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Numbers Chapter 29

Summary of the Spiritual Sense

  1. There is revelation from the Lord by Divine Truth, following the implantation of truth in good, and worship thence, which is described, vers. 1-6.
  2. Also there is complete purification from evil accompanied by a similar state of worship, vers. 7-11.
  3. And this is succeeded by the third general stale of the regeneration of man, which is the implantation of good, the appropriate worship in which state is described, vers. 12-40.
  4. But this involves a description of the successive states of regeneration, showing first the opposition of the natural man to the spiritual, and worship in that state, vers. 12-16; secondly, the decrease of this opposition, when truths are full and efficient, vers. 17-19; thirdly, its greater decrease when this fullness and efficiency affect the external as well as the internal man, vers. 20-22; fourthly, its continued decrease when truths are implanted in good, vers, 23-25; fifthly, that the decrease is greater still \vhen the external as well as the internal man is thus affected, vers. 26-28; sixthly, a further decrease of the opposition of the natural man takes place when good is implanted there, vers. 29—31; seventhly, that it ceases altogether when good is implanted in the external as well as the internal man there, 32-34; and eighthly, that a new and perfect state succeeds in which there is a complete arrangement of truths and a full appropriation of good to eternity, vers. 35-40.

The Contents of each Verse

  1. And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have an holy convocation; you shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing of trumpets to you.
  1. And when the state of faith with the man of the church is full and holy, and love begins to he manifested, another rearrangement of truths takes place, and another season of spiritual rest is experienced; for then there is further revelation of Divine Truth from the Lord [more]
  1. And you shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savour to the lord; one young bullock, one ram, seven he-lambs of the first year without blemish:
  1. Then too, the Lord is acknowledged by worship from the holy principle of love which is grateful and acceptable to Him, as to innocence in the natural affections, in the spiritual affections, and in the celestial affections, which are holy, which are embodied or expressed in truths, which are purified from sin, and which are perfect according to the state; [more]
  1. And their meal offering, fine flour mingled with oil, three tenth parts for the bullock, two tenth parts for the ram,
  1. With the acknowledgement also that all spiritual good is derived from and conjoined with celestial good, in the greatest degree when it affects the natural man; in a less degree when it affects the spiritual man and the celestial man only; [more]
  1. And one tenth part for every lamb of the seven lambs;
  1. And in the least degree when it only affects the celestial man; [more]
  1. And one he-goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you:
  1. Accompanied by the increasing removal of evil by means of truths, and thus by the closer conjunction of the external man with the internal, [more]
  1. Beside the burnt offering of the new moon, and the meal offering thereof, and the continual burnt offering and the meal offering thereof, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire to the lord.
  1. In addition to the sincere worship of the Lord from the previous new state of faith, with its appropriate acknowledgement of the due reception of spiritual good; and in addition to the perpetual worship of the Lord in every state of brightness and obscurity, and of the reception of spiritual truths according to Divine Order; all this being grateful and acceptable to the Lord on account of reciprocation in worship from pure love. [more]
  1. And on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have an holy convocation; and you shall afflict your souls; you shall do no manner of work:
  1. And further, when the state of faith with the man of the church is thus full and holy, and when, consequently, remains are implanted, the rearrangement of truths still continues, and there is complete purification from evil in the course of temptation, followed by a renewed state of spiritual rest and peace; [more]
  1. But you shall offer a burnt offering to the lord for a sweet savour; one young bullock, one ram, seven he-lambs of the first year; they shall be to you without blemish:
  1. And consequently a renewed state of the worship of the Lord from pure love, involving again the reception of the good of innocence in the natural, in the spiritual, and in the celestial degrees of the mind, and this too with purification accordingly; [more]
  1. And their meal offering, fine flour mingled with oil, three tenth parts for the bullock, two tenth parts for the one ram,
  1. And also, the reception of spiritual good conjoined with celestial, in the greatest proportion when the natural man co-operates; in less proportion when only the spiritual and celestial co-operate; [more]
  1. A several tenth part for every lamb of the seven lambs:
  1. And in the lease proportion when only the celestial co-operates with the Lord; [more]
  1. One he-goat for a sin offering; beside the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering thereof, and their drink offerings.
  1. There being at the same time the acknowledgement that evil is removed by the Lord, specifically as well as generally, and that all worship from pure love is from the Lord, as well as the reception of all spiritual good conjoined with celestial, and of all spiritual truth. [more]
  1. And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have an holy convocation; you shall do no servile work, and you shall keep a feast to the lord seven days:
  1. And again, when the state of the implantation of truth is completed, and the state of the implantation of good commences, there is still another rearrangement of truths, a still more improved state of spiritual rest and peace, and a still greater appropriation of good from the Lord in all holiness and fullness; [more]
  1. And you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour to the lord ; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, fourteen he-lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:
  1. And consequently it is now most intensely acknowledged that all love and all holy worship from pure love are from the Lord, and are grateful and acceptable to Him, as to the natural affections, which in their first state are fully opposed to the spiritual after states of instruction are completed; as to the spiritual affections in which now truth and good are fully conjoined; and as to the celestial affections in fullness and purified from evil, in which now also truth and good are fully conjoined. [more]
  1. And their meal offering, fine flour mingled with oil, three tenth parts for every bullock of the thirteen bullocks, two tenth parts for each ram of the two rams,
  1. And in this state also is the reception of spiritual good from celestial manifested in the greatest degree, when it is with the good of innocence in the natural man; in a less degree when with that good in the spiritual and celestial man only: [more]
  1. And a several tenth part for every lamb of the fourteen lambs:
  1. And in the least degree when it is in the celestial man only; [more]
  1. And one he-goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.
  1. Besides which, evil is now more than ever fully removed; worship from pure love is now more than ever powerful; and the reception of spiritual good and truth in every state is now more than ever complete. [more]
  1. And on the second day you shall offer twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish:
