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.

9295. That this second feast, which was called “the feast of the harvest of the firstfruits of works,” and also that “of the firstfruits of wheat,” likewise “the feast of weeks,” signifies the implantation of truth in good, is evident from its institution, concerning which in Moses:

Say unto the sons of Israel, When ye shall come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, ye shall bring the first sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest; and he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And in that day ye shall offer a he-lamb for a burnt-offering; also the meat-offering and the drink-offering. But ye shall not eat bread, or parched ear, or green, until this selfsame day. Then ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day in which ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven entire Sabbaths shall there be; even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new gift to Jehovah. Ye shall offer out of your dwellings the bread of the wave-offering, it shall be baked leavened, as firstfruits to Jehovah. Ye shall offer besides the bread seven lambs, one young bullock, and two rams, for a burnt-offering, with their meat-offering, and their drink-offering (Leviticus 23:10-18; Deuteronomy 16:9-12).

[2] That each of these things has a signification cannot be known except from their internal sense. In this sense the “seeds which are sown in the field” denote the truths of faith which are implanted in good; by “the harvest” is signified their coming to maturity when goods are produced; for “wheat and barley,” denote goods, and “the spike,” or “ear” in which they are denotes truths thus adjoined to goods; the “sheaf” denotes a series and collection of such things, for truths are arranged as it were into bundles; “waving” denotes vivification, for truths are not living in man until they are in good; the priest who waved the sheaf, that is, who vivified the goods of truth, represented the Lord, because everything of life is from Him; this being done “on the morrow after the Sabbath” signified the holiness of the conjunction of good and truth; that before this they were not allowed to “eat bread, or the parched ear, or the green ear,” signified that the life of good and its appropriation are no sooner; “bread” denotes the good of love; the “parched ear,” the good of charity; the “green ear,” the good of truth; and “eating,” appropriation; that they were to “count seven Sabbaths unto the feast,” which was made on the “fiftieth day” therefrom, signified the complete implantation of truth in good even to the beginning of a new state; the “leavened bread” which was then offered, signified good not yet fully purified; the “waving” of it signified its vivification; the “burnt-offering of lambs, a young bullock, and rams, with the meat-offering and the drink-offering,” signified the worship of the Lord according to the quality of that good. These are the things which are signified by this feast and by the particulars of its celebration; from which it is evident that the second state of liberation from damnation, which is the state of the implantation of truth in good, was thereby signified.

[3] As this feast was called “the feast of the firstfruits of the harvest” it should be known what is signified in the Word by “the harvest.” The “field” in which is the harvest, in a broad sense signifies the whole human race, or the whole world; in a less broad sense it signifies the church; in a sense more restricted, the man of the church; and in a sense still more restricted, the good which is in the man of the church, for this receives the truths of faith, as a field receives seeds. From the signification of the “field” it is plain what is signified by the “harvest,” namely, that in the broadest sense it signifies the state of the whole human race in respect to the reception of good by means of truth; in a less broad sense, the state of the church in respect to the reception of the truths of faith in good; in a more restricted sense, the state of the man of the church in respect to this reception; and in a still more restricted sense, the state of good in respect to the reception of truth, thus the implantation of truth in good.

[4] From all this it can seen what is signified by “the harvest” in the following passages; as in Matthew:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the seed are the sons of the kingdom; the tares are the sons of the evil one; ¹ the enemy that soweth them is the devil; but the harvest is the consummation of the age; and the reapers are the angels (Matthew 13:37-39);

“the good seed” denotes the truths of faith from the Lord; “the Son of man” denotes the Lord in respect to the truths of the church; “the world which is the field” denotes the whole human race; “the sons of the kingdom who are the seed” denote the truths of faith of the church; “the sons of the evil kingdom who are the tares” denote the falsities of faith of the church; “the devil who is the enemy and soweth them” denotes hell; “the consummation of the age which is the harvest” denotes the last state of the church in respect to the reception of, the truths of faith in good; “the angels who are the reapers” denote truths from the Lord. That such things are signified by the above words of the Lord, can be seen from their internal sense, as set forth in these explications. From the above words it is also manifest in what manner the Lord spoke when He was in the world, namely, by means of significatives, to the end that the Word might be not only for the world, but also for heaven.

[5] In Revelation:

An angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, Put forth thy sickle, and reap; because the hour is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is dried up. And he that sat on the cloud put forth his sickle into the earth; and the earth was reaped (Revelation 14:15-16);

here also “the harvest” denotes the last state of the church in respect to the reception of the truths of faith in good.

In Joel:

The priests, the ministers of Jehovah, have mourned; the field is laid waste, the land hath mourned because the grain hath been laid waste, the must is dried up, the oil languisheth. The husbandmen are ashamed, the vine-dressers have howled over the wheat and over the barley; and because the harvest of the field hath perished (Joel 1:9-11).

The vastation of the church in respect to the truths of faith and the goods of charity is here described by such things as belong to the field, the vineyard, and the oliveyard; the church itself is “the field;” and its last state, which was called by the Lord “the consummation of the age,” is “the harvest.”

[6] In the same:

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great (Joel 3:13);

here also by “the harvest” is signified the consummation of the age, or the last state of the devastated church.

In Jeremiah:

Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest (Jeremiah 50:16).

The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor; it is time to thresh her; yet a little while, and the time of harvest cometh (Jeremiah 51:33);

“the time of harvest” denotes the last state of the church.

