taste, but the taste of spirits and angels flows forth from a spiritual source, but that of men from a natural source; the taste of bitterness with spirits is from the adulterated truth of good, but with men it is from a mixture of what is sweet with what is offensive. John's sensation of bitterness was also from a spiritual origin, for he was in the spirit, otherwise he could not have eaten the little book. Adulterated truth means the truth of good applied to evil and mixed with its falsity, and this is done when the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are applied to filthy loves, and are thus mixed with evils. This undelightfulness is what is here signified by the bitterness of the belly.

[2] It shall also be told briefly what is meant by what is interior in the Word, that is, the interiors of the Word. The interiors of the Word are the things contained in its internal or spiritual sense; these truths are genuine truths; to these the exterior truths of the Word correspond, which are the truths in the external or natural sense, called the sense of the letter and the literal sense. When the exterior things of the Word, or the truths in the sense of the letter or the literal sense of the Word, are falsified and adulterated, then the interior truths of the Word are falsified and adulterated; for this reason, when a man applies the Word in the sense of the letter to the evils of earthly loves, it becomes undelightful to angels, who are in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, and this undelightfulness is like that of bitterness. From this it can be seen that "the little book would make bitter, and did make bitter, the belly," signifies that the Word was inwardly undelightful. This undelightfulness thus far spoken of is spiritual undelightfulness; but there is also a spiritual-natural undelightfulness that is also meant by this "bitterness," which is that the truth of doctrine inwardly gathered from the sense of the letter of the Word and called its literal sense, is undelightful to those who are in falsities of evil; for this relates to the understanding of the Word by the men of the church at its end, when they are for the most part in falsities from evil; and to such the falsities of evil, confirmed from the sense of the letter of the Word, are delightful, ¹ but truths confirmed from the literal sense of the Word are undelightful. This, too, is signified by "the little book made bitter the belly, but in the mouth was like honey, sweet."

[3] That "bitter" signifies the truth of good adulterated can also be seen from the Word where "bitter" is mentioned, as in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe unto the mighty to drink wine, and to the men of strength to mingle strong drink (Isaiah 5:20, 22).

Evidently good and truth adulterated are here signified by "bitter," for it is said, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness," which signifies the adulteration of good and the falsification of truth; for good is adulterated when "good is called evil and when evil is called good," and truth is falsified when "darkness is put for light and light for darkness," "darkness" meaning falsities, and "light" truths. This makes clear that like things are signified by "putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter," also by "Woe unto the mighty to drink wine, and to the men of strength to mingle strong drink;" "the mighty to drink wine" signify those who adulterate the truth of the Word, and "the men of strength to mingle strong drink" signify those who falsify it, "wine" and "strong drink" meaning the truths of the Word, and "the mighty" and "men of strength" those who excel in ingenuity and skill in adulterating these.

[4] In the same:

The new wine shall mourn, the vine shall languish, all the glad in heart shall sigh. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it (Isaiah 24:7, 9).

"The new wine that shall mourn," and "the vine that shall languish," signify the truth of the Word and of the church which has been lost, "new wine" signifying the truth of the Word, and the "vine" the truth of the doctrine of the church; "all the glad in heart shall sigh, and they shall not drink wine with a song," signifies that internal blessedness of mind and felicity of heart will perish because of the loss of the truth of spiritual good; "strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it," signifies the truth of good made undelightful by its falsification and adulteration.

[5] In Moses:

The waters in Marah, that they were unable to drink because of the bitterness, were healed by the wood that was cast into them (Exodus 15:23-25).

"The waters in Marah, that they were unable to drink because of their bitterness," represented truths adulterated, "waters" signifying truths, and "bitterness" adulteration. "Healing them by wood cast into them" represented the good of love and of life dispelling falsity and opening truth, and thus restoring it; for all truth is adulterated by the evil of life and of love, consequently it is opened and restored by the good of love and of life, because all truth is of good, and the good of love is like a fire, from which truth appears in light.

[6] The like is signified by:

The pottage into which the sons of the prophets cast the wild gourds or the bitter wild grapes, and which Elisha healed by casting in meal (2 Kings 4:38-41).

"The pottage into which they cast the bitter gourds" signifies the Word falsified; and the "meal" that was cast in, by which it was healed, signifies truth from good; for the truth that is from good dissipates the falsities from which is falsification.

[7] Because the sons of Jacob perverted all the truths of the Word, and by applying them to themselves and to earthly loves falsified and adulterated them, it is said of them in the song of Moses:

That their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah, and their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are of bitternesses (Deuteronomy 32:32).

A "vine" signifies the church in respect to truth, consequently also the truth of the church; and "the grapes" signify the goods therefrom, which are the goods of charity, and "clusters", the goods of faith; from which it is evident that "clusters of bitternesses" signify the goods of faith adulterated.

[8] In the same:

That the waters of the curse should be given to the wife accused by her husband of adultery, and if she was ² guilty the waters would become bitternesses in her, and the belly would swell and the thigh fall away (Numbers 5:12-29).