  1. But this perfect state involves not only all previous states of the natural man, because it involves the first, but also each state in its order, and therefore that, in the second state, the natural man had not so much power against the spiritual man, because truths were full and efficient, and because the conjunction of truth with good was potentially full in the spiritual and celestial degrees; [more]
  1. And their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance:
  1. With the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind according to its quality, and according to Divine Law. [more]
  1. And one he-goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering thereof, and their drink offerings.
  1. As well as with the like remission of evil according to the state, and with the worship of the Lord from pure love in every state by the adequate reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord. [more]
  1. And on the third day eleven bullocks, two rams, fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish;
  1. This perfect state also involves that, in the third stage, the natural man had still less power against the spiritual man because truths were more powerful, not only in the internal of the natural degree, but also in its external from a principle of obedience, and again because the conjunction of truth with good was potentially full in the spiritual and celestial degrees; [more]
  1. And their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance:
  1. With the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind, according to its quality, and according to Divine Law; [more]
  1. And one he-goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.
  1. As well as with the like remission of evil according to the state, and with the worship of the Lord from pure love, in every state, by the adequate reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord. [more]
  1. And on the fourth day ten bullocks, two rams, fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish:
  1. This perfect state also involves that, in the fourth stage of conflict, the natural man had still less power against the spiritual, because then truths were implanted in good there, and because the conjunction of truth with good was again potentially full in the spiritual and celestial degrees; [more]
  1. Their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance:
  1. With the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind according to its quality, and according to Divine Law; [more]
  1. And one he-goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.
  1. As well as with the like remission of evil according to the state, and with the worship of the Lord from pure love in every state by the adequate reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord. [more]
  1. And on the fifth day nine bullocks, two rams, fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish:
  1. This perfect state also involves that, in the fifth stage of conflict, the natural man had still less power against the spiritual, because then truths were implanted in good, not only in the internal of the natural degree, but also in the external, from a sincere affection for truth, and because the conjunction of truth with good was again potentially full in the spiritual and celestial degrees; [more]
  1. And their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance:
  1. With the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind, according to its quality and according to Divine Law; [more]
  1. And one he-goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.
  1. As well as with the like remission of evil according to the state, and with the worship of the Lord from pure love in every state by the adequate reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord. [more]
  1. And on the sixth day eight bullocks, two rams, fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish:
  1. This perfect state also involves that, in the sixth stage of conflict, the natural man had still less power against the spiritual, because then good was implanted there, and because the conjunction of truth with good was again potentially full in the spiritual and celestial degrees; [more]
  1. And their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance:
  1. With the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind, according to its quality and according to Divine Law; [more]
  1. And one he-goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, the meal offering thereof, and the drink offerings thereof.
  1. As well as with the like remission of evil according to the state, and with the worship of the Lord from pure love in every state, by the adequate reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord. [more]
  1. And on the seventh day seven bullocks, two rams, fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish:
  1. And this perfect state also involves that, in the seventh stage, when conflict ceases, the natural man has no longer any power against the spiritual, because it is now harmonious therewith, and a state of rest and peace is established, not only in the internal of the natural degree, but also in its external, from a sincere affection for good, and because the conjunction of truth with good is now actually full in all the degrees of the mind; [more]
  1. And their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance:
  1. With the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial, in each degree of the mind, according to its quality and according to Divine Law; [more]
  1. And one he-goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.
  1. As well as with the full remission of evil according to the state, and with the worship of the Lord from pure love in every state, by the full reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord in the natural degree. [more]
  1. On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly: you shall do no servile work:
  1. And in this new and perfect heavenly state there is complete arrangement of truths, and the full appropriation of good, together with the cessation of all spiritual conflict. [more]
  1. But you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour to the lord : one bullock, one ram, seven he-lambs of the first year without blemish:
  1. And the acknowledgement of the Lord, and worship thence from pure love is full in every respect, and therefore grateful and acceptable in every respect, on account of reciprocation, as to the natural affections, as to the spiritual affections, and as to the celestial affections. [more]
  1. Their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullock, for the ram, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the ordinance :
  1. Also as to the reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in every degree of the mind, according to the heavenly quality of good, and according to the perfection of Divine Truth. [more]
  1. And one he-goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.
  1. And also as to deliverance from evil through the operation of the truth, besides genuine worship from pure love, in every state, and the reception of spiritual good and truth in fullness in every state. [more]
  1. These you shall offer to the lord in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meal offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.
  1. And this full acknowledgement, and worship, and reception of heavenly good and truth, is continual, or eternal; in every general state and in every particular state, and consequently, in every act of devotion to the Lord, in every act of freedom in worship, in every act of worship from pure love, and in every act of worship in which it is acknowledged that spiritual and celestial good and truth are continually received from the Lord. [more]
  1. And Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the lord commanded Moses.
  1. And thus from the Lord through the heavens, by Divine Truth, there is revelation to the man of the Spiritual Church in every state according to his needs. [more]

