9396. 'And he took the book of the covenant' means the Word in the letter to which the Word in heaven was joined. This is clear from the meaning of 'the book' as the Word in its entirety, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the covenant' as a joining together, dealt with in 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778. 'The book of the covenant' is used here to mean everything the Lord spoke from Mount Sinai, for verse 4 just above says, And Moses wrote all Jehovah's words. In a restricted sense therefore 'the book of the covenant' is used to mean the Word revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, and in a broad sense to mean the Word in its entirety since this is the Divine Truth revealed by the Lord. And since it is through this Truth that the Lord joins Himself to a member of the Church, that Truth too is meant by 'the book of the covenant'; for 'a covenant' is a joining together.

[2] But the nature of the Lord's being joined to a member of the Church through the Word is unknown at the present day because heaven at the present day is closed. Scarcely anyone today talks to angels or spirits and therefore knows the way in which they understand the Word. But this was well known to the ancients, and especially to the most ancients; for talking to spirits and angels was common among them. The reason for this was that people in ancient and especially in most ancient times were more internal, for they thought in the spirit virtually separated from the body, whereas people today are more external and think in the body virtually separated from the spirit. So it is that heaven has seemingly forsaken mankind, for heaven's contact is with the internal man when this can be unshackled from the body, but not directly with the external man. This explains why the nature of the Lord's being joined to a person through the Word is unknown at the present day.

[3] Those whose thought is based on what the body perceives with the senses and not on what the spirit perceives with the senses cannot possibly do other than think that the meaning the Word has in heaven is like the meaning it has in the world, that is, in the letter. If it were said that the meaning the Word has in heaven is like the thought of the internal man, which is free from material ideas, that is, from worldly, bodily, and earthly ideas, this would be considered an absurdity at the present day, especially if it were said that the meaning the Word has in heaven is as different from the meaning it has in the world or in the letter as a heavenly paradise is from an earthly paradise, or as heavenly food and drink are from earthly food and drink. How great that difference is may be seen from the consideration that the heavenly paradise consists in intelligence and wisdom, heavenly food in every good of love and charity, and heavenly drink in every truth of faith rooted in that good. Is there anyone at the present day who would not be astounded to hear that when a paradise, garden, or vineyard is mentioned in the Word those in heaven do not perceive a paradise, garden, or vineyard but instead such things as are attributes of intelligence and wisdom coming from the Lord? Or that when food and drink are mentioned, for instance bread, flesh, wine, or water, those in heaven perceive instead such things as are aspects of the good of love and the truth of faith received from the Lord? Or that this perception of the Word comes about not as a result of interpretations of its statements nor by seeing them as comparisons, but that it is due to correspondences and is their actual and real perception of it? For the heavenly virtues of wisdom, intelligence, the good of love, and the truth of faith correspond in actual reality to those worldly objects. In the same way the internal man has been created to correspond to the external man, and so therefore has heaven, which resides in the internal man, to correspond to the world, which resides in the external man. The same is so with everything generally. The truth that the Word is understood and perceived in heaven according to correspondences, and that this level of meaning is the internal sense, has been shown everywhere in the explanations prior to this.

[4] Anyone who grasps what has just been stated is capable of knowing and in some manner perceiving that a person is joined by means of the Word to heaven and through heaven to the Lord, and that without the Word no such joining together would be possible. See what has been shown many times about these matters, in 2143, 7153, 7381, 8920, 9094 (end), 9212 (end), 9216 (end), 9357, and elsewhere. From all this it is now clear why Moses took the book of the covenant and read it in front of the people, and then sprinkled the blood over the people and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant. And the reason why all this was done was that in heaven 'the blood of a sacrifice' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, which on our planet is the Word, see 9393. Since 'the covenant' means a joining together, and since Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, that is, the Word, is the means by which the joining together is accomplished, everything that belongs to Divine Truth from the Lord or belongs to the Word is called 'the covenant', such as the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, also the judgements, statutes, and all else that is contained in the Books of Moses, and in general that is contained both in the Old Testament Word and in the New.

[5] The Tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written [were called the Covenant].

This may be seen in Moses,

Jehovah wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words. Exodus 34:28.

In the same author,

I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which Jehovah made with you. Jehovah gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. I came down from the mountain, when the mountain was burning with fire; the two tablets of the covenant however were on my two hands. Deuteronomy 9:9, 11, 15.

And in the same author,

Jehovah declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the ten words which He wrote on tablets of stone. Take care, lest you forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He made with you. Deuteronomy 4:13, 23.

