10543. 'At Mount Horeb' means within the external things of worship, the Church, and the Word. This is clear from the meaning of 'Mount Horeb' as Divine Truth present in external things. For Horeb was the mountainous region surrounding Mount Sinai, and 'Mount Sinai' means Divine Truth; consequently 'Horeb', being the mountainous region round about, means Divine Truth present in external things. For what is in the middle and higher than the outlying parts around it means that which is internal, and therefore what is around and below it means that which is external.

'Mount Sinai' means Divine Truth, see 8805, 9420.

The middle means that which is internal, 1074, 2940, 2973, 5897, 6084, 6103, 9164, and so does what is high, 2148, 4210, 4599, 9489, 9773, 10181.

What is round about means that which is external, 2973, and so does what is below.

Since the people's interest lay in external things and not in what was internal, when the Law was declared from Mount Sinai they stood in Horeb at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain was fenced off all the way round to prevent the people from touching it, Exodus 19:12-13, 21, 23-24; 20:21; Deuteronomy 4:10-12. The external of worship, the Church, and the Word is spoken of because the external of one is the external of another; for worship is performed by the Church, and the Church's truths and forms of good, and its worship, are derived from the Word. Those therefore who are interested in only the external things of worship and the Church are interested in only the external things of the Word.

9420. 'And Moses went up into the mountain of God' means in the direction of heaven. This is clear from the meaning of Mount Sinai, to which 'the mountain of God' refers here, as the law or Divine Truth which comes from the Lord, thus the Word as it exists in heaven, and therefore also heaven itself, dealt with in 8399, 8753, 8793, 8805. The reason why the revelation took place on a mountain and why that mountain is called 'the mountain of God' is that 'the mountain' means the heavenly attribute of love, which is good, and consequently means heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord, 795, 796, 2722, 4210, 6435, 8327, and 'the mountain of God' means Divine Truth springing from the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love, 8758. For the Lord is called 'God' in the Word by virtue of Divine Truth, and 'Jehovah' by virtue of Divine Good, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921(end), 4295, 4402, 7010, 7268, 8192, 8301, 8988, 9167. This is why the words the mountain of God are used.

[2] The fact that 'Mount Sinai' means the law or Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, and so means the Word, and in the highest sense the Lord, is clear in David,

The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped [rain] before God. This Sinai [trembled] before God, the God of Israel. The chariots of God are myriad on myriad, ¹ thousands of peacemakers; the Lord is within them, Sinai is within the sanctuary. Psalms 68:8, 17.

'The earth' and 'the heavens' are the external and the internal dimensions of the Church, see 1733, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355, 4535, and 'a chariot' is doctrinal teachings, 2760, 5321, 8146, 8148, 8215, so that 'the chariots of God' are matters of doctrine or God's truths as they exist in heaven. From all this it is evident that 'this Sinai before God, the God of Israel' and 'Sinai within the sanctuary' mean the law or Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, and in the highest sense the Lord in heaven. In the Book of Judges,

O Jehovah, when You went forth from Seir, when You set out from the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds indeed dropped water, the mountains flowed down before Jehovah, this Sinai before Jehovah. Judges 5:4-5.

'This Sinai' again stands for Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good. Similarly in Moses,

Jehovah came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon them; He shone from Mount Paran, and came out of myriads of holiness. From His right hand came a fiery law for them. Deuteronomy 33:2.

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