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Numbers Chapter 8

Summary of the Spiritual Sense

1. On the derivation of the light in the spiritual heavens from the celestial heavens; and that this light is from Divine Truths brought into order from the Divine Love and Wisdom, vers. 1-4.
2. On the purification of those who are in, charity by means of truths from the Word, and by the separation of falsities and evils, vers. 5-7.
3. On worship, also, for this purpose, and also for conjunction with the Lord, vers. 8-12.
4. On the origin of charity and its distinction from faith, vers. 13-14.
5. On the great uses of charity; how by it man's life is rendered active from the Lord; how it is primary in the church, although faith appears to be so in the beginning; how it is subordinate to and is derived from celestial love; and how it prevents the destruction of remains, vers. 15-19.
6. Thus is charity purified and exalted in the church, vers. 20-22.
7. And those who are in charity must endure temptations, in order that they may be made perfect, and thus fully manifest their love of being useful, vers. 23-26.

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 Aaron and saying to him, denotes influx and illustration with those who are in. celestial good, 2951, 1822, 9946, 10017; Aaron lighting the lamps denotes that all the light of the spiritual heaven is derived from the celestial, 10017, 9548; and the seven lamps giving light in front of the candlestick, denotes specifically as Divine Truth proceeds from Divine Good, and enlightens the man of the Spiritual Church, 9548, 6832⁶, 433, 10550.

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3.  Aaron doing so denotes that this is actually the case, 9946, 10017; lighting the lamps so as to give light in front of the candlestick, denotes that truth in the spiritual degree is from charity which is love to the Lord in an image, 9548, 1013; and as the Lord commanded Moses, denotes that thus the Spiritual Church has light according to Divine Order, 5486, 7010, 880.

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4.  By the work of the candlestick is denoted the communication of light from Divine Truth in the spiritual heaven, or in the spiritual degree of the human mind, 9548; by beaten or solid gold are denoted Divine Truths brought into heavenly order from good, 9548, 9510; to the base thereof and to the flowers thereof being beaten work, denotes good in ultimates, and truth there in the form of scientifics in adornment by the operation of the understanding conjoined with the will, 9643, 9553, 9548, 9510; and making the candlestick according to the pattern which the Lord showed to Moses, denotes just as Divine Truth is enlightened from Divine Good to perceive that all outward forms of beauty are representative of the Divine Love in the Divine Wisdom, 9481, 2001, 7010, 9548, 1584.

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5.  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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6.  Taking the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleansing them, denotes that those who are in charity and form the Spiritual Church must be purified, 3875, 3654, 4545.

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7.  Thus doing to them to cleanse them, denotes the process of their purification, 4545; sprinkling the water of expiation upon them, denotes purification by means of the truths of the Word, which expose and remove evils and falsities, 2702, 9959³; causing a razor to pass over all their flesh, denotes the separation of falsities so that truth is conjoined with good even in ultimates, 5247, 33018; and washing their clothes, and cleansing themselves, denotes the separation of falsities from truths in the understanding, and the removal of evils from the heart, or from the will, 5954⁹, 4545.

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8.  Taking a young bullock and its meal offering fine flour mingled with oil, denotes the worship of the Lord from natural good in innocence, from spiritual good, or charity, and from celestial good, or love to the Lord, 9391, 2177, 4581⁴; and another young bullock for a sin offering, denotes that evil is removed by good from the Lord in the external or natural man, 9391, 3400.

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9.  Presenting the Levites before the tent of meeting, denotes that charity must be acknowledged to be the essential of all worship, giving communication with the heavens, 3875, 3540³; and assembling the whole congregation of the children of Israel denotes communication with the man of the church who is in truths, charity being the bond of union there, 6338, 3654, 7843.

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10.  Presenting the Levites before the Lord denotes the acknowledgement that charity is from Him, 223; and the children of Israel laying their hands upon the Levites, denotes that charity is the means of communication and conjunction with the Lord, 10023, 3875.

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11.  Aaron offering the Levites before the Lord for a wave offering on behalf of the children of Israel, denotes that only by that acknowledgement can the man of the church be vivified from the Lord through celestial love, 5619, 3875, 3654, 9946, 10091; and the Levites doing the service of the Lord, denotes to worship the Lord in the uses of life, 7038.

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12.  The Levites laying their hands upon the head of the bullocks, denotes that thus, also, he is able to acknowledge that charity, as expressed in the natural man, is from the Lord, 5575, 10023; offering the one bullock for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering before the Lord, denotes the remission of sins, the reception of such good, and its entire consecration, 3400, 10053, 223; and to make atonement for the Levites, denotes the conjunction of the external man, equally with the internal, wholly to the Lord, 10023, 3875, 20042.

