9371. THE INTERNAL SENSE.

Verses 1-2. And He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and bow yourselves afar off; and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah; and they shall not come near; and the people shall not come up with him. “And He said unto Moses,” signifies that which concerns the Word in general; “come up unto Jehovah,” signifies conjunction with the Lord; “thou and Aaron,” signifies the Word in the internal sense and the external sense; “Nadab and Abihu,” signifies doctrine from both senses; “and seventy of the elders of Israel,” signifies the chief truths of the church which are of the Word, or of doctrine, and which agree with good; “and bow yourselves afar off,” signifies humiliation and adoration from the heart, and then the influx of the Lord; “and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah,” signifies the conjunction and presence of the Lord through the Word in general; “and they shall not come near,” signifies no separate conjunction and presence; “and the people shall not come up with him,” signifies no conjunction whatever with the external apart from the internal.

2232. That “sons” are those who are in truths, is evident from the signification of a “son” in the Word as being truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147). By “sons” in the abstract sense are signified truths; but as applied to man, “sons” denote all those who are in truths.

4796. When angels present themselves to the sight, all their interior affections appear clearly and shine forth from the face, so that the face is an external form and representative image of them. It is not permitted in heaven to have any other face than that of one’s affections. Those who simulate another face are cast out from the society. From this it is evident that the face corresponds to all the interiors in general, both to man’s affections and to his thoughts, or to what is of his will and to what is of his understanding. Hence also in the Word by “face” and “faces” are signified affections; and by the Lord’s “lifting up His faces” upon anyone, is signified that He pities him from Divine affection, which is of love.