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.

8806. And sanctified the people. That this signifies the veiling over of the interiors that they may appear to be in the holiness of faith, is evident from what was unfolded above (n. 8788); but it was there set forth what was the sanctification with the Israelitish people, namely, that it was a veiling over of the interiors, so that as to their externals they might appear to be in what was holy when they were in representative worship; and that unless their interiors had then been veiled over, they would not only have defiled the holiness of worship by foul thoughts and evil affections, but would also have totally destroyed it, so that nothing celestial and spiritual which was represented in the external things would have been perceived therefrom in heaven.

[2] But as by “the sons of Israel” are here meant those who are of the spiritual church, it shall be briefly told what is meant by “sanctification” with these. They who are of the spiritual church and live a life of truth and from this a life of good, are withheld from evils and are kept in good by the Lord. The good which is from the Lord is holy with them. Consequently insofar as they receive good from the Lord, so far they are holy; and they receive so much of good from the Lord, that is, are so far holy, as they live a life of good according to the genuine truths of faith, and at the same time believe that all the good which they then think and do is from the Lord. Then, too, evils with them are separated so as not to appear at all, especially those which they have derived hereditarily from parents, and which are filthy, because they have been successively accumulated with the parents for many ages back, and thus amassed in the offspring. These are the interiors which with those who are of the spiritual church are hid away and as it were veiled over (n. 966, 1667, 2307, 2308, 3701, 4317, 8550). Hence it is that all the will they possess hereditarily is destroyed. For this cause a new will is formed with them in the intellectual part by means of truths of faith from the Lord. This is the reason why, when they are being regenerated, they are led by means of truths to good; and afterward when they have been regenerated, from good into the truths of good. Hence it is evident how a new will is created in them by the Lord. (That this is formed in the intellectual part with those who are of the spiritual church, see n. 863, 875, 895, 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 1555, 2256, 4328, 4493, 5113, 6125)

627. For all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. That this signifies that man’s corporeal nature had destroyed all the understanding of truth, is evident from the signification of “flesh” (concerning which at verse 3), which in general means every man, and in particular the corporeal man, or all that is of the body; and from the signification of a “way” as being the understanding of truth, that is, truth itself. That a “way” is predicated of the understanding of truth, that is, of truth, is evident from passages which have been adduced in different places before, and also from the following.

In Moses:

Jehovah said, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people have corrupted themselves; they have suddenly turned back out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image (Deuteronomy 9:12, 16), meaning that they had turned away from the commandments, which are truths.

[2] In Jeremiah:

Whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of man, to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his works (Jeremiah 32:19).The “ways” here are a life according to the commandments; the “fruit of his works” is a life from charity. Thus a “way” is predicated of truths, which are those of the precepts and commandments. And the meaning of “son of man” [homo] and of “man” [vir] is as has been shown above. So in Jeremiah 7:3, and 17:10.

In Hosea:

I will visit upon him his ways, and render to him his works (Hosea 4:9).

In Zechariah:

Return ye from your evil ways, and from your evil works. Like as Jehovah Zebaoth thought to do unto us according to our ways, and according to our works (Zechariah 1:4, 6).

Here the sense is similar, but the opposite of the former, because they are evil “ways” and evil “works.”

In Jeremiah:

I will give them one heart, and one way (Jeremiah 32:39).

“Heart” denotes goods, and “way” truths.

In David:

Make me to understand the way of Thy commandments; remove from me the way of falsehood; and grant me Thy law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth. I will run the way of Thy commandments (Psalms 119:27, 29-30, 32).

Here the “way of the commandments” is called the “way of truth”—opposite to which is the “way of falsehood.”

[3] Again:

Make known to me Thy ways, O Jehovah, teach me Thy paths. Lead my way in Thy truth, and teach me (Psalms 25:4-5).

Here likewise a “way” manifestly denotes truth.

In Isaiah:

With whom did Jehovah take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge [scientia], and made Him to know the way of understanding (Isaiah 40:14),

manifestly for the understanding of truth.

In Jeremiah:

Thus hath said Jehovah, Stand ye upon the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and go therein (Jeremiah 6:16).

Here likewise “way” is put for the understanding of truth.

In Isaiah:

I will lead the blind in a way that they knew not, in paths that they have not known I will lead them (Isaiah 42:16).

The terms “way” “path” [semita], “path” [trames], “street” [platea], and “street” [vicus] are predicated of truth, because they lead to truth; as also in Jeremiah: They have caused them to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in by-paths, in a way not cast up (Jeremiah 18:15).

So in the book of Judges:

In the days of Jael the paths ceased, and they that walked in paths went through crooked paths. The streets ceased in Israel (Judges 5:6).