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.

2233. That a “house” denotes those who are in goods, is evident from the signification of a “house,” as being good (see n. 710, 1708, 2048). By a “house,” or those born in the house, in the abstract sense goods are in like manner signified, but as applied to man they denote all who are in good.

10528. 'And I will send an angel before you' means that which is Divine and the Lord's, from which the Church and its worship spring. This is clear from the meaning of 'an angel' in the highest sense as the Lord's Divine Human, and in the relative sense as that which is Divine and the Lord's in heaven among angels, and also in the Church among people on earth, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'sending before you' as preparing. For the meaning of 'an angel' in the highest sense as the Lord's Divine Human, see 1925, 3039, 6280, 6831, 9303, and in the relative sense as that which is Divine and the Lord's in heaven among angels, 1925, 2821, 4085, 6831, 8192. And from this it follows that 'an angel' also means that which is Divine and the Lord's among people on earth who receive it. For those people who have within themselves from the Lord the good of love to Him and the truths of faith in Him become angels after death; and those who become angels are also inwardly such while they live in the world. This is why John the Baptist is called 'an angel' in the Word, as in Luke,

This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send My angel ¹ before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. Luke 7:27.

And the fact that 'angel' in this declaration means that which was Divine and the Lord's with him is evident in Malachi,

Behold, I send My angel, who will prepare the way before Me. And suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Malachi 3:1.

The reason why that which is Divine and the Lord's is meant by 'angel' in this instance is that John the Baptist represented the Lord in respect of the Word, as did Elijah, and the Word is Divine Truth that comes from the Lord. (For Elijah, that he represented the Word, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 2762, 5247(end); and that John the Baptist did so, 9372.) And it is because the Lord's Divine Human is meant in the highest sense by 'angel' that the words 'there will come to His temple the Lord, and the angel of the covenant' are used. 'The temple' is His Divine Human, as is evident in John 2:18-23. Both expressions - 'the Lord' and 'the angel' - are used because He is called 'the Lord' on account of Divine Good and 'the angel' on account of Divine Truth. And it is because Jehovah in the Word is the Lord Himself that it says, 'I send My angel, who will prepare the way before Me', this being said by Jehovah.

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