~ "Take a Census" ~

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.
You and Aaron are to number by their divisions
all the men in Israel twenty years old or more
who are able to serve in the army.
One man from each tribe,
each the head of his family,
is to help you."

(Numbers 1:1-3)

AE 400 - Mountains & Hills, External Worship; AE 401 - Angels

AE 400 [7, 9]

Mountains mean the church
where there is love to the Lord,
and hills the church
where there is love towards the neighbor . . ..

. . . where there is no internal worship,
external worship is not worship,
but only gesture and speech,
the thought which is then present
being from the natural memory alone,
and the affection from the body,
such as springs from the habit before people.

AE 401 [4]

"And I saw a strong angel coming down from heaven,
clothed with a cloud;
and a rainbow was around his head,
and his face was as the sun."
(Revelation 10:1)

For by angels, in the Word, in its spiritual sense,
are not meant angels,
but something Divine from the Lord,
because the Divine that appears from them
is not of them,
but of the Lord with them.
Similarly, the Divine truth which they speak,
and which is full of wisdom,
they do not speak from themselves, but from the Lord;
for they have been people,
and people derive
all wisdom and intelligence from the Lord.
So it is evident that by an angel in the Word
is meant the Lord,
who also on this occasion appeared as a Sun.

~ If You Follow My Decrees and If You Don't ~

"'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 it its season,
and the ground will yield its crops
and the trees of the field their fruit.
Your threshing will continue until grape harvest
and the grape harvest will continue until planting,
and you will eat all the food you want
and live in safety in your land.

"'I will grant peace in the land,
and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid.
I will remove savage beasts from the land,
and the sword will not pass through your country.
You will pursue your enemies,
and they will fall by the sword before you.
Five of you will chase a hundred,
and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand,
and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

"'I will look on you with favor
and make you fruitful and increase your numbers,
and I will keep My covenant with you.
You will still be eating last year's harvest
when you will have to move it out
to make room for the new.
I will put My dwelling place among you,
and I will not abhor you.
I will walk among you and be your God,
and you will be My people.'"

. . . '"But if you will not listen to Me
and carry out all these commands,
and if you reject My decrees and abhor My laws
and fail to carry out all My commands
and so violate My covenant,
then I will do this to you:
I will bring upon you sudden terror,
wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight
and drain away your life.
You will plant seed in vain,
because your enemies will eat it.
I will set My face against you
so that you will be defeated by your enemies;
those who hate you will rule over you,
and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.

(Leviticus 26:1-12, 14-17)

AE 395 - "Rejoice in Jehovah"; AE 397 - Angels and Spirits

AE 395 [12]

"I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah,
my soul shall exult in my God;
for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
He has covered me with a cloak of justice."
(Isaiah 61:10)

To rejoice in Jehovah,
means to rejoice in Divine good;
to exult in God, means, in the Divine truth;
for the Lord is called Jehovah from Divine good,
and God from Divine truth;
and all spiritual joy is from them.
To clothe with the garments of salvation,
means to instruct and gift with truths;
and to cover with a cloak of Justice,
means to fill with every truth from good,
a cloak denoting all truth
because it denotes truth in general,
justice being said of good.

AE 397

. . . all consociations (associations) in the spiritual world
are effected according to the agreement of affections,
and of the thoughts from them,
for angels and spirits are nothing
but affections and the thought from them
in a human form . . ..

~ The Year of Jubilee ~

"'Count off seven sabbaths of years --
seven times seven years --
so that the seventh sabbaths of years
amount to a period of forty-nine years.
Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere
on the tenth day of the seventh month;
on the Day of Atonement
sound the trumpet throughout your land.
Consecrate the fiftieth year
and proclaim liberty throughout the land
to all its inhabitants.
It shall be a jubilee for you;
each one of you is to return to his family property
and each to his own clan.
The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you;
do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself
or harvest the untended vines.
For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you;
eat only what is taken directly from the field.

"'In this Year of Jubilee
everyone is to return to his own property.

"'If you sell land to one of your countrymen
or buy any from him,
do not take advantage of each other.
You are to buy from your countryman
on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee.
And he is to sell to you on the basis of
the number of years left for harvesting crops.
When the years are many,
you are to increase the price,
and when the years are few,
you are to decrease the price,
because what he is really selling you
is the number of crops.
Do not take advantage of each other,
but fear your God.
I am the Lord your God.'"

