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.

Elijah (referred to as Elias in the New Testament) was the renowned prophet sent to the split kingdoms of Israel and Judah. His first appearance is in Chapter 17 of I Kings where he comes to speak to Ahab, king of Israel. He contends with Ahab, and Ahab’s wife Jezebel, and later Ahab’s son Ahaziah. These contentions have passed down to us in many well known stories.

In II Kings, Chapter 2, Elijah is carried up to heaven in a chariot of fire, and his mantle is given to Elisha, his disciple and successor. Elijah represents the Lord as He comes to us in the Word, that is, the way we think about the Lord when we read the Word (especially the prophetic parts of the Word). Elijah and John the Baptist are similar in their symbolic meaning.

(Referenser: Arcana Coelestia 5247 [6], 6752, 9372 [2])

3910. And he said, Am I in God’s stead? That this signifies that it was impossible for it, is evident from the signification of “not being in God’s stead,” as being to be impossible; for “God” is named in the Word from ability or power; but “Jehovah” from being or essence (n. 300). For this reason “God” is mentioned when the subject is truth, and “Jehovah” when it is good (n. 2769, 2807, 2822); for ability is predicated of truth when being is predicated of good; for good has power through truth, inasmuch as it is through truth that good performs everything that comes to pass. From this we can see that by the words, “am I in God’s stead?” there is signified in the internal sense that it was impossible for it.