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.

3147. And water to wash his feet. That this signifies purification there, is evident from the signification of “water for washing,” or of washing with water, as being to purify (concerning which presently); and from the signification of “feet,” as being natural things, or what is the same, the things in the natural man (see n. 2162). In the representative church it was customary to wash the feet with water, and thereby to signify that the unclean things of the natural man were washed away. The unclean things of the natural man are all those things which are of the love of self and of the love of the world; and when these unclean things have been washed away, then goods and truths flow in, for it is solely these unclean things that hinder the influx of good and truth from the Lord.

[2] For good is continually flowing in from the Lord, but when it comes through the internal or spiritual man to his external or natural man, it is there either perverted, turned back, or suffocated. But when the things which are of the love of self and of the love of the world are removed, then good is received there and is made fruitful; for then man practices the works of charity. This is evident from many considerations; as when in misfortune, distress, and sickness, the things that belong to the external or natural man are merely lulled, the man forthwith begins to think piously and to will what is good, and also to practice works of piety insofar as he is able; but when the state is changed, there is a change also in all this.

[3] These things were signified by the washings in the Ancient Church, and the same were represented in the Jewish Church, The reason why they were signified in the Ancient Church, but represented in the Jewish church, was that the man of the Ancient Church regarded the rite as a something external in worship, and did not believe that he was purified by that washing, but by the washing away of the impurities of the natural man, which as before said are the things which are of the love of self and of the world. But the man of the Jewish Church believed that he was purified by that washing; neither knowing nor desiring to know that the purification of the interiors was signified.

[4] That by “washing” is signified a cleansing from the impurities referred to, is evident in Isaiah:

Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil (Isaiah 1:16); where it is evident that to “wash themselves” means to make themselves pure and to put away evils. Again:

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, in the spirit of judgment and in the spirit of expurgation (Isaiah 4:4); where “washing away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purging the blood of Jerusalem,” denotes purifying from evils and falsities.

In Jeremiah:

O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall the thoughts of thine iniquity lodge within thee? (Jeremiah 4:14).

[5] In Ezekiel:

I washed thee with water, and I washed away thy bloods from upon thee, and anointed thee with oil (Jeremiah 16:9 [NCBSW: Ezekiel 16:9]); concerning Jerusalem, by which is there meant the Ancient Church; “washing with waters” denotes purifying from falsities; “washing away bloods” denotes purging from evils; “anointing with oil” denotes filling then with good.

In David:

Wash me from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Psalms 51:2, 7).

Here “being washed” plainly denotes being purified from evils and their falsities.

[6] These are the things that were signified by “washing” in the representative church; and it was commanded for the sake of the representation that when they had become unclean they should wash the skin, the hands, the feet, and also the garments, and should be cleansed; by all which things were signified those which are of the natural man. Lavers also, of brass, were placed outside the temple, namely, the brazen sea and the ten brazen lavers (1 Kings 7:23-39); and a laver of brass at which Aaron and his sons were to wash was placed between the tent of meeting and the altar; and thus outside the tent (Exodus 30:18-19, 21); by which also was signified that only external or natural things were to be purified; for unless these have been purified, that is, unless the things that are of the love of self and of the world have been removed, the internal things which are of love to the Lord and toward the neighbor cannot possibly flow in, as before said.

[7] For the better understanding of how these things are circumstanced, namely, that external things are to be purified, take as an example and illustration good works, or what is the same, the goods of charity which at this day are called the fruits of faith; these are external things, because they are the exercises of charity. Good works are evil works unless those things are removed which are of the love of self and of the world; for when works are done before these have been removed, they indeed appear good outwardly, but are inwardly evil; for they are done either for the sake of reputation, or for gain, or for the sake of one’s honor, or for recompense, thus they are either self-meritorious ¹ or hypocritical; for that which is of the love of self and the world causes the works to be such. But when these evils are removed, the works then become good; and they are goods of charity; that is, in them there is not regard to self, to the world, to reputation, to recompense; thus they are neither self-meritorious nor hypocritical; for then celestial love and spiritual love flow in from the Lord into the works and cause them to be love and charity in act; and then the Lord through these loves also purifies the natural or external man, and disposes it into order, so as to receive correspondently the celestial and spiritual things that flow in.