References and Notes

  1.  "And in the seventh month on the first day of the month, you shall have an holy convocation," denotes that when the state of the man of the church is full, and love begins to be manifested, another rearrangement of truths takes place, 852, 893, 894, 7891; "You shall do no servile work" denotes another season of spiritual rest, 851, 8890; and "it is a day of blowing of trumpets" denotes further revelation of Divine Truth from the Lord, 8802, 8815.

    [Back to 1]

  2.  "And you shall offer a burnt offering of a sweet savour, or an odour of rest, to the Lord," denotes that then, too, the Lord is acknowledged by worship from the holy principle of love, which is grateful and acceptable to Him, 349, 10053, 10054, 2001; "one young bullock," denotes as to innocence in the natural affections, 10021; "one ram," denotes in the spiritual affections, 10042, 2830; and "seven he-lambs of the first year without blemish," denotes in the celestial affections, which are holy, which are embodied or expressed in truths, which are purified from sin, and which are perfect according to the state, 716, 7838, 10132, 7839, 7837.

    [Back to 2]

  3.  "And their meal offering fine flour mingled with oil," denotes with the acknowledgement that all spiritual good is derived from and conjoined with celestial good, 10136; and "three tenth parts for the bullock, and two tenth parts for the ram," denotes in the greatest degree when it affects the natural man, and in a less degree when it affects the spiritual man and the celestial man only, 10137, 10021, 10042.

    [Back to 3]

  4.  "And one tenth part for every lamb of the seven lambs," denotes in the least degree when it only affects the celestial man, 10137, 10132.

    [Back to 4]

  5.  "And one he-goat for a sin offering to make atonement for you," denotes accompanied by the increasing removal of evil by means of truths, and thus by the closer conjunction of the external man with the internal, 4169, 3400, 10042.

