10655. The feast of unleavened things shalt thou keep. That this signifies the worship of the Lord and thanksgiving on account of liberation from evil and from the falsities of evil, is evident from the signification of a “feast,” as being worship and thanksgiving (see n. 7093, 9286, 9287); and from the signification of “unleavened things,” as being things purified from evil and from the falsities of evil (see n. 9992); consequently by “the feast of unleavened things” is signified worship and thanksgiving on account of liberation from evil and from the falsities of evil. (That this was signified by this feast, (9286-9292) see n. 9286-9292).

[2] As regards this feast, be it known that it properly signifies the glorification of the Lord’s Human, thus the remembrance of this and thanksgiving on account of it, for by means of this glorification and the subjugation of the hells by the Lord, man has liberation from evils and salvation. For the Lord glorified His Human by combats against the hells and at the same time by continual victories over them. The last combat and victory was on the cross; wherefore He then fully glorified Himself, as He also teaches in John:

After Judas had gone out, Jesus said, Now hath the Son of man been glorified, and God hath been glorified in Him. If God hath been glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him (John 13:31-32).

Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. Now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with [apud] Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:1, 5).

Ought not Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26).

“To glorify the Son of man” denotes to make the Human Divine. It is evident that these things were said concerning His passion of the cross.

[3] That by this last combat, which was the passion of the cross, He fully subjugated the hells, the Lord also teaches in John:

Jesus said, The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Now is My soul troubled. And He said, Father, glorify Thy name; and there went forth a voice out of heaven, saying, I have both glorified, and will glorify again. And Jesus said, Now is the judgement of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying by what manner of death He should die (John 12:23, 27-28, 31-33).

Hell in the whole complex is what is called “the prince of the world,” and “the devil.” From all this it is evident that by the passion of the cross the Lord not only conquered and subjugated the hells, but also fully glorified His Human. From this comes salvation to the human race. For the sake of this also the Lord came into the world, as He likewise teaches in John 12:27. It was for the remembrance of this that the feast of unleavened things or of the passover was primarily instituted, and therefore at this feast He rose again.

[4] That it was also for the sake of liberation from evil and from the falsities of evil, is because all liberation from evil is by means of the subjugation of the hells by the Lord, and by means of the glorification of His Human; and without these there is none. For man is directed by the Lord by means of spirits from hell, and by means of angels out of heaven; and therefore unless the hells had been completely subjugated, and unless the Human of the Lord had been completely united to the Divine Itself, and thus also made Divine, no man could possibly have been liberated from hell and saved, for the hells would always have prevailed, because man has become such that from himself he thinks nothing else than what belongs to hell. From this it is evident whence it is that by the same feast is signified worship and thanksgiving on account of liberation from evil and from the falsities of evil.

2177. That the “meal of fine flour” denotes the spiritual and the celestial which were then with the Lord, and that “cakes” denote the same when both are conjoined, is very evident from the sacrifices of the Representative Church, and from the meat-offering then made use of, which consisted of fine flour mingled with oil and made into cakes. The chief part of representative worship consisted in burnt-offerings and sacrifices. What these represented has already been stated, where bread is treated of (n. 2165), namely, the celestial things of the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and of the Lord’s kingdom on the earth (that is, in the church), and also those of the Lord’s kingdom or church with each person; and in general all the things of love and charity, because these are celestial. All these offerings and sacrifices were at that time called “bread,” and to them was adjoined the meat-offering also, which, as already said, consisted of fine flour mingled with oil, to which frankincense was likewise added, as well as a libation of wine.

[2] What these represented is also evident, namely, similar things as the sacrifices, but in a less degree, thus the things which are of the spiritual church, and likewise those of the external church. Everyone can see that such things would never have been commanded unless they had represented Divine things, and also that each one represents something special and peculiar, for unless they had represented Divine things, they would not have differed from similar things in use among the Gentiles, among whom also there were sacrifices—meat-offerings, libations, frankincense, perpetual fires, and many other things, derived to them from the Ancient Church, and especially from the Hebrew Church. But as internal things (that is, the Divine things that were represented) were separated from these Gentile rites, they were merely idolatrous, as also they became with the Jews, who for this reason fell into all kinds of idolatry. From what has been said everyone can see that there were heavenly arcana in every rite, especially in the sacrifices and all their particulars.

[3] As regards the meat-offering, the nature of it and how it was to be prepared into cakes, is described in a whole chapter in Moses (Leviticus 2; also in Numbers 15, and elsewhere). The law of the meat-offering is described in Leviticus in these words:

Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually, it shall not go out. And this is the law of the meat-offering: the sons of Aaron shall bring it before Jehovah to the faces of the altar; and he shall take therefrom his handful of the fine flour of the meat-offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat-offering, and shall burn it upon the altar, an odor of rest, for a memorial unto Jehovah; and the residue thereof Aaron and his sons shall eat; unleavened shall they be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it. It shall not be baked leavened; I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is a holy of holies (Leviticus 6:13-17).

