Spiritual Meaning of EXODUS 34:24-27
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AC 10673. Verses 24-27. Because I drive out nations from thy faces, and I will enlarge thy border; and no one shall covet thy land, when thou goest up to see the faces of Jehovah thy God three times in the year. Thou shalt not stay the blood of My sacrifice upon what is leavened; and the sacrifice of the feast of the passover shall not stay all night unto the morning. The first fruits of the first things of thy ground thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother‘s milk. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write for thee these words; because upon the mouth of these words I make a covenant with thee and with Israel. "Because I drive out nations from before thy faces," signifies the removal of evil and of the falsities of evil; "and I will enlarge thy border," signifies the multiplication and extension of truth from good; "and no one shall covet thy land," signifies aversion for such things as are of the church on the part of those who are in evils and the falsities of evil; "when thou goest up to see the faces of Jehovah thy God three times in the year," signifies when the presence of the Lord is in the truths of faith also; "thou shalt not slay the blood of My sacrifice upon what is leavened," signifies that the worship of the Lord from the truths of the church must not be commingled with falsities from evil; "and the sacrifice of the feast of the passover shall not stay all night unto the morning," signifies the good of worship not from man’s own, but from the Lord always new; "the firstfruits of the first things of thy ground thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God," signifies that all the truths of good and goods of truth are holy, because they are from the Lord alone; "thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother‘s milk," signifies that the good of innocence of an after state must not be commingled with the truth of innocence of a former state; "and Jehovah said unto Moses, Write for thee these words," signifies information about the primary truths that must be remembered and done; "because upon the mouth of these words I make a covenant with thee and with Israel," signifies that by means of them there is conjunction with those who are in external and internal worship.

AC 10674. Because I drive out nations from before thy faces. That this signifies the removal of evil and of the falsities of evil, is evident from the signification of "driving out," when said of the evils and falsities with a man, as being to remove, for evils and falsities are not driven out from man, but are removed (n. 10057); and from the signification of the "nations in the land of Canaan," as being evils and the falsities of evil (n. 9327).

AC 10675. And I will enlarge thy border. That this signifies the multiplication and extension of truth from good, is evident from the signification of "enlarging the border," as being the multiplication and extension of truth from good (n. 8063). That this is signified by "enlarging the border," is because in so far as evils and the falsities of evil are removed, so far the truths which are from good are multiplied, because nothing else than evils and the falsities of evil obstructs the influx of truths from the Lord and their multiplication with man; and therefore in so far as evils and falsities are removed, so far truths succeed in their place.

[2] This is the case with man’s understanding, whether it consists of the truths which are from good, or of the falsities which are from evil. It cannot consist of both together, for they are opposites. And it is the understanding of man which receives truths, and is formed by means of truths; for whatever is in his understanding bears relation to truth. From this it is evident that in so far as the falsities from evil are removed, so far truths from good may be multiplied. This was represented by the driving out of the nations from the land of Canaan, for by the nations therein were represented evils and falsities (n. 10057); and by the sons of Israel were represented goods and truths.

[3] It is said that it is man‘s understanding which receives truths and is formed by means of truths, because in the proper sense nothing can be called understanding but that which is from the truths which are from good. That which is from the falsities which are from evil is not understanding; because intelligence and wisdom cannot possibly be predicated of falsities from evil, seeing that falsities from evil completely destroy intelligence and wisdom, and bring in insanity and foolishness in their stead; and therefore man’s understanding is never opened except when the man perceives and loves truths; and the perception and love of truth are from good. Consequently it is truths from good that are the source of the understanding.

[4] He who believes that any person is possessed of an understanding who is able to reason in a skilful manner against the truths of the church, is very much mistaken; for such a person sees nothing within himself, but only outside of himself. To see within one‘s self is from heaven; to see outside of one’s self is from the world. And he who sees only from the world sees from a deceptive light, which light becomes mere thick darkness when light from heaven flows in upon it.

AC 10676. And no one shall covet thy land. That this signifies aversion for such things as are of the church on the part of those who are in evils and the falsities of evil, is evident from the signification of "not coveting," when said of those who are in evils and the falsities of evil, when they see and perceive goods and the truths of good, as being to feel aversion, for there is a perpetual enmity between evils and goods; evils being averse to and hating goods; and goods being averse to evils, and putting them to flight, or shunning them; and from the signification of "land," as being the church and whatever is of the church (n. 9325).

AC 10677. When thou goest up to see the faces of Jehovah thy God three times in the year. That this signifies when the presence of the Lord is in the truths of faith also, is evident from what has been unfolded above (n. 9297).

AC 10678. Thou shalt not slay the blood of My sacrifice upon what is leavened. That this signifies that the worship of the Lord from the truths of the church must not be commingled with falsities from evil, is evident from the unfolding of these words in (n. 9298).

