LEVITICUS 27
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Leviticus Chapter 27

Summary of the Spiritual Sense

1. Every one who devotes himself to the Lord deliberately with the consent of the will and understanding, is estimated according to his quality or state as to the reception of good in truth from the Lord, vers. 1-8.
2. Concerning the devotion of the interior natural affections to the service of the Lord and the estimation of their quality, vers. 9-13.
3. The same with regard to the exterior natural affections, vers. 14-15.
4. Concerning the devotion of the exterior natural man as to truth to the service of the Lord and its estimation in differing circumstances, vers. 16-25.
5. Especially, no one ought to ascribe good to himself, because it is entirely from the Lord; impure natural good, which is not from the Lord, is to be replaced by genuine good; no good from the Lord is to be alienated, or applied to selfish purposes; all remains must be acknowledged to be from the Lord; all good and truth with man must be acknowledged to be from the Lord by remains; and no one is allowed, from his self-derived intelligence, to estimate his own quality, vers. 26-33.
6. And all these are the laws of Divine Order from the influx of Divine Good into Divine Truth, for the benefit of the spiritual man out of the pure love arid mercy of the Lord, ver. 34.

1.  This is evident, because by Jehovah is denoted the Divine Being as to His love, 2001; by speaking is denoted influx, 2951; by Moses is represented Divine Truth, or the Word, 7010; and by saying is denoted perception, 1791, 1822.

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2.  Speaking to the children of Israel, and saying to them, denotes that the spiritual man must be instructed, 3654, 7304; a man accomplishing a vow denotes one who devotes himself to the Lord deliberately, with the consent of the will and understanding together, 3732, 3880; and the persons being for the Lord by "your estimation," denotes that such a one is estimated according to his quality or state as to the reception of good in truth from the Lord, 2001, 7010.

   It is here to be understood, in the highest sense, that only Divine Truth discerns the real quality of the worship of every one, and in a lower sense, that while good is the essence of the life of every regenerated man, truth is the form of that life, and therefore reveals the quality thereof.

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3.  The estimation of a male, 725, twenty years old, denotes those who are in the intelligence of truth and good, 2280, 10225; even to sixty years old denotes through which they are in the capacity to endure temptations, 3306, 8888; even your estimation denotes according to Divine Truth, 7010; fifty shekels of silver denotes a full state as to the reception of truth, 2261, 425, 2959; and after the shekel of the sanctuary denotes "which by temptation is to be conjoined with good," 2959, 3210.

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4.  If it be a female the estimation being thirty shekels, denotes that those who are in the intelligence of truth from the affection thereof without the knowledge, have less capacity to endure temptations, and cannot worship the Lord so perfectly, 725, 2276.

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5.  From five years old to twenty denotes those who worship the Lord, or devote themselves to Him, in a state of ignorance as to truth and good, 2280; your estimation denotes according to Divine Truth, 7010; twenty shekels for a male denotes salvation on account of good with some truth, but not sufficient for combat, 2280, 725; and ten shekels for a female denotes that the quality, if only in the affection of good, is capacity for salvation by virtue of remains, 2280, 725.

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6.  It being from a month old even to five years old, denotes those who are in the good of infancy, when faith is only a germ and charity is very little, 2280, 10225; your estimation denotes according to Divine Truth, 7010; for a male five shekels of silver denotes the quality of spiritual life small, because there is little truth conjoined to affection, 725, 649, 10225; and for a female three shekels of silver denotes even smaller when there is only affection and no truth, 725, 4495³, 10225.

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7.  It being from sixty years old and upwards denotes those who are in the good of wisdom the result of a full course of temptations, 10225; your estimation denotes according to Divine Truth, 7010; for a male fifteen shekels denotes the quality of life when truth is abundant and conjoined with good in a new state, in which they act from love by truth, 10225, 8400, 92965; and for a female ten shekels denotes that when little truth is conjoined with good their quality is from a full state of remains, 10225, 576.

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8.  If he be poorer than your estimation being set before the priest denotes that those who have no quality derived from truth are to be considered from their state of good, 7010, 4459⁴, 9946; the priest valuing him denotes that good produces truths which express its quality, 4985; and according to the ability of him that vowed the priest valuing him denotes that according to truth from good with him who devotes himself to the Lord is such a person to be estimated, 8304, 3732, 3880, 9946.