(Leviticus 25:8-17)

~ During the Seventh Month ~

AE 395 [1, 2]

And white robes were given unto every one.
(Revelation 6:11)

. . . a white robe signifies Divine truth from the Lord.
All spirits and angels are clothed
according to their intelligence,
or according to the reception of truth in the life,
for this is intelligence,
and the light of their intelligence is formed into garments,
which, when they are so formed,
not only appear as garments,
but also are garments.
For all things that exist in the spiritual world,
and appear before their eyes,
exist from the light and heat
that proceed from the Lord as a Sun.
From this origin not only
are all things in the spiritual world created and formed,
but also all things in the natural world;
for the natural world exists and subsists
from the Lord through the spiritual world.

The white robes given to those who were under the altar,
also signify protection by the Lord,
because the white robes given to them,
represented the Lord's presence
with the Divine truth around them;
and the Lord by means of Divine truth protects His own,
for He surrounds them with a sphere of light,
from which they have white robes;
and when they are thus encompassed,
they can no longer be infested by evil spirits . . ..
This also takes place with those
who are raised by the Lord into heaven.
They are then clothed with white robes,
which is an indication that they are in Divine truth,
and thus in safety.
__________

AE = Apocalypse Explained
For more information: 
https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/

AE 392 - The Word of God

AE 392

What the Lord speaks is called the Word of God,
and this is Divine truth.
The Word or Sacred Scripture is nothing else;
for all Divine truth is contained therein,
but the truth itself does not appear there in its glory
except before the angels,
because the interior things of the Word,
which are spiritual and celestial,
come within their perception,
and also constitute their wisdom.
Therefore by the Word of God, in the genuine sense,
is signified Divine truth,
and in the highest sense, the Lord Himself, who spoke it,
for He spoke from Himself, or from His Divine,
and what proceeds from Him is also Himself.

~ Some of the Various Laws the Lord Gave Moses ~

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.

"'Do not turn to idols
or make gods of cast metal for your yourselves.
I am the Lord your God.

. . . '"When you reap the harvest of your land,
do not reap to the very edges of your field
or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
Do not go over you vineyard a second time
or pick up the grapes that have fallen.
Leave them for the poor and the alien.
I am the Lord your God.

"'Do not steal.

"'Do not lie.

"'Do not deceive one another.

"'Do not swear falsely by My name
and so profane the name of your God.
I am the Lord.

"'Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him.

"'Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.

"'Do not curse the deaf
or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,
but fear your God.
I am the Lord.

"'Do not pervert justice;
do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great,
but judge your neighbor fairly.

'''Do not go about spreading slander among your people.

"'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life.
I am the Lord.'"

(Leviticus 19:1-4, 9-16)

AE 386 - Hungering and Thirsting; AE 388 - The Church With a Person

AE 386 [28, 30]

By hungering and thirsting
are meant to be in ignorance and in spiritual want,
and by giving to eat and drink,
are meant to instruct and to enlighten
from spiritual affection or charity . . ..

That the Lord thirsted we read in John:

"Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst.
And there had been placed a vessel full of vinegar;
and they filled a sponge, and put it upon hyssop,
and put it to His mouth.
And when Jesus had received the vinegar He said,
It is finished."
(John 19:28-30)

Those who think of these things only naturally
and not spiritually,
may suppose that they involve nothing more than
that the Lord thirsted,
and that then vinegar was given to Him;
but because all things
which the Scripture said concerning Him
were then consummated (completed, made pure),
and He came into the world to save mankind,
therefore He said, I thirst,
by which is meant that from Divine love
He willed and desired the salvation of the human race.
But that vinegar was given to Him,
means that in the coming church
there would be no genuine truth,
but truth mingled with falsities,
such as exist with those who separate faith from charity,
or truth from good,
this being meant by vinegar.
Their putting it upon hyssop
meant a certain purification of it,
for by hyssop is meant an external means of purification.

AE 388 [1, 5]

The church with a person is mentioned
because the church is in a person;
for a church is a church from charity and faith,
and these are in a person;
and if these are not present,
there is no church with him.
It is believed that the church exists where the Word is,
and where the Lord is known;
but yet the church consists only of those
who from the heart
acknowledge the Divine of the Lord,
and who learn truths from the Lord by the Word,
and do them;
no others constitute the church. 

