NUMBERS 18      Other translations  -  previous  -  next  -  notes  -  discussion  -  Numbers  -  BM Home  -  Full Page

Numbers Chapter 18

Summary of the Spiritual Sense

1. On the power given to those inmostly in good to fight against evil; the conjunction of those in charity with those in celestial love; and the functions of the latter and the former; also that no one in selfish love inmostly can truly perform those functions, vers. 1-7.
2. The celestial man alone has perception, and through him is all illustration with the spiritual man; to the Lord through the celestial man is to be ascribed all that the spiritual man acknowledges to be from the Divine Love; and faith, which at first is separated, must be conjoined with charity, while impure natural affection must be purified, vers. 8-16.
3. The good of faith in its three degrees is holy and must be ascribed to the Lord through celestial love; and all illustration which the spiritual man receives from the Lord must be ascribed to Him through the celestial heavens; but the celestial man has perception; and the celestial and spiritual heavens are distinguished as love to the Lord is distinguished from love to the neighbour, vers. 17-20.
4. Concerning the distinction between the celestial-natural and the spiritual-natural, vers. 21-32.

1.  By the Lord, saying to Aaron, is denoted perception from the Lord with those who are in celestial good, that is, with the Lord in His Human Nature, and with the celestial man, 2001, 1882, 10017; Aaron and his sons, and his fathers' house with him bearing the iniquity of the sanctuary, denotes that he who is in good from the Lord, in its three degrees of celestial, spiritual, and natural, shall have power to fight against all evil internally, 10017, 7833, 9937, 3210; and Aaron and his sons bearing the iniquity of their priesthood, denotes the same with regard to the celestial and spiritual man externally, 9946, 9937¹⁰, 1664³.

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2.  Aaron's brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of his father being brought near, denotes that this is also specifically true of those who are in charity, which is celestial love, in an image, and from which is spiritual truth, 1222, 3875, 10017, 3572; being joined and ministering to Aaron, denotes communication and conjunction with celestial good, 2021, 10083; and Aaron and his sons being before the tent of the testimony, denotes that celestial good and truth, thence derived, alone enjoy immediate perception of truth from good, 9946, 3540³, 9503.

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3.  The Levites keeping Aaron's charge and the charge of all the Tent, denotes that those who are in charity and constitute the ultimate heaven, minister to celestial good, or to those who are in the inmost heaven, as well as to those who are in the middle and in the ultimate heaven, 10017, 3382, 9946, 3540³; their not coming near to the vessels of. the sanctuary, and to the altar, denotes that they cannot participate in the functions of those in the superior heavens, or in their worship, 3572, 3079, 3210, chap 4:12, 4541; and their dying denotes that this would be the destruction alike of natural, spiritual and celestial men, 2908.

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4.  By the Levites being joined to Aaron, is denoted that the natural have conjunction with the superior heavens, 3875; by keeping the charge of the tent of meeting for all the service of the Tent, is denoted that they minister to them, and also to those in the ultimate heaven internally and externally, 3382, 3540³, 5947; and by a stranger not coming near to them, is denoted that one out of the church cannot perform the functions of the Celestial and Spiritual, 10287.

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5.  Aaron and his sons keeping the charge of the sanctuary and the charge of the altar, denotes that the Celestial and Spiritual minister to inmost things from the Lord, and to the pure worship of the Lord, 10017, 3382, 3210, 4541; and there being wrath no more upon the children of Israel, denotes in order that the inferior heavens may not be averted from the Lord, 5798, 3654,

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6.  "I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel," denotes that indeed it is of the Divine Good and Divine Truth, and thus of the Divine Providence, that charity should be properly distinguished from faith or truth, 2001, 683, 1222, 3875, chap 3:12; and their being to Aaron for a gift, given to the Lord to do the service of the tent of meeting, denotes that charity must be acknowledged to be from the Lord, giving conjunction with Him when it is expressed fully in the uses of worship and life, 9946, 5619, 3875, 5947, 3540³.

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7.  Aaron and his sons with him keeping their priesthood, denotes that it is the function of the celestial and spiritual kingdoms conjoined inmostly to minister from good, 10017, 3382; for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil, denotes in all worship, and in everything celestial which is not perceived in the inferior heavens, 4541, 2576⁴, 3210; their serving denotes that it is the delight of good to serve, 5947; the Lord giving them their priesthood as a service of gift, denotes that this delight is wholly from the Lord, and is perfectly free, 5619, 5947; and the stranger coming near being put to death, denotes that he who worships the Lord from selfish motives only, has no spiritual life, 10287, 3572, 6767.