    [Back to 5]

  6.  "Beside the burnt offering of the new moon," denotes in addition to the sincere worship of the Lord from the previous new state of faith, chap. xxviii. 11; "and the meal offering thereof" denotes with its appropriate acknowledgement of the due reception of spiritual good, chap 28:12-13; "and the continual burnt offering and the meal offering thereof," denotes in addition to the perpetual worship of the Lord in every state of brightness and obscurity, chap 28:3-6; "and their drink offerings according to their ordinance" denotes the reception of spiritual truths according to Divine Order, chap 28:7, 14; and "for a sweet savour or an odour of rest, an offering made by fire to the Lord," denotes that all this is grateful and acceptable to the Lord on account of reciprocation in worship from pure love, 10054-5.

    [Back to 6]

  7.  "And on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have an holy convocation," denotes that when the state of faith with man is thus full and holy, and when, consequently, remains are implanted, the rearrangement of truths still continues, 2075, 852, 7891; "and you shall afflict your souls," denotes complete purification from evil in the course of temptations, 1846, 1937, 1947, 3864; and "you shall do no manner of work " denotes a renewed state of rest and peace following, 851, 8890.

    [Back to 7]

  8.  "But you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord for a sweet savour, or for an odour of rest," denotes a renewed state of the worship of the Lord from pure love, 10053, 10054; and one young bullock, one ram, and seven he-lambs of the first year without blemish, denotes again the reception of the good of innocence in the natural, in the spiritual, and in the celestial degrees of the mind, and this too with purification accordingly, ver. 2.

    [Back to 8]

  9.  "And their meal offering fine flour mingled with oil, three tenth parts for the bullock and two tenth parts for the one ram," denotes the reception of spiritual good conjoined with celestial, in the greatest proportion when the natural man co-operates; in less proportion when only the spiritual and celestial co-operate, ver. 3.

    [Back to 9]

  10.  "A several tenth part for every lamb of the seven lambs," denotes in the least proportion when only the celestial co-operates with the Lord, ver. 4.

    [Back to 10]

  11.  "One he-goat for a sin offering," denotes at the same time the acknowledgement that evil is removed by the Lord specifically as well as generally, ver. 5; "beside the sin offering of atonement," denotes generally as well as specifically, ver. 5; and "the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering thereof, and their drink offerings," denotes the acknowledgement that all worship from pure love is from the Lord, as well as the reception of all spiritual good conjoined with celestial, and of all spiritual truth, chap 28:3-8.

    [Back to 11]

  12.  "And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have an holy convocation," denotes that again when the state of the implantation of truth is completed, and the state of the implantation of good commences, there is still another rearrangement of truths, 92965, 7891; "You shall do no servile work," denotes a still more improved state of spiritual rest and peace, 7893, 8890; and "You shall keep a feast to the Lord seven days," denotes a still greater appropriation of good from the Lord in all holiness and fullness, 9286, 9287, 2044, 716.

    [Back to 12]

  13.  "And you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, or a sweet savour, or an odour of rest, to the Lord," denotes that it is now most intensely acknowledged that all love and all holy worship from pure love are from the Lord, and are grateful and acceptable to Him, 10053, 10054, 10055; "thirteen young bullocks" denotes as to the natural affections, which in their first state are fully opposed to the spiritual after states of instruction are completed, 10021, 1668; "two rams" denotes as to the spiritual affections in which now truth and good are fully conjoined, 10042, 5104; and "fourteen he-lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish," denotes as to the celestial affections in fullness and purified from evil, in which now also truth and good are fully conjoined, 10132, 7837-9, 5194, 8507, 5291.

    [Back to 13]

  14.  "And their meal offering, fine flour mingled with oil," denotes that in this state also is the full reception of spiritual good from celestial, 10136; and "three tenth parts for every bullock of the thirteen bullocks, and two tenth parts for each ram of the two rams," denotes in the greatest degree when it is with the good of innocence in the natural man, and in a less degree when with that good in the spiritual and celestial man only, 10137, 10021, 10042.

    [Back to 14]

  15.  "And a several tenth part for every lamb of the fourteen lambs," denotes in the least degree when it is in the celestial man only, 10132, 10137.

    [Back to 15]

  16.  "And one he-goat for a sin offering" denotes evil now more than ever fully removed, 4169, 3400; and "beside the continual burnt offering, the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof," denotes that worship from pure love is now more than ever powerful; and that the reception of spiritual good and truth is now more than ever complete, chap 28:3-7.

