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.

7186. 'And Jehovah said to Moses' means instruction regarding the law of God. This is clear from the meaning of 'Jehovah said' as instruction from the Divine, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Moses' as the law of God, dealt with in 6713, 6752, 7014. The reason why 'Jehovah said to Moses' means instruction regarding the law of God is that the end of the previous chapter spoke of Moses' belief gained from the law of God that those belonging to the spiritual Church would be delivered from molestations straightaway. The orderly way however is for the evil who molest to be removed gradually, and those who belong to the spiritual Church to be delivered gradually.

[2] Divine order knows no other way than this, and therefore the law of God too knows no other way, for every law of God is a law of order, so entirely so that whether you say a law of God or a law of Divine order it amounts to the same thing. Those who belong to the spiritual Church now receive instruction regarding this law; from it they learn that they will certainly be delivered when, in keeping with order, the time and state for deliverance has come. The fact that Moses - who represents here the law of God as it exists among those belonging to the spiritual Church when they pass through a state involving molestations - believed from the law of God that they would be delivered from molestations straightaway is evident from the things said by him at the end of the previous chapter. There he says, 'Why have You done ill to this people? Why is this, that You have sent me, and have not delivered Your people at all?' the meaning of which is that they are suffering from excessive molestation by falsities when yet the law emanating from God seems to promise something different, thus that they have not been released from the state of molestations, see 7165, 7166, 7169.

[3] The reason why those who belong to the spiritual Church and are on the lower earth are delivered from molestations gradually, in successive stages and not straightaway, is that there is no other way in which the evils and falsities clinging to them can be removed and forms of good and truth instilled instead. This is effected by very many changes of state, thus gradually, in successive stages. Those who believe that a person can be introduced straightaway into heaven, and that nothing more than the Lord's mercy is necessary for this to be done, are very much mistaken. If that belief were true, then all in hell, however many they may be, would be raised to heaven; for the Lord's mercy reaches out to all. However, the orderly way is for each person to take with him the life he was leading in the world and for that life of his to determine his state in the next life. At the same time the Lord's mercy flows into everyone and is present with all; but it is received in varying ways, and is rejected by those who are governed by evil. And because they have steeped themselves in evil when in the world they also retain it in the next life. Nor is any correction possible in the next life; for where the tree has fallen, there it lies. All this shows how orderly it is that those who have led a good life, yet whose characters also have uncouth and impure elements of self-love and love of the world in them, should be unable to enter into fellowship with those in heaven until such elements have been removed. From these considerations it is evident that deliverance from molestations takes place gradually, in successive stages.