939. O Lord God Almighty, signifies because He is Divine good. This is evident from the signification of "omnipotence," as meaning to be, to exist, to have ability, and to live, from Himself (See n. 43, 689); and as all goods and truths are from Him because they are in Him it is said "Lord God;" for He is called "Lord" from the Divine good, and "God" from the Divine truth; and as He has omnipotence from the Divine good through the Divine truth, it is said "Lord God Almighty." (That the Lord is called "Lord" in the Word from the Divine good, see n. 685; and "God" from the Divine truth, n. 24, 220, 688)

[2] It is known that man's interior must be purified before the good that he does is good; for the Lord says:

Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside may be clean also (Matthew 13:26).

Man's interior is purified only as he refrains from evils, in accordance with the commandments of the Decalogue. So long as man does not refrain from these evils and does not shun and turn away from them as sins, they constitute his interior, and are like an interposed veil or covering, and in heaven this appears like an eclipse by which the sun is obscured and light is intercepted; also like a fountain of pitch or of black water, from which nothing emanates but what is impure. That which emanates therefrom and that appears before the world as good is not good, because it is defiled by evils from within, for it is Pharisaic and hypocritical good. This good is good from man and is meritorious good. It is otherwise when evils have been removed by a life according to the commandments of the Decalogue.

[3] Now since evils must be removed before goods can become goods, the Ten Commandments were the first of the Word, being promulgated from Mount Sinai before the Word was written by Moses and the Prophets. And these do not set forth goods that must be done, but evils that must be shunned. For the same reason these commandments are the first things to be taught in the churches; for they are taught to boys and girls in order that man may begin his Christian life with them, and by no means forget them as he grows up; although he does so. The same is meant by these words in Isaiah:

What is the multitude of sacrifices to Me? Your meal-offering, your incense, your new moons, and your appointed feasts, My soul hateth. And when you multiply prayer I will not hear. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil. Then though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow; though they be red as purple they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:11-19).

"Sacrifices," "meal-offerings," "incense," "new moons," and "feasts," also "prayer," mean all things of worship. That these are wholly evil and even abominable unless the interior is purified from evils is meant by "Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings, and cease to do evil." That afterwards they are all goods is meant by the words that follow.

688. Fell upon their faces and worshipped God, signifies the adoration of the Lord with them from a most humble heart. This is evident from the signification of "to fall upon the face," as being the deepest humiliation of heart, for it is a gesture of the body corresponding to humiliation of heart, thus a gesture that is representative of the humiliation of the whole man. Worship of God at such a time is what flows forth from such a heart, which varies according to the matter that engages the mind.

[2] To fall upon the face before God is a gesture representative of deepest humiliation, because the face is the form of man's affections and thus of the interiors that pertain to his mind and disposition, for the affections shine forth in the face as in their type, and this is why the face is called an index and image of the mind. When, therefore, a man acknowledges that all things in him are turned away from God, and are consequently damned, and that thus he is neither able nor dares to look to God, who is essential Holiness, and if he should look to Him from such a self he would spiritually die, then from such thought and acknowledgment man falls upon the face to the earth; and because what is man's own [proprium] is thus removed, he is then filled by the Lord and so raised up as to be able to look to Him.

[3] They are said to have "worshipped God," for the reason that "God" means in the Word the Divine proceeding which is called the Divine truth. And as this Divine is truth with the angels, for they are the recipients of it and it constitutes their wisdom, so in the Word angels are called "gods," and signify Divine truths. Moreover, in the Hebrew, God is called "Elohim," in the plural, therefore "God" means in the Word the Divine that is with the angels of heaven and the men of the church, which is the Divine proceeding. And as the higher heavens were now in enlightenment and power, because of the separation of the evil from the good in the lower parts, and because of the Last Judgment which was to come shortly, therefore they are said "to worship God," from which it is evident that the Lord was then with them; for from a more intense and powerful influx of the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord they had enlightenment and power.