9371. THE INTERNAL SENSE.

Verses 1-2. And He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and bow yourselves afar off; and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah; and they shall not come near; and the people shall not come up with him. “And He said unto Moses,” signifies that which concerns the Word in general; “come up unto Jehovah,” signifies conjunction with the Lord; “thou and Aaron,” signifies the Word in the internal sense and the external sense; “Nadab and Abihu,” signifies doctrine from both senses; “and seventy of the elders of Israel,” signifies the chief truths of the church which are of the Word, or of doctrine, and which agree with good; “and bow yourselves afar off,” signifies humiliation and adoration from the heart, and then the influx of the Lord; “and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah,” signifies the conjunction and presence of the Lord through the Word in general; “and they shall not come near,” signifies no separate conjunction and presence; “and the people shall not come up with him,” signifies no conjunction whatever with the external apart from the internal.

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.

6767. Sayest thou to kill me? That this signifies “wouldest thou destroy my faith?” is evident from the signification of “killing,” as being to destroy (of which below); and from the signification of a “Hebrew man,” here meant by “me,” as being one who is of the church, thus also faith, for faith is of the church, and these two things are so united that he who destroys faith with anyone, destroys the church with him. This also is “killing” him, for he who takes away faith, takes away spiritual life, the life which remains being that which is called “death.” Hence it is evident that by, “Sayest thou to kill me?” is signified “wouldest thou destroy my faith?”

[2] That “to kill” denotes to take away spiritual life, is clear from many passages in the Word, as in Jeremiah:

Drag them away as a sheep for the slaughter, and devote them for the day of killing. How long shall the land mourn and the herb of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The beasts and the bird will be consumed (Jeremiah 12:3-4);

“the day of killing” denotes the time of the vastation of the church, when there is no longer any faith, because no charity; “the land which shall mourn” denotes the church; “the herb of every field” denotes every true memory-knowledge of the church; “the beasts and the bird will be consumed” denotes that goods and truths will be so. (That the “land” is the church, see n. 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 4335, 4447, 5577; that “herb” is true memory-knowledge is evident from the passages in the Word where “herb” is mentioned; that “field” is that which is of the church, n. 2971, 3310, 3766; that “beasts” are affections of good, thus goods, n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 1823, 2179, 2180, 3218, 3519, 5198; and “birds” affections of truth, n. 5149.) Hence it can be seen what is the meaning of the above words, and also that there is a spiritual sense in every detail. Everyone can see that without an interior sense it could not be understood what is meant by “a day of killing,” by “the earth mourning,” by “every herb of the field withering for the wickedness of those who dwell therein,” and by “the beasts and the bird being consumed.”

[3] In Zechariah:

Thus said Jehovah my God, Feed the sheep of killing, which their possessors kill (Zech. 11:4-5); where “the sheep of killing” plainly denotes those whose faith the possessors destroy.

In Ezekiel:

Thou hast profaned Me with My people, for handfuls of barley, and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls which ought not to die, and to keep the souls alive which ought not to live (Ezekiel 13:19);

here also “to kill” plainly denotes to destroy spiritual life, that is, faith and charity.

In Isaiah:

What will ye do in the day of visitation and of vastation? Beneath the bound, and beneath the killed shall they fall (Isaiah 10:3-4); where the “killed” denote those who are in hell, thus who are in evils and falsities.

[4] Again:

Thou art cast out of thy sepulchre like an abominable shoot, the raiment of the killed, of one pierced with the sword. Thou shalt not be united with them in the grave, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast killed thy people (Isaiah 14:19-20);

“the killed” denote those who are deprived of spiritual life; “thou hast killed thy people” denotes that he has destroyed the truths and goods of faith.

In John:

The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they may have life (John 10:10);

“to kill” denotes to destroy the life of faith, and therefore it is said, “I am come that they may have life.”

In Mark:

The brother shall deliver the brother to death, and the father the children, and children shall rise up against their parents and shall kill them (Mark 13:12); speaking of the last times of the church, when there is no longer any charity, and therefore not any faith; “brother,” “children,” and “parents,” in the internal sense, are the goods and truths of the church, and “to kill” is to destroy them.

[5] As by “one killed” was signified one deprived of spiritual life, and by “field” the church, therefore it was a statute in the representative church, that

If anyone touched on the surface of a field anyone pierced with a sword, or killed, he should be unclean seven days (Numbers 19:16).

That “one pierced with a sword” is truth extinguished by falsity, see above, n. 4503, for “sword” denotes falsity which extinguishes truth, n. 2799, 4499, 6353.

In like manner this was a statute: If anyone was found killed in the land of inheritance, upon a field, and it should not be known who had killed him, the elders and judges were to measure between the cities round about, and having thus found the nearest city, they were to take a calf and were to head it by a running stream; besides other particulars (Deuteronomy 21:1-10).