[7] In Isaiah:

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for Tyre is laid waste, so that there is no house, nor doth anyone enter; the inhabitants of the isle are silent; the merchants of Zidon that pass over the sea have replenished thee; and through many waters the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her increase; that she should be the mart of nations (Isaiah 23:1-3).

The holy things of the church which are here described cannot be known to anyone except from the internal sense. Everyone knows that the holy things of heaven and of the church are everywhere in the Word, and that from this the Word is holy. In the sense of the letter the subject here treated of is the merchandise of Tyre and Zidon, which apart from the interior holy sense are not holy. But what they signify in this sense is clear when they are unfolded. “The ships of Tarshish” denote the doctrinal things of truth and good; “Tyre and Zidon” denote the knowledges of good and truth; there being “no house, nor anyone entering in,” denotes that there is no longer any good in which truth can be implanted; “the inhabitants of the isle who are silent” denote more remote goods; “the seed of Shihor” denotes memory-truth; “the harvest of the Nile her increase” denotes the derivative good outside the church.

Примітки:

5147. There was of all food for Pharaoh. That this signifies full of celestial good for the nourishment of the natural, is evident from the signification of “food,” as being celestial good (of which presently); and from the representation of Pharaoh, as being the interior natural (see n. 5080, 5095), and also the natural in general; for when they correspond, the interior and exterior natural make a one; and as food is for nourishment, by the words “there was of all food for Pharaoh” is signified full of celestial good for the nourishment of the natural. It is said that this food was in the uppermost basket; and by this is signified that the inmost of the will part was full of celestial good. For good from the Lord flows in through man’s inmost, and thence through degrees as by the steps of a ladder to the exteriors; for the inmost is relatively in the most perfect state, and therefore can receive good immediately from the Lord; but not so the lower things. If these were to receive good from the Lord immediately, they would either obscure it or pervert it, for they are relatively more imperfect.

[2] As regards the influx of celestial good from the Lord, and its reception, be it known that man’s will part receives good, and his intellectual receives truth, and that the intellectual can by no means receive truth so as to make it its own, unless at the same time the will part receives good; and conversely; for the one flows in this way into the other, and disposes it to receive. The things of the intellect may be compared to forms which are continually varying, and the things of the will to the harmonies that result from this variation; consequently truths may be compared to variations, and goods to the delights therefrom; and as this is eminently the case with truths and goods, it is evident that the one is impossible without the other, and also that the one cannot be produced except by means of the other.

[3] That “food” signifies celestial good, is because the food of the angels is nothing else than the goods of love and of charity, by which they are not only made alive, but are also refreshed. These goods in act, or the practice of them, serve especially for the refreshment of the angels, because they are their desires; and it is known that when the desires are realized in act, they afford refreshment and life. That such things yield nourishment to the spirit of man, while material food yields nourishment to his body, may also be seen from the fact that food without delights conduces but little to nourishment, but together with delights it nourishes. It is the delights that open the passages or ducts which receive the food and convey it into the blood; whereas things undelightful close them. With the angels these delights are the goods of love and of charity, and from this it can be inferred that they are spiritual foods which correspond to earthly foods. As goods are food, so truths are drink.

[4] “Food” is mentioned in many places in the Word, and one who is not acquainted with the internal sense cannot know but that ordinary food is there meant, whereas it is spiritual food; as in Jeremiah:

All the people groan, seeking bread; they have given their desirable things for food, to refresh the soul (Lam. 1:11).

In Isaiah:

Everyone that thirsteth, go ye to the waters, and he that hath no silver, go ye, buy, and eat; yea, go, buy wine and milk without silver and without price (Isaiah 55:1).

In Joel:

The day of Jehovah is near, and as devastation from the Thunderer shall it come. Is not the food cut off before our eyes? gladness and joy from the house of our God? The grains have rotted under their clods; the garners are devastated, the barns are destroyed, because the corn is withered (Joel 1:15-17).

In David:

Our garners are full, bringing forth from food to food; our flocks are thousands and ten thousands in our streets. There is no cry in our streets; blessed is the people that is in such a case (Psalms 144:13-15).

Again:

All things wait for Thee, that Thou mayest give them their food in its time. Thou givest them, they gather; Thou openest Thy hand, they are sated with good (Psalms 104:27-28).

[5] In these passages celestial and spiritual food is meant in the internal sense, while material food is meant in the sense of the letter. From this it is plain in what manner the interiors and exteriors of the Word, or those things therein which are of the spirit, and those which are of the letter, correspond to each other; so that while man understands these things according to the sense of the letter, the angels with him understand them according to the spiritual sense. The Word has been so written as to serve not only the human race, but also heaven; for which reason all the expressions therein are significative of heavenly things, and all the things are representative of them, and this even to the least jot.

[6] That “food” in the spiritual sense is good, the Lord also plainly teaches in John:

Labor not for the food that perisheth, but for the food that abideth into life eternal, which the Son of man shall give to you (John 6:27).

Again:

My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink (John 6:55); where “flesh” is the Divine good (n. 3813); and “blood” is the Divine truth (n. 4735). And again:

Jesus said to His disciples, I have food to eat that ye know not. The disciples said one to another, Hath any man brought Him aught to eat? Jesus saith to them, My food is that I do the will of Him that sent Me, and that I perfect His work (John 4:32-34);

“to do the will of the Father, and to perfect His work,” is the Divine good in act or exercise, which as before said in the genuine sense is “food.”