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9.  By a beast is denoted in relation to a man, or a "soul," interior natural affection, 1823; by offering an oblation is denoted that it is from the Lord, 349, 5619; and all that any man gives of such to the Lord being holy, denotes a state of holiness from true acknowledgement in worship, 8042.

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10.  Not altering it, nor changing it, denotes that it is not allowable for such a person to pass from a prevailing state of good or truth to a prevailing state of evil or falsity, 1463, 683; not changing a good for a bad, nor a bad for a good, denotes that he who worships from an interior ruling affection cannot descend to one that is exterior; and the reverse, 1276, 1377; and if he shall at all change beast for beast, both it and that for which it is changed being holy, denotes that if man fluctuates between good and evil in the course of temptation, against his own will, then by victory, good is confirmed and evil is rejected, both states of confirmation and rejection being holy, 1823, 8042, 847.

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11.  It being any unclean beast of which they do not offer an oblation to the Lord, setting the beast before the priest, denotes that if any one would devote his interior natural affections to the Lord, and yet they are impure, then he shall acknowledge his impurity before the Lord from his prevailing or ruling state of good, 10130, 9946.

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12.  The priest valuing it whether it be good or bad, denotes that thence also he will know the quality of the impure natural affections, that is, from his state of good, 9946, 10217; and "as you the priest values it so shall it be," denotes that at the same time he will be able to estimate the sincerity of his worship, 9946, 10217.

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13.  If he will indeed redeem it, his adding the fifth part thereof to your estimation, denotes that if he truly does the work of repentance, according to that state of worship, he will be in acknowledgement from some good of remains as well, 2966, 6156.

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14.  Sanctifying his house to the Lord denotes devoting to the Lord, in worship, his exterior natural affections, which are receptacles of good, 1488, 8042; the priest estimating it whether it be good or bad, denotes that the quality of those affections is still according to his prevailing state as to good, 9946; and as the priest estimates so it standing, denotes "because it is this which decides concerning the quality in worship," 7724, 10217.

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15.  He that sanctified it redeeming his house, and adding the fifth part of the money of your estimation to it, and it then being his, denotes that if the worshiper is willing to do the work of repentance from the Lord, 2966, he will do this by some acknowledgement from his state as to remains of good in addition to the acknowledgement that he is in evil, 6156; and it being his denotes that thus he will appropriate good as from himself, 1488.

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16.  A man sanctifying to the Lord a part of the field of his possession, denotes that when any one worships the Lord by devoting to his service the exterior natural man as to truth, 4982, 8042; this estimation denotes according to Divine Truth, 7010; according to the sowing thereof denotes that the quality of such worship is, as to the reception of truth in good, 9272; and the sowing of a homer of barley being valued at fifty shekels of silver, denotes according to the good of truth, and that the state will be full, according to that good, 9272, 10262, 7602, 2261, 425, 2959.

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17.  "If he sanctify his field from the year of jubilee, according to your estimation it shall stand," denotes that if this state of worship is derived from the marriage of good and truth, in the inmost of his life, then it will be confirmed, and the state of good will be permanent, 4982, 8042, 8802, 7010, 4926.

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18.  Sanctifying his field after the jubilee denotes a state of worship not derived from such inmost conjunction, but looking forward to it, 8802; the priest reckoning to him the money according to the years that remain to the year of jubilee, denotes that from good its quality will be according to acquired truth implanted in good during the course of regeneration, 9946, 10217, 725, 2966.

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19.  He that sanctified the field indeed redeeming it; adding the fifth part of the estimation to it; and it being assured to him, denotes that if the worshiper will persevere in doing the work of repentance from his state of good, then he will not only worship the Lord from the good of repentance, but will also acknowledge from some good of remains, that he receives continually new life from the Lord; and his state of good will be confirmed, 4982, 8042, 2966, 6156, 4926.

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20.  Not redeeming the field denotes that such worship is only temporary, and that repentance does not follow, 2966; selling the field to another man denotes good alienated in consequence of confirmation in evil, 4758; and the field not being redeemed anymore, denotes that there is confirmation in evil; otherwise redemption would still be possible, 4747.

