Arcana Coelestia#4290
4290. In the internal historical sense, by “he said, I will not let thee go unless thou bless me,” is signified that they insisted upon being representative; for their insisting is signified by “I will not let thee go,” and representing a church by being “blessed.” In regard to this subject—that the posterity of Jacob insisted upon being representative of a church, and that they were chosen above all other nations—this cannot indeed be made so evident from the historicals of the Word in the sense of the letter, for the reason that the historicals of the Word in the sense of the letter enfold within them deep secrets of heaven, and therefore these so follow in the series; and also because the names themselves signify things; many names indeed in their supreme sense signify the Lord Himself, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That these in the supreme sense signify the Lord, has been shown many times in what precedes (see n. 1965, 1989, 2011, 3245, 3305, 3439).
[2] That the posterity of Jacob were not chosen, but insisted that a church should be among them, may be seen from many passages of the Word, from its internal historical sense, and openly in the following.
In Moses:
Jehovah spoke unto Moses, Go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast made to go up out of the land of Egypt, into the land of which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it; I will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiffnecked people; lest I consume thee in the way. And when the people heard this evil word, they mourned, and put off everyone his ornament from upon him. And Moses took the tent, and pitched it for himself without the camp, in removing far from the camp. And Moses said unto Jehovah, See, Thou sayest unto me, Make this people go up, and Thou hast not made known to me whom Thou wilt send with me. Now therefore I pray if I have found grace in Thine eyes, make known to me I pray Thy way, that I may know concerning Thee, that I have found grace in Thine eyes; behold also that this nation is Thy people. He said therefore, My faces shall go until I give thee rest (Exodus 33:1-7, 12-14).
It is here said that Moses made the people go up out of the land of Egypt, and then that they put off their ornament and mourned, and that Moses pitched his tent without the camp, and that thereby Jehovah assented; thus plainly showing that they themselves insisted.
[3] In the same:
Jehovah said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me, and how long will they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have wrought in the midst of them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and will extinguish them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they. But Moses supplicated, and Jehovah being entreated said, I will be gracious according to thy word: nevertheless, I live, and the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah; for as to all those men who have seen My glory, and My signs which I wrought in Egypt, and in the wilderness, yet have tempted Me these ten times, and have not obeyed my voice, surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it. Your bodies shall fall in this wilderness; but your little children will I bring in (Numbers 14:11-12, 20-23, 29, 31).
From these words it is also manifest that Jehovah willed to extinguish them, and consequently not to set up a church among them, but that they insisted and it was therefore done—besides many other times also, when Jehovah willed to utterly destroy that nation so often rebellious, but as often suffered Himself to be entreated by their supplications.
[4] The like is also involved in Balaam’s not being permitted to curse that people (Numbers 22,23, 24); and in other places also, where it is said that Jehovah repented that He had brought in that people; also that Jehovah was entreated; and also that He so often made a new covenant with them. Such things are signified in the internal historical sense by the words “I will not let thee go, unless thou bless me.” The same is also signified by Jacob’s taking away the birthright from Esau, and also by his taking the blessing from him by fraud (Genesis 25 and 27).
Numbers第13章
1
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers, you shall Send a man, every one a prince among them."
3
Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Yahweh: all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
4
These were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
5
Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
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Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
7
Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
8
Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.
9
Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.
10
Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.
11
Of the tribe of Joseph, [namely], of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
12
Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
13
Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.
14
Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.
15
Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
16
These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.
17
Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up this way by the South, and Go up into the hill country:
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and see the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many;
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and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds;
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and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes."
21
So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath.
22
They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23
They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two; [they brought] also of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
24
That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there.
25
They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.
26
They went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
27
They told him, and said, "We came to the land where you sent us; and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is its fruit.
28
However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, [and] very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
29
Amalek dwells in the land of the South: and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan."
30
Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."
31
But the men who went up with him said, "We aren't able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we."
32
They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature.
33
There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
