AC 9377 - "Heart of Stone" or "Heart of Flesh"

AC 9377

And bow yourselves afar off.
(Exodus 24:1)

That this means
humiliation and adoration from the heart,
and then the influx of the Lord,
is evident from the meaning of "bowing oneself"
as being humiliation.
That it also denotes adoration,
is because humiliation is the essential
of all adoration and of all worship,
for without humiliation
the Lord cannot be worshiped and adored,
for the reason that the Divine of the Lord
cannot flow into a proud heart,
that is, into a heart full of the love of self,
for such a heart is hard;
and is called in the Word a "heart of stone."
But the Divine of the Lord can flow into a humble heart,
because this is soft,
and is called in the Word a "heart of flesh."
Such a heart is receptive of the influx of good
from the Lord, that is, of the Lord.
From this it is that by "bowing oneself afar off"
is not only meant
humiliation and adoration from the heart,
but also the influx of the Lord then.
It is said the influx of the Lord,
because the good of love and of faith,
which flows in from the Lord, is the Lord.
That "afar off" denotes from the heart,
is because those who are in humiliation
remove themselves from the Lord,
for the reason that they regard themselves
as unworthy to approach the most holy Divine,
because while they are in humiliation t
hey are in the self-acknowledgment
that of themselves they are nothing but evil,
indeed, profane.
When they acknowledge this from the heart,
they are in true humiliation.