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21.  The field, when it goes out in the jubilee, being holy to the Lord, denotes that, in the Judgement, every state of worship from the good of truth will have been, so far, to the advantage of the worshiper, 4982, 8042, 8802; "as a devoted field," in the opposite sense, denotes what is utterly condemned from confirmation in falsity and evil, 9193; but in the best sense, what is holy since it was worship from truth and good, 8042; and the possession thereof being the priest's denotes that all such states are from the Lord, 9946.

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22.  Sanctifying to the Lord a field which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession, denotes that if such a state of worship is only put on, or acquired, from merely external motives, and not from genuine good, 8042, 4982, 2967, 4397.

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23.  The priest reckoning to him the worth of your estimation, denotes that the quality of such worship "will be discerned from good, according to Divine Truth, 9946, 10217, 7010; to the year of jubilee denotes with respect to what the worshiper is, or will be, in the Judgement, as to his inmost state, 8802; and giving your estimation, in that day, as a holy thing to the Lord, denotes that he will be compelled to acknowledge, in that state, that genuine good was wanting, 2966, 8802, 7010, 2119.

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24.  In the year of jubilee the field returning to him of whom it was bought even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs, denotes that in the judgement, genuine good will be seen to be from the Lord, from whom is all good with the man who has acquired it by regeneration, 8802, 4982, 2028-9, 7833, 3239.

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25.  All "your estimation" being according to the shekel of the sanctuary, denotes that the estimation of Divine Truth concerning the state of man is according to truth derived from good, 10221, 2959; and twenty gerahs being a shekel denotes all remains of good, 10222.

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26.  The firstling among beasts denotes good which is prior to truth, 3325⁸; made a firstling to the Lord denotes, evidently, what is ascribed to the Lord, 5619; no man (ish) sanctifying it denotes that no one ought to claim it as his own, as well as that the mere knowledge of truth does riot produce a state of holiness, 3325⁸; and it being the Lord's, whether it be ox or sheep, denotes that whether it be natural good or spiritual good it is from the Lord, 5913, 6126.

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27.  An unclean beast denotes impure natural good, 46, 10130; ransoming it according to your estimation denotes that it is to be replaced by genuine good through Divine Truth, 8078, 7010; adding the fifth part thereof denotes that in this way good is to be acquired in the natural man by some acknowledgement from remains, 6156; it not being redeemed denotes if the work of repentance is not performed, 2966, 8078; and it being sold according to your estimation denotes that merely natural good is then rejected because it is not in harmony with Divine Truth, 46, 4758, 7010.

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28.  No devoted thing that a man shall devote to the Lord, of all that he has, whether of man or beast, or of the field of his possession, being sold or redeemed, denotes that no affection or power that a man devotes to the Lord, from that life which seems to be his own, or at his own disposal, whether it be internal, interior or external, is to be alienated or applied to selfish and worldly purposes, 9193, 8042, 2001, 7424, 4982, 4758, 2966, 8078; and any devoted thing being most holy to the Lord, denotes that it is to be fully ascribed to the Lord, 8042.

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29.  None devoted, which shall be devoted of men being ransomed but surely put to death, denotes that nothing which is devoted to the Lord from internal acknowledgement can be alienated by selfish love; it is fully ascribed to the Lord by the conjunction of truth with good; and therefore the old life must be rejected, and the new life must be eternal, 9193, 683, 2966, 4758, 1408, 1854.

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30.  All the tithe of the land, whether of seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, being the Lord's; and being holy to the Lord, denotes that, in fact, all remains, with man, whether remains of truth or good, are from the Lord; and are stored up in man from the Divine Mercy, 576, 57, 8042.

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31.  A man willing to redeem aught of his tithes adding the fifth part, denotes that, in order that man may appropriate good to himself, as if it were his own by the work of repentance, he must acknowledge, from some good of remains that it is entirely from the Lord, 2966, 6156.

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32.  All the tithe of the herd or the flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth being holy to the Lord, denotes that, therefore, all natural and spiritual good, which are acquired by the power of the truth, by man acting as from himself, are to be acknowledged to be from the Lord by remains, 576, 5913, 6126, 4876, 2001.

