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Exodus第19章

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1 In the third month after the departure of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they [into] the wilderness of Sinai:

2 they departed from Rephidim, and came [into] the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in the wilderness; and Israel encamped there before the mountain.

3 And Moses went up to God, and Jehovah called to him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:

4 Ye have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, and [how] I have borne you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

5 And now, if ye will hearken to my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then shall ye be my own possession out of all the peoples -- for all the earth is mine --

6 and ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak to the children of Israel.

7 And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and laid before the mall these words which Jehovah had commanded him.

8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that Jehovah has spoken will we do! And Moses brought the words of the people back to Jehovah.

9 And Jehovah said to Moses, Lo, I will come to thee in the cloud's thick darkness, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee also for ever. And Moses told the words of the people to Jehovah.

10 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go to the people, and hallow them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes;

11 and let them be ready for the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will come down before the eyes of all the people on mount Sinai.

12 And set bounds round about the people, saying, Take heed to yourselves, [not] to go up unto the mountain nor touch the border of it: whatever toucheth the mountain shall certainly be put to death:

13 not a hand shall touch it, but it shall certainly be stoned, or shot through; whether it be a beast or a man, it shall not live. When the long drawn note of the trumpet soundeth, they shall come up to the mountain.

14 And Moses came down from the mountain to the people, and hallowed the people; and they washed their clothes.

15 And he said to the people, Be ready for the third day; do not come near [your] wives.

16 And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a heavy cloud on the mountain, and the sound of the trumpet exceeding loud; and the whole people that was in the camp trembled.

17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

18 And the whole of mount Sinai smoked, because Jehovah descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace; and the whole mountain shook greatly.

19 And the sound of the trumpet increased and became exceeding loud; Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.

20 And Jehovah came down on mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain; and Jehovah called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

21 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go down, testify to the people that they break not through to Jehovah to gaze, and many of them perish.

22 And the priests also, who come near to Jehovah, shall hallow themselves, lest Jehovah break forth on them.

23 And Moses said to Jehovah, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai; for thou hast testified to us, saying, Set bounds about the mountain, and hallow it.

24 And Jehovah said to him, Go, descend, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee; but the priests and the people shall not break through to go up to Jehovah, lest he break forth on them.

25 So Moses went down to the people, and told them.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed#378

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378. "And have washed their robes." This symbolically means, who have cleansed their religious beliefs of the evils accompanying falsity.

Washing in the Word symbolizes a cleansing oneself of evils and falsities, and robes symbolize general truths (no. 328). General truths are concepts of goodness and truth drawn from the literal sense of the Word, in accordance with which these people have lived, so that they are religious beliefs. And because every matter of religion has relation to goodness and truth, therefore robes are mentioned twice - "have washed their robes" and "have made their robes white."

Robes or religious beliefs are cleansed only in the case of people who fight against evils and so reject falsities, who thus undergo temptations or trials, which are symbolically meant by "the great tribulation" (no. 377).

That to be washed means, symbolically, to be cleansed of evils and falsities, and so to be reformed and regenerated, can be seen from the following passages:

When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and rinsed away the blood of Jerusalem... by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of purification... (Isaiah 4:4)

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from My eyes. Cease to do evil... (Isaiah 1:16)

Wash your heart of its wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. (Jeremiah 4:14)

Wash me clean of my iniquity..., and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalms 51:2, 7)

...if you wash yourself with soda, and use much soap, your iniquity will still retain its spots. (Jeremiah 2:22)

If I wash myself with melted snow, and cleanse my hands with soap..., yet... my own clothes will abhor me. (Job 9:30-31)

Who... has washed his clothing in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes. (Genesis 49:11)

This is said of the celestial church, from which come people prompted by love toward the Lord, and in the highest sense it is said of the Lord Himself. Wine and the blood of grapes are spiritual and celestial Divine truth.

I washed you with water, and rinsed off your blood from upon you... (Ezekiel 16:9)

This is said of Jerusalem. Water is truth, and blood is an adulteration of truth.

[2] It can be seen from this what washing in the Israelite Church represented and thus symbolized. As, for example, that Aaron was to wash himself before he put on the vestments of his ministry (Leviticus 16:4, 24), and before he approached the altar to minister (Exodus 30:18-21; 40:30-31).

[3] It can be seen from this that among the children of Israel washing represented a spiritual washing, which is a cleansing from evils and falsities, and thus reformation and regeneration.

It is apparent also from the aforesaid what baptism by John in the Jordan symbolized (Matthew 3, Mark 1:4-13), and what the symbolic meaning of the following words by John regarding the Lord is, that He baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16, John 1:33), and regarding himself, that he baptized with water (John 1:26). The meaning is that the Lord washes or purifies a person by Divine truth and Divine goodness, and that John by his baptism represented this. For the Holy Spirit is Divine truth, the fire is Divine goodness, and the water is representative of these. For water symbolizes the truth in the Word, which becomes goodness by one's living in accordance with it (no. 50).

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.