AC 1615, 1618 - Building Altars and Worship

AC 1615

And Abram pitched his tent,
and came and dwelt in the oak-groves of Mamre
that are in Hebron,
and there he built an altar to Jehovah.
(Genesis 13:18)

"Abram pitched his tent,
and came and dwelt in the oak-groves of Mamre
that are in Hebron,"
means that the Lord came to a perception
still more internal;
this is the sixth state;
"and there he built an altar to Jehovah,"
means worship from that state.

AC 1618

And there he built an altar to Jehovah.
(Genesis 13:18)

That this means worship from that state,
is evident from the meaning of "an altar,"
as being a representative of all worship in general.
By worship, in the internal sense,
 is meant all conjunction through love and charity.
When a person is in love and charity
he is continually in worship,
external worship being merely the effect.
The angels are in such worship;
with them, therefore, there is a perpetual Sabbath;
and from this the Sabbath,
in the internal sense,
means the Lord's kingdom.
But a person, while in the world,
ought not to be otherwise
than in external worship also;
for by external worship internal things are excited,
and by means of external worship
external things are kept in holiness,
so that internal things can flow in.
And besides, a person is thus imbued with knowledges,
and is prepared for receiving celestial things,
and is also gifted with states of holiness,
although he is unaware of this;
which states of holiness
are preserved to him by the Lord
for the use of eternal life,
for in the other life all the states of his life return.