Because the two tablets had been laid up in the ark, which was in the middle or inmost part of the tabernacle, the ark was called the ark of the covenant, Numbers 10:33; 14:44; Deuteronomy 10:8, 31:9, 25-26; Joshua 3:3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17; 4:7, 9, 18; 6:6, 8; 8:33; Judges 20:27; 1 Samuel 4:3-5; 2 Samuel 15:24; 1 Kings 3:15; 6:19; 8:1, 6; Jeremiah 3:16.

[6] The Books of Moses were called the Book of the Covenant

This is clear from the ones found in the temple by Hilkiah the [high] priest, about which the following things are said in the second Book of Kings,

Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah.

And they read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant found in the house of Jehovah. 2 Kings 22:8; 23:2.

[7] The Old Testament Word was called the Covenant

This may be seen in Isaiah,

To those holding fast to My covenant I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters. Isaiah 56:4-5.

In Jeremiah,

Hear the words of this covenant. Cursed is the man who will not hear the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers. Obey My voice, and do those things, according to all that I command you. Jeremiah 11:2-4.

In David,

All the ways of Jehovah are mercy and truth to those keeping His covenant and His testimonies. Psalms 25:10.

In the same author,

The mercy of Jehovah is from eternity to eternity on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those keeping His covenant, and to those remembering His commandments. Psalms 103:17-18.

And in the same author,

They did not keep God's covenant and refused to walk in His law. Psalms 78:10.

Here 'God's covenant' is called God's law. 'The law' is used in a broad sense to mean the whole Word, in a narrower sense to mean the historical section of the Word, in a restricted sense the Word that was written through Moses, and in a very restricted sense the Ten Commandments, see 6752.

[8] The New Testament Word too is the Covenant

This may be seen in Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming in which I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant. This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart. Jeremiah 31:31-33.

'The house of Israel' stands for the spiritual Church, and 'the house of Judah' for the celestial Church. And in David,

I will also make Him the Firstborn, supreme over the kings of the earth; and My covenant will stand fast with Him. I will not profane ¹ My covenant, and the utterance of My lips I will not alter. Psalms 89:27-28, 34.

This refers to the Lord. 'My covenant will stand fast with Him' stands for the union of the Divine Himself and the Divine Human, thus also for the Word since the Lord's Divine Human was the Word made flesh, that is, made man (homo), John 1:1-3, 14.

[9] The reason why Divine Truth or the Word is a covenant or joining together is that the Word is the Divine from the Lord, thus is the Lord Himself; and this being so, when the Word is received by a person the Lord Himself is received. From this it is evident that it is through the Word that the Lord is joined to a person; and since the Lord is joined to the person, so too is heaven joined to that person. For heaven is called heaven by virtue of the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord and therefore from the Divine. This explains why those in heaven are said to be 'in the Lord'. Regarding the truth that the Divine joins Himself to those who love the Lord and keep His Word, see John 14:23.

[10] From all this it becomes clear that 'the blood of the covenant' means the Lord joined through heaven to a person by means of the Word, as also in Zechariah,

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be cut off; on the other hand He will speak peace to the nations; His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, through the blood of your covenant I will let out your bound ones from the pit in which there is no water. Zechariah 9:10-11.

[11] A person with no knowledge at all of the internal sense cannot see in these verses anything other than such things as are implied in their literal meaning, that is to say, that the chariot from Ephraim, horse from Jerusalem, and battle bow were going to be cut off, and in the final words that through 'the blood of the covenant' - meaning the Lord's blood - those buried in sins were going to be delivered, various ways being used to explain who exactly are meant by 'bound ones in the pit in which there is no water'. But a person who knows the internal sense of the Word sees that these verses refer to Divine Truth, and that after it has been laid waste, that is, is no longer received in belief and heart by anyone, it will be restored through God's truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human, and that those who believe and do it will be joined by means of it to the Lord Himself. All this becomes clearer still from the inner meaning of individual words in these verses, for example from the meaning of 'chariot' as doctrine taught by the Church, 2760, 5321, 5945, 8215, and of 'Ephraim' as the Church's enlightened understanding, 5354, 6222, 6238; from the meaning of 'horse' as an understanding of the Word, 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6534, 8029, 8146, 8148, ² and of 'Jerusalem' as the spiritual Church, 2117, 3654, 9166; from the meaning of 'bow' as the doctrine of truth, 2686, 2709, and of 'battle' or 'war' as conflict involving truths, 1664, 2686, 8295.

