7313. 'And let them serve Me in the wilderness' means worship in obscurity. This is clear from the meaning of 'serving Jehovah' as worship; and from the meaning of 'the wilderness' as that which is uninhabited and uncultivated, dealt with in 2708, 3900, in the spiritual sense obscurity so far as the good and truth of faith are concerned. That kind of obscurity is meant here by 'the wilderness', in general because those who belong to the spiritual Church, who are represented by 'the children of Israel', are in obscurity so far as truths of faith are concerned, see 2715, 2716, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3833, 4402, and in particular because they are in obscurity when they are emerging from a state of molestations and temptations. For those who are subjected to molestations are surrounded by falsities and buffeted by them like a reed by the wind, so that they swing from doubt to positive acceptance and from positive acceptance to doubt. Consequently when they first rise out of that state they are in obscurity; but then that obscurity is gradually lightened. Because this is what the state which those undergoing molestations is like, the children of Israel were brought into the wilderness, in order that they might represent the condition of those who belonged to the spiritual Church before the Lord's Coming, and also the condition of those who belong to that Church at the present day and undergo vastation of falsities.

3670. 'And He will give you the blessing of Abraham' means the joining of the Divine itself to the good and truth of the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'blessing' as a joining together, dealt with above in 3660, 3667, and from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord's Divine itself, which is called the Father, dealt with in 2011, 3251, 3439. And as these words are addressed to Jacob, who is to represent the Divine Good and Truth of the Lord's Divine Natural, it is a joining together of the Divine itself to the good and truth of the Natural - this joining together being meant in the internal sense by 'He will give you the blessing of Abraham'. In the sense of the letter it is possession of the land of Canaan that is meant by 'the blessing of Abraham', and also by the words that follow, 'to inherit the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham'. This also is what these words are taken to mean by all who believe that the historical descriptions of the Word do not embody anything more heavenly and deeper than that. This is especially so with the Jewish nation, which also claims from that sense to hold a superior position to all other nations and peoples. Their forefathers understood those words in the same way, especially Jacob, who had that kind of disposition, as becomes clear from what has been stated just above in 3667. That is to say, he did not know Jehovah and was unwilling to acknowledge Him unless He conferred bodily and worldly benefits on him. The fact that neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob were meant, but that Jacob represented the Lord's Natural which He was to make Divine is abundantly evident from the explanations given. The same applies to the character of any person who represents, whether evil or good; for the evil are no less able to represent, and have represented, the Lord's Divine, see 665, 1097, 1361.

[2] The same may be seen from the representatives which also exist at the present day. For all kings, no matter who they are or what they are like, represent the Lord through the kingly office itself residing with them; and in like manner all priests, no matter who they are or what they are like, do so through their priestly office. The kingly office itself and the priestly office itself are sacred, no matter who serves in them. Consequently the Word taught by someone evil is no less sacred; nor is the Sacrament of Baptism, or the Holy Supper, or similar ministrations any less so. From this it may also be seen that no king can possibly claim as his own the sacredness that goes with his kingly office, nor any priest the sacredness that goes with his priestly office. Insofar as he does claim it or attribute it to himself he brands himself with the sign of a spiritual thief, or the mark of spiritual theft. And insofar as he commits what is evil, that is, acts contrary to what is right and fair, and contrary to what is good and true, a king throws off his representation of the sacred kingly office, and a priest his representation of the sacred priestly office, and then represents the reverse of this. This explains why so many laws were laid down in the Jewish representative Church concerning the sacredness which was to be attached in particular to priests when ministering. More on this matter will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated later on.