AE 340 - "blessing"

AE 340 [1, 11]

. . .  "blessing," when said of the Lord,
signifies thanksgiving
that from Him is every good of love and truth of faith,
and thence heaven and eternal happiness
to those who receive.


Thus shall ye bless the sons of Israel,
Jehovah bless thee and keep thee;
Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee,
and be gracious unto thee;
Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee,
and give thee peace.
Thus shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel;
and I will bless them.
(Numbers 6:23-27)

From this, unfolded by means of the internal sense,
it is evident what "blessing" as a whole involves -
namely, that Jehovah, that is, the Lord,
from Divine love flows in
with Divine truth and with Divine good
with those who receive;
the Divine love, from which the Lord flows in,
being meant by "the faces of Jehovah;"
the Divine truth, with which the Lord flows in,
by "Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee;"
and the Divine good, with which He flows in,
by "Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee;"
the protection from evils and falsities,
which would otherwise take away the influx,
by "keep thee" and "be gracious unto thee;"
heaven and eternal happiness,
which the Lord gives
by means of His Divine truth and His Divine good,
by "give thee peace;"
communication and conjunction with those who receive,
by "thus shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel,"
"the name of Jehovah"
signifying the Divine proceeding,
which is called in general Divine truth and Divine good,
and "the sons of Israel"
signifying those who are of the church,
thus who receive,
of whom it is therefore said, "and I will bless them."
This is the internal or spiritual sense of these words,
as can be seen from this,
that "the faces of Jehovah"
signify the Divine love;
"to make them to shine"
signifies the influx of Divine truth,
and "to lift them up"
signifies the influx of Divine good.