. . . when the church with a person is devastated,
that is, when the truth of the church is no longer believed,
then a person becomes sensual,
believing nothing but what he can see with his eyes,
and touch with his hands,
and such a person gives himself up wholly
to the love of self and the love of the world, thus to lusts.
___________

signify - means;  signified - meant

AE - Apocalypse Explained
Apocalypse means the book of Revelation

~ I Am the Lord Your God ~

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 - Old Testament)

AE 381, 384, 386 - The Lack of Goods and Truths

AE 381. (v. 8)

And I looked, and behold a pale horse.
(Revelation 5:8)

That this means not any understanding of the Word,
from evils of life and then from the falsities from them.
In this and the following chapter,
the successive states of the church are treated of,
that is, of the people of the church,
as to their spiritual life;
and their first state is described by the white horse,
the second by the red horse,
the third by the black horse,
and the fourth by the pale horse.
That by the white horse is meant
the understanding of truth from the Word;
that by the red horse is meant
the understanding of the Word perished as to good;
that by the black horse is meant
the understanding of the Word perished as to truth.
So it is now clear that by the pale horse is meant
not any understanding of the Word,
from evils of life and falsities from them.
For when the understanding of the Word is destroyed
as to good and truth,
it follows that there is no understanding of the Word;
and the reason why there is none, is,
because evil of life and the falsity from them bear rule.

AE 384

And power was given unto them
over the fourth part of the earth to kill.
(Revelation 5:8)

That this signifies deprivation of all good
and consequently of all truth from the Word,
and then also in the doctrine of their church
from the Word . . ..

AE 386 [12, 17]

The Divine truth which constitutes the church
is meant by glory . . ..

That famine in the Word also means
ignorance of the knowledges of truth and good,
as applied to those who know
that there are such knowledges and then desire them,
is plain from the following passages. In Matthew:

"Blessed are they who hunger for justice,
for they shall be filled."
(Matthew 5:6)

To hunger for justice means to desire good,
for in the Word justice is said of good.

And in Luke:

"God hath filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he has sent empty away."
(Luke 1:53)

They that hunger denote those
who are in ignorance of the knowledges of truth and good,
and yet in the desire of them and the rich,
those who possess in abundance those knowledges,
but have no desire for them.
That the former are enriched,
is meant by God filling them with good things;
and that the latter are deprived thereof,
is meant by God sending them away empty.

~ The Scapegoat ~

"When Aaron has finished making atonement
for the Most Holy Place,
the tent of Meeting and the altar,
he shall bring forward the live goat.
He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat
and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion
of the Israelites --
all their sins --
and put them on the goat's heat.
He shall send the goat away into the desert
in the care of a man appointed for the task.
The goat will carry on itself
all their sins to a solitary place;
and the man shall release it in the desert.

(Leviticus 16:20-22)
___________________________

AC 9937 [8]

The removal of sins with those who are in good,
that is, those who have practiced repentance,
was represented in the Jewish Church
by the he-goat called "Asasel,"
upon the head of which Aaron was to lay his hands . . ..
By Aaron is here represented the Lord;
by "the he-goat" is signified faith;
by "the wilderness," and "the land of separation," hell;
and by "bearing thither the iniquities of the sons of Israel"
is signified to remove them, and cast them into hell.
No one can know that such things were represented,
except from the internal sense . . ..
The internal sense therefore teaches
what these things involve, namely,
that it is the truth of faith by means of which
a person is regenerated,
consequently by means of which sins are removed;
and because the faith of truth is from the Lord,
it is the Lord Himself who effects this;
That "the wilderness" denotes hell,
is because the camp in which the sons of Israel were
signified (meant) heaven;
and therefore the wilderness is called
a "land of separation," or of "cutting off."
Thus by "bearing iniquities into that land,"
that is into the wilderness,
is signified to cast evils and falsities into hell,
from which they are;
and they are cast out when they are removed
so as not to appear,
which is effected when a man is withheld from them
by being kept in good by the Lord . . ..

