LEVITICUS 2
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Leviticus Chapter 2

Summary of the Spiritual Sense

1. The worship of the Lord from the highest degree of celestial love is described, vers. 1-3.
2. Then follows a description of worship from interior celestial love, or charity to the neighbour, showing how it is connected with that from the highest celestial good, which is pure love to the Lord, and the lowest, ver. 4.
3. A similar description of worship from celestial good in the Internal of the Natural succeeds, accompanied by an account of the arrangement of truths there, and of the influx of inmost celestial good, vers. 5-6.
4. And lastly, worship from the External of the Natural is described, showing that it is similar to worship from higher loves, but is in a lower degree, ver. 7.
5. It is then shown that celestial worship in all these degrees and ways involves certain particulars, namely: the power to worship must be ascribed to the Lord; it must be acknowledged to be from celestial good inmostly derived from Him; and it must be exercised from Him. Also the worshiper will realize the conjunction of truth with good as from himself; he will be able to devote his life to the service of the Lord; he will experience a state of heavenly joy and peace; he will be able to appropriate good and truth; and he will worship the Lord from pure love, vers. 8-10.
6. Again this worship of the Lord must be free from falsity; it must not be vitiated by merely natural delight; such imperfect worship only appertains to preparatory states; and in all worship there must be the mutual desire of truth for good and of good for truth, or in other words, every one who really loves the truth will desire also to be good, and all who sincerely desire to be good will also long for the truth, vers. 11-13.
7. And also, during such worship, in preparatory states, it will be from natural good, and truth influenced by celestial good, and involving the sincere acknowledgement of the Lord, vers. 14-16.

1.  This is proved by considering that a meal offering denotes celestial good, 4581; that fine flour denotes truth from good, or truth from love, 9995; that oil denotes celestial good, 2177; and that frankincense, from its odour, denotes a grateful perception, 2177, 9993.

   After the description, in the previous chapter, of natural and spiritual worship, we have in this, that of celestial worship, according to the order of the three heavens; and the distinction between these three is the same as that between obedience to the Lord from a sense of duty, from an affection for the truth, or from the love of good. Or to express it in a more popular way, natural good, in worship, is obedience to the laws of Divine Order because it is so commanded in the Word; spiritual good is obedience from charity to the neighbour; and celestial good is obedience from love to the Lord.

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2.  This is thus demonstrated: the sons' of Aaron the priest denote truth front good, 9946; bringing the offering therefore to them, denotes that celestial worship is by truth from good, and is acknowledged to be so, 10227; to take a handful denotes that the act of  worship is with full power, 7518; burning the handful upon the altar, denotes the consecration of the heart to the Lord, by the conjunction of truth with good from pure love, 10052; a memorial denotes the quality of worship as to truth, and it also denotes remembrance, 6888; and a sweet savour to the Lord, denotes a state of heavenly joy and peace, 10054.

   In connection with these two verses it will be well to consider more particularly what is said in the Arcana Coelestia concerning the meal offering. In the first reference given, 4581, and also in 10079, it is shown that it signifies celestial good; and it is stated in the latter that while the sacrifices of animals were not commanded but permitted, because they were not well pleasing to the Lord, or in the heavens, the meal offering was well pleasing; also that whereas, generally speaking, they both denoted celestial good, yet specifically the flesh of the sacrifices denoted spiritual good, while the bread of the meal offering denoted celestial good, from which it evidently appears that the meal offering had, relatively, a higher signification than the sacrifices. But in 2177 a different interpretation is given; for we there read that while the sacrifices and the meal offering represented similar things, yet the meal offering did so in a less degree than the sacrifices, and consequently denoted things spiritual and things belonging to the external church, from which it follows that the meal offering had, relatively, a LOWER signification than the sacrifices.

   Now these varying and apparently contrary explanations naturally cause difficulty to many minds, and in giving the internal sense of the chapter before us we have to consider and decide whether the meal offering here signifies celestial good or spiritual good, for evidently, in the Word, it sometimes denotes the one and sometimes the other. And it is thought, in this case, that the series of things in the internal sense enables us to determine in favour of celestial good, because, evidently, the first chapter commences by describing worship from natural good, and continues and ends by the description of worship from spiritual good, while the second chapter is devoted to the description of celestial worship in all its degrees. The reason, however, why spiritual worship is described by the meal offering in 2177 is because there the fine-flour is especially the subject of thought, this denoting "what is spiritual " as distinguished from bread which denotes what is celestial, and has just previously been named, besides which, it afterwards follows in the series of that chapter, that natural good is described by the young ox, the order being from celestial, through spiritual, to natural things. But in 10079 the comparison is made between the bread of the meal offering, as denoting the highest celestial good and the flesh of the sacrifices as denoting spiritual good, in order to show that, intrinsically, the worship of the Lord by the sacrifices of animals denoted an inferior state of worship to that denoted by the meal offering considered as bread.