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8.  The Lord speaking to Aaron denotes influx from Him with the celestial man, 2001, 2951, 10017; giving Aaron the charge of the heave offerings, denotes that the celestial man alone has perception, 3382, 10093; the hallowed things of the children of Israel being given to Aaron, denotes the acknowledgement that through the celestial man from the Lord is all illustration with the spiritual and natural man, 10093, 5619; by reason of the anointing, denotes on account of their reception of charity, 9954⁷; thie sons of Aaron denote the spiritual kingdom, and thus the reception of love and charity in all its degrees, 10017; and a due for ever denotes perpetual acknowledgement of the reception of love from the Lord, 7931.

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9.  This being Aaron's of the most holy things reserved from the fire, denotes that, therefore, to the Lord, through the celestial man as representing Him, is to be ascribed all that the spiritual man acknowledges to be from the Divine Love, 9946, 10091, 10092, 10055; every oblation of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every guilt offering of theirs, denotes every celestial affection, 10129, every spiritual affection, 2177, every affection purified from sin, 3400, and every affection purified from error, 3400; and their being rendered to the Lord, and therefore being most holy for Aaron and for his sons, denotes that the spiritual man receives these freely from the Lord in this way, and that therefore they are most holy, 5619.

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10.  "As the most holy things shall you eat thereof; every male shall eat thereof; it shall be holy to you," denotes that as the celestial man appropriates celestial good, so does he appropriate spiritual good, expressing it in his truths, and by influx causing the holiness of both spiritual and natural love in the lower degrees of life, 3210, 2187, 725, 10129.

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11.  This being Aaron's, the heave offerings of their gift; even all the wave offerings of the children of Israel, denotes that thus, through the celestial man, the spiritual man has illustration and acknowledgement from the Lord, 10017, 10093; their being given to Aaron and to his sons and daughters with him as a due for ever, denotes that these are from the Lord, through the celestial man in every good thought and in every good affection perpetually, 5619, 10017, 489, 7931; and every one that is clean in Aaron's house eating thereof, denotes appropriation by every one who does the work of repentance, and thus purifies his life from evil, 10017, 4545.

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12.  All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the corn, the firstfruits of them which they give to the Lord being given to Aaron, denotes that it must be acknowledged by the spiritual man that every celestial affection, every spiritual thought, and all the good of truth are from the Lord in their earliest manifestation by the medium of celestial love, 886, 1071, 5295, 9223, 10017, 5619.

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13.  The firstripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord being Aaron's; and every one that is clean eating thereof, denotes that charity as expressed in good works, even in such a state of the church, is from the Lord through celestial love, and is appropriated by the celestial man in the spiritual degree of his life, and also by the spiritual man, when purification from sin is complete, 9223, 1873, 10017, 2187, 5619, 4545.

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14.  Everything devoted in Israel being Aaron's, denotes that every affection devoted to the Lord with the man of the Spiritual Church is to be acknowledged to be from the Lord through celestial love, 8042, 5619, 10017.

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15.  Everything that opens the womb of all flesh which they offer to the Lord both of man and beast being Aaron's, denotes that every incipient principle, whether of good or truth, which the spiritual man receives from the Lord, whether it be internal or external, is to be ascribed to Him, 8043, 780, 5619, 2001, 8045, 10017; and the firstborn of man being redeemed, as well as the firstling of unclean beasts, denotes that faith, which at first is separated, must be conjoined with charity, and that impure natural affection must be purified, 8042, 6280, 10130, 8045.

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16.  Those that are redeemed being redeemed from a month old, denotes that the purification of every natural affection commences from faith, 6280, 851, 859; according to Aaron's estimation, denotes that the quality of faith depends on its principle of good, 10017, 2959, 2966; the money, or silver, of five shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary, denotes accompanied by the acknowledgement of the Lord from remains; for remains are holy from good, 425, 5291, 3210; and the same is twenty gerahs, denotes that truth is essentially from good, 2959⁷, 10222.

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17.  Not redeeming the firstling of an ox, or of a sheep, or of a goat because they are holy, denotes that the good of faith in its three degrees of natural, spiritual and celestial is from the Lord, and is not tainted with evil; it is holy; and it must be ascribed to Him, 2180, 4169, 8042; sprinkling their blood upon the altar denotes that such faith is conjoined with charity in all worship, 10047, 4441; and burning the fat for an offering made by fire for a sweet savour, or an odour of rest, to the Lord, denotes that such charity must be acknowledged as proceeding from the Divine Love, as being consecrated by it, and therefore as being well pleasing and acceptable to the Lord, 10033, 10055, 10054.