AE 376 - There Must Be No Harm

AE  376 [1-3]

It has thus far been shown that "oil" signifies celestial good,
which is the good of love to the Lord;
it shall now be shown that "wine" signifies spiritual good,
which is the good of charity towards the neighbor
and the good of faith;
and as this good in its essence is truth,
it is said in the general explanation that
"the oil and the wine hurt not,"
which signifies that there must no harm be done
to the internal or spiritual sense of the Word
in respect either to good or to truth,
or what is the same,
that there must no harm be done to the goods and truths
which are in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word.
The good of charity and the good of faith
in their essence are truth,
because that good is implanted by the Lord
in person's intellectual part by means of the truths
that are called the truths of faith,
and when a person lives according to these truths
they become goods;
for by means of truths a new will is formed in that part,
and whatever proceeds from the will is called good.
This will, moreover, is the same as conscience,
and conscience is a conscience of truth,
for it is formed by truths of every kind
from the doctrine of the church,
and from the sense of the letter of the Word.
From this now it is that "wine" signifies truth.

Furthermore,
there are goods and truths internal and external;
internal goods and truths are signified
by "the oil and the wine" that must not be hurt;
but external goods and truths are signified
by "wheat and barley."
External goods and truths are those
that are in the sense of the letter of the Word,
while internal goods and truths are those
that are in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word;
or external goods and truths are such
as are in the lower heavens with the angels there,
that is, in the ultimates of heaven,
while internal goods and truths are such
as are in the higher heavens with the angels there,
that is, in the third and second heavens.
These goods and truths
are genuine goods and truths themselves,
but the former are truths and goods
because they correspond,
thus are correspondences;
internal goods and truths have
immediate communication with the angels of heaven,
while external goods and truths
have not an immediate but a mediate communication
through correspondences.
This is why the Jews,
because they were only in the sense of the letter
and had no knowledge
of the signification of things in the spiritual sense,
were unable to do harm to the spiritual sense
in respect either to good or to truth,
and consequently were unable to do harm
to genuine goods and truths.
So the Christian Church at this day
is unable to do harm to the genuine goods and truths
which are in the spiritual sense of the Word,
for it has been ignorant of that sense,
and at the same time
ignorant of genuine goods and truths.

The spiritual sense of the Word
was not disclosed to Christians,
because genuine goods and truths,
such as are in the higher heavens,
lie concealed in the spiritual sense of the Word;
and so long as these goods and truths
were unperceived and unknown
that sense could not be opened,
since these goods and truths could not be seen.
In the Christian churches
genuine goods and truths
have not been perceived and known
for the reason that those churches have been divided,
in general, into the Papal and the Evangelical;
and those in the Papal Church
are utterly ignorant of truths,
because they do not depend upon the Word,
thus upon the Lord who is the Word, that is, Divine truth,
but upon the pope,
from whose mouth scarcely anything proceeds
except what is from the love of ruling,
and that love is from hell;
therefore with them
scarcely a single truth of the church exists;
while in the Evangelical churches
faith alone has been assumed as
the essential means of salvation,
and as a consequence the good of love and charity
has been rejected as nonessential,
and where good is rejected
no truth which is truth in itself can exist,
since all truth is from good;
for the Lord flows into a person's good,
and by means of good
illustrates him and gives him the light to perceive truths,
therefore without that light,
which is a person's very spiritual life,
there is no truth, however much it may sound like truth
because it is from the Word;
it is truth falsified by the ideas
that are held in respect to it;
for from faith separate from charity,
or from truths without good,
no other result can follow.
This is why the spiritual sense of the Word
could not be disclosed to the Christian churches,
for if it had been disclosed,
they would have falsified and perverted it
by ideas from fallacies,
and thus would have profaned it.
This also is why no one will ever hereafter
be admitted into the spiritual sense of the Word
unless he is in genuine truths from good,
and no one can be in genuine truths from good
unless in heart he acknowledges
the Lord alone as the God of heaven and earth,
for from Him is every good and thence every truth.
The spiritual sense of the Word is at this day opened,
and therewith also genuine truths and goods are disclosed,
because the Last Judgment
has been accomplished by the Lord,
and thus all things in the heavens and in the hells
have been reduced to order;
and for this reason it can be provided by the Lord
that no harm can be done to genuine truths and goods,
which are in the spiritual sense of the Word,
and this could not have been provided before.

~ The Person to be Cleansed ~

"The person to be cleansed must wash his clothes,
shave off all his hair and bathe with water;
then he will be ceremonial clean.
After this he may come into the camp,
but he must stay outside his tent for seven days.
On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair;
he must shave his head, his beard, his eyebrows
and the rest of his hair.
He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water,
and he will be clean.