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13.  Setting the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offering them for a wave offering to the Lord, denotes that thus charity and its faith in the Spiritual Church are in celestial love and its truths in the Celestial Church, the man of the church being vivified thereby, 3875, 10017, 10083.

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14.  Thus separating the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites being the Lord's, denotes that charity is properly distinguished from faith, and is to be recognized as the only medium of conjunction with the Lord, 24, 3875, 489, 3654, 2001.

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15.  After that the Levites going in to do the service of the tent of meeting, denotes that all the uses of life and worship in heaven and the church are from charity and love, 3875, 7038, 3540³; cleansing them denotes purification from sin, 4545; and offering them for a wave offering denotes vivification from the Lord, 10983.

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16.  Their being wholly given to the Lord from among the children of Israel, denotes that charity is truly the Lord's life with the man of the church, 5619, 10227; and instead of all that opens the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, the Levites being taken by the Lord, denotes that charity is primary, although faith in the beginning of regeneration appears to be so, 3325⁹, 3875.

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17.  All the firstborn among the children of Israel being the Lord's both man and beast, denotes that, indeed, even faith, both in its inward and outward form, is from the Lord by love and charity, 3325⁹, 3654, 2001, 7872; and the Lord sanctifying all the firstborn to Himself on the day that He smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, denotes that this is made especially manifest, when man is delivered from the power of evil, by the Lord's work of redemption, and is sanctified by the reception of charity, 7948, 8038, 8080.

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18.  The Lord taking the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the-children of Israel, denotes that no doubt remains as to the real origin of faith, or as to the conjunction of faith with charity, 2001, 3875, 8080.

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19.  Giving the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, denotes that charity in the Spiritual Church is the expression of celestial love and its truths, 8899, 3875, 3654, 0946, 10017; to do the service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting, denotes for the performance of the uses of life and worship with man, 7038, 3540³; to make atonement denotes the removal of evil, and thus the reconciliation of the natural with the spiritual man in every individual, 10042; and no plague among the children of Israel when they come near to the sanctuary, denotes in order that spiritual life may not be destroyed, and that external worship separated from internal may no longer prevail, through the destruction of remains, 10219, 3572, 9903.

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20.  Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel thus doing to the Levites, denotes that in this way Divine Truth and Divine Good, with all their subordinate powers even to ultimates, are unanimous in exalting charity, 7010, 9946, 6338, 7843, 3875; and according to all that the Lord commanded Moses touching the Levites, so the children of Israel doing to them, denotes because Divine Love Itself flows into Divine Truth and effects this by causing the external to act as one with the internal man, 2001, 5486, 7010, 3654, 3875.

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21.  The Levites purifying themselves from sin and washing their clothes, denotes that the man of the church as from himself removes evil internally and externally, 3875, 4545, 5954⁹; Aaron offering them for a wave offering before the Lord denotes receiving life from the Lord in all its activity, 10083, 223; and making atonement for them to cleanse them denotes as a. consequence of the reconciliation of the external man with the internal through purification, 10042, 4545.

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22.  After that, the Levites going in to do the service of the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons, denotes that then the external man as well as the internal is fully in the performance of uses in life and worship through the power of celestial love and its truths, 3875, 7038, 3540³, 9946; and as the Lord commanded Moses so doing to them, denotes that all this is accomplished by the influx of Divine Love into Divine Truth appearing outwardly as voluntary action on the part of man, 2001, 5486, 7010, 10219.

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23.  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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24.  The Levites going in to the warfare in the tent of meeting from twenty-five years old and upward, denotes that it is a universal law of Divine Order, that during the state of imperfect conjunction as to faith and charity, man shall be engaged in conflict against evil from a principle of good, 2280, 649, 1664, 3540³.

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25.  From the age of fifty ceasing the warfare, denotes that where that conjunction is perfect all spiritual temptation shall cease, and man shall be free, 2252⁴, 1664, 10501.

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26.  The Levites ministering with their brethren in the tent of meeting, denotes that then all the ministry of uses in life and worship will be from mutual love, 10083, 2360, 3540³; keeping the charge and doing no service, denotes worship from freedom inwardly and outwardly, 3382, 6666; and thus doing to the Levites touching their charges, denotes that it is the essential quality of charity thus; to be and thus to act, 3875, 3382.

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Discussion

The first section of this chapter is interesting, not only as describing the origin and derivation of spiritual light from the celestial heavens, but also as forming a connecting link with the previous account of the gifts by the princes, the result of which was, in the spiritual sense, as we have seen, the revelation of Divine Truth. For here that: subject is continued, and then appropriately follows an account of the purification of the Levites, representing the purification of those who are in charity. And, of course, there cannot be such purification without the operation of Divine Truth inwardly, to which the light corresponds, and of the same outwardly, to which the water of expiation corresponds.

