10128. 'And sanctify it' means in order to receive the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'being sanctified' as receiving the Lord. The reason why 'being sanctified' means receiving the Lord is that the Lord alone is holy, and consequently whatever emanates from the Lord is holy. To the extent therefore that a person receives good, and with the good truth from the Lord, which are holy, he receives the Lord. Whether you say receiving goodness and truth from the Lord or receiving the Lord it amounts to the same thing; for goodness and truth are the Lord's since they come from Him, and so they are the Lord in heaven and in the Church. On these matters - that the Lord alone is holy and that everything holy emanates from Him, and consequently that to receive Him is to be sanctified - see 9229, 9479, 9680, 9818, 9820, 9956, 9988, 10069. The meaning of 'being sanctified' as receiving the Lord is also evident from the consideration that the words used are 'you shall make propitiation and sanctify'; for 'making propitiation (or expiation)' means purification from evils and consequent falsities, and at the same time the implantation of truth and good from the Lord, 10127. The implantation of truth and good from the Lord is the reception of Him, and so it is sanctification. The like occurs above in the present chapter,

They shall eat those things containing what has been expiated, to fill their hand, to sanctify them. Verse 33.

'What has been expiated' there means that which has been purified from evils and consequent falsities, 9506, 10109; 'filling the hand' means implanting goodness and truth and joining them together, 10076, so that 'being sanctified' means receiving them from the Lord, 10111.

8206. 'And the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left' means that they were held back from falsities on every side. This is clear from the meaning of 'the waters' - the waters of that sea - as falsities arising from evil, dealt with in 8137, 8138; from the meaning of 'being a wall for them' as being held back from those falsities, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'on their right and on their left' as on every side. The reason why 'being a wall for them' - when said of 'the waters', by which falsities are meant - denotes being held back from falsities is that the situation with a person is as follows: When he is maintained by the Lord in goodness and truth falsities and evils are removed. Having been removed they stand around him like a wall, for they cannot enter the area where goodness and truth are. The reason for this is that goodness and truth have the Lord present within them, and the Lord's presence repels evil and falsity, on every side; for goodness and truth are the complete opposites of evil and falsity and therefore cannot exist together with them without one destroying the other.

[2] Goodness accompanied by truth destroys, that is, removes evil accompanied by falsity, because goodness is from God and consequently possesses all power, whereas evil is from hell and therefore possesses no power at all. Goodness acts on internal levels, whereas evil acts on external ones. When the evils accompanied by falsities residing with a person are removed they stand around him, as stated, like a wall. They are constantly attempting to rush in on him, but they cannot do so because the Lord's presence, residing in the goodness and truth, holds them back. These are the considerations meant by the waters being like a wall for them on the left and on the right. Regarding a person's being held back from evil and falsity through being maintained by the Lord in goodness and truth, see 1581, 2406, 4564. Yet no one can be held back from evil and maintained in good unless he has received that ability through exercising charity in the world. A life of good, that is, a life led in accordance with the truths of faith, and therefore an affection for or a love of good, achieves this. The person who has a love of and affection for good as a result of the life he leads can be in a sphere of goodness and truth, but not one who through the life he leads has taken on the nature of evil.