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Arcana Coelestia #9373

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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.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia #5569

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5569. As there is a correspondence of the bones and the skins, so there is of the hairs; for these push forth from roots in the skins. Whatever has a correspondence with the Grand Man is possessed by angels and spirits; for each one as an image represents the Grand Man; therefore the angels have hair arranged becomingly and in order. Their hair represents their natural life and its correspondence with their spiritual life. That “hair” signifies the things of natural life, may be seen above (n. 3301); and also that “to poll the hair” is to accommodate natural things so that they may be becoming and thus comely (n. 5247).

  
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Arcana Coelestia #9684

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9684. 'And the lampstand across from the table, at the side of the dwelling-place towards the south' means the enlightenment of the spiritual kingdom by means of the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human to those who are governed by good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the lampstand' as the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, thus as Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Human, and the enlightenment given to His spiritual kingdom, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'the table', on which the loaves of the Presence were laid and which the lampstand was 'across from', as the Lord in respect of celestial good, thus that very good from which and through which the Lord flows into the spiritual kingdom or middle heaven, also dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'at the side of the dwelling-place towards the south' as in the heaven where the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human dwells in the greatest light. For the dwelling-place outside the veil, where the lampstand was, is the middle heaven, 9594, and 'the south' is where Divine Truth dwells in its own light, 9642. The instructions that the lampstand in the dwelling-place, and also the table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid, were to be positioned close to the veil, the lampstand however at the side of the dwelling-place towards the south, but the table at the side towards the north, are arcana of heaven which cannot be properly brought to light unless it is known that the dwelling-place represented heaven, and the objects in the dwelling-place the celestial and spiritual realities which exist in heaven. What the lampstand represented has been shown already in 9548, and what the table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid represented in 9527, 9545. What 'the south' means has been shown in 9642, and what 'the north' in 3708. From all this it becomes clear that 'the lampstand at the side of the dwelling-place towards the south' means the enlightenment of the spiritual kingdom by means of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human.

[2] But to lay bare those actual arcana, something must be stated about the whole situation in heaven. The Lord appears to those who belong to the celestial kingdom as the Sun, but to those who belong to the spiritual kingdom as the Moon. The Lord as the Sun appears mid-way above the horizon, before the right eye, and as the Moon also mid-way above the horizon, before the left eye. It is from the Lord as the Sun that angels in His celestial kingdom derive their light, and from the Lord as the Moon that those in the spiritual kingdom derive theirs; regarding those two kingdoms, see the places referred to in 9277. The light in the heavens is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human; and when that truth has been received by angels belonging to the spiritual kingdom it is called the truth of faith springing from the good of charity towards the neighbour. This good together with that truth constitute the middle heaven, called the spiritual heaven. The lampstand in the dwelling-place represented the Moon from which those belonging to the spiritual kingdom derive their light; it accordingly represented the Lord's presence there as Divine Truth, since, as has been stated, the Lord appears to those who belong to that kingdom as the Moon. From all this it now becomes clear why the lampstand was placed 'towards the south', for the south is where Divine Truth dwells in light, 9642; also why the table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid was placed 'towards the north', for the north is where Divine Truth dwells in obscurity, 3708, as at the same time does Divine Good, meant by 'the loaves' laid on that table. That good becomes spiritual good through the reception of Divine Truth, like the reception of light from the moon. These are the arcana that are meant by the lampstand and its position 'towards the south', and by the table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid and its position 'towards the north'.

[3] The fact that 'the lampstand' means Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human is clear from the Book of Revelation,

I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe, and surrounded by a golden girdle around the breasts. Revelation 1:12-14.

'The Son of Man' is the Lord in respect of Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Human, 2803, 2813, 3704. And elsewhere in the same book,

The glory of God will give light to the holy city Jerusalem, and its lamp is the Lamb. Revelation 21:23.

'The glory of God' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, 9429. 'The lamp' which is 'the Lamb', that is, the Lord, is the faith and consequently the intelligent understanding of truth and wise discernment of good which come from the Lord alone, 9548. The new Jerusalem is the Lord's New Church, 2117.

[4] The Lord is the Sun to those who are in the celestial kingdom and appears as the Moon to those who are in the spiritual kingdom, see 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 5097, 7083, 7173, 7270, 8644, 8812. Consequently in the Word the Lord in respect of celestial good is meant by 'the sun', and the Lord in respect of spiritual good by 'the moon', 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 4060, 4696, 7083, 8644. The Lord as the Sun appears mid-way above the horizon, before the right eye, and as the Moon also mid-way above the horizon, before the left eye, 1531, 4321 (end), 7078, 7171.

So it is that the east in heaven is where the Lord appears as the Sun, and the south where the Lord appears as the Moon.

The light from the Lord as the Sun and Moon is Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Human, 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2776, 3094, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3337, 3339, 3341, 3636, 3643, 3862, 3993, 4060, 4180, 4302, 4408, 4414, 4415, 4419, 4527, 4598, 5400, 6032, 6313, 6315, 6608, 6907, 7174, 8644, 8707, 8861, 9399, 9407.

Since the light from the Lord as the Sun and the Moon is Divine Truth emanating from Him, the heat from the Lord as the Sun there is the Divine Good of His Divine Love, 3338, 3339, 3636, 3643, 5215, 6032.

[5] All this goes to show the nature of the difference between the Lord's celestial kingdom and His spiritual kingdom so far as the reception of Divine Truth is concerned. That is to say, it is like the difference between light from the sun and light from the moon.

Those in the spiritual kingdom, in comparison with the others, dwell in obscurity so far as the truth of faith and the good of charity are concerned, 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3241, 3833, 6289, 6500, 6945, 7233. These primarily are the ones to have been saved by the Lord's Coming into the world, 2661, 2716, 3969, 6372, 6854, 6914, 7035, 7091, 7828, 7932, 8018, 8054, 8159, 8321, 9596; and the enlightenment they have is in the Lord's Divine Human, 2716, 2833, 2834.

But those belonging to the spiritual Church are saved who lead a good life based on the truths of faith, 2954, 6435, 6647, 6648, 7977, 7992, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.