9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

7439. Let My people go, that they may serve Me. That this signifies that they should release those who are of the spiritual church in order that they may worship their God in freedom, is evident from the signification of “letting go,” as being to release; from the representation of the sons of Israel, here “My people,” as being those who are of the spiritual church (n. 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223); and from the signification of “serving Jehovah,” as being to worship. That they should worship in freedom is plain from what follows (verses 21-23), and also from the fact that all worship which is truly worship must be in freedom.

[2] The sons of Israel being called “the people of Jehovah” was not because they were better than other nations, but because they represented the people of Jehovah, that is, those who are of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. That they were not better than other nations is plain from their life in the wilderness, in that they did not at all believe in Jehovah, but in their hearts believed in the gods of the Egyptians, as is evident from the golden calf which they made for themselves, and which they called their gods who had brought them forth out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 32:8). The same is evident also from their subsequent life in the land of Canaan, as described in the historicals of the Word, and from what was said of them by the prophets, and finally from what was said of them by the Lord.

[3] For this reason also few of them are in heaven, for they have received their lot in the other life according to their life. Therefore do not believe that they were elected to heaven in preference to others; for whoever so believes, does not believe that everyone’s life remains with him after death, nor that man must be prepared for heaven by his whole life in the world, and that this is done of the Lord’s mercy, and that none are admitted into heaven from mercy alone, regardless of how they have lived in the world. Such an opinion about heaven and the Lord’s mercy is induced by the doctrine of faith alone, and of salvation by faith alone without good works; for those who hold this doctrine have no concern about the life, and so believe that evils can be washed away like dirt by water, and thus that man can in a moment pass into the life of good, and consequently be admitted into heaven. For they do not know that if the life of evil were taken away from the evil, they would have no life whatever, and that if they who are in a life of evil were admitted into heaven, they would feel hell in themselves, and this the more grievously, the more interiorly they were admitted into heaven.

[4] From all this it can now be seen that the Israelites and Jews were by no means elected, but only accepted to represent the things that belong to heaven; and that this must needs be done in the land of Canaan, because the Lord’s church had been there from the most ancient times, and from this all the places there became representative of heavenly and Divine things. In this way also the Word could be written, and the names in it could signify such things as belong to the Lord and His kingdom.

6280. That the “redeeming Angel” is the Lord as to the Divine Human, is evident from the fact that by assuming the Human and making it Divine the Lord redeemed man, that is, delivered him from hell; whence the Lord as to His Divine Human is called the “Redeemer.” That the Divine Human is called the “Angel” is because the word “angel” means “sent,” and the Lord as to the Divine Human is said to be “sent,” as is plain from many passages in the Word of the Evangelists. Moreover before the Lord’s coming into the world the Divine Human was Jehovah Himself flowing in through heaven when He spoke the Word; for Jehovah was above the heavens, but that which passed from Him through the heavens was at that time the Divine Human; for by the influx of Jehovah into heaven, He set forth a man, and the very Divine thence derived was a Divine man. This then is the Divine Human from eternity, and is what is called “Sent,” by which is meant proceeding, and this is the same as “Angel.”

[2] But as Jehovah by this Divine Human of His, could not flow in any longer with men, because they had so far removed themselves from this Divine, He therefore took on the Human and made it Divine, and thus by influx from this into heaven He could reach even those of the human race who would receive the good of charity and the truth of faith from the Divine Human, which was thus made visible, and could thus deliver them from hell, which could not possibly have been effected in any other way. This deliverance is that which is called “redemption,” and the Divine Human Itself, which delivered or redeemed, is what is called the “redeeming Angel.”

[3] But be it known that in respect to the Divine Human, as well as in respect to the Divine Itself, the Lord is above heaven; for He is the Sun which illumines heaven; thus that heaven is far beneath Him. The Divine Human which is in heaven is the Divine truth which proceeds from Him, which is the light from Him as a sun. In respect to His essence the Lord is not Divine truth, for this is from Him as light from the sun, but He is Divine good itself, one with Jehovah.

[4] The Lord’s Divine Human is called “Angel” in other places also in the Word, as when He appeared to Moses in the bush, of which it is written in Exodus:

When Moses came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb, the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Jehovah saw that Moses turned aside to see, therefore God called unto him out of the midst of the bush. And he said further, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:1-2, 4, 6);

it is the Lord’s Divine Human which is here called the “Angel of Jehovah,” and it is plainly said that it was Jehovah Himself. That Jehovah was there in the Divine Human may be seen from the fact that the Divine Itself could not appear except through the Divine Human; according to the Lord’s words in John: “No one hath ever seen God, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth” (John 1:18); and in another place: “Ye have neither ever heard the voice of the Father, nor seen His shape” (John 5:37).

[5] Moreover the Lord as to the Divine Human is called the “Angel” where it treats of leading the people into the land of Canaan, of which we read in Exodus:

Behold I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee unto the place which I have prepared. Beware thou of His faces, for He will not bear your transgression, because My name is in the midst of Him (Exodus 23:20-21, 23).

That the “Angel” in this passage is the Divine Human, is evident from the fact that it is said, “because My name is in the midst of Him,” that is, Jehovah Himself is. By “My name” is signified the quality of Jehovah which is in the Divine Human (that the Lord as to the Divine Human is the “name of Jehovah,” may be seen above, n. 2628; and that the “name of God” is His quality, as also everything in one complex by means of which God is worshiped, n. 2724, 3006).

[6] In Isaiah:

In all their distress He had distress, and the Angel of His faces will deliver them; in His love and in His indulgence He redeemed them, and He took them, and carried them all the days of eternity (Isaiah 63:9).

That the “Angel of the faces of Jehovah” is the Lord as to the Divine Human, is manifest, for it is said that “He redeemed them.”

[7] In Malachi:

Behold the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come unto His temple, even the Angel of the covenant whom ye desire; Behold He cometh, saith Jehovah Zebaoth. But who shall endure the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? Then shall the meat-offering of Judah and Jerusalem be sweet to Jehovah, as in the days of eternity, and as in former years (Malachi 3:1-2, 4).

That the “Angel of the covenant” is the Lord as to the Divine Human is very evident, for the subject treated of is His coming; the “offering of Judah and Jerusalem being then sweet to Jehovah” signifies that worship from love and faith in Him will then be sweet. That by “Judah” here is not meant Judah, nor by “Jerusalem” Jerusalem, is clearly evident; for neither then nor afterward was the offering of Judah and Jerusalem sweet. That the “days of eternity” are the states of the Most Ancient Church, which was celestial; and that the “former years” are the states of the Ancient Church, which was spiritual, may be seen above (n. 6239). Moreover by an “angel” in the Word, in the internal sense, is not signified an angel, but something Divine in the the Lord, (n. 1925, 2319, 2821, 3039, 4085).