[4] The fire which must be kept burning upon the altar continually, represented the love, that is, the mercy of the Lord, perpetual and eternal. That in the Word “fire” signifies love, see n. 934; hence “offerings made by fire for an odor of rest” signify the Lord’s pleasure in the things which are of love and charity. (That “odor” denotes what is well-pleasing, that is, what is grateful, see n. 925, 1519.) Their “taking a handful” represented that they should love with all the strength, or with all the soul; for the hand, or the palm of the hand, signifies power (as shown n. 878), from which “handful” also signifies power. The fine flour, with the oil and the frankincense, represented all things of charity-the fine flour the spiritual, and the oil the celestial of charity, the frankincense what was in this manner grateful. (That fine flour represents what is spiritual, is evident from what has just been said, and from what follows; that oil represents what is celestial, or the good of charity, may be seen above, n. 886; and also that frankincense, from its odor, represents what is grateful and acceptable, n. 925.)

[5] Its being “unleavened,” or not fermented, signifies that it should be sincere, and thus from a sincere heart, and free from uncleanness. That Aaron and his sons should eat the residue, represented man’s reciprocality and his appropriation, thus conjunction through love and charity; on which account it was commanded that they should eat it in a holy place. Hence it is called a “holy of holies.” These were the things that were represented by the meat-offering; and the representatives themselves were so perceived in heaven; and when the man of the church so apprehended them, he was then in an idea similar to the perception of the angels, thus he was in the Lord’s kingdom itself in the heavens although he was on earth.

[6] The meat-offering is further treated of, as regards what it ought to be in connection with each kind of sacrifice, and how it should be baked into cakes, also what kind should be offered by those who were being cleansed, and what on other occasions; to mention and explain all of which would be too tedious; but concerning all these matters see Exodus 29:39-41; Leviticus 5:11-13; 6:14-23; 10:12-13; 23:10-13, 23:16-17; Numbers 5:15, etc.; 6:15-17, 19-20, 7:1-89, in several places; 28:5, 7, 9, 12-13, 20-21, 28-29; 29:3-4, 9-10, 14-15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 37.

[7] Fine flour made into cakes in general represented the same as bread, namely, the celestial of love, and meal the spiritual of it, as is evident from the passages cited above. The “breads” [or loaves] that were called the “bread of faces,” or the “show bread” [panis propositionis], were made of fine flour, which was prepared in cakes and placed upon the table, for a perpetual representation of the love, that is, the mercy, of the Lord toward the universal human race, and the reciprocality of man. Concerning these loaves we read as follows in Moses:

Thou shalt take fine flour and shalt bake it into twelve cakes; of two tenths shall one cake be; and thou shalt set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the clean table, before Jehovah; and thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, and it shall be to the breads for a memorial, an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. On every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Jehovah continually, from the sons of Israel in a covenant of eternity. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is a holy of holies unto him, of the offerings made by fire unto Jehovah by a statute of eternity (Leviticus 24:5-9).

Every particular in this description and all the smallest details represented the holy of love and of charity, the “fine flour” the same as the “meal of fine flour,” namely, the celestial and its spiritual, and the “cake” the two conjoined.

[8] Hence it is evident what is the holiness of the Word to those who are in heavenly ideas, nay, what holiness there was in this very representative rite, on account of which it is called a holiness of holinesses; and on the contrary, how void of holiness it is to those who suppose that there is nothing heavenly in these things, and who abide solely in the externals; as do they who perceive the meal here merely as meal, the fine flour as fine flour, and the cake as a cake, and who suppose these things to have been stated without each particular involving something of the Divine. These do in like manner as do those who think the bread and wine of the Holy Supper to be nothing but a certain rite, containing nothing holy within; whereas there is such holiness that human minds are by that Supper conjoined with heavenly minds, when from internal affection they are thinking that the bread and wine signify the Lord’s love and the reciprocality of man, and are thus in holiness from interior thought and feeling.

[9] The like was involved in that the sons of Israel on their coming into the land of Canaan were to offer a cake of the first of their dough, as a heave-offering unto Jehovah (Numbers 15:20). That such things are signified is also evident in the Prophets, from which we may at present adduce only this from Ezekiel:

Thou wast decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was fine linen and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, honey, and oil, and thou wast become beautiful very exceedingly, and thou wast prospered unto a kingdom (Ezekiel 16:13); where the subject treated of is Jerusalem, by which is signified the church, that was so decked in its earliest time-that is, the Ancient Church-and which is described by the garments and other ornaments; as also its affections of truth and good by the fine flour, honey, and oil. Everyone can see that all these things have a very different meaning in the internal sense from that in the sense of the letter. And so have these words which Abraham said to Sarah: “Make ready quickly three measures of the meal of fine flour, knead, and make cakes.” (That “three” signifies holy things has been shown before, n. 720, 901)