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33.  Not searching whether it be good or bad, neither changing it, denotes that a man may not from his self-derived intelligence estimate his own quality as to good or evil; nor is it allowable to go back from good to evil, 4162, 1276, 1377; if he change it at all, then both it and that for which it is changed being holy, denotes that if in the fluctuations of temptations he fall into evil, he must worship the Lord both by resistance to evil and by determination to good, 1823, 847, 8042; and its not being redeemed denotes that neither can man then pass from a state of good and truth to a state of evil and falsity; or in other words, that a man cannot claim as his own the good and truth of remains which are wholly from the Lord, by the work of redemption, 2966.

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34.  These being the commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai, denotes that all these are the laws of Divine Order, from the influx of Divine Good into Divine Truth for the benefit of the spiritual man out of the pure love and mercy of the Lord, 2634, 2951, 2001, 7010, 3654, 8753.

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We may depend upon it that there is a very good reason for the order in which the literal sense of the Word is given; in some cases we are not able to discover any reason; and in others we may be able to do so with more or less certainty. But we cannot tell from the literal or historical sense alone why one part comes before or after another, nor which book of the Word should come before or after another. We know that we have the Word at the present time with the books, and the parts of the books arranged in a certain order; and there is a certain mode of investigation called the Higher Criticism which, considering the books of the Word as if they were merely human literature, goes to show that those books were not written or composed in the order in which we have them. And in fact, the higher criticism concludes that the five books usually ascribed to Moses were not all written by him, but that some one else, hundreds of years afterwards, wrote one or more of them. But surely weight is to be attached to the general belief continued from age to age, and no doubt well founded on certain things said in the Word itself concerning these books. And we have mentioned this subject now because the last verse of the chapter just finished, and the last verse of the present chapter, is one of those things, and its testimony is that the book of Leviticus was written by Moses as a continuation of the Divine laws delivered to him in Mount Sinai. That this is the case also is evident from the frequent repetition of the words "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying," combined with the fact that the beginning of Leviticus is evidently a continuation of Exodus, the Lord delivering the laws concerning the sacrifices from the tent of meeting. Thus, then, it clearly appears that Moses himself wrote, under Divine inspiration and guidance, both the book of Leviticus and the book of Exodus, and this is confirmed from what is said in Exod 17:14, and 24:4, 7. But now, turning to Num. 33:2, we find the statement that Moses wrote at the commandment of the Lord, an account of the journeyings of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land, and thus was the writer of the book of Numbers; while also, turning to Deut 31:24-26, we find that he also wrote the book of Deuteronomy, or more correctly, the whole Pentateuch, because this "book of the law" was also called the "book of the covenant" with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and therefore contained the book of Genesis (Gen 26:42-45; 2 Kings 23:2, 21).

Thus, then, we see that the Word itself, in the Old Testament, distinctly affirms that Moses was the writer of all the books generally ascribed to him, which, as a matter of fact, constituted only one complete work. It is not surprising, therefore, that the New Testament speaks of all these as parts of the law of Moses. See for examples Matt 19:4-8; Luke 20:37; Matt 8:4; Luke 16:31.

Proceeding now with the subject before us, we remark that it is concerning the estimation or valuation of certain persons and things by Moses and the priests. And thus in the literal sense it is a limited estimation. But spiritually it is not so. For the internal sense is the universal sense, and has relation to mankind generally, and not to a particular nation, or to particular individuals in the nation. The estimation of Moses therefore is the Lord's estimation of every one by His Divine Truth. And there is never the slightest mistake in the Lord's estimation of any one. And, moreover, every person will have his position assigned to him to eternity according to the Lord's estimation. And this is so certain that the position is determined and fixed in heaven or in hell according to our life in the world into which we are born because this world is the basis or the foundation upon which the life of each of us is built. And this thought shows the importance of what we have here to study.