The marriage of man and wife signifies the marriage of truth and good, for love truly conjugial descends from that spiritual marriage; therefore "adultery" signifies the conjunction of falsity and evil, and this was why "if she was guilty the waters became bitternesses," which signifies the adulteration of good; and as the "belly" signified conjugial love, in like manner as the womb, and also the thigh, so "the belly swelled and the thigh fell away," which signifies in the spiritual sense that the conjugial or conjugial love itself, spiritual and natural, had perished; "the womb" or "belly" signifying spiritual conjugial love, and the "thigh" natural conjugial love. From this it can be seen that "bitter" and "bitterness" signify in general the falsification and adulteration of truth and good, and that the various kinds of these are signified by "gall," "wormwood," "myrrh," "wild grapes," "wild gourds," and many others.

Footnotes:

3387. Because he feared to say, She is my woman; lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah. That this signifies that He could not open Divine truths themselves, because thus Divine good would not be received, is evident from the signification of “fearing to say,” as being not to be able to open; from the signification of “woman,” who here is Rebekah, as being the Lord’s Divine rational as to Divine truth (n. 3012, 3013, 3077); from the signification of “slaying me,” as being that good is not received, for by Isaac, who here is “me,” is represented the Divine good of the Lord’s rational (n. 3012, 3194, 3210), for good is said to be slain, or to perish, when it is not received, because with him who does not receive it, it is nullified; and from the signification of the “men of the place,” as being those who are in the doctrinal things of faith (n. 3385). From all this it now appears what is the internal sense of these words, namely, that if Divine truths themselves were to be opened, they would not be received by those who are in the doctrinal things of faith, because they surpass all their rational apprehension, thus all their belief, and consequently nothing of good from the Lord could flow in. For good from the Lord, or Divine good, can inflow solely into truths, because truths are the vessels of good, as often shown.

[2] Truths or appearances of truth are given man to the intent that Divine good may be able to form his understanding, and thus the man himself. For truths exist to the end that good may flow in; for without vessels or receptacles good finds no place, because it finds no state corresponding to itself; and therefore where there are no truths, or where they are not received, there is no rational or human good, consequently the man has no spiritual life. In order therefore that man may nevertheless have truths, and thereby have spiritual life, appearances of truth are given to everyone according to his apprehension; which appearances are acknowledged as truths, because they are such that Divine things can be in them.

[3] In order that it may be known what appearances are, and that they are such things as serve man instead of truths Divine, let us take examples for illustration. If it should be said that in heaven there is no idea of place, thus none of distance, but that instead of these there are ideas of state, this could not possibly be apprehended by man, for this would cause him to believe that there nothing is distinct, but that everything is confused, that is, all in one, or together; when yet all things there are so distinct that nothing can be more so. (That the places, distances, and spaces, which exist in nature, are in heaven states, may be seen above, n. 3356.) Hence it is manifest that whatever is said in the Word concerning places and spaces, and from them and by means of them, is an appearance of truth; and unless it were said by means of such appearances, it would not be received at all, consequently would be scarcely anything; for so long as he is in the world, that is, in space and time, the idea of space and of time is within almost everything of man’s thought, both in general and in particular.

[4] That the language of the Word is according to appearances of space appears from almost everything in it; as in Matthew:

Jesus asked them saying, How then doth David say, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand till I make Thine enemies Thy foot stool (Matthew 22:43-44)

where to “sit on the right hand” comes from the idea of place, thus according to appearance, when nevertheless what is here described is the state of the Lord’s Divine power. Again:

Jesus said, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming upon the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64);

here in like manner “sitting on the right hand,” and also “coming upon the clouds,” are derived from the idea of place with men; but with angels the idea is of the Lord’s power.

In Mark:

The sons of Zebedee said to Jesus, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory. Jesus answered, To sit on My right hand, and on My left, is not Mine to give, except to those for whom it hath been prepared (Mark. 10:37, 40).

From this it is manifest what sort of an idea the disciples had concerning the Lord’s kingdom, namely, that it was to sit on His right hand and on His left; and because they had such an idea, the Lord also answered them according to their apprehension, thus according to what appeared to them.

[5] In David:

He is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course. His going forth is from the end of the heavens and His circuit unto the ends of it (Psalms 19:5-6);

speaking of the Lord, whose state of Divine power is here described by such things as are of space.

In Isaiah:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawning! Thou saidst in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; ¹ I will ascend above the heights of the cloud (Isaiah 14:12-14); where “falling from heaven,” “ascending into the heavens,” “exalting the throne above the stars of heaven,” “ascending above the heights of the cloud,” all of which are expressions descriptive of the love of self profaning holy things, are all derived from the idea and appearance of space or place. Inasmuch as celestial and spiritual things are presented before man by means of such things as appear to men, and in accordance with such things, therefore heaven is also described as being on high, when yet it is not on high, but is in what is internal (n. 450, 1380, 2148).

Footnotes: