Portions: Deuteronomy 33 - Joshua 2

About Joseph he said:
"May the Lord bless his land
with the precious dew from heaven above
and with the deep waters that lie below;
with the best the sun brings forth
and the finest the moon can yield;
with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains
and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;
with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness
and the favor of Him
who dwelt in the burning bush.
(Deuteronomy 33:13-16)

And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab,
as the Lord had said.
He buried him in Moab,
in the valley opposite Beth Peor,
but to this day no one knows where his grave is.
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old
when he died,
yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.
Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses,
whom the Lord knew face to face . . ..
(Deuteronomy 34:5-7,10)

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,
the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide:
"Be strong and courageous,
because you will lead these people to inherit the land
I swore to their forefathers to give them.
Do not let this Book of the Law
depart from your mouth;
meditate on it day and night,
so that you may be careful to do everything written it it.
Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be terrified;
do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God will be with you where you go."
(Joshua 1:1,6-9)

Then Joshua son of Nun
secretly sent two spies from Shittim.
"Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho."
So they went and entered the house
of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.
So she sent them away and they departed.
And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
(Joshua 2:1,21)

AC 6819 - Who is our neighbor?

AC 6819
Not only is an individual person one's neighbor
but also a group of people;
for the community whether small or large is one's neighbor,
as is one's country,
the Church,
the Lord's kingdom,
and above all others the Lord.

Portions: Deuteronomy 30-32

Now what I am commanding you today
is not too difficult for you
or beyond your reach.
It is not up in heaven,
so that you have to ask,
"Who will ascend into heaven to get it
and proclaim it to us
so we may obey it?"
Nor is it beyond the sea,
so that you have to ask,
"Who will cross the sea to get it
and proclaim it to us
so that we may obey it?"
No, the word is very near you;
it is in your mouth and in your heart
so you may obey it.
(Deuteronomy 30:11-13)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Now the day of your death is near.
Call Joshua
and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting,
where I will commission him."
So Moses and Joshua came
and presented themselves
at the Tent of Meeting.
(Deuteronomy 31:14)

Moses came with Joshua son of Nun
and spoke all the words of this song
in the hearing of the people.
"They are not just idle words for you -
they are your life.
By them you will live long in the land
you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
(Deuteronomy 32:44, 47)

AC 6804 - Who can comprehend?

AC 6804 [4]
. . . every one can comprehend
the Divine Human in thought,
and be conjoined with It in love.

Portions: Deuteronomy 27-29

"Cursed is the man
who does not uphold the worlds of this law
by carrying it out."
Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
(Deuteronomy 27:28)

If you pay attention to the commands
of the Lord your God
that I give you this Day
and carefully follow them,
you will always be at the top,
never at the bottom.
Do not turn aside
from any of the commands I give you today,
to the right or to the left,
following other gods and serving them.
(Deuteronomy 28:13-14)

Carefully follow the terms of this covenant,
so that you may prosper in everything you do.
(Deuteronomy 29:9)

AC 6789 - reading and living

AC 6789 [2]
True memory-knowledge,
. . . is the truth of the external church;
this truth arises
from the truth
which is of the law from the Divine,
. . . and the truth which is of the law from the Divine
is the truth of the internal church.
Unless external truth
is from internal truth,
it cannot be conjoined with good.
Take the Word as an illustration.
Unless the internal of the Word flows in
with those who read the Word
and abide in the literal sense,
no conjunction is effected of truth from the Word 
with good;
and the internal of the Word flows in
and is conjoined with good
when the person esteems the Word holy;
and he esteems it holy
when he is in good.

Portions: Deuteronomy 21-26

He must acknowledge the son
of his unloved wife
as first the firstborn
by giving him a double share of all he has.
That son is the first sign of his father's strength.
The right of the firstborn belongs to him.
(Deuteronomy 21:17)

If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife,
both the man who slept with her
and the woman must die.
You must purge the evil from Israel.
(Deuteronomy 22:22)

Whatever your lips utter
you must be sure to do,
because you made your vow freely
to the Lord your God
with your own mouth.
(Deuteronomy 23:22)

If a man has recently married,
he must not be sent to war
or have any other duty laid on him.
For one year he is to be free stay at home
and bring happiness to the wife
he has married.
(Deuteronomy 24:5)

You must have accurate and honest
weights and measures,
so that you may live long in the land
the Lord your God is giving you.
For the Lord your God detests anyone
who does these things,
anyone who deals dishonestly.
(Deuteronomy 25:15-16)

The Lord your God commands you this day
to follow these decrees and laws;
carefully observe them
with all your heart
and with all your soul.
(Deuteronomy 26:16)

AC 6784 - the power of falsity?

AC 6784 [2]
That true memory-knowledge prevails
over the power of the doctrine of falsity from evil,
is because the Divine is in all truth from good,
whereas in falsity from evil
there is the contrary,
and what is contrary to the Divine
does not prevail at all.
Therefore in the other life
a thousand who are in falsity from evil
prevail not at all
against one who is in truth from good;
but at the presence of this one
the thousand flee,
and if they do not flee
they are tortured and tormented.
It is said falsity from evil,
because this is truly falsity,
whereas falsity not from evil,
but from ignorance of the truth,
is not so.
Evil is that which is opposite to heaven,
but not falsity from ignorance;
indeed, if in the ignorance
there is anything of innocence,
then this falsity is accepted by the Lord as truth;
for they who are in such falsity receive truth.

Portions: Deuteronomy 15-20

However, there should be no poor among you,
for in the land the Lord your God 
is giving you to possess as your inheritance,
He will richly bless you,
if only you fully obey the Lord your God
and are careful to follow all these commands
I am giving you today.
(Deuteronomy 15:4-5)

Observe the month of Abib
and celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God,
because in the month of Abib
He brought you out of Egypt by night.
(Deuteronomy 16:1)

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you
and have taken possession of it and settled in it,
and you say, "Let us set a king over us
like all the nations around us,"
be sure to appoint over you
the king the Lord your God chooses.
He must be from among your own brothers.
Do not place a foreigner over you,
one who is not a brother Israelite.
The king, moreover,
must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself
or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them,
for the Lord has told you,
"You are not to go back that way again."
He must not take many wives,
or his heart will be led astray.
He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
When he takes the throne of his kingdom,
he is to write for himself on a scroll
a copy of this law,
taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.
It is to be with him,
and he is to read it all the days of his life
so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God
and follow carefully all the words of this law
and these decrees
and not consider himself better than his brothers
and turn from the law to the right or to the left.
Then he and his descendants will reign a long time
over his kingdom in Israel.
(Deuteronomy 17:14-20)

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you,
do not learn to imitate
the detestable ways of the nations there.
Let no one be found among you
who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire,
who practices divination or sorcery,
interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,
or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist
or who consults the dead.
Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord,
and because of these detestable practices
the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.
You must be blameless before the Lord your God.
(Deuteronomy 18:9-13)

You must purge the evil from among you.
(Deuteronomy 19:19)

When you lay siege to a city for a long time,
fighting against it to capture it,
do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them,
because you can eat their fruit.
Do not cut them down.
Are the trees of the field people,
that you should besiege them?
(Deuteronomy 20:19)

AC 6766 - perspective

AC 6766 [2]
. . . in the internal sense
the subject here is the development of Divine Truth
as it exists with the person who is being regenerated.
Its development is such
that at first the person can distinguish falsity from truth,
for the truth he has
enables him to see falsity
since it is the opposite of the truth.
But he cannot at that early stage
settle between one truth of faith and another
within the Church.
To be able to do this
he must make further advances;
for a person's enlightenment increases gradually.
This is clearly recognizable
from those who are in adolescent years
and at the start of manhood.
They think
that the teachings of their Church are the absolute truth,
and these they use to distinguish falsities.
But they are not yet able to reconcile
matters of faith within the Church
when these disagree with one another;
that ability comes in a sequence of stages.
This being so,
the person to whom that ability can be given
must also be someone
who is rather more mature in years,
someone in whom
the more internal levels of the understanding
have been enlightened.

Portions: Deuteronomy 10-14

And now, O Israel,
what does the Lord your God ask of you
but to fear the Lord your God,
to walk in all His ways,
to love Him,
to serve the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul,
and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees
that I am giving you today for your own good?
(Deuteronomy 10:12-13)

Fix these words of Mine in your hearts and minds;
tie them as symbols on your hands and foreheads.
Teach them to your children,
talking about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses
and on your gates,
so that your days and the days of your children
may be many in the land
the Lord swore to give your forefathers,
as many as the days
that the heavens are above the earth.
(Deuteronomy 11: 18-21)


See that you do all I command you;
do not add to it or take away from it.
(Deuteronomy 12:32)

You must purge the evil from among you.
(Deuteronomy 13:5)

Be sure to set aside a tenth
of all that your fields produce each year.
Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil,
and the firstborn of your herds and flocks
in the presence of the Lord your God
at the place He will choose
as a dwelling for His Name,
so that you may learn
to revere the Lord your God always.
(Deuteronomy 14:22-23)

AC 6752 - talking with the Lord

AC 6752 [9]
. . .talking with the Lord is done through the Word.

Deuteronomy 5-9

So be careful to do
what the Lord your God has commanded you;
do not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Walk in all the ways
that the Lord you God has commanded you,
so that you may live and prosper
and prolong your days in the land
that you will possess.
(Deuteronomy 5:32-33)

Fear the Lord your God,
and serve Him only
and take your oaths in His name.
Do not follow other gods,
the gods of the peoples around you;
for the Lord your God,
who is among you,
is a jealous God
and His anger will burn against you . . ..
Be sure to keep the commands
of the Lord your God
and the stipulations and decrees He has given you.
Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight,
so that it may go well with you . . ..
(Deuteronomy 6:13-15, 17-18)

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God,
He is the faithful God,
keeping His covenant of love
to a thousand generations of those who love Him
and keep His commands.
(Deuteronomy 7:9)

Remember how the Lord your God
led you all the way in the desert these forty years,
to humble you and to test you
in order to know what was in your heart,
whether or not you would keep His commands.
He humbled you,
causing you to hunger
and then feeding you with manna,
which neither you nor your fathers had known,
to teach you that man does not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Your clothes did not war out
and your feet did not swell during these forty years.
(Deuteronomy 8:2-4)

It is not because of
your righteousness or your integrity
that you are going in to take possession of their land;
but on account of the wickedness of these nations,
the Lord your God will drive them out before you,
to accomplish what He swore to your fathers,
to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Understand then,
that it is not because of your righteousness
that the Lord your God
is giving you this good land to possess,
for you are a stiff-necked people.
(Deuteronomy 9: 5-6)

AC 6746 - Zion & Jerusalmen

AC 6746 [4]
When "Zion and Jerusalem" are mentioned together,
the celestial church is signified by them,
by "Zion" the internal,
and by "Jerusalem" it external,
as before said;
but when "Jerusalem" is mentioned
without "Zion,"
then for the most part the spiritual church is signified.

Portions: Deuteronomy 2-4

The Lord said to me,
"Give the the people these orders:
'You are about to pass through the territory
of your brothers the descendants of Esau,
who live in Seir.
They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.
Do not provoke them to war,
for I will not give you any of their land,
not even enough to put your foot on.
I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own.
You are to pay them in silver
for the food you eat and the water you drink.'"
Then the Lord said to me,
"Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war,
for I will not give you any part of their land.
I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession."
(Deuteronomy 2:2,4-6,9)

We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead,
and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei,
towns of Og's kingdom in Bashan.
(Only Og king of Bashan 
was left of the remnant of the Rephaites.
His bed was made of iron
and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide.
[thireen feet long and six feet wide]
It is still in the Rabaah of the Ammonites.)
(Deuteronomy 3:10-11

Hear now, O Israel,
the decrees and laws I am about to teach you.
Follow them
so that you may live
and go in and take possession of the land
that the Lord,
the God of your fathers,
is giving you.
Do not add to what I command you
and do not subtract from it,
but keep the commands of the Lord your God
that I give you.
(Deuteronomy 4:1-2)

AC 6724 - the Lord's protection

AC 6724 [2]
When a a person is being reformed,
he is kept by the Lord as to his internal
in good and truth,
but as to his external
he is let into his evils and falsities,
consequently among infernal spirits
who are in these evils and falsities.
These hover round him,
and endeavor by every method to destroy him.
But the good and truth
which flow in through the internal
render him so safe
that the infernal spirits cannot do him the least harm;
for that which acts inwardly
prevails immeasurably
over that which acts outwardly;
because what is interior, in consequence of being purer,
acts upon each and every individual particular of the exterior,
and thus disposes the external to its will.

Portions: Numbers 35 - Deuteronomy 1

Then the Lord said to Moses:
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,
select some towns to be your cities of refuge,
to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee.
They will be places of refuge from the avenger,
so that a person accused of murder
may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.
(Numbers 35:9-12)

So Zelophehad's daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses.
Zelophehad's daughters -
Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah -
married their cousins on their father's side.
They married within the clans
of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph,
and their inheritance remained in their father's clan and tribe.
These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave
through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab
by the Jordan across from Jericho.
(Numbers 36: 10-13)

These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel
in the desert east of the Jordan - that is, in the Arabah -
opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel,
Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.
(It takes eleven days to go from Horeb
to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)
In the fortieth year,
on the first day of the eleventh month,
Moses proclaimed in to the Israelites
all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them.
(Deuteronomy 1:1-3)
(note:  Deuteronomy means 'second law')

AC 6706 - the quality of charity

AC 6706
The distinguishing differences of the neighbor,
which the person of the church ought to wholly know,
in order that he may know the quality of charity,
vary in accordance with the good which is with everyone;
and as all good proceeds from the Lord,
the Lord is the neighbor in the highest sense,
and in a surpassing degree;
and from Him the neighbor originates.
From this it follows
that in proportion as anyone has of the Lord in him,
in the same proportion he is the neighbor;
and as no two persons receive the Lord
(that is, receive the good which proceeds from Him)
in the same way,
therefore no two persons are the neighbor in the same way;
for without exception
all persons in the heavens and on earth differ in good.
Precisely one and the same good never exists in two persons;
it must vary in order for each person to subsist by himself.
But all these varieties,
thus all the distinguishing differences of the neighbor,
which are according to the reception of the Lord,
that is, of the good proceeding from Him,
can never be known to any person, nor even to any angel,
except in general . . ..
Nor does the Lord require more of the person of the church
than to live according to what he knows.
 

Portions: Numbers 30 - 34

The Lord said to Moses,
"Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites.
After that, you will be gathered to your people."

Then the officers who were over the units of the army -
the commanders of thousands and
the commanders of hundreds -
went to Moses and said to him,
"Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command,
and not one is missing.
So we have brought as an offering to the Lord
the gold articles each of us acquired -
armlets, bracelets, signet rings,
earrings and necklaces -
to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord."
(Numbers 31:1, 48-50)

The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses,
"We your servants will do as our lord commands.
Our children and wives, our flocks and herds
will remain here in the cities of Gilead.
But your servants,
every man armed for battle,
will cross over to fight before the Lord,
just as our lord says.
(Numbers 32: 25-27)

At the Lord's command
Moses recorded the stages in their journey.
This is their journey by stages: . . .

On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho
the Lord said to Moses,
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,
drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you.
Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols,
and demolish all their high places.
Take possession of the land and settle in it,
for I have given you the land to possess.
Distribute the land by lot,
according to our clans.
To a larger group give a larger inheritance,
and to a smaller group a smaller one.
Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs.
Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.
"'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land,
those you allow to remain will become
barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides.
They will give you trouble in the land where you live.
And I will do to you
what I plan to do to them.'"
(Numbers 33:2, 50-56)

Moses commanded the Israelites:
"Assign this land by lot as an inheritance.
The Lord has ordered that it be given
to the nine and a half tribes,
because the families of the tribe of Reuben,
the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh
have received their inheritance.
These two and a half tribes
have received their inheritance
on the east side of the Jordan of Jericho,
toward the sunrise."
(Numbers 34:13-15)

AC 6685 - spiritual life; AC 6690 - houses

AC 6685
. . . spiritual life is . . . to be in truths from good,
which proceed from the Lord.

AC 6690
"That He made them houses."
(Exodus 1:21)
. . . denotes to dispose them into order,
and they are disposed into order
when they are disposed into the heavenly form.

Portions: Exodus 27-30

Moses did as the Lord commanded him.
He took Joshua and had him stand before 
Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly.
Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him,
as the Lord instructed through Moses.
(Numbers 27:22-23)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Give this command to the Israelites and say to them:
'See that you present to me at the appointed time
the food for my offerings made by fire,
as an aroma pleasing to Me.'
(Numbers 28:1-2)

"'In addition to what you vow and your freewill offerings,
prepare these for the Lord at your appointed feasts:
your burnt offerings, grain offerings,
drink offerings and fellowship offerings.'"
Moses told the Israelites
all that the Lord commanded him.
(Numbers 29:39-40)

Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel:
"This is what the Lord commands:
When a man makes a vow to the Lord
or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge,
he must not break his word but must do everything he said."
(Numbers 30:1-2)

AC - 6663 - spiritual combat for eternal life & salvation

AC 6663
. . . he who defends his opinion against others who attack it,
confirms himself the more in his opinion,
and then also finds other confirmations of it
which he had not before observed . . .
and in this way he strengthens himself in his opinion . . ..
This is still more perfectly the case with spiritual combats,
because the combat takes place in the spirit,
and concerns goods and truths;
and especially because the Lord is present
and leads by the angels;
for the contest is concerning eternal life and salvation.
It is common in such combats
for the Lord to turn into good
all the evils which the hells intend;
wherefore it is not permitted them
to bring forth more or other evils
than can be turned into good that is suited to him
who is in combat.
The reason of this originates in the fact
that the Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses,
and therefore nothing can be done there
that is not a source of good.
 

Portions: Numbers 23-26

Then Balak said to Balaam,
"Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"
Balaam answered,
"Did I not tell you
I must do whatever the Lord says?"
(Numbers 23:25-26)

When Balaam looked out
and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe,
the Spirit of God came upon him
and he uttered his oracle:
"How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,
your dwelling places O Israel!
"Like valleys they spread out,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters."
(Numbers 24: 2-3,5-6)

Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;
but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
(Numbers 25:8-9)

These are the ones counted
by Moses and Eleazar the priest
when they counted the Israelites
on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
Not one of them was among those counted
by Moses and Aaron the priest
when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai.
For the Lord had told those Israelites
they would surely die in the desert,
and not one of them was left
except Caleb son of Jephunneh
and Joshua son of Nun.
(Numbers 26:63-65)

AC 6637 - the church is the church

AC 6637
. . . the church is the church
from spiritual good and from the derivative truths.
He who is not in spiritual good, that is,
in the good of charity, and in spiritual truths,
that is, in the truths of faith,
is not of the church,
in spite of his having been born within it.
For the whole heavenly kingdom of the Lord
is in the good of love and of faith;
and unless the church is in the like,
it cannot be the church,
because it is not conjoined with heaven,
for the church is the Lord's kingdom on earth.

[2] Its being called the church
is not from the fact that the Word is there,
and that there are doctrinal things therefrom,
nor from the fact that the Lord is known there,
and that the sacraments are there;
but it is the church from the fact
that all live according to the Word,
or according to doctrine from the Word,
and so that the doctrine is the rule of life.

Portions: Numbers 19-22

But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself,
he must be cut off from the community,
because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord.
The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him,
and he is unclean.
This is a lasting ordinance for them.
(Numbers 19:20-21)

At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom,
the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
"Aaron will be gathered to his people.
He will not enter the land I give the Israelites,
because both of you rebelled against my command
at the waters of Meribah.
Get Aaron and his son Eleazar
and take them up Mount Hor.
Remove Aaron's garments
and put them on his son Eleazar,
for Aaron will be gathered to his people;
he will die there."
(Numbers 20:23-26)

Then they turned and went up along the road
toward Bashan,
and Og king of Bashan and his whole army
marched out to meet them in battle at Edrei.
The Lord said to Moses,
"Do not be afraid of him,
for I have handed him over to you,
with his whole army and his land. 
Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites,
who reigned in Heshbon."
So they struck him down,
together with his sons and his whole army,
leaving them no survivors.
And they took possession of his land.
(Numbers 21:33-35)

Balaam said to the angel of the Lord,
"I have sinned.  I did not realize
you were standing in the road to oppose me.
Now if you are displeased,
I will go back."
The angel of the Lord said to Balaam,
"Go with the men,
but speak only what I tell you."
So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
(Numbers 22:34-35)

AC 6620 - a person's thought while saying the Lord's Prayer

AC 6619
The fact that the ideas constituting a person's thought
contain countless details,
and that the details they contain
are held in order from interior sources,
has also been evident to me
while I read the Lord's Prayer morning and evening.
And such things were also poured in as cannot be uttered,  
and also could not be comprehended by me;
I merely felt the general resulting affection,
and wonderful to say the things that flowed in
were varied from day to day.
From this I was given to know
that in the contents of this Prayer
there are more things
than the universal heaven is capable of comprehending;
and that with a person there are more things in it
in proportion as his thought has been opened toward heaven;
and on the other hand,
there are fewer things in it
in proportion as his thought has been closed;
for with those whose thought has been closed,
nothing more appears in the Prayer
than the literal meaning or that nearest the actual words.

Portions: Numbers 16-18

Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord,
"Do not accept their offering.
I have not taken so much as a donkey from them,
nor have I wronged any of them."
(Numbers 16:15)

The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony
and saw that Aaron's staff,
which represented the house of Levi,
had not only sprouted
but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.
(Numbers 17:8)

The Lord said to Aaron,
"You, your sons and your father's family
are to bear the responsibility
for the offenses against the sanctuary,
and you and your sons alone
are to bear the responsibility for offenses
against the priesthood.
(Numbers 18:1)

AC 6587 - the internal and external of the church

AC 6587 [2]
A church in order to exist must be internal and external,
for there are those who are in the internal of the church,
and those who are in its external;
the former are few,
but the latter are very numerous.
Nevertheless with those with whom is the internal church,
the external must be also,
for the internal of the church
cannot be separated from its external;
and also with those with whom is the external church,
the internal must be also,
but with these the internal is in obscurity.

Portions: Numbers 11-15

But Moses replied,
"Are you jealous for my sake?
I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets
and the the Lord would put His Spirit on them!"
(Numbers 11:29)

(Now Moses was a very humble man,
more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
He (the Lord) said, "Listen to my words:
"When a prophet of the Lord is among you,
I reveal Myself to him in visions,
I speak to him in dreams.
But this is not true of My servant Moses;
he is faithful in all My house.
With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?"
(Numbers 12:3,6-8)

When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said,
"Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country.
See what the land is like
and whether the people who live there
are strong or weak, few or many.
What kind of land do they live in?
Is it good or bad?
What kind of towns do they live in?
Are they unwalled or fortified?
How is the soil?  Is it fertile or poor?
Are there trees on it or not?
Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land."
(It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
(Numbers 13:17-20)

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:
"How long will this wicked community grumble against Me?
I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites.
So tell them,
'As surely as I live, declares the Lord,
I will do to you the very things I heard you say:
In this desert your bodies will fall -
every one of you twenty years old or more
who was counted in the census
and who has grumbled against me.
Not one of you will enter the land
I swore with uplifted hand to make your home,
except Caleb son of Jephunneh
and Joshua son of Nun.'"
(Numbers 14:26-30)

"'For the generations to come,
whenever an alien or anyone else living among you
presents an offering made by fire
as an aroma pleasing to the Lord,
he must do exactly as you do.
The community is to have the same rules
for you and for the alien living among you;
this is a lasting ordinance
for the generations to come.
You and the alien shall be the same before the Lord:
The same laws and regulations will apply
both to you and to the alien living among you.'"
(Numbers 15:14-16)

AC 6559 - it is a law in the other life; AC 6578 - hope & trust

AC 6559
. . . it is a law in the other life
that no one must become worse
than he had been in this world.

AC 6578
. . . "comforting" is said of the understanding,
and "speaking upon the heart," of the will;
therefore also his "comforting them" signifies hope,
for this is the understanding by means of truth;
and his "speaking upon their heart" signifies trust,
for this is of the will by means of good,
because genuine trust is impossible with any
but those who are in the good of charity;
and genuine hope with any
but those who are in the good of faith.

Portions: Numbers 8-10

Moses, Aaron and the whole Israelite community
did with the Levites just as the Lord commanded Moses.
The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes.
Then Aaron presented them
as a wave offering before the Lord
and made atonement for them to purify them.
After that,
the Levites came to do their work
at the Tent of Meeting under
the supervision of Aaron and his sons.
They did with the Levites
just as the Lord commanded Moses.
(Numbers 8:20-22)

On the day of the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony,
was set up, the cloud covered it.
From evening till morning
the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire.
That is how it continued to be:
the cloud covered it,
and at night it looked like fire.
Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent,
the Israelites set out;
wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped.
At the Lord's command the Israelites set out,
and at His command they encamped.
(Numbers 9:15-18)

The Lord said to Moses:
"Make two trumpets of hammered silver,
and use them for calling the community together
and for having the camps set out.
So they set out from the mountain of the Lord
and traveled for three days.
The ark of the covenant of the Lord
went before them during those three days
to find them a place to rest.
The cloud of the Lord was over them by day
when they set out from the camp.
Whenever the ark set out, Moses said,
"Rise up, O Lord!
May Your enemies be scattered;
may Your foes flee before You."
whenever it came to rest, he said,
"Return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel."
(Numbers 10:1,33-36)

AC 6554 - "burying"

AC 6554
The reason why 'burying'
means regeneration as well as resurrection,
and also the restoration to life
and establishment of the Church,
is that these operations which are meant
are similar to one another in what they entail;
for regeneration is resurrection,
in that when a person is being regenerated
he is being turned from one who is dead
into one who is alive, thus is rising again.
Similarly with the restoration to life
and establishment of the Church with a person,
for this is effected through regeneration,
thus through resurrection from death to life.

Portions: Numbers 4:21 - 7

So Moses and Aaron and all the leaders of Israel
counted all the Levites by their clans and families.
All the men from thirty to fifty years of age
who came to do the work of serving
and carrying the Tent of Meeting
numbered 8,580.
At the Lord's command through Moses,
each was assigned his work and told what to carry.
Thus they were counted,
as the Lord commanded Moses.
(Numbers 4:46-49)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Say to the Israelites:
'When a man or woman wrongs another in any way
and so is unfaithful to the Lord,
that person is guilty
and must confess the sin he has committed.
He must make full restitution for his wrong . . .'"
(Numbers 5:5-7)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Tell Aaron and his sons,
'This is how you are to bless the Israelites.
Say to them:
"'"The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn His face toward
and give you peace."'
"So they will put My name on the Israelites,
and I will bless them."
(Numbers 6:22-26)

These were the offerings
for the dedication of the altar
after it was anointed.
When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting
to speak with the Lord,
he heard the Voice speaking to him
from between the two cherubim
above the atonement cover
on the ark of the Testimony.
And he spoke with Him.
(Numbers 7:88-89)

AC 6525 - agreement

AC 6525
. . . the things which agree with good,
also agree with truth . . .

Portions: Numbers 1-4:20

The Lord spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting
in the Desert of Sinai
on the first day of the second month of the second year
after the Israelites came out of Egypt.  He said:
"Take a census of the whole Israelite community
by their clans and families,
listing every man by name, one by one."
The families of the tribe of Levi, however,
were not counted along with the others.
(Numbers 1:1-2, 47)

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:
"The Israelites are to camp
around the Tent of Meeting some distance from it,
each man under his standard
with the banners of his family.
So the Israelites did everything
the Lord commanded Moses;
that is the way they encamped under their standards,
and that is the way the set out,
each with his clan and family.
(Numbers 2:1-2, 34)

Moses and Aaron and his sons
were to camp to the east of the tabernacle,
toward the sunrise,
in front of the Tent of Meeting.
They were responsible for the care of the sanctuary
on behalf of the Israelites.
Anyone else who approached the sanctuary
was to be put to death.
(Numbers 3:38)

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:
"Take a census of the Kohathite branch of the Levites
by their clans and families.
Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age
who come to serve in the work in the Tent of Meeting.
"This is the work of the Kohathites in the Tent of Meeting:
the care of the most holy things."
(Numbers 4:1-4)

AC 6505, 6507 - temptation, change

AC 6505
. . . by means of temptations
evils and falsities are removed,
and the person is thereby prepared
to receive truths and goods.

AC 6507
For when the truth of the spiritual church becomes good,
a revolution takes place,
and the person no longer looks at truths from truths,
but from good . . ..
From this comes the sadness,
and it also comes from the fact
that a different order 
is effected among the memory-knowledges,
which is not effected without pain.

Portions: Leviticus 26 & 27

"'Do not make idols or set up an image
or a sacred stone for yourselves,
and do not place a carved stone in your land
to bow down before it.
I am the Lord your God.
"'Observe My Sabbaths
and have reverence for My sanctuary.
I am the Lord.
"'If you follow My decrees
and are careful to obey My commands,
I will send you rain in its season,
and the ground will yield its crops
and the trees of the field their fruit.
'"I will grant peace in the land,
and you will lie down
and no one will make you afraid.'"
(Leviticus 26:1-4,6)

"'But nothing that a man owns and devotes to the Lord -
whether man or animal or family land -
may be sold or redeemed;
everything so devoted is most holy to the Lord.'"
These are the commands the Lord gave Moses
on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
(Leviticus 27:28,34)

AC 6497 - Genesis 50

AC 6497
After treating of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
by whom in the supreme sense is represented the Lord,
this last chapter of Genesis
in the internal sense treats of the church -
that after the celestial church had perished,
a spiritual church was instituted by the Lord.
The beginning and progress of this church
are described in the internal sense,
and at the close of the chapter, its end;
and that in its stead
the mere representative of a church
was instituted among the descendants of Jacob.

Portions: Leviticus 21-25

The Lord said to Moses,
"Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron,
and say to them . . .."
So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons
and to all the Israelites.
(Leviticus 21:1,24)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect
the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to Me,
so that they will not profane My holy name.
I am the Lord."
(Leviticus 22:1)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
'These are My appointed feasts,
the appointed feasts of the Lord,
which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.'"
(Leviticus 23:1-2)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Command the Israelites to bring you
clear oil of pressed olives for the light
so the lamps may be kept burning continually.
Outside the curtain of the Testimony
in the Ten of Meeting,
Aaron is to tend the lamps before the Lord
from evening till morning, continually.
This is to be a lasting ordinance
for the generations to come.
The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord
must be tended continually."
(Leviticus 24:1-4)

"'Do not take advantage of each other,
but fear your God.
I am the Lord your God.
Follow My decrees and be careful to obey My laws,
and you will live safely in the land.
Then the land will yield its fruit,
and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.'"
(Leviticus 25:17-19)

AC 6476 - the Lord's Prayer; AC 6488, 6490 - the Lord's Providence

AC 6476
Whenever I have been reading the Lord's prayer,
I have plainly perceived an elevation toward the Lord
which was like an attraction, 
and at the same time my ideas were open,
and from this there was effected
a communication with some societies in heaven;
and I noticed that there was an influx from the Lord
into every detail of the prayer,
thus into every idea of my thought
that was from the meaning of the things in the prayer.
The influx was effected with inexpressible variety,
that is, not the same at one time as another;
and so it also was made evident
how infinite are the things contained in the prayer,
and that the Lord is present in every one of them.

AC 6488
. . . no one has ever been predestined to hell,
but that all have been predestined to eternal life.

AC 6490
Unless the Lord's Providence was present
in the most specific details,
a person could not possibly be saved or even have life,
since life comes from the Lord
and every moment of life
holds a series of consequences to eternity.

Portions: Leviticus 17-20)

(note:  Leviticus 17-26 are often called 'the Holiness Code')

"'Any Israelite or any alien living among you
who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten,
must drain out the blood and cover it with earth,
because the life of every creature is its blood.'"
(Leviticus 17: 13-14)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
'I am the Lord your God.
You must not do as they do in Egypt,
where you used to live,
and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan,
where I am bringing you.
Do not follow their practices.
You must obey my laws
and be careful to follow my decrees.
I am the Lord your God.
Keep my decrees and laws,
for the man who obeys them will live by them.
I am the Lord.'"
(Leviticus 18:1-5)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them:
'Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Each of you must respect his mother and father,
and you must observe my Sabbaths.
I am the Lord your God.'"
'"Rise in the presence of the aged,
show respect for the elderly and revere your God.
I am the Lord.'"
(Leviticus 19:1-2,32)

"'Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them,
so that the land where I am bringing you to live
may not vomit you out.
You must not live according to the customs of the nations
I am going to drive out before you.
Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.
But I said to you,
"You will posses their land;
I will give it to you as an inheritance,
a land flowing with milk and honey."
I am the Lord your God,
who has set you apart from the nations."
(Leviticus 20:22-24)

AC 6451, 6454 - the process

AC 6451 [2,3]
In person there is what is inmost,
there are interior things under the inmost,
and there are exterior things.
All these are most exactly distinct;
they succeed in order,
thus from the inmost down to the outermost;
according to the order in which they succeed,
they also flow in;
so it is that life flows
through the inmost into the interiors,
and through the interiors into the exteriors,
thus according to the order in which they succeed;
and it does not rest except in the ultimate of order,
where it stops.

[3] As all the interiors are together in the ultimate,
therefore the appearance is
as if life were in the ultimate,
that is, in the body;
when yet it is in the interiors,
nor yet there,
but in the highest,
that is, in the Lord,
from whom is the all of life.

AC 6454
Whatever is in the natural,
and especially what is in the exterior natural,
is obscure in comparison
with what is in the interior natural,
and still more so in comparison
with what is in the rational.
But this obscurity becomes clear in two ways;
first, if the exteriors
are brought into compliance with the interiors,
and thus into correspondence;
secondly, if the person can be elevated
from the exterior
to the interior things,
and thus to see the exterior things
from what is interior.
This latter way is possible
with those who are in the internal of the church,
and the former
with those who are in its external;
but neither the one nor the other is obtained
except through regeneration from the Lord.
From this it is plain what is meant
by the obscurity being capable of becoming clear.
(!)

Portions: Leviticus 14-16

These are the regulations for
any infectious skin disease, for an itch,
for mildew in clothing or in a house,
and for a swelling, a rash or bright spot,
to determine when something is clean or unclean.
These are the regulations for
infectious skin diseases and mildew.
(Leviticus 14:54-57)

"" You must keep the Israelites separate
from things that make them unclean,
so they will not die in the uncleanness
for defiling My dwelling place,
which is among them.'"
(Leviticus 15:31)

"' This is to be a lasting ordinance for you:
Atonement is to be made once a year
for all the sins of the Israelites."
And it was done,
as the Lord commanded Moses.
(Leviticus 16:34)

AC 6442 - when the Lord is present; AC 6443 - when first in heaven

AC 6442
. . . when the Lord is present
it shall be done,
is evident from the signification of "morning,"
as being in the supreme sense the Lord . . ..

AC 4663
. . . those who are being elevated into heaven
are at first in obscurity (evening);
for they cannot come to clearness
until they have been in heaven,
and have been instructed with respect to truths
by the Lord through the angels,
into whose society they are sent;
for there is need of time
in order that the obscurity induced by falsities
may be dissipated.

Portions: Leviticus 11-13

"I am the Lord
who brought you up out of Egypt
to be your God;
therefore be holy,
because I am holy.
These are the regulations concerning animals, birds,
every living thing that moves in the water,
and every creature that moves about on the ground.
You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean,
between living creatures that may be eaten
and those that may not be eaten.'"
(Leviticus 11:45-47)

"'These are the regulations for the woman
who gives birth to a boy or a girl.'"
(Leviticus 12:7)

These are the regulations concerning
contamination by mildew in woolen or linen clothing,
woven or knitted material or any leather article,
for pronouncing them clean or unclean.
(Leviticus 13:59)

AC 6432 - those who hear the Word of God and keep it

AC 6432 [8]
. . . the affections of truth which those have
who hear the Word of God;
and the affections of good
which those have who keep or do it.

Portions: Leviticus 5-10

If a person sins and does what is forbidden
in any of the Lord's commands,
even though he does not know it,
he is guilty and will be held responsible.
He is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering . . ..
In this way the priest will make atonement for him
for the wrong he has committed unintentionally,
and he will be forgiven.
It is a guilt offering;
he has been guilty of wrongdoing against the Lord.
(Leviticus 5:17-19)

The fire on the altar must be kept burning;
it must not go out.
(Leviticus 6:12)

These, then are the regulations for
the burnt offering,
the grain offering,
the sin offering,
the guilt offering,
the ordination offering
and the fellowship offering,
which the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai
on the day He commanded the Israelites
to bring their offerings to the Lord,
in the Desert of Sinai.
(Leviticus 7:37-38)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments,
the anointing oil,
the bull for the sin offering,
and the two rams
and the basket containing bread made without yeast,
and gather at the entire assembly
at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting."
Moses did as the Lord commanded him,
and the assembly gathered
at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
Then Moses took the anointing oil
and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it,
and so consecrated them.
(Leviticus 8:1-3,10)

Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting.
When they came out,
they blessed the people;
and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.
Fire came out from the presence of the Lord
and consumed the burnt offering
and the fat portions on the altar.
And when all the people saw it,
they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
(Leviticus 9:23-24)

Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers,
and put fire in them and added incense;
and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord,
contrary to His command.
So fire came out from the presence of the Lord
and consumed them,
and they died before the Lord.
Moses then said to Aaron,
"This is what the Lord spoke of when He said:
"'Among those who approach me
I will show Myself holy;
in the sight of all the people,
I will be honored.'"
Aaron remained silent.
(Leviticus 10:1-3)

AC 6419 - "To march upon the wall" (Genesis 49:22); AC 6423 - why truth is strong

AC 6419 [2]
"To march upon the wall"
(Genesis 49:22)
is said because in the internal sense
the subject treated of is assault on truth by falsities,
and defense of truth against falsity;
for the spiritual church,
which is represented by Joseph,
is continually being assaulted,
but the Lord continually defends it.
Consequently in the Word
what belongs to this church is compared to a city,
which has a wall, outworks, gates, and bars;
and by the assaults on that city
are described the assaults on truth by falsities;
so also a "city" signifies doctrinal things,
and its "wall" the truths of faith which defend it,
and in the opposite sense
the falsities which are being destroyed.
That a "wall" signifies the truths of faith which defend . . . :
    
We have a strong city;
salvation will He appoint for walls and bulwark.
Open ye the gates,
that the righteous nation 
which keeps faithfulness
may enter in.
(Isaiah 26:1)

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem;  
they shall not be silent all the day and the night,
keeping Jehovah in mind.
(Isa. 62:6)

AC 6423
The reason why truth is strong,
is that good acts through truth;
for good is of such a nature
that nothing of evil or of falsity can approach it,
thus none of the infernal crew,
who flee far away when good approaches,
or an angel who is in good.
But in order that good may fight with that crew
which is with a person from hell,
and protect him in every way,
. . .it acts through truth,
for in this way it can approach them.

Portions: Leviticus 1-4

The Lord called to Moses
and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting.
He said, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
'When any of you brings an offering to the Lord,
bring as your offering an animal
from either the herd or the flock.
It is a burnt offering,
an offering made by fire,
an aroma pleasing to the Lord.'"
(Leviticus 1:1-2,17)

"'When someone brings a grain offering to the Lord,
his offering is to be of fine flour.
He is to pour oil on it,
put incense on it and take it to Aaron's sons the priests.
The priest shall take a handful of the fine flour and oil,
together with all the incense,
and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar,
an offering made by fire,
an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons;
it is a most holy part of the offerings
made to the Lord by fire.'"
(Leviticus k:1-3)

"'If someone's offering is a fellowship offering,
and he offers an animal from the herd,
whether male or female,
he is to present before the Lord
an animal without defect.
The priest shall burn them on the altar as food,
an offering made by fire,
a pleasing aroma.
All the fat is the Lord's.
This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,
wherever you live:
You must not eat any fat or any blood.'"
(Leviticus 3:1,16-17)

The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites:
'When anyone sins unintentionally
and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands -
When he is made aware of the sin he committed,
he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed . . .
In this way the priest will make atonement for him
for the sin he has committed,
and he will be forgiven.
(Leviticus 4:1-2,28,35)

AC 6406 - works; AC 6410 - activity

AC 6406
Works are nothing
but good and truth themselves in outward form;
for good which is of the will,
and truth which is of the understanding,
when put forth into act,
are called "works;"
so it is evident that such as are the good and truth,
such are the works.

AC 6410
The delight from good
and the pleasantness from truth
which cause blessedness in heaven,
do not consist in idleness,
but in activity;
for in idleness delight and pleasantness
become undelight and unpleasantness;
but in activity delight and pleasantness
are permanent and constantly uplift,
and cause blessedness.
With those who are in heaven,
activity consists in the performance of uses
(which to them is delight from good),
and in relishing truths with the end of uses
(which to them is pleasantness from truth).

AC 6397 - judgment

AC 6397 [3]
. . . no person,
nor even an angel,
can judge any one;
for no one but the Lord alone
can know the interiors,
what they are
and what they will be,
and this to eternity.

Portions: Genesis 36-40

Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab
and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability
and who was willing to come and do the work.
They received from Moses
all the offerings the Israelites had brought
to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary.
And the people continued to bring freewill offerings
morning after morning
So all the skilled craftsmen
who were doing all the work on the sanctuary
left their work and said to Moses,
"The people are bringing more than enough
for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done."
Then Moses gave an order
and they sent this word throughout the camp
"No man or woman is to make anything else
as an offering for the sanctuary."
And so the people were restrained from bringing more,
because what they already had
was more than enough to do all the work.
(Exodus 36:2-7)

Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood -
two and a half cubits long,
a cubit and a half wide,
and a cubit and a half high.
They made the table of acacia wood -
two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.
They made the lampstand of pure gold
and hammered it out, base and shaft;
its flower-like cups, buds and blossoms 
were of one piece with it.
They made the altar of incense out of acacia.
It was square,
a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high -
its horns of one piece with it.
(Exodus 37:1,10,17,25)

They built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood,
three cubits high;
it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.
They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand
from the mirrors of the women
who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
Next they made the courtyard.
These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle,
the tabernacle of the Testimony,
which were recorded at Moses' command by the Levites
under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.
(Exodus 38:1,8-9,21)

From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn
they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary.
They also made sacred garments for Aaron,
as the Lord commanded Moses.
They made the ephod of gold,
and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn,
and of finely twisted linen.
They fashioned the breastpiece -
the work of a skilled craftsman.
They made it like the ephod:  of gold,
and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn,
and of finely twisted linen.
The Israelites had done all the work
just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Moses inspected the work
and saw that they had done it
just as the Lord had commanded.
So Moses blessed them.
(Exodus 39:1,2,8,42-43)

Then the Lord said to Moses:
"Set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting,
on the first day of the first month.
The the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting,
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day,
and fire was in the cloud by night,
in the sight of all the house of Israel
during all their travels.
(Exodus 40:1,34,38)

AC 6388
. . . (those) who are in genuine mutual love
are in their delight and bliss
when they are benefiting the neighbor,
for they desire nothing more.
This delight and bliss are what is meant by "hire" in the Word;
for the delight and bliss is itself the reward;
and in the other life this becomes the joy and happiness
which are in heaven, thus it becomes heaven to them.
For when they who are in this love perform uses,
and do good to others,
they are in such joy and happiness
that then for the first time
they seem to themselves to be in heaven;
this is given them by the Lord,
to everyone according to the uses he performs.
But the happiness vanishes as soon as they think of reward,
for being in the reward itself,
thought about reward renders that love impure, and perverts it;
the reason of which is
that they are then thinking about themselves,
and not about the neighbor,
that is, about making themselves happy,
and not others,
except Insofar as it affects themselves.

AC 6392
. . . (those) who are led by the Lord
desire nothing more than to do good works,
and that nothing is further than their thought
than of meriting by them. This is in the new will,
which is given by the Lord
to those who are being regenerated,
for this will is the will of the Lord in the person.

Portions: Exodus 32-35

When the people saw
that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain,
they gathered around Aaron and said,
"Come, make us gods who will go before us.
As for this fellow Moses
who brought us up out of Egypt,
we don't know what has happened to him."
Aaron answered them,
"Take off the gold earrings that your wives,
your sons and your daughters are wearing,
and bring them to me."
(Exodus 32:1-2)

Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it
outside the camp and some distance away,
calling it the "tent of meeting."
Anyone inquiring of the Lord
would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.
Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud
standing at the entrance to the tent,
they all stood and worshiped,
each at the entrance to his tent.
The Lord would speak to Moses face to face,
as a man speaks with his friend.
(Exodus: 33:7,10-11)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones,
and I will write on them the words 
that were on the first tablets which you broke.
Be ready in the morning, 
and then come up on Mount Sinai.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai
with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands,
he was not aware that his face was radiant
because he had spoken with the Lord.
(Exodus 34:1-2,29)

Then the whole Israelite community
withdrew from Moses' presence,
and everyone who was willing whose heart moved him
came and brought an offering to the Lord
for the work on the Tent of Meeting,
for all its service,
and for the sacred garments.
(Exodus 35:20-21)

AC 6386 - definitions

AC 6386
Doctrinal things are those which are from the Word;
knowledges are those which are from
doctrinal things on one side
and from memory-knowledges on the other;
and memory-knowledges are those which belong to experience,
either one's own or that of others.

Portions: Exodus 28-31

"Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron,
to give him dignity and honor.
Tell all the skilled men
to whom I have given wisdom in such matters
that they are to make garments for Aaron,
for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest.
These are the garments they are to make:
a breast piece, an ephod,
a robe, a woven tunic,
a turban and a sash.
They are to make these sacred garments
for your brother Aaron and his sons,
so they may serve Me as priests.
Have them use gold, and blue,
purple and scarlet yarn,
and fine linen."
(Exodus 28:2-5)

"So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar
and will consecrate Aaron and his sons
to serve Me as priests.
Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.
They will know that I am the Lord their God,
who brought them out of Egypt
so that I might dwell among them.
I am the Lord their God."
(Exodus 29:44-46)

Then the Lord said to Moses,
"Take fragrant spices
- gum resin, onycha and galbanum - and pure frankincense,
all in equal amounts,
and make a fragrant blend of incense,
the work of a perfumer.
It is to salted and pure and sacred.
Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves;
consider it holy to the Lord.
(Exodus 30:34-35,37)

When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai,
He gave him the two tablets of Testimony,
the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
(Exodus 31:18)

AC 6355 - truth is glory

AC 6355
. . . truth is glory to those who are in spiritual good.