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18.  The flesh of them being Aaron's as the wave breast, and as the right thigh, denotes that also the good of faith must be ascribed to the Lord, through celestial love, even as are the good of charity, and the good of celestial love, ver. 17, 10087, 10092.

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19.  All the heave offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel offer to the Lord, denotes here all illustration in worship, which the man of the Spiritual Church receives from the Lord, because with the spiritual man there is illustration and not the peculiar perception of the celestial man, 10093; their being given to Aaron denotes that such illustration must be ascribed to the Lord, or must be acknowledged to be from Him through celestial love, 5619, 10017; to your sons and to your daughters with you as a due for ever, denotes even as to every perception of truth, and as to every delight in good, and this perpetually through the celestial heavens, 489, 7931; and it being a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord to Aaron and to his seed with him, denotes that thereby is the reciprocal conjunction of good with truth and of truth with good between the celestial and spiritual man to eternity, 665, 666, 9207.

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20.  By the Lord saying to Aaron, is denoted that there is perception from the Lord with the celestial man, 1822, 10017; by Aaron not having any inheritance in their land, nor any portion among the Israelites, is denoted that the celestial heavens are perfectly distinct from the spiritual heavens both as to truth and good, 10017, 2658, 4097, 3654; and by the Lord being Aaron's portion and inheritance among the children of Israel, is denoted that from the Lord is all celestial life, both with regard to the Celestial and Spiritual, the distinction being that, with the Celestial, love to the Lord is primary, and, with the Spiritual, love to the neighbour derived from love to the Lord, 2001, 4097, 2658.

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21.  By the children of Levi, are denoted the Natural, 10017; by the Lord giving them all the tithe in Israel, is denoted that they receive good according to their remains, 2001, 5619, 576, 2658; and by the service, which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting, is denoted that this good is also according to their love of use in ministering to the superior heavens and also to the ultimate heavens, 7038. 3540³.

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22.  Henceforth the children of Israel not coming near to the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die, denotes that the Spiritual cannot enter into nor perform the functions of the Celestial; and that if any one should be persuaded that he can, he must learn that it is impossible, because, in this case, he would have to endure temptations in which he would fail, and would be deprived of spiritual life, 3654, 3572, 3540³, 9937, 6767.

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23.  The Levites doing the service of the tent of meeting, denotes that the Natural, nevertheless, are capable of uses by conjunction with the celestial and spiritual man, 10017, 7038, 3540³, 3875; their bearing their iniquity denotes that they endure temptations according to their quality, 9937; a statute for ever throughout your generations, denotes that they are perpetually in external worship in the process of regeneration, 7884, 8357, 1041 ; and their not having any inheritance among the children of Israel, denotes that yet the good of their charity is to be distinguished from the good of their faith, as being worship from love and not for the sake of reward, or as being the Lord's life in man, which is not ascribed to self, 2658, 3654.

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24.  The tithe of the children of Israel, denotes the good of remains with the man of the Spiritual Church, 576, 3654; their being offered as a heave offering, denotes the acknowledgement that illustration is from the Lord by remains, 5619, 10092-3; given to the Levites for an inheritance, denotes that all who are in the good of charity enjoy remains, and thus the appearance of good as from themselves, and of illustration as from themselves, 3875, 10017, 2658; the Lord saying to them, denotes perception at the same time, 2001, 1822; and their not having an inheritance among the children of Israel denotes that their life of charity and their illustration are entirely from the Lord, and not from the external man, 3564, 2658, 10017.

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25.  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, 1822.

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26.  Speaking to the Levites and saying to them, denotes perception with those who are in charity, both as to the will and the understanding, 10017, 2951, 822; taking of the children of Israel the tithe which the Lord had given them from the Israelites, denotes that when the good of remains is attributed to them from the Lord, as if their own on account of their co-operation, 3938², 576, 2001, 8899, 3654, 2658; and offering up a heave offering of it for the Lord, the tithe of the tithe, denotes that they shall also receive illustration from the Lord, which is to be acknowledged as coming from Him through the remains thus again and continually stored up, 10092-3, 576.

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27.  Their heave offering being reckoned to the Levites as though it were the corn of the threshing-floor and as the fullness of the winepress, denotes that this acknowledgement is attributed to the natural man who is in charity as good derived from truth, and as truth derived from good in the course of regeneration, 10092-3, 6377⁴.