    [Back to 16]

  17.  "And on the second day you shall offer twelve young bullocks," denotes that this perfect state involves not only all previous states of the natural man because it involves the first, but also each state in its order, and therefore that, in the second state, the natural man had not so much power against the spiritual man because truths were full and efficient, 1335, 6, 8, 2089, 10021; and "two rams and fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish," denotes because the conjunction of truth with good was potentially full in the spiritual and celestial degrees, ver. 13.

    [Back to 17]

  18.  "And their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance," denotes with the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind, according to its quality, and according to Divine Law, chap 28:12-14, 10217, 8357.

    [Back to 18]

  19.  "And one he-goat for a sin offering" denotes as well as with the like remission of evil according to the state, 4169, 3400; and "beside the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering thereof, and their drink offerings," denotes with the worship of the Lord from pure love in every state, by the adequate reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord, chap 28:3-7.

    [Back to 19]

  20.  "And on the third day eleven bullocks" denotes that this perfect state also involves that, in the third stage, the natural man had still less power against the spiritual man because truths were more powerful, not only in the internal of the natural degree, but also in its external from a principle of obedience, 9, 720, 9616, 10021; and "two rams and fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish," denotes again because the conjunction of truth with good was potentially full in the spiritual and celestial degrees, ver. 13.

    [Back to 20]

  21.  "And their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance," denotes with the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind, according to its quality, and according to Divine Law, chap 28:12-14, 10217, 8357.

    [Back to 21]

  22.  "And one he-goat for a sin offering" denotes as well as with the like remission of evil according to the state, 4169, 3400; and "beside the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof," denotes with the worship of the Lord from pure love in every state, by adequate reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord, chap 28:3-7.

    [Back to 22]

  23.  "And on the fourth day ten bullocks," denotes that this perfect state also involves that in the fourth stage of conflict the natural man has still less power against the spiritual man, because then truths were implanted in good there, 10, 1686, 576, 10021; and "two rams and fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish," denotes because the conjunction of truth with good was again potentially full in the spiritual and celestial degrees, ver. 13.

    [Back to 23]

  24.  "Their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance," denotes with the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind, according to its quality and according to Divine Law, chap 28:12-14, 10217, 8357.

    [Back to 24]

  25.  "And one he-goat for a sin offering" denotes as well as with the like remission of evil according to the state, 4169, 3400; and "beside the continual burnt offering, the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof," denotes with the worship of the Lord from pure love in every state by the adequate reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord, chap 28:3-7.

    [Back to 25]

  26.  "And on the fifth day nine bullocks," denotes that this perfect state also involves that in the fifth stage of conflict the natural man had still less power against the spiritual because then truths were implanted in good not only in the internal of the natural degree, but also in the external from a sincere affection for truth, 11, 5291, 1988, 10021; and "two rams and fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish," denotes because the conjunction of truth with good was again potentially full in the spiritual and celestial degrees, ver. 13.

    [Back to 26]

  27.  "And their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance," denotes with the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind, according to its quality, and according to Divine Law, chap 28:12-14, 10217, 8357.

    [Back to 27]

  28.  "And one he-goat for a sin offering" denotes as well as with the like remission of evil, according to the state, 4169, 3400; and "beside the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof," denotes with the worship of the Lord from pure love in every state by the adequate reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord, chap 28:3-7.

    [Back to 28]

  29.  "And on the sixth day eight bullocks " denotes that this perfect state also involves that, in the sixth stage of conflict, the natural man had still less power against the spiritual, because then good was implanted there, 12, 7373, 9227, 10021; and "two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish," denotes because the conjunction of truth with good was again potentially full in the spiritual and celestial degrees, ver. 13.

    [Back to 29]

  30.  "And their meal offering, and their drink offerings, for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance," denotes with the like reception of spiritual good and truths conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind, according to its quality and according to Divine Law, chap 28:12-14, 10217, 8357.

    [Back to 30]

  31.  "And one he-goat for a sin offering" denotes as well as with the like remission of evil according to the state, 4169, 3400; and "beside the continual burnt offering, the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof," denotes with the full worship of the Lord from pure love in every state by the adequate reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord, chap 28:3-7.