"On the eighth day
he must bring two male lambs
and one ewe lamb a year old,
each without defect,
along with three-tenths of an ephah
of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering,
and one log of oil.
The priest who pronounces him clean
shall present both the one to be cleansed
and his offerings before the Lord
at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting."

(Leviticus 14:8-11)

AE 375 - Th Good Samaritan and The Ten Virgins

AE 375 [41-42]

Because "oil" signified (means) the good of love to the Lord,
and the good of charity towards the neighbor:

The Lord likened the kingdom of the heavens to ten virgins,
of whom five had oil in the lamps,
and five had not;
therefore the latter were called foolish,
and the former prudent.
(Matthew 25:1-11)

"The ten virgins" signify all who are of the church;
and "five" signify some or a part of them,
for such is the signification of the numbers
"ten" and "five" in the Word;
and "virgin" or "daughter" signifies the church;
"oil" signifies the good of love to the Lord
and the good of charity towards the neighbor;
and "lamps" signify the truths
that are called the truths of faith.
From this the meaning of these words
in the spiritual sense can be seen,
namely, that the virgins that had no oil in their lamps,
and consequently were not admitted into heaven,
are those who know truths from the Word,
or from the doctrine of the church,
and yet are not in the good of love and charity,
that is, do not live according to these truths;
while the virgins who had oil in their lamps,
and were received into heaven,
are those who are in the good of love and charity,
and so in truths from the Word
or from the doctrine of the church;
which makes clear why
the latter virgins are called "prudent,"
and the former "foolish."

Because "oil" signified the good of love and charity,
and "wine" signified truth:

The Lord says of the Samaritan,
who as he journeyed
saw in the way a man wounded by thieves,
that he poured oil and wine into his wounds,
and then set him on his own beast,
and brought him to an inn,
and told them to care for him.
(Luke 10:33-35)

In the spiritual sense these things are perceived:
"the Samaritan" means the Gentiles
that were in the good of charity towards the neighbor;
"the man wounded by thieves"
means those who are infested by those from hell,
who are thieves because they injure and destroy
a person's spiritual life;
the "oil and wine that he poured into his wounds"
mean things spiritual that heal man,
"oil" good, and "wine" truth;
that "he set him on his own beast"
signifies that he did this according to his intelligence
so far as he was able,
"horse," and likewise "beast of burden"
signifying the intellect;
that "he brought him to an inn
and told them to care for him"
signifies to bring to those that are well instructed
in the doctrine of the church from the Word,
and who are better able to heal him
than one who is still in ignorance.
Thus are these words understood in heaven,
and from them it is evident that the Lord
when He was in the world
spoke by pure correspondences,
thus for the world and for heaven at the same time.
____________________________

signify = means

~ Be Holy ~

I am t he Lord
who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God;
therefore be holy,
because I am holy.

(Leviticus 11:45)

AE 368 - "For a Penny"

AE 368 - Revelation 6:6

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four animals saying,
"A measure of wheat for a penny,
and three measures of barley for a penny,"
means that the genuine good of the church
is of no account to them,
and also the genuine truth of the church;
"and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine,"
signifies that it is provided that
the internal or spiritual. sense of the Word
should not be injured either as to good or as to truth.

 

~ The First Sacrifices ~

On the eighth day Moses summoned
Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.
He said to Aaron,
"Take a bull calf for your sin offering
and a ram for your burnt offering,
both without defect,
and present them before the Lord.
Then say to the Israelites:
'Take a male goat for a sin offering,
a calf and a lamb --
both a year old and without defect --
for a burnt offering,
and an ox and a ram for a fellowship offering
to sacrifice before the Lord,
together with a grain offering mixed with oil.
For today the Lord will appear to you."

They took the things Moses commanded
to the front of the tent of Meeting,
and the entire assembly came near
and stood before the Lord.
Then Moses said,
"This is what the Lord has commanded you to do,
so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you."

. . . Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people
and blessed them.
And having sacrificed the sin offering,
the burnt offering
and the fellowship offering,
he stepped down.