Portions: Exodus 23-27

"Do not spread false reports.
Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.
"Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.
When you give testimony in a lawsuit,
do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,
and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit."
(Exodus 23:1-3)

Then He said to Moses,
"Come up to the Lord,
you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,
and seventy of the elders of Israel.
You are to worship at a distance,
but Moses alone is to approach the Lord;
the others must not come near."
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,
and the seventy elders of Israel went up
and saw the God of Israel.
Under His feet was something like a pavement
made of sapphire (lapis luzuli),
clear as the sky itself.
But God did not raise His hand
against these leaders of the Israelites;
they saw God,
and they ate and drank.
(Exodus 24:1-2,9-11)

The Lord said to Moses,
"Then have them make a sanctuary for Me,
and I will dwell among them.
Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings
exactly like the pattern I will show you."
(Exodus 25:1,8-9)

"Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet
yarn and finely twisted linen,
with cherubim worked into it by a skilled craftsman.
Hang it with gold hooks
on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold
and standing on four silver bases.
Hang the curtain from the clasps
and place the ark of the Testimony behind the curtain.
The curtain will separate
the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
Put the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony
in the Most Holy Place.
Place the table outside the curtain
on the north side of the tabernacle
and put the lampstand opposite it
on the south side."
(Exodus 26:31-35)

"Command the Israelites to bring you
clear oil of pressed olives for the light
so that the lamps may be kept burning.
In the Tent of Meeting,
outside the curtain that is in front of the Testimony,
Aaron and his sons
are to keep the lamps burning before the Lord
from evening till morning.
This is to be a lasting ordinance
among the Israelites for the generations to come."
(Exodus 27:20-21)

AC 6343 - the holiness of the Word

AC 6343 [2]
That the Word is holy,
and in its interiors most holy,
is very evident from the fact
that in every detail of the Word
there is the heavenly marriage,
that is, the marriage of good and truth, thus heaven;
and that in every detail of the inmost sense
there is the marriage of the Lord's Divine Human
with His kingdom and church;
and in the supreme sense there is the union
of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human in the Lord.
These most holy things are in every detail of the Word . . ..
That this is so may be seen from the fact
that where mention is made of good,
mention is made of truth also;
and where the internal is spoken of,
the external also is spoken of.
There are also words which constantly signify good,
and words which constantly signify truth,
and words which signify both good and truth;
and if they do not signify them,
still they are predicated of them, or involve them.
From the predication and signification of these words
it is plain that, as before said,
in every detail there is the marriage of good and truth,
that is, the heavenly marriage,
and in the inmost and supreme sense
the Divine marriage which is in the Lord,
thus the Lord Himself.

Portions: Exodus 19-22

In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt -
on the very day -
they came to the Desert of Sinai.
Then Moses went up to God,
and the Lord called to him from the mountain . . ..
The Lord said to Moses,
"I am going to come to you in a dense cloud,
so that the people will hear Me speaking with you
and will always put their trust in you."
(Exodus 19:1,3,9)

And God spoke all these words:
"I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery.
"You shall have no other gods before me . . ."
(Exodus 20:1-3)

"If a man hits a manservant or maidservant
in the eye and destroys it,
he must let the servant go free
to compensate for the eye.
And if he knocks out the tooth
of a manservant or maidservant,
he must let the servant to free
to compensate for the tooth."
(Exodus 21:26-27)

"If you lend money
to one of my people among you who is needy,
do not be like a money-lender;
charge him no interest.
If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge,
return it to him by sunset,
because his cloak
is the only covering he has for his body.
What else will he sleep in?
When he cries out to Me, I will hear,
for I am compassionate."
(Exodus 22:25-27)

AC 6333, 6340 - the Lord's Word unites angels and people

AC 6333 [3-4]
The Word is given in order to unite heaven and earth,
or angels with people;
and therefore it has been so written
that it may be spiritually understood by the angels,
when naturally understood by people,
and that in this way
what is holy may flow in through the angels,
by which means union is effected.
Such is the Word
in both the historical and the prophetical parts;
but the internal sense
is less apparent in the historical
than in the prophetical parts,
because the historical parts
have been written in a different style,
yet still by means of significatives.

The historical parts have been given
in order that infants and children
may thereby be initiated into the reading of the Word;
for the historical parts are delightful, and rest in their minds,
whereby communication is given them with the heavens;
and this communication is grateful,
because they are in a state of innocence and mutual charity.
This is the reason why there is an historical Word.
There is a prophetical Word,
because when it is read,
it is not understood by a person except obscurely,
and when it is understood obscurely
by such people as there are now,
it is perceived clearly by the angels . . ..

AC 6340
. . . they who are of the church should hear the Lord,
that is, should hear Him in the Word,
and what He there teaches with respect
to the truths of faith and the goods of love . . ..

Portions: Exodus 14-18

Then the angel of God,
who had been traveling in front of Israel's army,
withdrew and went behind them.
The pillar of cloud also moved from in front
and went behind them.
The pillar of cloud also moved from in front
and stood behind them,
coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.
Throughout the night
the cloud brought darkness to the one side
and light to the other side;
so neither went near the other all night long.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and all that night the Lord drove the seas back
with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land.
The waters were divided,
and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground,
with a wall of water on their right
and on their left.
(Exodus 14:19-22)

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
"In Your unfailing love You will lead
the people You have redeemed.
In Your strength You will guide them
to Your holy dwelling.
The Lord will reign for ever and ever."
(Exodus 15:1,13,18)

Then the Lord said to Moses,
"How long will you refuse to keep
My commands and My instructions?
Bear in mind
that the Lord has given you the Sabbath;
that is why on the sixth day
He gives you bread for two days.
Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day;
no one is to go out."
(Exodus 16:28-29)

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered,
and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.
As long as Moses held up his hands,
the Israelites were winning,
but whenever he lowered his hands,
the Amalekites were winning.
When Moses' hands grew tired,
they took a stone and put it under him
and he sat on it.
Aaron and Hur held his hands up -
one on one side, one on the other -
so that his hands remained steady until sunset.
So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
(Exodus 17:10-13)

Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things
the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them
from the hand of the Egyptians.
He said, "Praise be to the Lord
Who rescued you from the hand of the
Egyptians and of Pharaoh,
and Who rescued the people
from the hand of the Egyptians.
Now I know that the Lord
is greater than all other gods,
for He did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly."
(Exodus 18:9-11)

AC 6308, 6325 - what comes in and what goes out

AC 6308
. . . they who are in good can know . . . know from the Word
that there is something within
which fights against the evil and falsity with them,
and that the spiritual person fights against the natural;
thus the angels, who are in a person's interiors
and in his spiritual things,
(fights) against the evil spirits
who are in his exteriors and in his natural things;
and it is also from this that the church is called militant.
But the evil which flows into the thought from the evil spirits,
does the person no harm if he does not receive it;
but if he receives it and transfers it
from the thought into the will,
he makes it his own;
and he then goes over to the side of the infernal spirits,
and withdraws from the angels of heaven.
This is what the Lord teaches when He says
that the things which enter into a man
do not make him unclean;
but the things which go out of him,
because these go forth from the heart, that is, from the will.
(Mark 7:14-23)

AC 6325
It is an eternal truth that the Lord rules heaven and earth,
and also that no one besides the Lord lives of himself,
consequently that everything of life flows in
- the good of life from the Lord,
and the evil of life from hell.
This is the faith of the heavens.
When a person is in this faith
(and he can be in it when he is in good),
then evil cannot be fastened and appropriated to him,
because he knows that it is not from himself, but from hell.
When a person is in this state,
he can then be gifted with peace,
for then he will trust solely in the Lord.

