Spiritual Meaning of EXODUS 33:1-3
next  -  text  -  summary  -  Exodus  -  BM Home  -  Full Page

AC 10524. Verses 1-3. And Jehovah spake unto Moses, Go, go up from hence, thou and the people which thou hast made to come up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land of which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To thy seed will I give it; and I will send an angel before thee, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; unto a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in the midst of thee; because thou art a stiff-necked people. Perchance I should consume thee in the way. "And Jehovah spake unto Moses," signifies instruction concerning the quality of the worship and of the church with the Israelitish nation; "Go, go up from hence, thou and the people which thou hast made to come up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land," signifies that this nation is to represent the church, but that no church shall be in it, because it cannot be raised from external things; "of which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To thy seed will I give it," signifies that it is promised to those who from the Lord are in the good of love and in the truths of faith; "and I will send an angel before thee," signifies the Divine of the Lord from which is the church and its worship; "and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite," signifies the casting out thence of all evils and falsities; "unto a land flowing with milk and honey," signifies what is pleasant and delightful from the good of faith and of love; "for I will not go up in the midst of thee," signifies that nevertheless the Divine was not with the nation itself; "because thou art a stiff-necked people," signifies that they do not receive any influx from the Divine; "perchance I should consume thee in the way," signifies that if what is Divine were to flow in with this nation it would perish.

AC 10525. And Jehovah spake unto Moses. That this signifies instruction concerning the quality of the worship and of the church with the Israelitish nation, is evident from the signification of "speaking," when by Jehovah, as being instruction (n. 10280). The reason why it signifies instruction concerning the quality of the worship and of the church with the Israelitish nation, is that this is the subject treated of in this chapter, as can be seen from its contents as given above (n. 10523).

AC 10526. Go, go up from hence, thou and the people which thou hast made to come up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land. That this signifies that this nation is to represent the church, but that no church shall be in it, because it cannot he raised from external things, is evident from the signification of "going up unto the land," as being to institute the church, for by "land" or "earth" in the Word is signified the church (n. 9325); and by "going up unto it" is signified to institute the church, because for this reason they were led there, or "went up." But here it does not signify to institute the church, but only to represent it, because that nation was in external things without what is internal, and the church with man is in his internal. As in this case it does not signify to institute a church, but only to represent those things which are of the church, therefore it is said, "Go, go up from hence, both thou and the people which thou hast made to come up out of the land of Egypt," thus which Moses made to come up, but not Jehovah; and in a subsequent verse, "I will not go up in the midst of thee, because thou art a stiff-necked people," by which is signified that the Divine is not with them; and where the Divine is not received in the internal, there is not the church, but only an external that is representative of the church. And from the signification of "making to come up out of the land of Egypt," as being to be raised from external things to what is internal, but here, not to be raised, because it is said that Moses made them to come up, and not that Jehovah did so. That this is signified by "making to come up out of the land of Egypt," see in n. 10421. That there was not a church with the Israelitish nation, but only the representative of a church, (n. 4281, 4288, 4311, 4500, 4899, 4912, 6304, 7043, 9320); and everywhere in the preceding chapter.

AC 10527. Of which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To thy seed will I give it. That this signifies that it is promised to those who from the Lord are in the good of love and in the truths of faith, is evident from the signification of "swearing," when by Jehovah, as being confirmation by the Divine in the internal man (n. 2842, 3375, 9166), thus also a promise from the Divine, for that which is promised by the Divine is also confirmed; from the representation of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, as being in the supreme sense the Lord in respect to the Divine Itself and the Divine Human, and in the relative sense, as being heaven and the church (n. 3245, 3251, 3305, 4615, 6098, 6185, 6276, 6804, 10445); and from the signification of their "seed," as being those who are in the good of love and in the truths of faith from the Lord: thus in the abstract sense the good of love and the truth of faith (n. 3373, 10445).

