7668. 'Go now, you young men, and serve Jehovah' means that those guided by truths that have been corroborated will be left alone, in order that they may worship the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of the command 'go' as the intimation that they will be left alone, as above in 7658; from the meaning of 'young men' as corroborated truths, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'serving Jehovah' as worshipping the Lord, as above in 7654, 7664. The reason why 'young men' means those guided by truths that have been corroborated is that by sons, boys, young men, men, and old men' are meant aspects of intelligence and wisdom in their true order. Such aspects instead of those male persons are understood in heaven; for those in heaven possess spiritual ideas which are such that images from the purely natural order or the world cannot enter them without being instantly sloughed off and transformed into the kinds of images that are more in keeping with the wisdom of heaven and with angelic thought. This is why 'sons, boys, young men, men, and old men' cannot in the spiritual sense mean those male persons, only corresponding spiritual realities, which are aspects of intelligence and wisdom. The fact that these are meant is plainly evident from the internal sense of the places in the Word where they are mentioned.

[2] In the Word 'young men' is used to mean those who have intelligence, or - on the level of abstract ideas on which angels think - intelligence itself. And since intelligence is meant by them, so is firmly established truth since this belongs to intelligence. Also the expression which is used here in the original language to denote young men is derived from strength and power, which truth receives from good, and so which firmly established truth receives. And this name is therefore applied to the Lord in Zechariah,

O sword, rise up against My shepherd, and against the (young) man, My neighbour. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep are scattered. Zechariah 13:7.

These words were spoken in reference to the Lord, see Matthew 26:31. And also in Jeremiah,

How long do you wander around, O estranged daughter? Jehovah has created a new thing on the earth, a woman has surrounded a (young) man. Jeremiah 31:22.

[3] Another word for 'young men in the original language stands for intelligence, and so for the truth that belongs to it, in Amos,

I have sent the pestilence upon you in the way of Egypt, I have killed your young men with the sword, along with captured horses. ¹ Amos 4:10.

'The way of Egypt' stands for perverted factual knowledge, young men who have been killed' for truths which have as a result been destroyed, and 'captured horses' for an understanding that has been led into error.

[4] In the same prophet,

They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah, and will not find it. On that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint from thirst. Amos 8:12-13.

'The beautiful virgins' stands for the affection for truth, 'the young men' for intelligence, and 'fainting from thirst' for being deprived of truth; and this is why it says 'they will run to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah, and will not find it'. The fact that neither beautiful virgins, nor young men, nor fainting because of thirst are meant here is self-evident.

In Jeremiah,

Death has come up through our windows, it has entered our palaces, cutting off the young child from the street, young men from the lanes. Jeremiah 9:11.

In the same prophet,

How is the city of glory not forsaken, the city of My joy? Therefore her young men will fall in her streets. Jeremiah 49:25-26; 50:30.

In the same prophet,

Hear now, all peoples, see my sorrow; my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity. Lamentations 1:18.

In these places 'young men' stands for the truths that belong to intelligence.

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8013. 'There shall be one law for the native and for the sojourner sojourning in the midst of you' means that someone who has received instruction in and accepted the Church's truth and good, and leads a life in keeping with them, will be as someone within the Church who has already been instructed and leads a life conforming to the commandments of faith and charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'there shall be one law' as a similar right, thus that it shall be as it is with another; from the meaning of 'the native' as one born within the Church who is in possession of its truth and good in respect of doctrine and in respect of life, dealt with just above in Sell; and from the meaning of 'the sojourner sojourning in the midst of you' as one who receives instruction in the Church's truth and good and accepts them, and leads a life in keeping with them, also dealt with above, in 8007.

[2] The expression 'in keeping with the commandments of faith and charity' is used because of the difference, which is that before regeneration one leads a life in keeping with the commandments of faith, but after regeneration in keeping with the commandments of charity. Before regeneration no one knows from affection what charity is, only from doctrine, whose commandments, which are called the commandments of faith, at that time direct a person's life. But after regeneration he does know from affection what charity is. This is because he now loves his neighbour and has a heartfelt desire for his welfare; his life is now directed by a law written on his heart, for an affection that belongs to charity governs his actions. This state is entirely different from the previous one. People in the first state are in dim light so far as the truths and the forms of the good of faith are concerned, but those in the latter state are in comparison in bright light. They see truths and corroborate them in a state of enlightenment, whereas the former see truths and corroborate them not in a state of enlightenment but because they have been convinced that the teachings of the Church are true. And since they do not see them in a state of enlightenment they are equally capable of corroborating falsities as truths, and having corroborated them they see them altogether as truths. From this one may recognize what is meant by leading a life in keeping with the commandments of faith, and what by leading a life in keeping with the commandments of charity.

[3] With regard to sojourners, the people were commanded several times in the Word not to make any distinction between 'the native of the land' and 'the sojourner sojourning with them'. The reason why was that gentile nations from whom sojourners came are just as much received into heaven as those within the Church are, after they have received instruction in and accepted the truths of faith. Regarding gentiles in the next life, see 932, 1032, 1059, 2049, 2284, 2589-2604, 2861, 1863, 3263, 4190, 4197. This was why it was commanded that as it was with the native, so it should be with the sojourner, as in Moses,

If a sojourner should sojourn with you who would make a fire-offering of an odour of rest to Jehovah, he shall do as you do. As for the assembly, one statute shall there be for you and for the sojourner who sojourns, an eternal statute throughout your generations. As you are, so shall the sojourner be before Jehovah. There shall be one law and one judgement for you and for the sojourner sojourning with you. Numbers 15:14-16.

In the same author,

As the native among you shall the sojourner sojourning with you be to you. Leviticus 19:34.

In the same author,

One judgement shall there be for you; it shall be for the sojourner as for the native. Leviticus 14:22.

In the same author,

When the sojourner has sojourned with you, he shall keep the Passover to Jehovah, according to the statute for the Passover, and according to the regulations ¹ for it. There shall be one statute for you, both for the sojourner and for the native of the land. Numbers 9:14.

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