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.

2807. Abraham said, God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. That this signifies the reply that the Divine Human will provide those who are to be sanctified, is evident from the signification of “seeing for Himself,” when predicated of God, as being to foresee and provide; for “seeing,” in the proximate internal sense, is to understand (n. 2150, 2325); in a still more internal sense it is having faith (n. 897, 2325); but in the supreme sense it is foreseeing and providing; and also from the signification of the “lamb for a burnt-offering,” as being those from the human race who are to be sanctified (see just above, n. 2805). That the spiritual are here meant by the “lamb for a burnt-offering,” is manifest from what follows. The beasts for the burnt-offering and sacrifice signified various things: a lamb one thing, a sheep another, a kid and a she-goat another, a ram and a he-goat another; so also an ox, a bullock, and a calf, and the young of doves, and turtledoves. That each signified a different thing is plainly evident from its being expressly defined which kind should be sacrificed on the several days, and at each festival; as at expiations, cleansings, inaugurations, and at other times. These kinds would by no means have been so expressly pointed out, unless each one had a special signification.

[2] It is manifest that all the rites or external kinds of worship that existed in the Ancient Church, and afterwards in the Jewish, represented the Lord, and especially the burnt-offerings and sacrifices, because among the Hebrew nation these were the principal things of worship. And because they represented the Lord, they at the same time also represented those things which are the Lord’s with men, namely, the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith, consequently the men themselves who are celestial or spiritual, or who ought to be. Hence it is that by the “lamb” here are signified the spiritual, that is, they who are of the Lord’s spiritual church. That by “God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son,” is signified that the Divine Human will provide, is evident from the fact that it is not here said that “Jehovah” will see, but that “God” will see. When both are named, as in this chapter, by “Jehovah” is then meant the same as by the “Father,” and by “God” the same as by the “Son,” and thus here the Divine Human; and this because the spiritual man is treated of, who has salvation from the Divine Human, as may be seen above (n. 2661, 2716).