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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 #9093

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9093. And they shall divide the silver of it. That this signifies that the truth thereof shall be dissipated, is evident from the signification of “dividing,” as being to banish and dissipate (see n. 6360, 6361); and from the signification of “silver,” as being truth (n. 1551, 2048, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999). That “to divide” denotes to dissipate, is because if those things which have been associated together are divided, they are also scattered, as he who divides his mind destroys it. For the mind of man is an association of two parts, one part being called the understanding, the other the will. He who divides these two parts scatters the things which belong to one part, for one part must live from the other; consequently the other also perishes. It is the same with him who divides truth from good, or what is the same, faith from charity. He who does this destroys both. In a word, all things which ought to be united in a one, if divided perish.

[2] This division is meant by the Lord’s words in Luke:

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will prefer the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13).

That is, by faith serve the Lord, and by love the world; thus acknowledge truth, and do evil. He who does this has a divided mind, from which comes its destruction. From all this it is evident whence it is that “to divide” denotes to dissipate; as is also evident in Matthew:

The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall divide him, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites (Matthew 24:50-51); where “to divide” denotes to separate and remove from goods and truths (n. 4424), thus to dissipate.

[3] In Moses:

Cursed be their anger, for it was vehement; and their wrath, for it was hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:7); where Israel speaks prophetically of Simeon and Levi. By Simeon and Leviticus are there represented those who are in faith separate from charity (n. 6352), by Jacob and Israel the church external and internal, and also the external and internal man (n. 4286, 4598, 5973, 6360, 6361). “To divide them in Jacob” denotes to expel them from the external church; and “to scatter them in Israel” denotes from the internal church; thus to dissipate the goods and the truths of the church appertaining to them.

[4] That “dividing” has this signification is also plain from the words written on the wall when Belshazzar king of Babel, together with his lords, his wives, and his concubines, drank wine from the vessels of gold and of silver which belonged to the temple that was at Jerusalem. The writing was:

Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided (Daniel 5:2-4, 25-28); where “divided” means separated from the kingdom. In this passage it is plain how all things were at that time representative. In it is described the profanation of good and truth, which is signified by “Babel” (that Babel” denotes profanation, see n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326); “vessels of gold and of silver” denote the goods of love and the truths of faith from the the Lord, (n. 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917). Profanation is signified by “drinking therefrom, and at the same time praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone,” as we read in the fourth verse of the chapter, which denote evils and falsities in a series (n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8941). By the “temple at Jerusalem” from which the vessels came, is signified in the supreme sense the Lord, in the representative sense His kingdom and church (n. 3720). The kingdom of Belshazzar being “divided” signified the dissipation of good and truth, and he himself being “slain that night” signified the loss of the life of truth and good, thus damnation; for “to be divided” denotes to be dissipated; “a king” denotes the truth of good (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148); the like is signified by “kingdom” (n. 1672, 2547, 4691); “to be slain” denotes to be deprived of the life of truth and good (n. 3607, 6767, 8902); and the “night” in which he was slain denotes a state of evil and falsity (n. 2353, 7776, 7851, 7870, 7947). From this it is plain that all things there were representative.

[5] It says in David:

They divided My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast a lot (Psalms 22:18).

They divided His garments, casting a lot; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Matthew 27:35).

The soldiers took His garments, and made four parts; and the tunic, the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore, Let us not divide it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:23-24).

He who reads these words and knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, is not aware that anything secret lies hidden in them, when yet in each word there is a Divine secret. The secret was that Divine truths had been dissipated by the Jews, for the Lord was the Divine truth; and hence He is called “the Word” (John 1). “The Word” denotes Divine truth; His garments represented truths in the external form; and His tunic, truths in the internal form; the division of the garments represented the dissipation of the truths of faith by the Jews. (That “garments” denote truths in the external form, see n. 2576, 5248, 5954, 6918; also that “a tunic” denotes truth in the internal form, n. 4677.) Truths in the external form are such as are those of the Word in the literal sense; but truths in the internal form are such as are those of the Word in the spiritual sense. The division of the garments into four parts signified total dissipation, in like manner as the division in Zechariah 14:4, and in other passages; likewise the division into two parts, as we read of the veil of the temple (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38). The rending of the rocks also at that time (Matthew 27:51) represented the dissipation of all things of faith, for a “rock” denotes the Lord as to faith, consequently it denotes faith from the Lord.