Next, however, it must be observed that although the estimation is the Lord's it is intended that man should understand it. To be worth a certain number of shekels, especially for a human being, appears very strange. But when we remember that numbering, measuring and weighing, in the internal sense, have relation to the discovery of our own quality, as to love and intelligence, we see that estimating ourselves and others, by means of power from the Lord to do so correctly, is a most valuable accomplishment. For although it is certainly the Lord and the Word from Whom and by which all estimation takes place, yet it is the man himself who actually fixes his own destiny, so that whatever it may be at last, he will always be perfectly satisfied with it. And that is why it is written, "So teach us to number our days that we may get us a heart of wisdom " (Ps. xc, 12). Now we all understand this, and even without a critical knowledge of what are called correspondences, we feel the immensity and gravity of what we have to do. It is indeed exceedingly valuable to be able, from the Lord, to estimate the persons and things even in this natural world. The men who can do this most successfully, and properly apply their knowledge, are the best men; and those who cannot do this are, comparatively, of less value. But under any circumstances, the value of one human being is so great, compared with everything else, that the Lord does not allow any human being to be lost in the absolute sense of the term. There is a great difference between an angel and an infernal, because they are opposites, like good and evil, and truth and falsity. But all the same, in the sight of the Lord, the worst evil spirit is worth taking care of; and, of course, no one is ever compelled to be an evil spirit if he does not like. And we know that we never shall see things from the point of view of the Infinite. But with our finite capacities we are able, from the Lord, to be quite sure that no one could live in an eternal existence without being satisfied with his freely chosen life, and also without the unavoidable restraints involved in it.

Having considered the general truths connected with our subject, we may now take a general view also of the contents of this interesting description. It will have been noticed by the student that the four states described in the first section are all explained in the place referred to, namely, 10225; and as this explanation is very clear, it is not necessary further to enlarge on it now than to consider one or two points of a practical character. First, then, there is the fact that progression in regeneration is gradual, and is described by the different periods of man's natural life. Now regeneration is differently described in different parts of the Word. For it is like a journey from one place to another; or it is compared to the cultivation of the ground. In one place it is called a work of creation, or in another it is said to be a new birth; and by these differing descriptions various truths concerning it are made manifest in the spiritual sense of the Word. But in every case it is gradual; and we have first the blade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear. And it affords us some comfort to know that we must reach the kingdom of heaven by taking one step at a time. There is one thing, however, in the first section of this chapter that must be noticed. We are not to understand that every one is regenerated exactly as he advances from infancy to old age. Perhaps we may consider that this may be the case in certain instances; but observation and experience prove that the actual process may commence early or late in life; and that with some it does not take place at all. Thus, then, some persons may be only in the initiatory state symbolized by the period of natural life from infancy to five or ten years, when they are actually forty years of age, and yet the correspondence of the state of regeneration to that of the natural state called infancy may and does still hold good. And clearly it is necessary that we should remember this.

And another point is, that the different periods of life are not mentioned in regular order here, but the third commences the series, and is followed by the second, the first and the fourth, the section closing with the valuation of the poor by the priests and not by Moses. Now why is this? It seems to be because the general subject of the whole chapter is the state of the Spiritual Church, and that, therefore, what relates to spiritual things takes the precedence, being described as to their internal, and then as to their external states, by the third period and the second, while what relates to things celestial follows, and is described first as to the innocence of ignorance, and secondly as to the innocence of wisdom, denoted respectively by first and fourth periods. But those who are poor signify persons of every class, who, from their state, can only be estimated as to good, and as to truth proceeding thence; and now follows, therefore, in order, what relates to the natural affections, interior and exterior, and also to the natural intellectual powers, or to the affections for knowledge as well as to the natural delights. And in reflecting on the particulars given in the fourth section, we cannot but be reminded of the searching character of the Word of the Lord by which every one is judged and estimated exactly according to his life, and of the absolute necessity of genuine repentance from the very best and highest motives. And we may, in this connection, profitably apply to ourselves the words of the psalm, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting " (Ps 139:23-24).

And finally, who does not see from even a cursory glance at the spiritual truths contained in the last two sections, that they are of immense practical importance? For how very much disposed are we all, during the fluctuating states of our life, not only to ascribe the good which we do to our own intelligence and prudence, forgetting that it is the Lord from Whom all the power comes, but we are also greatly inclined to mistake our merely natural impulses to be kind and generous for real goodness! We learn from these teachings of the Word, however, that we ought properly to discriminate, and apply to the Lord, so that we may acquire the ability as we advance in regeneration to perceive the quality of merely natural affections, and to reject them, as well as to do real good, without claiming any merit for it; and we may be certain indeed that this ability will come to us just in proportion as our acknowledgement of the Lord is more and more from the heart, combined with an enlightened reception of Divine Truths, and their application to the purposes of daily life.

THE END