8945. 'And you shall not go up to My altar by steps' means not raising themselves to more internal levels, that is, celestial ones. This is clear from the meaning of 'going up by means of steps' as raising oneself to higher or more internal levels (whether you say more internal or higher it amounts to the same thing, since more internal things are seen as higher ones, 2148, 3084, 4210, 4599); and from the meaning of 'altar' as the chief representative of the Lord, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811. Thus 'going up by steps to My altar' means raising oneself to the Lord, consequently to more internal levels, which are celestial ones; for the Lord's presence is greater on more internal levels. The term 'celestial' is used for things in the inmost heaven, but 'spiritual' for those in the middle heaven. For heaven is divided into two kingdoms - the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. Those in the celestial kingdom are in the inmost or third heaven, and so are nearest the Lord; for they are governed by love to the Lord, possessing innocence and consequently wisdom in greater measure than all the rest. But those who are in the spiritual kingdom are in the middle or second heaven, and so are more remote from the Lord; and those there am governed by charity towards the neighbour, and through charity dwell with the Lord. Regarding those two kingdoms and the difference between them, see 2048, 2088, 2227, 2507, 2669, 2708, 2715, 2718, 3235, 3246, 3374, 3887, 4448, 4585, 4938, 4939, 5113, 5922, 6367, 6435, 7877.

[2] Let a brief explanation be given of what is implied by raising oneself towards more internal levels, that is, celestial ones, which is meant by 'going up by steps to the altar'. No one in the next life is allowed to be raised into heaven to a level higher than that of the good which governs him. If he is raised to some higher level the foul things about him are revealed, that is, the evils he loves, and the resulting falsities; for the more internal something is, the purer and holier it is in heaven. Those whose state is not so pure are kept in a lower sphere in which impurities go unnoticed or are not apparent; for such people are governed by grosser good and guided by duller truth.

[3] Sometimes it happens that those coming into heaven have a strong desire to go to a more internal heaven, believing that by doing this they will experience greater joy. To the end that this strong desire which clings to them may be removed, they are indeed raised to a more internal heaven. But when they get there they start to feel anguished, on account of those evils they love which are then perceptible to them; they also become visibly disfigured on account of the falsities that spring from the evils residing with them. Having perceived these things they cast themselves down from the more internal heaven, and do not attain a calm and peaceful state until they return to the position they occupied previously. These are the things that are meant by 'you shall not go up to My altar by steps, in order that your nakedness may not be revealed on it'.

[4] The same applies to those below heaven, if they have a strong desire to rise to heaven before they have been prepared for it. When they are raised there they feel torment almost hellish and seem to themselves to be like dead bodies. Their life becomes laboured, like that of those in the throes of death. Therefore they cast themselves down headlong from there, and after that no longer have any desire to rise above the state of life in which they live.

[5] It should be recognized that the Lord refuses heaven to no one in the next life, and that people can be allowed in as often as they wish. Heaven consists of communities of angels, who are governed by the good of love towards the neighbour and of love to the Lord. When introduced into heaven people are let into communities of such angels. But when the sphere of their life, that is, the life of their love, is out of agreement, conflict arises, as a result of which they feel anguished and cast themselves down from there. From this experience they learn about the life of heaven, and about the condition of their own life in comparison. They also learn from it that heaven does not become anyone's simply by his being received or let in, as the common idea is in the world, and also that a person must live in such a way in the world that he becomes fit to be with those in heaven. But see what has already been stated and shown from experience previously regarding these matters, in 3938, 4225, 4226, 4299, 4674, 5057, 5058, 7186, 7519, 8794, 8797. These are the considerations which are meant by the regulation that they must not go up by steps to the altar, in order that their nakedness may not be revealed on it, and also by a similar regulation at Exodus 28:42-43.

[6] The words 'going up by steps' are used because a raising to more internal levels is seen in the world of spirits - where celestial and spiritual realities are presented within forms similar to those in the world - as raising oneself by means of steps. I have often been allowed to see this representative sight. So it was too that in a dream Jacob saw angels going up to the Lord by the steps of a stairway, Genesis 28:12. Therefore also by 'steps' in the Word is meant going up to higher, that is, more internal levels, as in Ezekiel 40:6, 22, 26, 31, 34; and in Amos,

The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth builds His steps in the heavens. Amos 9:6.