    [Back to 31]

  32.  "And on the seventh day seven bullocks" denotes that this perfect state also involves that, in the seventh stage, when conflict ceases, the natural man has no longer any power against the spiritual man, because it is now harmonious therewith, and a state of rest and peace is established not only in the internal of the natural degree, but also in its external, from a sincere affection for good, 74, 716, 84, 10021; and "two rams, and fourteen he-lambs of the first year without blemish," denotes because the conjunction of truth with good is now actually full in all the degrees of the mind, ver. 13.

    [Back to 32]

  33.  "And their meal offering, and their drink offerings for the bullocks, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after, the ordinance," denotes with the like reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in each degree of the mind, according to its quality, and according to Divine Law, chap 28:12-14, 10217, 8357.

    [Back to 33]

  34.  "And one he-goat for a sin offering" denotes as well as with the full remission of evil, according to the state, 4169, 3400; "beside the continual burnt offering, the meal offering thereof and the drink offering thereof," denotes with the worship of the Lord from pure love in every state, by the full reception and acknowledgement of spiritual good and truth from the Lord in the natural degree, chap 28:3-7.

    [Back to 34]

  35.  "On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly; you shall do no servile work," denotes that in this new and perfect heavenly state there is complete arrangement of truths and the full appropriation of good, together with the cessation of all spiritual conflict, 9296"', 6338, 8890.

    [Back to 35]

  36.  "But you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour, or an odour of rest, to the Lord," denotes the acknowledgement of the Lord, and worship thence from pure love, full in every respect, and therefore grateful and acceptable in every respect on account of reciprocation, 349, 10053, 10054, 10055; and "one bullock, one ram, seven he-lambs of the first year without blemish," denotes as to the natural affections, as to the spiritual affections, and as to the celestial affections, ver. 13, 39863, 716.

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  37.  "Their meal offering and their drink offerings, for the bullock, for the ram, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the ordinance," denotes also as to the reception of spiritual good and truth conjoined with celestial in every degree of the mind according to the heavenly quality of good, and according to the perfection of Divine Truth, chap 28:12-14, 10217, 8357.

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  38.  "And one he-goat for a sin offering," denotes as to deliverance from evil through the operation of the truth in every state, 4169, 3400; and "beside the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof," denotes besides genuine worship from pure love, and the reception of spiritual good and truth in fullness in every state, chap 28:3-7.

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  39.  "These you shall offer to the Lord in your set feasts," denotes that this full acknowledgement and worship, and reception of heavenly good and truth is continual in every general state and in every particular state, 349, 2001, 9286; "beside your vows," denotes in every act of devotion to the Lord, 3732; "your freewill offerings," denotes in every act of freedom in worship, 10097; "for your burnt offerings," denotes in every act of worship from pure love, 10053, 10055; "and for your meal offerings, and for your drink offerings," denotes in every act of worship by which it is acknowledged that spiritual and celestial good and truth are continually received from the Lord, 10137; and "for your peace offerings," denotes also worship from freedom, 10097.

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  40.  Moses telling the children of Israel according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, denotes that thus from the Lord, through the heavens, by Divine Truth, there is revelation to the man of the Spiritual Church in every state according to his needs, 7010, 3209, 3654, 2001, 5486.

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Discussion

As the first section of this chapter is concerning the, feast of trumpets, by which is signified revelation from the Lord, the following quotation will be found useful: "In regard to revelation being either from perception or from speech with the angels through whom the Lord speaks, it is to be noted that those who are in good and thence in truth, especially those who are in the good of love to the Lord, have revelation from perception; whereas those who are not in good and thence in truth may indeed have revelations, yet not from perception, but by a living voice heard in them, thus by angels from the Lord; this latter revelation is external, whereas the former is internal. The angels, especially the celestial, have revelation from perception, so also had the men of the Most Ancient Church, but hardly any one at the present day; whereas very many, even those who have not been in good, have had revelations from speech without perception, and also by visions and dreams. Such were most of the revelations of the prophets in the Jewish Church; they heard a voice, they saw a vision, and they dreamed a dream; but as they had no perception, they were merely verbal or visual revelations, without any perception of what they signified; for genuine perception exists through heaven from the Lord, and affects the intellectual spiritually, and leads it perceptibly to think as the thing really is, with an internal assent, the source of which it is ignorant of. It supposes that it is in it, and that it flows from the connection of things; whereas it is a dictate through heaven from the Lord, flowing into the interiors of the thought, concerning such things as are above the Natural and Sensual, that is, concerning such things as are of the spiritual world, or of heaven. Hence it may be manifest what it meant by revelation from perception. But the revelation from perception which the Lord had, Who is here represented by Joseph, and which is here treated of in the internal sense, was from the Divine in Himself, and thus was from Himself," 5121.