AC 10679. And the sacrifice of the feast of the passover shall not stay all night unto the morning. That this signifies the good of worship not from man‘s own, but from the Lord always new, is evident from what has been unfolded above (n. 9299).

AC 10680. The firstfruits of the first things of thy ground thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. That this signifies that all truths of good and goods of truth are holy, because they are from the Lord alone, may be seen above (n. 9300).

AC 10681. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk. That this signifies that the good of innocence of an after state must not be commingled with the truth of innocence of a former state, is evident from what has been already said and shown (n. 9301), where are the like words.

AC 10682. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write for thee these words. That this signifies information about the primary truths that must be remembered and done, is evident from the signification of "saying," when by Jehovah unto Moses, as being information (n. 10280); from the signification of "writing," as being for remembrance that it is to be done (n. 8620); and from the signification of "these words," as being primary truths, for by "words" are in general signified things; specifically truths; here the primary truths which are to be remembered and done in order that the representative worship of the church might be instituted among the Israelitish nation, and the Word be written there, as set forth in the preceding verses of this chapter.

AC 10683. Because upon the mouth of these words I make a covenant with thee and with Israel. That this signifies that by means of them there is conjunction with those who are in external and internal worship, is evident from the signification of "upon the mouth of these words," as being by means of those primary truths which are to be observed (n. 10682); from the signification of "making a covenant," as being conjunction (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778); from the representation of Moses, with whom, and with Israel, it is said that the covenant is made, as being that external of the Word, of the church, and of worship in which there is what is internal (n. 10563, 10571, 10607, 10614); and from the signification of "Israel," as being the internal of the church and of worship (n. 4286, 4292, 4570, 6426). It is from this that it is said that the covenant is made "with Moses and with Israel," and not with "the sons of Israel," for by "the sons of Israel" in this chapter and in the preceding one are meant those who are in the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word without what is internal (n. 10454-10457, 10461, 10498, 10549-10551, 10570, 10575, 10629).

[2] It shall here be briefly stated what the internal of the Word, of the church, and of worship is; what is the external of them in which there is what is internal; and what is the external without what is internal. In the internal of the Word, of the church, and of worship, are those who love to do truth for the sake of truth from internal affection, thus from spiritual affection. In the external of them in which there is what is internal, are those who love truth for the sake of truth; but from external affection, thus from natural affection. These latter are men of the external church; but the former are of the internal church; for in every church there are internal men and there are external men. But those who are in external worship without what is internal, do not love truth for the sake of truth, but for the sake of profit in the world; thus they do not love to do truths except for the sake of themselves, or in order that they may be seen. These are not within the church, but are outside of it.

[3] When those who love to do truth for the sake of truth from internal or spiritual affection hear truths, they rejoice, and think about a life in accordance with them. But when those who love truth for the sake of truth from external or natural affection hear truth, they also rejoice; but they do not think about a life in accordance with it; nevertheless unknown to them it flows in from the internal. But those who love truth for the sake of profit in the world think nothing about the life, neither does anything flow in from the internal, for they make truths to be things of memory only, to the end that they may speak of them.

[4] Those who love to do truth for the sake of truth, love the Lord, because truth is from the Lord, and the Lord causes it to become good through their willing and doing it, so that it becomes of the life with the man; for truth does not become of the life until it enters the will. That which is in the will can be known and perceived from the fact that the man does it, and still more from his loving to do it, for in so far as a man wills truth, so far he loves it.

[5] To love truth for the sake of truth, and for the sake of living according to it, is thus described by the Lord in Matthew:--

A person not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word cannot know what is signified by "receiving a prophet in the name of a prophet, a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, and a disciple of the Lord in the name of a disciple," and that these will receive a reward according to the reception. For without this sense, who knows what is signified by "receiving anyone in his name?"

[6] But those who are in the internal sense do not attend to the person, but to the thing which the person signifies, thus not to a disciple or a prophet, but to the things which a disciple and a prophet signify. In the internal sense a "disciple" signifies the truth of life; and a "prophet" signifies the truth of doctrine; "in the name of" anyone, signifies on account of his quality. From this it is evident what is signified by these words of the Lord, namely, that those who love truth for the sake of truth, and who love to do truth for the sake of truth, love the Lord and receive heaven into themselves; for the reward which is from the Lord is the affection of truth for the sake of truth; and heaven is in the affection of truth for the sake of truth.

[7] That "disciples" denote all things of love and of faith in the complex, thus specifically those who are led by the Lord, (n. 3488, 3858, 6397); that a "prophet" denotes the truth of doctrine, (n. 2534, 7269); that "name" denotes quality, (n. 144, 145, 1896, 2009, 2724, 6674, 9310); that "reward" denotes the affection of truth and good, (n. 3956, 6388); that in the internal sense a person is turned into the idea of a thing, (n. 5225, 5287, 5434, 8343, 8985, 9007, 10282); and that to do truth for the sake of truth is to love the Lord, (n. 10336).

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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