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3.  This appears from the signification of Aaron and his sons as denoting those in good, and those in truth derived from good, 9946; of having the residue of the meal offering, that is of eating it, as denoting appropriation, 2177, 2187; and of what is most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, as denoting the highest form of the worship of the Lord from pure love, 10129, 10055.

   In this verse the whole mystery of the life of the regenerating and regenerated man is involved; for it includes, on the one hand, the communication of life from the Lord, and on the other, its conscious reception by man as if it were his own. The influx of life from the Lord, indeed, is not sensibly perceived, because what flows in appears as if it were inherent; but when man becomes a conscious recipient of heavenly good, the very nature of that good causes him to perceive that it is not from himself, but from the Lord continually, or moment by moment, this being the effect of the purification denoted by what is unleavened in the meal offering. It is only in proportion as everything false and evil, signified by leaven, 2177, is removed by the work of repentance, and thus by victory in temptations, that pure-and holy love and charity can be adequately realized. How essentially; practical, therefore, is the teaching here implied!

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4.  This is true, because by what is baked in an oven is denoted interior celestial good, which is charity, and is peculiar to the middle heaven, 7356; by what is unleavened is denoted what is pure from falsity and evil, 2177; by cakes is signified good and truth conjoined, 2177, and also the good of love towards the neighbour, 7978; by oil is denoted celestial good, 2177; and by wafers is denoted external celestial good, 9994.

   In this verse we see how, when any one worships the Lord truly from spiritual or natural good, such worship implies the operation of the Lord through celestial good, or through the celestial heavens; for the oil mingled with the fine flour signifies the conjunction of the Celestial with the Spiritual.

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5.  This is thus proved: a meal offering, baked in a baking pan or frying pan, denotes worship from the Internal of the Natural, because it follows in order that which was baked in an oven, which denotes interior or spiritual good, 7356; and its being of fine flour unleavened, and mingled with oil, denotes truth derived from good, free from falsity and involving inmost celestial good, 2177, 9995.

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6.  This appears thus: parting in pieces, signifies an accurate arrangement of truths and thus of affections, 10048, 3110; pouring oil thereon, signifies the influx of inmost good, 3728, 9780; and a meal offering signifies celestial worship, 4581.

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7.  This is seen from observing that a meal offering baked in a frying pan, or pot, denotes worship from the External of the Natural because it follows in the series, the Internal of the Natural, 7356; and that fine flour mixed with oil denotes pure truth conjoined with good, 2177, 9995.

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8.  This appears from the signification of bringing the meal offering to the Lord, as denoting to confess the power of worshiping to be from Him, 10227; of presenting it to the priest, as denoting to acknowledge that it is from Him in celestial love or good, 9946; and of bringing it to the altar, as denoting that worship, or rather the power to worship, is exercised from Him, 10242, 2342.

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9.  By a memorial is denoted the quality of worship as to truth, and also remembrance which is active from affection or good; and hence, to take up the memorial, in this case, denotes to conjoin good with truth, the priest denoting good, 6888, 7518, 9946, 1728; to burn (he memorial upon the altar, denotes to realize that conjunction and worship the Lord from it, 10052; and an offering made by fire of a sweet savour to the Lord, denotes devotion to the Lord, and a state of joy and peace, 10055, 10054.

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10.  This is evident from considering that what was left of the meal offering being Aaron's and his sons', denotes that from his holy worship the celestial man, of every degree, will appropriate good and truth, ver. 3; and that a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, denotes the worship of the Lord from pure love most holy, ver. 3.

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11.  This appears from the facts, that the meal offering denotes the worship of the Lord from celestial love, 4581; that leaven denotes falsity, 2177, 2342; that honey denotes natural delight, here in its opposite sense, 5260, 10137 end; and that an offering made by fire to the Lord, denotes worship from pure love, ver. 3.

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12.  This is manifest from the signification of leaven and honey, as shown in the previous verse.

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13.  This is evident from the signification of salt, as denoting the desire of truth for conjunction with good, and the desire of good for conjunction with truth, 9207, 10137 end; of not causing the salt to be lacking, or to cease, as denoting that the desire for this conjunction should on no account be wanting, because a covenant signifies conjunction, 9207; and of salt being offered with every offering as denoting that all worship must have respect to this conjunction, because it involves the desire of man for salvation from the Lord, and the desire of the Lord for the salvation of man, thus what is reciprocal. See also 10300.