[8] This is clearly evident from what the Lord taught when He washed the feet of the disciples, as we read in John:

Then cometh He to Simon Peter; and Peter saith unto Him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto Him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me. Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that hath been washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit; ye are clean already, but not all (John 13:4-17).

“He that hath been washed, needeth not save to wash his feet” signifies that he who has been reformed, has need only to be cleansed as to natural things, that is, has need that evils and falsities should be removed from them; and then all things are disposed into order by the influx of spiritual things from the Lord. Moreover to wash the feet was an office of charity, as meaning not to reflect on the evils of another; and it was also an office of humility, as meaning to cleanse another from evils as from impurities; as also is evident from the Lord’s words in the passage just quoted (verses 12-17; also Luke 7:37-38, 44, 46; John 11:2; 1 Samuel 25:41).

[9] Everybody can see that washing himself does not purify anyone from evils and falsities, but only from the impurities that cling to him; nevertheless, as washing was among the rites commanded in the church, it follows that it involves something special, namely, spiritual washing, that is, purification from the uncleannesses which inwardly adhere to man. Therefore they who knew these things in that church, and thought about the purification of the heart, or the removal of the evils of the love of self and of the love of the world from the natural man, and who endeavored to effect this with all diligence, observed the rite of washing as external worship according to commandment; but those who did not know this and did not desire to know it, but thought that the mere rite of washing their garments, skin, hands, and feet, would purify them, and that provided they did these things they might be allowed to live in avarice, hatreds, revenge, unmercifulness, and cruelties, which are spiritual impurity, practiced this rite as an idolatrous one. Nevertheless they could represent by it, and by representation exhibit something of the church, whereby there might be some conjunction of heaven with man before the Lord’s advent; yet such conjunction as affected the man of the church little or not at all.

[10] The Jews and Israelites were such that they had no thought about the internal man, nor willingness to know anything about it; thus none at all concerning celestial and spiritual things, relating to the life after death. But yet lest all communication with heaven and thus with the Lord should perish, they were bound to external rites, whereby internal things were signified. All their captivities and plagues were in general for the end that external rites might be strictly observed for the sake of the representation.

Hence then it was that Moses washed Aaron and his sons with water at the door of the tent, that they might be sanctified (Exodus 29:4 40:12; Leviticus 8:6); that Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before they entered into the tent of meeting and came near to the altar to minister, that they might not die; and that this was to be to them a statute forever (Exodus 30:18-21; 40:30-31); that Aaron was to wash his flesh before he put on the garments of ministry (Leviticus 16:4, 24); that the Levites were to be purified by being sprinkled with the water of expiation; and that they were to cause a razor to pass over their flesh, and to wash their garments, and thus should be pure (Numbers 8:6-7); that whoever should eat the carcass even of a clean beast, or one that was torn, should wash his garments, and bathe himself in water; and if he did not wash himself and bathe his flesh, he should bear his iniquity (Leviticus 17:15-16); that whoever touched the bed of one affected with the flux, or who sat upon a vessel on which he had sat, and whoever touched his flesh, should wash his garments, and bathe himself with water, and should be unclean till the evening (Leviticus 15:5-7, 10; 15:10-12); that whoever let go the he-goat, as a scape-goat, should wash his flesh (Leviticus 16:26); that when a leprous person was cleansed, he was to wash his garments, shave off all his hair, and wash himself with water, and he should be clean (Leviticus 14:8-9); nay, that the very vessels which were made unclean by the touch of things unclean, should be passed through water, and should be unclean until evening (Leviticus 11:32). From these things it may be seen that no one was made clean or pure as to internal things by the rite of washing, but only represented one pure or spiritually clean, for the reason given above. That this is so, the Lord teaches plainly in Matthew (15:1-2, 20), and (Matthew 15:20) in Mark (7:1-23).

