937. That "Moses" signifies the Word of the Old Testament can be seen from certain passages in the Word in which he is mentioned. But in some passages "Moses" means the law in the strictest sense, which is the law given from Mount Sinai; in others, the law in a broader sense, which is the historical Word; while here the Word of the Old Testament, both historical and prophetical, is meant. "Moses" signifies the Word because the Ten Commandments, and afterwards the Five Books, which were the first part of the Word, were not from him but from the Lord through him. That Moses is mentioned instead of the law and the Word, is evident from the following passages. In Luke:

Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. If they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded if one should rise from the dead (Luke 16:29, 31).

Here "Moses and the prophets" have a like meaning as the "law and the prophets" elsewhere, namely, the historical and prophetical Word. In the same:

Jesus, beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, interpreted in all the Scriptures the things that pertained to Himself (Luke 24:27).

In the same:

All things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning Me (Luke 24:44)

In John:

Philip said, We have found Jesus, of whom Moses in the law did write (John 1:45).

In the same:

In the law Moses commanded us (John 8:5).

In Daniel:

The curse hath flowed down upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us (Daniel 9:11, 13).

In Joshua:

Joshua wrote upon the stone of the altar a copy of the law of Moses (Joshua 8:32).

In John:

Moses gave to you the law. Moses gave you the circumcision. If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses might not be broken (John 7:19, 22, 33).

In Mark:

Moses hath said, Honor thy father and thy mother (Mark 7:10).

[2] That which was from the Lord through Moses was attributed to Moses because of the representation; therefore the terms "the law of Moses" and "the law of the Lord" are both used in Luke:

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Him up to Jerusalem, (as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord), that they might offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons (Luke 2:22-24, 39).

[3] Because Moses represented the law it was permitted him to come into the presence of the Lord on Mount Sinai, and not only to receive there the Tables of the Law, but also to hear the statutes and judgments of the law, and command them to the people; and it is added, that they might therefore believe in Moses forever:

Jehovah said unto Moses, Lo, I will come unto thee in the mist of a cloud, that the people may hear when I shall speak unto thee, and may also believe in thee forever (Exodus 19:9).

It is said "in the mist of a cloud," because a "cloud" signifies the Word in the letter. So when Moses came into the presence of the Lord on Mount Sinai:

He entered into the cloud (Exodus 20:21; 24:2, 18; 34:2-5).

(That "cloud" signifies the sense of the letter of the Word see above, n. 36, 594, 905, 906.)

[4] Because Moses represented the Lord as to the law or the Word, therefore:

When he came down from Mount Sinai the skin of his face shone; therefore when he spoke with the people he put a veil over his face (Exodus 34:28-35).

"The shining of the face" signified the internal of the law, for that is in the light of heaven. He veiled his face when he spoke with the people because the internal of the Word was covered and thus obscured to that people to protect them from anything of its light.

[5] Because Moses represented the Lord as to the historical Word, and Elijah the Lord as to the prophetical Word, when the Lord was transfigured Moses and Elijah were seen talking with Him (Matthew 17:3). When the Lord's Divine was manifested in the world, only those who signified the Word could talk with the Lord, because discourse with the Lord is by means of the Word. (That Elijah represented the Lord as to the Word, see n. 624.)

[6] Because Moses and Elijah taken together represented the Word, where Elijah is spoken of as the one sent before the Lord, both are mentioned, in Malachi:

Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and the judgments. Lo, I send to you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes (Malachi 4:4-6).

Elijah the prophet means John the Baptist; because he, like Elijah, represented the Word (See above, n. 624, 724).