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28.  The Levites also offering a heave offering to the Lord of all their tithes received of the children of Israel, denotes that thus the Natural must acknowledge that they have all their illustration from the Lord through remains, when the external man co-operates with the internal, 10017, 10092-3, 576, 3654; and giving thereof the Lord's heave offering to Aaron the priest, denotes that they acknowledge that all their good and all their truth is from the Lord through the celestial heavens, 5619, 10092-3, 9946, 10017.

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29.  Out of all their gifts offering every heave offering of the Lord of the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it, denotes that particularly it is to be acknowledged by the natural man that, in receiving illustration from the Lord, it is through the inmost good, and the inmost truth with him, 5619, 10092-3, 2001, 10033, 3210.

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30.  Therefore Moses saying to the Levites, denotes that hence again the natural man derives perception, 7010, 1822, 10017; the best thereof being heaved from it denotes the acknowledgement that his inmost good and truth are from the Lord, 10092-3; and it being counted to the Levites as the increase of the threshing-floor and as the increase of the winepress, denotes that these are to be ascribed to the Lord, just as they have ascribed to Him the good of truth and the truth of good in the process of regeneration, 6377⁴.

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31.  The Levites eating it in every place they and their households, denotes that this good is to be appropriated in every state both internal and external, 2187, 4843⁴, 4843⁵; and it being their reward for their service in the tent of meeting, denotes that this good is the only reward which the natural man, who is in charity, seeks in the performance of heavenly uses, 2658, 3816, 7038, 3540³, 10017.

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32.  The Levites bearing no sin because of their heave offering, when they heaved from it the best thereof; and their not profaning the holy things of the children of Israel, nor dying, denotes that thus, also, there is no longer any temptation, when the inmost life of the natural man is acknowledged to be from the Lord together with the life of the internal man; and neither, then, is there any external worship separated from internal, nor any possibility of spiritual death, 10017, 9937, 10092-3, 10033, 2658, 1326, 3654, 2908.

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Discussion

The first section of this chapter, in the internal sense, shows emphatically under the figure of Aaron and his sons bearing iniquity, the way in which the Lord, when on earth, delivered all mankind from the absolute power of evil, and still delivers every individual who is willing to be delivered from his own actual evils by fighting for him against the wicked spirits who excite them to activity, and enabling him, as from himself, to overcome by co-operation with the Lord. And as this subject is very important indeed, the following quotation respecting it is here made: "That bearing iniquity means removing falsities and evils, or sins, with those who are in good, is on the ground of this being said of the Lord, for the Lord was represented by Aaron, and the whole work of salvation by his office or priesthood. It is known in the church that it is said of the Lord that He bore the sins for the human race; but still it is not known what is meant by bearing iniquities and sins. Some believe that the meaning of it is that He took upon Himself the sins of the human race, and suffered Himself to be condemned even to the death on the cross; and because the condemnation of sins was cast upon Him, that the mortals were thus freed from damnation; also that the Lord by the fulfillment of the Law removed the damnation, since the Law would have condemned every one who did not fulfill it. But this is not meant by bearing iniquity, for every man's deeds remain with him after death; their quality comes from the love and the faith—for love and faith constitute the life of a deed; wherefore those deeds cannot be removed by transfer to another who would bear them. From this it is evident that something else is meant by bearing iniquities; but what is meant thereby may appear from the bearing itself by the Lord of iniquities or sins; they are borne by the Lord when He fights for a man against the hells, for of himself a man cannot fight against them, but the Lord alone does this, and indeed continually for every man, with a difference, however, according to the reception of the Divine Good and the Divine Truth. While the Lord was in the world, He fought against all the hells, and subdued them completely; hence, also, He became Justice; in this wise He redeemed from damnation those who received from Himself Divine Good and Truth. Unless this had been done by the Lord, no flesh could have been saved, for the hells are constantly with the man, and rule over him so far as the Lord does not remove them; and He removes them in the same proportion in which the man desists from evils. He who conquers the hells once, conquers them to eternity, and in order that the Lord might accomplish this, He made His Human Divine. Wherefore He who alone tights for man against the hells—or, what is the same thing, against evils and falsities, for they are from the hells—He is said to bear sins, for He alone upholds that burden. That by bearing sins is also signified the removal of evils and falsities from those who are in good, is on account of this being a consequence; for so far as the hells are removed from a man, so far evils and falsities are removed, because both of these, as said above, are from the hells; the evils and falsities, however, are sins and iniquities. How the case herein is may be seen in what was shown above, Nos. 9715 and 9809, where the Lord's Merit and Justice, and also the subjugation of the hells by Him, are treated of," 9937.