Footnotes:

176. (Verse 27) And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. That this signifies that He is about to chastise evils by means of truths which are in the natural man is evident from the signification of ruling, as being to chastise, for it is added that He would break them in pieces as a potter's vessels, and the evils which are thereby signified are chastised by means of truths; also from the signification of a rod of iron, as being truths in the natural man. By a rod or staff is signified power, by means of which chastisement is effected, and by iron, truths in the natural man which chastise. (That a rod or staff denotes power, may be seen, n. 4013, 4015, 4876, 4936, 6947, 7011, 7026, 7568, 7572; that hence it is that kings have a sceptre, which is a short staff, n. 4581, 4876.) The reason why iron signifies truths in the natural man is, that metals, as well as all other things on earth, from correspondence, signify things spiritual and celestial, all of which have reference to truths and goods. Gold signifies the good of the internal man, silver its truths; copper or brass the good of the external or natural man, iron its truth. This is the reason why the ancients called the Ages by the names of metals - golden, silver, copper and iron: golden from the most ancient men, who lived in the good of love; silver from the ancients after them, who lived in truths from that good; copper from their posterity, who were in external or natural good; iron from the posterity of the latter, who were in natural truth alone without good. Natural truth is truth in the memory, and not in the life; truth which is of the life is good. (But more may be seen concerning this correspondence in the work, Heaven and Hell 104, 115.)

[2] The successive states of the church, even until the coming of the Lord, are meant by the gold, the silver, the brass, and the iron of which the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream was composed, as it is thus recorded in Daniel:

"His head was fine gold, his breast and his arms silver, his belly and his thighs brass, his legs iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. And a stone was cut out" of the rock, "and smote the image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Whereas thou sawest the feet, part of potter's clay and part of iron," it signifies that "the kingdom shall be divided; the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. Whereas thou sawest iron mixed with clay of mire, they shall mingle themselves by the seed of man; but they shall not cohere the one with the other, even as iron is not mixed with clay" (n. 32-34, 41-43).

By the head which was fine gold is meant the first state of the church, when men were in the good of love to the Lord; by the breast and arms, which were silver is meant the second state of the church, when they were in truth from that good. By the belly and thighs which were of brass, the following or third state of the church, when men were no longer in spiritual but in natural good, for brass signifies that good; by the legs which were of iron is meant the fourth state of the church, when there was no longer natural good, but only truth; but by the feet which were of iron and clay is meant the last state of the church, when there are truth and falsity: truth in the Word and falsity in doctrine. When the truths of the Word are falsified, and doctrine is drawn from falsified truth, then the state of the church is part iron and part clay, and thus the kingdom is partly strong and partly broken. The kingdom in this passage denotes the church; therefore the church is also called the kingdom of God. That truths are thus mixed with falsities, but that still they do not cohere, is meant by Whereas thou sawest iron mixed with clay of mire, they shall mingle themselves by the seed of man, but they shall not cohere one with the other, even as iron is not mixed with clay. The seed of man denotes Divine truth which is in the Word. (That this is signified by seed, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3038, 3337, 10248, 10249; that man signifies the Lord, from whom is the Word and also the church, see n. 768, 4287, 7424, 7523, 8547, 9276.) That potter's clay signifies the falsities that are in the natural man, will be seen presently in the following article, no. 177. By the stone cut out of the rock, which smote the image, upon his feet is meant the Lord by means of Divine truth, and the destruction of falsities not cohering with truths from the Word. (That stone signifies truth, and that the stone of Israel is the Lord as to Divine truth, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376; that rock also signifies the n. 8581, 10580, and in the small work, The Last Judgement n. 57.) Because iron signifies truths in the natural man, therefore the feet of the statue were of iron, for feet signify the Natural (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952).

