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.

4982. Was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. That this signifies in life and in doctrine, is evident from the signification of “house,” as being good (n. 2048, 2233, 2559, 3128, 3652, 3720), and because it signifies good, it signifies also life, for all good is of life; and from the signification of “field,” as being the truth of the church (n. 368, 3508, 3766, 4440, 4443), and because it signifies the truth of the church, it signifies also doctrine, for all truth is of doctrine. “House” and “field” are occasionally mentioned in other parts of the Word, and when the subject treated of is the celestial man, by “house” is signified celestial good, and by “field” spiritual good. Celestial good is the good of love to the Lord, and spiritual good is the good of charity toward the neighbor. But when the spiritual man is treated of, by “house” is signified the celestial that is in him, which is the good of charity toward the neighbor; and by “field,” the spiritual that is in him, which is the truth of faith. Both the one and the other are signified in Matthew:

Let him that is upon the housetop not go down to take anything that is in his house, and let him that is in the field not return back to take his garment (Matthew 24:17-18; see n. 3652).

533. As nothing more is related concerning Lamech than that he begat sons and daughters, which are the conceptions and births of such a church, we shall dwell no longer on the subject. What the births were, or the “sons and daughters” appears from the church; for such as is the church, such are the births from it. Both the churches called “Methuselah” and “Lamech” expired just before the flood.