[12] From these meanings it is evident that 'cutting off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow' means God's truth laid waste so far as any understanding of it in the Church is concerned, and that 'through the blood of the covenant those bound in the pit in which there is no water were going to be let out' means a restoration effected through Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human. The meaning of 'blood' as Divine Truth and of 'the covenant' as a joining together has been shown above; and for the meaning of 'those bound in the pit' as members of the spiritual Church who were saved by the Lord's Coming into the world, see 6854. The description 'pit where there is no water' is used because 'water' means truth, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 7307, 8137, 8138, 8568, 9323.

Fusnotat:

6125. 'In exchange for horses' means factual knowledge supplied from the understanding. This is clear from the meaning of 'horses' as ideas forming the understanding, dealt with in 2760-2762, 3217, 5321; and since they are spoken of in connection with Egypt, which means factual knowledge, 'horses' here are factual knowledge supplied from the understanding. But what factual knowledge supplied from the understanding is must be stated. There is an understanding part and there is a will part in the human mind, and these are situated not only in his internal man but also in his external. The human understanding is developing and growing from early childhood through to manhood, and it consists in a discernment of things gained from experience and formal knowledge, also a discernment of causes from effects as well as of consequences from a chain of causes. Thus the understanding part consists in a comprehension and perception of such things as are part of everyday life, public and private. An inflowing of light from heaven brings it into existence, and for that reason everyone's understanding is capable of being made more perfect. Understanding is given to everyone in accordance with his effort to make use of what he knows, in accordance with the life he leads, and in accordance with his individual character; no one lacks it provided he is of sound mind. A person is given it to the end that he may have freedom of choice, that is, have the freedom to choose good or evil. Unless he possesses an understanding like the one just described, he has no power of his own to make that choice; thus nothing could possibly be made his own.

[2] In addition to this it should be recognized that the understanding part of a person's mind is that which receives what is spiritual, so that it is the recipient of spiritual truth and good. For no good at all, that is, no charity, nor any truth at all, that is, any faith, can be instilled into anyone if he does not have that understanding part; but they are instilled in the measure that he does have it. This also explains why a person is not regenerated by the Lord until adult life when he does possess an understanding. Till then the good of love and the truth of faith fall like seed into utterly infertile soil. But once a person has been regenerated his understanding serves the function of enabling him to see and perceive what good is and from this what truth is. For the understanding converts things belonging to the superior light of heaven into those belonging to the inferior light of the natural world, as a consequence of which the former are then seen within the latter in the same way as a person's inner affections are seen in his face when it lacks all pretence. And because the understanding serves that function, many places in the Word where the spiritual side of the Church is referred to refer also to its power of understanding, a matter which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with elsewhere.

[3] From all this one may now see what is meant by factual knowledge supplied from the understanding, namely known facts which lend support to the things a person grasps and perceives with his understanding, whether those things are bad or good. Such facts are what are meant in the Word by 'horses from Egypt', as in Isaiah,

Woe to those who go down into Egypt for help, and rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many, and on horsemen because they are extremely strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel and do not seek Jehovah. For Egypt is man (homo), not God; and his horses are flesh, not spirit. Isaiah 31:1, 3.

'Horses from Egypt' stands for factual knowledge supplied from a perverted understanding.

[4] In Ezekiel,

He rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that ha might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does this be rescued? Ezekiel 17:15.

'Horses from Egypt' again stands for factual knowledge supplied from a perverted understanding, which knowledge is resorted to in matters of faith, though there is no belief in the Word, that is, in the Lord, apart from what that knowledge provides. Thus no belief ever comes to exist, for within a perverted understanding a negative attitude reigns.

[5] The destruction which such factual knowledge underwent is represented by the drowning of Pharaoh's horses and chariots in the Sea Suph; and since that knowledge is meant by 'horses' and false matters of doctrine by 'chariots', his horses and chariots are mentioned so many times in the description of that event, see Exodus 14:17-18, 27, 26, 28. And the Song of Moses and Miriam consequently contains these words,

Pharaoh's horse went, also his chariot, also his horsemen, into the sea; but Jehovah made the waters of the sea come back over them. Sing to Jehovah, for He has highly exalted Himself; He has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea. Exodus 15:19, 21.

[6] Similar factual knowledge is also meant by the things required before-hand for a king over Israel, in Moses,

If they desire a king, from among their brothers shall a king be set over them. Only let him not multiply horses for himself nor lead the people back into Egypt in order to multiply horses. Deuteronomy 17:15-16.

'A king' represented the Lord as regards Divine Truth, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4789, 4966, 5044, 5068, thus as regards intelligence since this comes, when it is genuine, from Divine Truth. The need for intelligence to be acquired through the Word, which is Divine Truth, and not through factual knowledge taken from one's own understanding is meant by the injunction that the king should not multiply horses or lead the people back into Egypt in order to multiply horses.