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 9:1-6, 22-24)

AE 365 - Enlightenment and Peace

AE 365 [2, 3, 12, 40]

. . . when the understanding of the Word is destroyed,
dissensions arise in the church.
By good is meant the good of love to the Lord,
and the good of love towards the neighbor,
because all good is of love;
when these goods do not exist
with the people of the church,
then the Word is not understood;
for the conjunction of the Lord
and the conjunction of heaven
with the person of the church is by good;
therefore, if there is no good with him,
no enlightenment can be given;
for all enlightenment, when the Word is read,
is out of heaven from the Lord;
and when there is no enlightenment,
then the truths that are in the Word are in obscurity,
[and] then dissensions arise.
That the Word is not understood if man is not in good,
is evident from this fact,
that in every particular of the Word
there is the heavenly marriage,
that is, the conjunction of good and truth;
therefore, if good is not present
to a person reading the Word,
neither does truth appear,
for truth appears from good,
and good by means of truths.

The state of the case is this:
in proportion as a person is in good,
in the same proportion the Lord flows in,
and gives the affection of truth,
and consequently understanding;
for the interior human mind
is altogether formed as an image of heaven,
and all heaven is formed
according to the affections of good,
and of truth from good;
therefore, unless good is with a person,
that mind cannot be opened,
still less can it be formed for heaven;
it is formed by the conjunction of good and truth.
From this it is also evident,
that unless a person is in good,
truths have not any ground in which they may be received,
nor heat from which they may grow:
for truths with the person who is in good,
are like seeds in the ground in the time of spring;
whereas truths with the person who is not in good,
are like seeds in ground
bound by frost in the time of winter,
when there is neither grass, nor flower,
nor tree, still less fruit.

. . . when evils and falsities are removed,
and no longer infest,
then the Lord flows in with peace . . ..

"The work of Jehovah is peace;
and the labor of justice
quietness and security even for ever;
that My people may dwell in a habitation of peace,
and in tents of securities,
and in quiet resting-places.
(Isaiah 32: 17, 18)

Peace is called the work of Jehovah,
because it is solely from the Lord,
and everything that exists by virtue of peace from the Lord,
with those who are in conjunction with the Lord,
is called the work of Jehovah;
so it is said, the work of Jehovah is peace.
The labor of justice signifies good conjoined with truth,
in which peace consists;
for labor in the Word is predicated of truth,
justice of good,
and quietness of the peace therein.
Security for ever signifies
that so there will be
no infestation and fear from evils and falsities.
Consequently it is evident what is signified by,
"that My people may dwell in a habitation of peace,
and in tents of securities, and in quiet resting-places,"
namely, that they are in heaven where the Lord is,
and from there in the good of love and of worship
infestation from the hells,
and thus in the delights of good
and the pleasantnesses of truth.
The habitation of peace
denotes heaven where the Lord is;
tents of securities denote the goods of love
and of the consequent worship
without infestation by evils and falsities from hell;
and quiet resting-places denote the delight of good,
and the pleasantnesses of truth.

~ Eating Fat and Blood Forbidden ~

The Lord said to Moses,
"Say to the Israelites:
'Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats.
The fat of an animal found dead or torn by wild animals
may be used for any other purpose,
but you must not eat it.
Anyone who eats the fat of an animal
from which an offering by fire may be made to the Lord
must be cut off from his people.
And wherever you live,
you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal.
If anyone eats blood,
that person must be cut off from his people.'"

(Leviticus 7:22-27)
____________________________

AE 750

As the ultimate life of a person, which is the life of his body,
consists in the blood, it is said that "the soul of all flesh,"
that is, the life thereof, "is its blood;"
but as there is a spiritual sense
in every least particular of the Word,
and in that sense "blood" signifies (means)
the truth of doctrine from the Word,
therefore this too is signified by "the soul of flesh."
. . . Because this is the signification of blood,
the sons of Israel were forbidden to eat blood;
therefore the blood of the burnt-offerings and sacrifices
was sprinkled about the altar,
and by the blood
sanctifications and also consecrations were effected;
so likewise the covenant of the God of Israel,
that is, of the Lord,
with the people was entered into by blood;
and furthermore, the Lord has entered into a new covenant
with the church of this day.
This is why the blood of the Lord is called
"the blood of the covenant,"
that is, of conjunction with the Lord;
and it is so called because it is Divine truth
proceeding from the Lord that conjoins.
From this it is clear why blood is called "soul."