[3] Similar things are signified by gold, silver, brass, and iron, in the prophet Isaiah:

"For brass I will bring gold, for iron silver, for wood brass, and for stones iron" (60:17).

For brass to bring gold denotes celestial good for natural good; for iron silver denotes celestial truth for natural truth: for wood brass, and for stones iron denote natural good and truth in such abundance as are wood and stone. The state of the celestial church is here treated of. (That iron signifies truth in the natural man, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 425, 426.)

[4] These things are adduced, in order that it may be known that a rod of iron signifies power, by means of which the Lord chastises the evils and disperses the falsities that are in the natural man. For a rod or staff signifies power, as was said above, and iron signifies truths in the natural man. The reason why the Lord chastises evils and disperses falsities by means of truths in the natural man is, that all evils and the falsities therefrom reside therein, but none in the spiritual or internal man. The internal man does not receive evils and falsities, but is closed against them; and because these all reside in the natural man, therefore they must be chastised and dispersed by the things that are also there, which are truths. Truths in the natural man are scientifics (scientifica) and knowledges cognitiones), from which man can think, reason and conclude naturally concerning the truths and goods of the church, and concerning the falsities and evils which are opposed to them, and thence be in some natural enlightenment when he reads the Word: for the Word in the letter is not intelligible without enlightenment, and this is either spiritual or natural. Spiritual enlightenment is only granted to those who are spiritual, who are those who are in the good of love and of charity, and consequently in truths; but natural enlightenment alone is granted to those who are natural (which may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 153, 425, and n. 140, above). To those also who are spiritual while they live in the world, there is granted enlightenment in the Natural; but this exists from the enlightenment in the Spiritual; for with them the Lord flows in through the spiritual or internal man into the natural or external, and thus enlightens the latter. From this enlightenment man sees what is true and good, and what is false and evil; and when he sees these things, then the Lord disperses the evils and falsities which are in the natural man by means of the truths and goods which are also there, and which make one with the goods and truths in the spiritual or internal man. (Further particulars concerning sciences (scientiis) and knowledges (cognitionibus), and what they effect, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 51, and concerning influx, n. 277, 278.)

[5] From these considerations it may now be seen, what is signified by the rod of iron with which the Lord shall rule the nations, that is, will chastise the evils in the natural man. These things are said to the angel of this church because the subject treated of in what is written to this angel is the internal and external man, and their conjunction. For, when the internal and external, or the Spiritual and Natural are conjoined, then the Lord chastises the evils and falsities that are in the natural man, and this by means of the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good. But in the case of those in whom the internal and external man are not conjoined, evils and falsities cannot be chastised and expelled, because they receive nothing through the spiritual man from heaven, but everything they receive is from the world, which their Rational favours, and for which it furnishes confirmations.

Things similar to those here signified by a rod of iron, are also signified in the following passages; as in David:

"Thou shalt bruise" the nations "with a sceptre of iron; as a potter's vessel shalt thou disperse them" (Psalms 2:9).

In Isaiah:

"He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked" (11:4).

In the Apocalypse:

The woman "brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron" (12:5).

Out of the mouth of him that sat upon the white horse "went a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; for he shall rule them with a rod of iron" (19:15).

And in Micah:

"Arise, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass, and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples" (4:13).

The daughter of Zion is the celestial church; a horn is power in the natural man; hoofs are its ultimates, which are called sensual scientifics (scientifica sensualia); hence it is evident what is signified by making the horn iron, and the hoofs brass. (That the daughter of Zion is the celestial church may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2362, 9055; that horn denotes the power of truth from good in the natural man, n. 2832, 9081, 9719-9721, 10182, 10186; and that hoofs are the scientifics of the sensual man, which are truths in the ultimate of order, n. 7729.)