Now this clear statement shows that the revelation represented by the blowing of the trumpets here spoken of is, in the spiritual sense, revelation from perception, such, generally speaking, as all have who are grounded in good through regeneration, from the Lord (John 7:17).

And now the particular points to be observed in connection with this feast are that the sacrifices of it are described which are not mentioned in Leviticus; and that they are the same exactly as those mentioned in the last chapter, except that only one bullock was offered instead of two. What therefore does this imply in the internal sense? It signifies that in states of revelation from the Lord there may not be, necessarily, conjunction by good with Him in the natural degree, because the offering of two young bullocks denotes conjunction as to good natural affections, 10021, 5194, and therefore the offering of only one will denote no conjunction by natural good, or only preparatory conjunction thereby, since where there is good there is some conjunction.

The second section, however, carries our thoughts back not only to the teaching, in the spiritual sense, of Lev. xxiii., but also to the specific account of the ceremonies on the day of atonement, as described in Lev. xvi.; and the reader will naturally therefore recur to those, in considering the. account of the directions here given for the sacrifices, which are exactly the same as for the festival of trumpets. But it is remarkable that there is no account of any such burnt offering in Leviticus. And yet surely it must form an important part of the ceremonials of that day; besides which, it is distinctly said of this complex burnt offering, that it is to be offered beside the sin offering of atonement, that is, beside the specified offerings in that chapter, just as, in the case of the other festivals, the offerings of this and the last chapter are additional to the ceremonials in Lev. xxiii. Now the question that arises is, why was this addition, and what does it represent spiritually? And the answer appears clearly to be, that these new burnt offerings, in all the cases, are intended to denote the more genuine devotion of the heart to the Lord in worship as regeneration advances. For example, we are to keep the feast of the Passover and of Unleavened Bread, or to worship the Lord on account of our deliverance from evil, all through our lives, as directed in Lev 23:8; but when we pass from a state in which we are only under general instruction in spiritual things, to a state of successful warfare against the "foes of our own household," then our true worship of the Lord Becomes more decided, more earnest, more pronounced, and more specific, and this is represented by a more particular and detailed account of the burnt offering (Num 28:19-23); and again when we have accomplished this warfare, and are fully entered into the heavenly state, we shall be in a confirmed state of true worship on account of deliverance from evil, because we shall be in our specific state of good conjoined with truth, as described in Deut 16:1-8, which will occupy our attention further on. For we may be sure we should not have had, in the Divine Word, these repeated and varying descriptions of the same things without a deep significance in the spiritual sense. And, moreover, we may here see also a positive evidence of the continuity and order of the books of the Pentateuch, showing that they were written as we now have them, that is, Leviticus after Genesis and Exodus and before Numbers, with Deuteronomy following, since what is contained in Exodus and in Leviticus is here referred to in Numbers, and afterwards again commented upon in Deuteronomy; while we can scarcely imagine that Genesis, which contains the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of the immigration of their posterity into Egypt, should not have been written prior to the account of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. But the reason why, again, one bullock and not two constituted the part of the burnt offering denoting natural good, is that in worship for the removal of evil there is not the full conjunction with the Lord that distinguishes, for instance, full deliverance therefrom (chap 28:89); and also the reason why the rest of the offering was the same is because the higher degrees of the mind are potentially in full worship even when the natural degree is not so much affected. We turn now, however, to the last section, and its several subdivisions. This is concerning the feast of the ingathering of the harvest, also called the feast of Tabernacles, which, as we have seen, represents the state of the implantation of good, and thus the culmination of the life of man when he realizes good not only in the internal man, but also in the external, and when good therefore is fully appropriated (Lev 23:33-44).