But there are also two more points in this section that require a little notice. Charity, or love to the neighbour, generally considered, ministers to love to the Lord, this being signified by the functions of the Levites; while specifically, also, charity as manifested in the natural degree is denoted by them. And thus every degree of good is operative from the Lord in causing the removal of evil. But, on the other hand, so-called worship from selfish motives is of no use in this respect, as is signified by the stranger not coming near, and suffering spiritual death in consequence of doing so. Now, whoever considers all these points carefully, both in the light of human experience and in the light of the general teaching of the Word, cannot fail to see the truth of them, and how very necessary it is that every one who earnestly desires salvation should live according to them.

In the second section we notice, first of all, that all the heave offerings were given to Aaron and his sons, that is, to the priests of the Lord, as a due for ever. But a gift from the Lord to man, and also a gift from man to the Lord, denote that what is represented by the gift is acknowledged to be from Him; and remembering how Aaron and his sons represent, respectively, celestial and spiritual good, which are love to the Lord and love to the neighbour, we have to inquire what this particular offering called the heave offering signifies, in order to understand why it was assigned to the priesthood, and particularly to the high priest, as a due for ever. It was because it signified the acknowledgement that the celestial in particular, the spiritual in a secondary sense, and the natural man in a degree lower, are gifted from the Lord with the perception of truths, and the activity that comes from good. And it is said that the celestial in particular have this gift and acknowledge it, because, unlike the spiritual and natural man, they perceive at once that a thing is true without reasoning about it. Such were the people of the Most Ancient Church, and, in fact, all who lived before the period of that church. And they were called celestial because they were regenerated through their will or love of good, and not like the spiritual through their understanding and love of truth; and this was the reason why, from their state as to good, they could at once perceive what was true, and, consequently, what was not true. For it is said of them: "From the Lord they had perception continuously, which perception was such, that when they thought about those things which were treasured up in the memory, they instantly perceived whether it was true and good, insomuch that when anything false presented itself, they not only avoided it, but even regarded it with horror," 125. Thus we see how much superior were those who constituted the Most Ancient Church, while yet they had with them the remembrance of the falsities and, consequently, the evils which had troubled them in the course of their regeneration, and a perception of what was true and good far beyond that which is enjoyed by the Spiritual and the Natural Churches which succeeded.

Secondly, it is to be noticed that the perception of the spiritual and natural man is distinguished from that of the celestial, as illustration or enlightenment, and is specifically represented by the wave offering, ver. 11; and also that all the offerings of the children of Israel named were to be appropriated and eaten by the priests, to denote that what each of these represented is to be acknowledged, as received, from the Lord through celestial love. Or, in other words, these gifts to the priesthood, while, literally, they were a provision for them, seeing that they had no inheritance like the rest of the tribes, denoted spiritually that every one in the church appropriates good from the Lord through love to Him; and, on reflection, it must be manifest that the spiritual and natural man cannot enjoy and be supported by the various kinds of good, which the Lord freely gives, unless there is a sincere acknowledgement that all good is from Him and is grounded in love to Him.

And, thirdly, this section teaches emphatically that, in order that man may truly appropriate good, so that it occupies not only his internal but also his external man, he must be free from the defilements of the merely natural man by being purified through the work of repentance. For this purification is particularly signified by its being said, "every one that is clean in your house shall eat thereof." And, lastly, let it be well observed that by the redemption spoken of is denoted that every state of faith, which at first is not fully conjoined with charity, must, in the process of regeneration, be so conjoined with it, that the man of the church of every degree may enjoy the good that properly constitutes his life. And here, again, we see that it is good from the Lord of every kind that effects redemption, and not by any means truth separated from good, and, indeed, that this is why the redemption money was to be according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and why this is said to be twenty gerahs, namely, because twenty gerahs signifies all things of good, 10222.