  
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Arcana Coelestia #9163

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9163. 'And it dies or is broken' means loss or harm. This is clear from the meaning of 'dying' as being wiped out and lost; and from the meaning of 'being broken' as suffering harm. In the Word 'a break' and 'being broken' mean being dispersed or else suffering harm. This has its origin in the spiritual world, where all things without exception are joined together, all according to the way in which God's truth coming from the Lord is received by them, and so according to the way in which the order imposed on every single thing by God's truth emanating from the Lord is received by them, 8700, 8988. Therefore also the truths residing with a person are connected to one another according to the way in which they are received within good; and the truths interconnected in this way make a single whole. Consequently when these as a whole are broken, the truths together with the good are dispersed; but when they are partially broken, the truths that are there are dispersed. For when they exist in connection with one another, they depend on one another for their existence, but when they are broken they pull away from one another. So it is that in the Word 'being broken' means being dispersed, as is also meant by 'being divided', 9093, or else it means suffering harm.

[2] That is to say, being dispersed is meant when the whole is broken, but suffering harm when part is broken, as is evident from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

Many among them will trip, and fall, and be broken. Isaiah 8:15; 28:13.

'Tripping' stands for stumbling and as a consequence sliding from truths into falsities; 'falling and being broken' stands for being dispersed, dispersed as a whole in this instance. In Ezekiel,

Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, I will break [both] his arms, the strong one and the broken one. Ezekiel 30:22.

'Pharaoh king of Egypt' stands for known facts which pervert and destroy the truths and forms of the good of faith, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692. 'Breaking the arms' stands for dispersing the powerfulness of those facts and so dispersing the facts themselves, 4932. 'The strong one and the broken one' stands for those which have not suffered harm and offer resistance, and those which have suffered harm and offer no resistance.

[3] In Luke,

It is written, The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. Whoever falls onto that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind [him] to powder. Luke 20:17-18.

'The stone' stands for the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, 6426. Since 'being broken' refers to truths that come from Him, it stands for being dispersed and so destroyed. This happens to the things that compose spiritual life, as well as to the truths, and occurs among people who deny the Lord and refuse to accept truths that come from Him, these people being the ones who reject the stone. In Jeremiah,

Bring on them the day of evil, break [them] with doubled breaking. Jeremiah 17:18.

'Breaking with doubled breaking' stands for destroying completely.

[4] In Isaiah,

I have settled myself down until the morning. Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones. From day until night You will make an end of me. Isaiah 38:13.

In Jeremiah,

He has aged my flesh and my skin, and broken my bones. Lamentations 3:4.

In Moses,

You shall not take out of the house any of the flesh of the Passover lamb, nor break a bone of it. Exodus 12:46.

'Breaking the bones' means destroying the truths from God that exist on the last and lowest level of order, truths on which more internal truths and forms of good rest and by means of which these are supported. If the truths on the lowest level are destroyed, the ones built on top of them also fall to the ground. Truths on the lowest level are truths belonging to the literal sense of the Word, which hold within themselves truths belonging to the internal sense and which those in the internal sense rest on like pillars on their plinths. For the meaning of 'bones' as truths, see 3812, 6592, 8005. All this shows what was represented and meant by the following things said about the Lord in John,

They came to Jesus. When they saw that He was dead they did not break His legs. This was done in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, You shall not break a bone of His. John 19:33, 36.

The reason for this was that He was Divine Truth itself both on the first and on the last levels of order.

[5] In Isaiah,

Jehovah will bind up the break of His people, 1 and will heal the wound of their stroke. Isaiah 30:26.

In Jeremiah,

From the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely; 2 and they heal what is broken in My people with something that is no good. 3 Jeremiah 6:13-14.

In the same prophet,

Because the daughter of My people is broken 4 I am broken, I am dressed in black. Jeremiah 8:21.

In David,

You have made the earth tremble; You have broken it to pieces; heal its breaks. Psalms 60:2.

In Zechariah,

I will raise up a shepherd in the land; he will not heal one that is broken, he will not support one that is standing. Zechariah 11:16.

In Nahum,

There is no scar for your break; 5 your stroke is severe. 6 Nahum 3:19.

In these places 'break' means harm done to the truths and forms of the good of faith, thus harm done to the Church, while 'healing' means making amends and undertaking restoration. Something similar was meant by the regulation which prevented a man with a broken foot or a broken hand from approaching and offering the bread of God, Leviticus 21:17, 19, and by that which prevented what was broken from being offered to Jehovah on the altar, Leviticus 22:22, for 'what was broken' meant that which had been destroyed. That which has suffered harm is also meant by 'a breach', as in Isaiah,

You saw that the breaches of the city 7 of David were very many. Isaiah 22:9.

And in Amos,

On that day I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen down, and I will close up its breaches; I will restore its destroyed places, and I will build them as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.

'The city 7 of David' and 'the tent of David' stand for the Lord's Church, for 'David' in the prophetical part of the Word is the Lord, 1888.

Footnotes:

1. i.e. the hurt done to His people

2. literally, does or performs a lie

3. literally, the break of My people through a thing of no weight

4. literally, Over the break of the daughter of My people

5. i.e. There is no sign that healing has taken place

6. literally, hopeless

7. The Latin means house but the Hebrew means city, which Swedenborg Has in another place where he quotes this verse.

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