And here again, in our chapter, we have a very particular account of the burnt offerings, which are so arranged as to represent the successive states of regeneration, and of the worship of the Lord therein, by means of which the final state is reached. And we have to notice first that the offerings of each day were the same, except in regard to the number of bullocks. That is, the state of good with man is potentially the same in every state of regeneration, although it is not realized all at once in the natural degree on account of the opposition of evil. And what is meant by good being potentially the same is, that pure love to the Lord and love to the neighbour, according to the state of each person, with all the wisdom therein involved, are the things that have to be realized. We must all in our final heavenly state love the Lord and the neighbour in the highest degree possible to us; and we must attain to this state successively. And it should not be with any of us a mere ambition, or the thought of exceeding somebody else in our devotion to the Lord. For each of us has a certain capacity for usefulness, in heaven, from the unselfish love of use, and this is our capacity for loving the Lord and the neighbour. This is the great object of our life, so to speak; in this respect we are all alike; and when we have arrived at our journey's end we shall then be capable of developing our life to all eternity. And thus there will be eternal progress, and yet a fixed state. This then is the sense in which every person's worship of the Lord finally, that is, when good is implanted in truth with him, will be the same as that of every other person regenerated. We now therefore proceed to notice the steps in the process.

And the first state, or the first day's offering, after a course of instruction, is a feeling of opposition to the Divine life. Have we not all experienced that? A man is not naturally disposed to love the Lord, but on the contrary, he is opposed to such love. And, indeed, if any one does not know this to begin with he cannot make any progress. But, then, how is he to be changed? It can only be by the operation of the Lord by His Holy Spirit upon the truths of the Word that he has learned; and this will bring him a little further, or into another day, in which he begins to be influenced by his truths, so that now there is a little less opposition on his part in his natural life. For truths are abundant with the regenerating man, and there is a little affection for good as well (ver. 17; John 3:5; Gen 1:6-8). And this leads the traveller on another stage, or into another day of his spiritual life, when as to his natural degree, he offers less opposition, also beginning actually to do the work of repentance (ver. 20; Gen 1:9-13).

But still this repentance is, in a great measure, on selfish grounds, as we all know from experience; and on account of this there must be a more decided advance, or another day in which the truths that have been received must be implanted in good, or in other words, in which the spiritual sun, which is Divine love, and the spiritual moon, which is faith derived from love, with the stars, which mean a greater delight in knowledge, now manifest themselves, and consequently the Internal of the natural man is affected, and the opposition of the merely natural life is weaker still (ver. 23; Gen 1:14-19). It will not do, however, for the religion of any one to be unselfish internally, and yet to continue to be selfish externally; for no person, at the same time in reality, can serve both God and Mammon. And therefore this implantation of truth in good must become external as well as internal, so that there may be still a less degree of opposition from merely natural love, and a greater degree of activity in the cultivation of Divine Truths, which constitutes further progress, or another day of more advanced spiritual life, which is the fifth (ver. 26; Gen 1:20-23). Nor is this sufficient. For the implantation of truth in good is one thing, and the implantation of good in truth is another, since in the former a man does good only because he loves the truth, while in the latter he does good because it is good, and this is quite a different matter. But what is to make him do good for the sake of good? He can only accomplish this by a conflict against evil. And this is really the correspondential value of the number six. For it is written, "Six days shall you labour and do all your work." That is, this conflict is not confined to one state of the regenerate life, but belongs to them all, until the victory is gained. The sixth day, therefore, specifically denotes the final conflict; it is one stage more in the journey of life; and it overcomes the opposition of the merely natural man entirely, so that there is the implantation of good there, but to begin with, only as to the internal thereof (ver. 29; Gen 1:24-31).

It follows now, therefore, that there is a further advance; for there must be the implantation of good not only in the internal of the natural man, but also in the external; and this constitutes the state in which all opposition from the merely natural man ceases, and in which the new natural man is completely in harmony with the spiritual or internal man. This, therefore, is the celestial or heavenly state, and therein the inmost life of man is fully realized in his words and actions. But still there is one more day in the series, in order to denote the new state of heavenly life which is to endure for ever, and which involves all previous states and makes them one by virtue of the ruling love; and we may be sure that that is the reason why the burnt offering of that day consisted of only one bullock and one ram, and not more, as in the previous days; and because in this state there is now a perfect arrangement of good conjoined with truths, even in ultimates, therefore the expression "solemn assembly" is used, concerning which Lev 23:36 may be consulted with advantage; for there its specific application clearly appears.

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