2184. That 'butter' is the celestial part of the rational, 'milk' the spiritual deriving from this, and 'the young bull' the corresponding natural part, is clear from the meaning of 'butter', and of 'milk', and also of 'a young bull'. As regards 'butter', this in the Word means that which is celestial, and this because of the fat present in butter; for 'fat' means that which is celestial, as shown in Volume One, in 353, and 'oil', being fat, means the celestial itself, in 886. That 'butter' has the same meaning becomes clear in Isaiah,

Behold, a virgin is bearing a son, and will call His name Immanuel. Butter and honey will he eat that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. Isaiah 7:14-15.

This refers to the Lord, who is Immanuel; and anyone may see that butter is not meant by 'butter', nor honey by 'honey'. But by 'butter' is meant His celestial, and by 'honey' that which is derived from that celestial.

[2] In the same chapter,

And it will be, because of the abundance of milk which they give, that he will eat butter, for butter and honey will everyone eat that is left in the midst of the land. Isaiah 7:22.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom, and to those on earth who are members of the Lord's kingdom. 'Milk' here stands for spiritual good, 'butter' for celestial good, and 'honey' for the happiness derived from this.

[3] In Moses,

Jehovah alone leads him, and there is no foreign god with him. He causes him to ride on the heights of the land, and He feeds [him] with the produce of the fields, and He causes him to suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock - butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and of rams, the breed ¹ of Bashan, and of goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape you will drink unmixed wine. Deuteronomy 32:12-14.

No one is able to understand what all these things mean unless he knows the internal sense of each one. It seems like a pile of expressions such as belong to the oratory employed by the wise men of the world. But yet each expression means that which is celestial and that which is spiritual going with it, and also the blessing and happiness which flow from these, and all of them in a co-ordinated sequence. 'Butter from the herd' is the celestial-natural, 'milk from the flock' the celestial-spiritual of the rational.

[4] As regards 'milk' however, this means, as has been stated, that which is spiritual derived from that which is celestial, that is, the celestial-spiritual. What the celestial-spiritual is, see Volume One, in 1577, 1824, and in various other places. The reason 'milk' means that which is spiritual derived from that which is celestial is that 'water' means that which is spiritual, 680, 739, while milk, because of the fat in it, means the celestial-spiritual; or (what amounts to the same) truth rooted in good; or (also amounting to the same) faith grounded in love or charity; or (yet the same) the understanding part of the good present in the will; or (likewise amounting to the same) the affection for truth that has the affection for good within it; or (still yet the same) the affection for cognitions and facts that springs from the affection that belongs to charity towards the neighbour, such as exists with those who love the neighbour and confirm themselves in this love from the cognitions of faith and also from factual knowledge, which they love because they love the neighbour. All these are the same as the celestial-spiritual, and may be used in reference to any particular matter under discussion.

[5] That the celestial-spiritual is meant is also evident from the Word, as in Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money on that which is not bread? Isaiah 55:1-2.

Here 'wine' stands for the spiritual element of faith, 'milk' for the spiritual element of love. In Moses,

He washes his garment in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are redder than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk. Genesis 49:11-12.

This is the prophecy of Jacob, who by now was Israel, regarding Judah - 'Judah' being used here to describe the Lord. By 'teeth whiter than milk' is meant the celestial-spiritual which belonged to His Natural.

[6] In Joel,

It will be, on that day, that the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will run with milk, and all the streams of Judah will run with water. Joel 3:18.

Here, where the subject is the Lord's kingdom, 'milk' stands for the celestial-spiritual. Also in the Word the land of Canaan, which represents and means the Lord's kingdom, is called 'a land flowing with milk and honey', as in Numbers 13:27; 14:8; Deuteronomy 26:9, 15; 27:3; Jeremiah 11:5; 32:22; Ezekiel 20:6, 15. In these places nothing else is meant by 'milk' than the abundance of celestial-spiritual things, and by 'honey' the abundant happiness derived from these. 'Land' is the celestial part itself of the kingdom from which they come.

[7] As regards 'a young bull' meaning the celestial-natural, this has been shown just above in 2180. The celestial-natural is the same as natural good, that is, good within the natural. Man's natural, like his rational, has its own good and its own truth, for then a marriage of good and truth exists everywhere, as stated above in 2173. The good that belongs to the natural is the delight which is perceived from charity, that is, from the friendship that is the product of charity; and from that delight springs the joy or satisfaction which belongs properly to the body. The truth of the natural consists in that factual knowledge which gives support to that delight. All this shows what the celestial-natural is.

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