AC 10528. And I will send an angel before thee. That this signifies the Divine of the Lord from which is the church and its worship, is evident from the signification of "an angel," as being in the supreme sense the Lord as to the Divine Human, and in the relative sense the Divine of the Lord in heaven with the angels, as also in the church with men; and from the signification of "sending before thee," as being to prepare. That in the supreme sense "an angel" denotes the Lord as to the Divine Human, (n. 1925, 3039, 6280, 6831, 9303); that in the relative sense it denotes the Divine of the Lord in heaven with the angels, (n. 1925, 2821, 4085, 6831, 8192). From this it follows that "an angel" also signifies the Divine of the Lord with the men who receive it; for men who are in the good of love and in the truths of faith in the Lord from the Lord, after death become angels; and those who do so are angels inwardly even while they live in the world. From this it is that in the Word John the Baptist is called an "angel," as in Luke:--

that here "angel" denotes the Divine of the Lord with him is plain in Malachi:--

that the Divine of the Lord is there meant by "angel" is because John the Baptist represented the Lord in respect to the Word, even as Elijah did, and the Word is Divine truth which is from the Lord. That Elijah represented the Word, see (n. 2135a, 2762, 5247); and that John the Baptist did so, (n. 9372). And whereas in the supreme sense the Lord as to the Divine Human is the "Angel," therefore it is said, "the Lord shall come to His temple, even the Angel of the covenant;" "the temple" denotes His Divine Human, as is evident in (John 2:18-22). The reason why He is called both "Lord" and "Angel," is that He is called "Lord" from Divine good, and "Angel" from Divine truth. As "Jehovah" in the Word denotes the Lord Himself, therefore it is said, "I send Mine Angel, who shall prepare the way before Me." This is said by Jehovah.

AC 10529. And I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. That this signifies the casting out thence of all evils and falsities, is evident from the representation of the nations in the land of Canaan, as being the evils and falsities of the church and of worship (n. 9320, 9327); but what particular evil and falsity is signified by each nation may be seen in the explications given, where they are treated of; as, concerning the Canaanite, (n. 1573, 1574, 4818); concerning the Amorite, (n. 1857, 6306, 6859); concerning the Hittite, (n. 2913, 6858); the Perizzite, (n. 1573, 1574, 6859); the Hivite and the Jebusite, (n. 6860).

AC 10530. Unto a land flowing with milk and honey. That this signifies what is pleasant and delightful from the good of faith and of love, is evident from the signification of "land," as being the church (n. 9325); from the signification of "milk," as being spiritual good, which is the good of faith (n. 2184); from the signification of "honey," as being celestial good, which is the good of love; and from the signification of "flowing," as being to be full. And because these things are signified by "a land flowing with milk and honey," that which is pleasant and delightful from the good of faith and of love is also signified (n. 5620). It is said what is pleasant and delightful from these, because heavenly pleasantness and delight itself is in the good of faith and of love; for every good has its delight, for that is called good which is loved, and all delight is of love. The delight which is meant by heavenly joy, and by eternal happiness, is from no other source than the love of truth and of good. That this delight is superior to any delight of any love whatsoever that is to be found in the world, is quite unknown to those who make all delight to consist in worldly, bodily, and earthly things.

AC 10531. For I will not go up in the midst of thee. That this signifies that nevertheless the Divine was not with the nation itself, is evident from the signification of "not going up in the midst of the people," when this is said by Jehovah, as being that the Divine was not in the nation itself; thus that there was no church; for the Divine is where the church is; for "to go up unto the land" denotes to constitute the church (n. 10526); and "in the midst of thee" denotes in its internal.

AC 10532. For thou art a stiff-necked people. That this signifies that they do not receive any influx from the Divine, is evident from what was shown above (n. 10429), where like words occur.

AC 10533. Perchance I should consume thee in the way. That this signifies that if what is Divine were to flow in with this nation it would perish, is evident from the signification of "consuming," as being to perish. That that nation would perish if what is Divine were to flow in with them, is evident, for it is said, "I will not go up in the midst of thee; perchance I should consume thee in the way." The case herein is this. They who are in external things without what is internal, thus in the loves of self and of the world, cannot possibly receive anything Divine; and therefore the internal with them is kept closed. If the internal were opened with them, and what is Divine were to flow in, they would utterly perish; for their life is from the loves of self and of the world, and there is a perpetual opposition and contrariety between these loves and heavenly loves, and heavenly loves are what is Divine; and therefore their life would be extinguished by the influx of what is Divine. That the Israelitish nation was in external things without what is internal, thus was in these loves, has frequently been shown above.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

www.BibleMeanings.info