10551. 'And so it was, when Moses entered the tent, that the pillar of cloud came down, and stood at the door of the tent, and talked to Moses' means that when the Word had gone beyond what they were capable of understanding, extremely poor visibility descended on them as they stood outside, and yet there was clear perception from within. This is clear from the meaning of 'when Moses entered the tent' as when the Word had gone beyond what they were capable of understanding, dealt with immediately above in 10550; from the meaning of 'the pillar of cloud' as extremely poor visibility so far as that nation was concerned, for by 'cloud' the outward sense of the Word is meant, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343(end), 6752, 8443, 8781, and also the poor visibility of the Word so far as those who have no enlightenment are concerned, and its extremely poor visibility so far as those with whom the outward sense of the Word is separated from the inward are concerned, 6832, 8106, 8814, 8819, 9430; from the meaning of 'standing at the door' as being outside, dealt with above in 10549; and from the meaning of 'talking to Moses' as clear perception from within. For the Word - as it is essentially - is meant by 'Moses', see 9372, while perceiving is meant by 'talking', see in the places referred to in 10290. The reason why 'from within' is meant is that Moses, to whom 'the pillar of cloud' talked, was within the tent.

[2] What it is to see from without and to perceive from within must be stated. Those who have enlightenment when they read the Word see it from within; for their internal has been opened, and when the internal has been opened it dwells in the light of heaven. This light flows in and brings enlightenment, though the person is not conscious of its doing so. He is not conscious of this because that light flows into the cognitions or knowledge present in the human memory, which however dwell in natural light. And since the person feels, when he uses them to think with, that he does so all by himself he cannot be aware of the influx; yet there are various indications enabling him to know that he has been given enlightenment. But anyone at all who supposes that he has enlightenment is mistaken if he does not love to know truth for its own sake and for the sake of leading a good life, thus if he does not love Divine Truth for life's sake. For leading a life in keeping with Divine Truths derived from the Word constitutes loving the Lord; and from the Lord, when He is loved, springs all enlightenment.

[3] Those however who do not see a life in keeping with Divine Truths derived from the Word as the end in view, but position, gain, and reputation as the end in view and the Divine Truths of the Word therefore as the means, cannot possibly possess any enlightenment. This end is worldly and bodily, and not spiritual and heavenly. Consequently it closes off their internal man, and once this is closed no light from heaven can flow in and bring enlightenment. If these people suppose that they are enlightened when they read the Word they are completely mistaken; for their thought is inspired not by heaven but by the world, and so springs not from the Lord but from self. And to the extent that it springs from self and the world it is the product of natural light separated from heavenly light; and natural light separated from heavenly light constitutes thickest darkness in spiritual matters. If these people are convinced that they have seen something as a result of having been enlightened they are mistaken. For the only way that they perceive whether anything is true is with the aid of proofs supplied by others, which is to see truth from without and not from within, or else with the aid of faith that is no more than persuasion, the nature of which may be seen in 9363-9369. Such people are able to see falsity as truth and truth as falsity, and also to see evil as good and good as evil.

[4] From all this it is clear what seeing the Word from without is and perceiving it from within is. Seeing it from without is what is meant when it says that the people stood, [each] at the door of [his] tent, and looked after Moses, and also that they saw the pillar of cloud standing at the door of the tent, and they bowed down, [each] at the door of [his] tent. But perceiving the Word from within is what is meant when it says that Moses entered the tent, and that the pillar of cloud at the door of the tent talked to Moses.

[5] A brief statement must also be made about the way in which the influx bringing enlightenment operates. Angels equally with men perceive the Word when it is read; but angels do so on a spiritual level, men on a natural level. A person whose internal has been opened also perceives it on a spiritual level, though he is not conscious of doing so while he lives in the world because his spiritual thought flows into his natural thought in the external man and manifests itself within this. Nevertheless that interior thought is what enlightens and is the channel through which influx from the Lord operates. Some learned people by looking into their own thoughts and reflecting on what they see have also noticed that the human being possesses interior thought which is not overt. They have therefore called the ideas composing it immaterial and intellectual ¹ , distinguishing them from the overt ideas composing exterior thought, which they have called natural and material. But they have not known that the ideas composing interior thought are spiritual, nor that when these flow down from their own level they are converted into natural ones and then take on a different shape and appearance. These considerations show to some extent the way in which the influx bringing enlightenment operates.

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