Portions: Exodus 10-13

Then the Lord said to Moses,
"Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart
and the hearts of his officials
so that I may perform
these miraculous signs of Mine among them
that you may tell your children and grandchildren
how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians
and how I performed my signs among them,
and that you may know that I am the Lord."
(Exodus 10:1-2)

Moses and Aaron performed
all these wonders before Pharaoh,
but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart,
and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.
(Exodus 11:10)

So the people took their dough
before the yeast was added,
and carried on their shoulders
in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing.
Now the length of time
the Israelite people lived in Egypt
was 430 years, to the very day,
all the Lord's divisions left Egypt.
All the Israelites did
just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
And on that very day
the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt
by their divisions.
(Exodus 12:34, 40, 50)

When Pharaoh let the people go,
God did not lead them on the road
through the Philistine country, though that was shorter.
For God said, "If they face war,
they might change their minds and return to Egypt."
So God led the people around by the desert road
toward the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).
The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud
to guide them on their way
and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light,
so that they could travel by day or night.
Neither the pillar of cloud by day
nor the pillar of fire by night
left its place in front of the people.
(Exodus 13:17-18,21-22)

AC 6303 - "And God shall be with you." (Genesis 48:21)

AC 6303
And God shall be with you.
(Genesis 48:21)
. . . this signifies the Divine providence of the Lord,
. . . for when the Lord is with anyone,
He leads him, and provides that all things which happen,
whether sad or joyful, befall him for good:
this is the Divine providence.
The reason why it is called the providence "of the Lord"
is that it is said, "God shall be with you,"
and by "God" and by "Jehovah" in the Word is meant the Lord,
for there is no other God besides Him;
for He is the very Father
and He is the very Son,
for they are one;
the Father is in Him,
and He in the Father, as He Himself teaches

Jesus answered:
"Don't you know me, Philip,
even after I have been among you such a long time?
Anyone who has seen Me
has seen the Father.
How can you say,
'Show us the Father'?
Don't you believe that I am in the Father,
and that the Father is in Me?
The words I say to you are not just My own.
Rather, it is the Father, living in Me,
who is doing His work.
Believe Me when I say
that I am in the Father
and the Father is in Me;
or at least believe on the evidence
of the miracles themselves."
(John 14:9-11)

Portions: Exodus 6-9

Then the Lord said to Moses,
"Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh:
Because of My mighty hand he will let them go;
because of My mighty hand
he will drive them out of his country."
God also said to Moses,
"I am the Lord.
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob
as God Almighty,
but by my name the Lord
I did not make myself known to them."
(Exodus 6:1-3)

Then the Lord said to Moses,
"See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh,
and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
You are to say everything I command you,
and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh
to let the Israelites go out of his country.
But I will harden Pharaoh's heart,
and though I multiply
My miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt,
he will not listen to you.
Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them.
(Exodus 7:1-4,6)

Moses replied [to Pharaoh],
"It will be as you say,
so that you may know
there is no one like the Lord our God."
But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief,
he hardened his heart
and would not listen to Moses and Aaron,
just as the Lord had said,
(Exodus 8:10,15)

Then the Lord said to Moses,
"Get up early in the morning,
confront Pharaoh and say to him,
'This is what the Lord,
the God of the Hebrews says:
Let my people go, so that they may worship Me,
or this time I will send the full force
of My plagues against you
and against your officials
and your people,
so you may know
that there is no one like Me in all the earth.
(The flax and barley were destroyed,
since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom.
The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed,)
So Pharaoh's heart was hard
and he would not let the Israelites go,
just as the Lord had said through Moses.
(Exodus 9:13,31-32,35)

AC 6299 - an example of the internal and external of the church

AC 6299 [2-3]
. . . the natural, which is external,
must needs be regenerated;
for unless it is regenerated,
the internal has neither foundation nor receptacle;
and if it has no foundation nor receptacle,
it utterly perishes.

As an illustration of this matter take this example:
The very affection of charity
which a person feels within himself
as a quietude and bliss
in benefiting the neighbor
without regard to any recompense,
is the internal of the church;
but to will this good
and to do it from truth,
that is, because it has been so commanded in the Word,
is the external of the church.
If the natural, which is the external,
is not in agreement,
that is, does not will nor do this good,
because it sees in it no recompense,
thus nothing of self  . . .
then the internal has no foundation,
nor corresponding receptacle,
except such as either rejects, or perverts,
or extinguishes the influx;
and therefore the internal perishes,
that is, is closed and stopped up,
so that nothing from heaven
can pass into the natural through the internal . . ..
 

Portions: Exodus 1-5

Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly
and became exceedingly numerous,
so that the land was filled with them.
Then a new king,
who did not know about Joseph,
came to power in Egypt.
(Exodus 1:6-8)

When Pharaoh heard of this,
he tried to kill Moses,
but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian,
where he sat down by a well.
Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters,
and they came to draw water and fill the troughs 
to water their father's flock.
Some shepherds came along and drove them away,
but Moses got up and came to their rescue
and watered their flock.
(Exodus 2:15-17)

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro
his father-in-law, the priest of Midian,
and he led the flock to the far side of the desert
and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him
in flames of fire from within a bush.
Moses saw that though the bush was on fire
it did not burn up.
(Exodus 3:1-2)

Moses said to the Lord,
"O Lord, I have never been eloquent,
neither in the past
nor since you have spoken to your servant.
I am slow of speech and tongue."
The Lord said to him,
"Who gave man his mouth?
Who makes him deaf or mute?
Who gives him sight or makes him blind?
Is it not I, the Lord?
Now go; I will help you speak and teach you what to say."
But Moses said,
"O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
(Exodus 4:10-13)

Pharaoh said,
"Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him and let Israel go?
I do not know the Lord
and I will not let Israel go."
Then they said,
"The God of the Hebrews has met with us.
Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert
to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God,
or He make strike us with plagues or with the sword.
That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers
and foremen in charge of the people:
"You are no longer to supply the people
with straw for making bricks;
let them to and gather their own straw."
(Exodus 5:2-3,6-7)

AC 6280 - the Divine Human

AC 6280 [4]
. . . the Divine Itself could not appear
except through the Divine Human;
according to the Lord's words in John:

"No one has ever seen God, the only begotten Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father,
He hath set Him forth"
(John 1:18);

and in another place:

"You have neither ever heard the voice of the Father,
nor seen His shape."
(John 5:37)

Portions: Genesis 47-50

So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh.
The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields,
because the famine was too severe for them.
The land became Pharaoh's,
and Joseph reduced the people to servitude,
from one end of Egypt to the other.
Joseph said to the people,
"Now that I have bought you
and your land today for Pharaoh,
here is seed for you so you can plant the ground.
But when the crop comes in,
give a fifth of it to Pharaoh.
The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields
and as food for yourselves
and your households and your children."
(Genesis 47:20-21;23-24)

Some time later Joseph was told,
"Your father is ill."
So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim
along with him.
When Jacob was told
"Your son Joseph has come to you,"
Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.
(Genesis 48:1-2)

Then he gave them these instructions:
"I am about to be gathered to my people.
Bury me with my fathers
in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
the cave in the field of Machpelah,
near Mamre in Canaan,
which Abraham brought as a burial place
from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field.
There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried,
there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried,
and there I buried Leah.
The field and the cave in it
were bought from the Hittites.
When Jacob had finished
giving instructions to his sons,
he drew his feet up into the bed,
breathed his last
and was gathered to his people.
(Genesis 49:29-33)

Joseph stayed in Egypt,
along with all his father's family.
He lived a hundred and ten years
and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children.
Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh
were placed at birth of Joseph's knees.
(Genesis 50:22-23)