Having now just seen why and how faith not yet conjoined with good, and impure natural affections, can be redeemed by conjunction with good, we come next to the revelation, in the new section, that good of no degree is redeemed, because it is from the Lord, and that, in fact, instead of needing to be redeemed, it is that which redeems, and that, nevertheless, in the person who is being regenerated there must be the conjunction of truth thence proceeding with good; and also that then such good will be fully acknowledged to be from the Lord through celestial love, and may be appropriated and enjoyed as if it were man's own. And thence it follows that even the spiritual and natural man, each in his degree, have illustration and perception corresponding to that of the celestial man. But still the celestial man has his own peculiar perception, as vers. 19, 20 strongly indicate, both affirming the continuity of the perception, and that such is the character of celestial good that no one who is in it can participate in that of the spiritual or natural man, although, as particularly stated, the latter is derived from the former, and there is reciprocal conjunction between them, which is denoted by a covenant of salt, since a covenant signifies conjunction, and salt corresponds to the desire of good for truth, and also the desire of truth for good. For the Lord loves everybody, and would save everybody, and yet none can be saved but those who by regeneration reject a11 selfish love and its evils and falsities, and consecrate themselves to the Lord by love to Him. How highly practical, therefore, are the truths of the internal sense of the Word as conveyed to us in this whole chapter.

And the last section shows this in a remarkable way, because it refers to the operation of Divine principles in the natural man. Let us consider it. We have been instructed that the celestial and spiritual man has each his own peculiar good, and now also we learn that it is the same with the celestial-natural and the spiritual-natural man, the former being denoted by the Levites and the latter by the children of Israel as distinct from the Levites. For the Levites represent those who are in charity in the natural degree, and the Israelites denote those who are in faith there. And the impressive teaching is that those in faith cannot endure those temptations which are signified by bearing iniquity, because if they were introduced into them they would fail. Why is this? It is because there is not any conjunction with the Lord by faith, but only by charity. And it is the Lord only through the principle of good or charity that fights for man against evil. No one, therefore, who contends against evil simply from the principle that obedience to the truth will save him can be successful against it; although it is to be remembered that resistance to evil on this principle is a good thing; for it may lead up to a better state, that is, to a state of the love of obeying the Lord, and then it will become the good of faith, if not the good of charity. So that we are to be careful here properly to distinguish, when thinking of the spiritual-natural, between such of them as are in the good of faith and such as are only in the truth of faith, and to remember that it is the latter who are meant in ver. 22. And since these cannot be let into spiritual temptations, much less can they who are in faith without charity. But the natural man who is in charity, and who is specifically denoted by the Levites, can, according to his degree, "bear iniquity," or, under the Lord's banner, and by His perpetual aid, contend against the foes of his own household, each contention being signified by the service, and also by the warfare, of the Levites in the tent of meeting (chap 4:3). But also the celestial-natural man is distinguished from the spiritual-natural man by having the life of charity or good which is the Lord's life in man, and not man's possession, as is represented by the Levites not having any inheritance with the children of Israel. On the other hand, however, he who is in charity in the natural man, and who is being prepared by regeneration for the ultimate heaven, is here distinguished by having his good from remains as is denoted by the Levites having for their support all the tithes of the children of Israel. This indicates, therefore, that the quality of the charity of the natural man is respectively inferior to that of the charity of the spiritual man of the second or middle heaven.

And now, lastly, there follows another interesting point in connection with the Levites. For they were required particularly to give to Aaron a tithe of the tithes, or tenths, that they received, as a heave offering, which denotes the acknowledgement on the part of the natural man who is in the good of charity that all his power to perceive truths, and all the activity of his life of good, denoted by the heaving, are from the Lord through the celestial and spiritual degrees of his life, or through the celestial and spiritual heavens. Or, from another point of view, these tithes of tithes may be regarded as an acknowledgement that his illustration and activity is from remains thus again and continually stored up. But these heave offerings of the tithes of tithes are also said to be as the increase of the threshing-floor, and as the increase of the winepress, to denote that the acknowledgement that remains are from the Lord continually, is similar to the acknowledgement that the good of truth and the truth of good are from Him in the course of regeneration, because the earlier acknowledgement, in a most orderly way, leads up to the later. For indeed the Lord must always be sincerely acknowledged as the source of life, and as the giver of every good and perfect gift. And, moreover, it is not surprising that, in this connection the appropriation of remains is spoken of; for this is similar to what is in some places described as the implantation of remains in the natural man, thus causing the External to be in all respects a most perfect representation of the Internal. We see, therefore, from the brief review of this section here given how all the things said in the internal sense concerning those represented by the Levites cohere, and come exactly into their right places in the description. And these considerations ought on that account to stimulate the man of the church in so living during his earthly life that he may at last realize the state of eternal happiness of being a perfected image and likeness of the Lord his Creator, Redeemer, and Regenerator.