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14.  This appears thus: the offering of the firstfruits denotes one of the preparatory stages of regeneration, namely, the implantation of truth in good, during which the worship of the Lord is compared with the state of celestial good, relatively imperfect, being contaminated with falsity and merely natural delight, denoted by leaven and honey as described in ver. 12, 9294-5; the meal offering denotes worship from celestial love, which is inmost, 4581; man in this state has not yet realized celestial love, 9223, 9300; corn in the ear parched with fire, denotes the good of charity in the natural man, or natural good which is influenced by celestial good, 9295; and bruised corn in the fresh ear, denotes the good of truth, or good acquired by means of truth through temptations, 9295, 6537, 6539.

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15.  This is true, because by oil is signified celestial love, 2177; by frankincense, spiritual love, 10303; and by a meal offering, genuine celestial worship, 4581.

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16.  The proofs are, that the priest burning the memorial on the altar denotes the consecration of the heart to the Lord by the con-junction of truth with good from pure love, 10052; that the bruised corn denotes good acquired in temptations, ver. 14; that the oil denotes celestial love, 2177; that frankincense denotes spiritual love, which is charity, 10303; and that an offering made by fire to the Lord, denotes the sincere acknowledgement of the Lord from that love and charity, 10055.

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Considering now the practical application of the spiritual teaching of this short account of the different kinds and degrees of celestial good, we remark that since every individual is a heaven in the least form, or may become so, therefore he has the power to love the Lord, to love the neighbour, or to be obedient to the Lord, according to his position in the universal heavens. That is, his inmost love may be celestial, his interior love may be spiritual, and his external love may be natural, to whichever of the three general heavens he may belong. Hence then no one need say to himself, "I cannot be celestial," because every one can be in good if he likes, and good in the universal sense is the celestial principle.

But if this is a practical truth relating to life, it involves also a practical truth relating to the understanding of the Word; for it shows that this chapter, in its entirety, may also be explained in reference to spiritual love or natural love, each in its degrees. So that if we consider that the first chapter of this book, which is limited to the description of the burnt offering, gives an account of celestial worship, then we may consider that the second chapter, which is limited to the description of the meal offering, gives an account of spiritual worship, 2177, and that the third chapter, which is limited to the description of the peace offerings, gives an account of natural worship. And from all this it is evident that the series of three chapters not only describes regeneration successively from what is internal to what is external, but also that each chapter, in its own way, describes the whole process, while yet having a specific relation to its own degree.

However, we have regarded this chapter as specifically relating to celestial love, on account of the series from what is external to what is internal in the first, culminating in the second, in which case the third, as we shall see, describes the full and free worship of man, simultaneously in the natural degree, when regeneration is completed. And we are delighted to be able to show that the series is really both ways without any confusion, and thus to justify the apparent paradox that the meal offering may and does denote, in the Word, a higher or a lower degree of worship, as the case may be in particular instances where it is mentioned, without any violation of the law of interpretation.

And now without making any particular remarks upon the different kinds of meal offering, it will be sufficient in this place to point to the practical character of two or three things mentioned in connection with it. First, no leaven was to be used. Why? Because it is inconsistent that the falsity, which is denoted by leaven, should be conjoined with the good signified by the meal offering. It is the duty of the man of the church, therefore, to separate himself from all false doctrine. " Beware you of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy" (Luke 12:1). It is a fine thing to be genuine. What is merely external worship in the sanctuary on the Sabbath day but a pretence and a sham? And what, on the other hand, is genuine external worship there but the glory and signature of a good life every day in the week? But if falsity in worship is disastrous, how much more is effusive and merely natural affection to which honey corresponds? How much of that there is in the world among worshipers at the present day! The merely natural delight sometimes attending revivals of religion is of this character. It is said of John the Baptist, "His meat was locusts and wild honey" (Matt 3:4). But there is, all the same, a true natural delight in external worship that is not forbidden in this law of Moses concerning the meal offering. " He should feed them also with the finest wheat, and with honey out of the rock should I satisfy you " (Ps 81:16). Honey out of the rock is delight in the Word of the Lord from the affection of truth. But then, in true worship which leads to a good life and is also the effect of a good life, there is even something more than the absence of falsity, and of merely natural delight, there is the desire of truth to good, and the desire of good to truth, signified by salt. "With all your oblation," in fact, "you shall offer salt."

And this salt is called "the salt of the covenant of your God," because, as we have often seen, a covenant denotes conjunction. Not only, therefore, must worship be affectionate and genuine, or from good and free from false doctrine, but it must involve the conjunction of goodness with truth, and also the reciprocal conjunction of truth with goodness, and what amounts to the same thing, the reciprocal conjunction of the external man with the internal.

And lastly, therefore, there now follows the meal offering of the firstfruits. It is, of course, the beginning of regeneration under one aspect; but then it is the beginning of the heavenly life when regeneration is completed under another; and hence its position in this series, where worship from freedom, denoted by the peace offerings, follows it.

LEVITICUS 2    Other translations  -  previous  -  next  -  notes  -  discussion  -  Leviticus  -  BM Home  -  Full Page