Now, the first three verses may be easily understood from what is said in the references; but the fourth requires a little particular study. The work of the candlestick signifies the communication of spiritual light to those in the middle heaven; but some remarks are necessary in reference to the Hebrew word variously translated beaten work and turned work in the versions, and in the Arcana Coelestia, solid. And it may be said that the lexicons justify all these meanings, so that we may assume that they are involved correspondentially in the internal sense; and the interpretation given in the series, namely, that beaten or solid gold denotes "truths brought into order from good," may therefore be usefully considered under three aspects. It is the Lord Who arranges our truths in order under good; but the qualifying word implies a process, and we have to consider what that may be in regard to our experience.

To begin with, from the term beaten, which implies the exercise of force, and therefore refers to the exertion of the will, we may here learn that there must be resistance to evil on our part in order that the truths we have received, and which have enlightened our understandings, may take proper form and subordination under good.

That is, we must endure temptation; and that good may give an appropriate form to our truths, we must be victorious. We ought to consider this well; and those who do consider it, will not shrink from the hard work herein involved. We must not faint, therefore, nor be weary in well-doing, but we must be determined to conquer as from ourselves.

And then there is the wreathing or turning, and this implies the office of the understanding, and the application of are. Truths that are not understood are not likely to remain with us, and still less likely when they are not applied to use; but if we understand and skilfully utilize them, under the impulse of our best affections, then forms of beauty like an ornamental basis, and like flowers, may be the result; and our whole spiritual life may be lovely. And, indeed, we may be sure that it will be lovely; for the instinct of ornamentations seems to abound everywhere in nature, and much more so must it be the case in the perfect heavenly state towards which we are tending. Moreover, we cannot imagine the love of what is beautiful being, so to speak, inherent in a sordid soul.

And, thirdly, there is the idea of solidity, or hardness, or spiritually in a bad sense, of obstinacy, and therefore in a good sense, of that firmness of character which is the result of a well-balanced understanding and will, and in fact of a fully established and confirmed stale of goodness conjoined with truth.

But, secondly, the influx of Divine light interiorly is not sufficient, and there must be the external purification of those who are in charity such as is represented by the use of the water of expiation, which denotes the truths of the Words properly adapted for this purpose. Notice particularly, here, the steps in the process. The first exposes evil and then removes it; and that is why it is called the water of expiation. But the truth by itself does not effect this; it is the operation of good by means of truth; and so it happens that the Hebrew word translated expiation also means a sin offering, that is, worship for the removal of evil in the natural man, as appears from the third section. But there must also be a "burnt-offering," or worship from love, or from the good of innocence. Thus we see the reason why there were two bullocks, the first signifying what is interior, and the second its exterior manifestation. And, in short, the second implies the work of repentance, since there is no removal of evil apart from this. Here, therefore, we may impress upon ourselves the thought that repentance does not consist simply of a single act of our lives, or even of a series of acts by which we express our sorrow for sin. On the contrary, it means rather a settled habit of the mind by which the evil which causes the sinful act is also shunned. Let us consider this well.

And now we may observe that the rest of this section clearly describes, to put it in one general statement, the conjoint operation of all the powers of the mind, for the purification and making perfect of the whole human character through charity. But of course the subject of regeneration himself, only dimly feels and perceives the particulars of this operation. And yet if we take them one by one, as here set forth, they afford ample scope for reflection. It is a grand thing to be able to recognize charity as the great bond of union between the heavens and mankind, and still a grander to feel that by charity we have conjunction with the Lord Himself. And then the double imposition of hands is highly suggestive, for it denotes communication, translation, and reception, the children of Israel laying their hands on the Levites, the External acknowledging that charity is essential, and the Levites laying their hands on the heads of the bullocks, the Internal descending and causing itself to be realized in the External. Also the same kind of reciprocal action is involved in the double mention of the Levites as a wave offering. To offer a wave offering is to acknowledge that all the activity, or, as it is termed, vivification, of our life is from the Lord. Now, it is most important that we should make this great truth actual with ourselves, for at least two purposes would be served by so doing; for on the one hand, as "Israelites," we should thereby cease to be energetic in what we do, on selfish principles, and should be more than ever active, as from ourselves on true and good principles; and on the other, as "Levites," we should be filled with ardent zeal, wisely directed by a spiritually enlightened judgement, in the consciousness of doing good from the Lord. And thus this spiritual wave offering would be at once a powerful stimulant inwardly and outwardly, and, in short, would become more and more a powerful and a perpetual stimulant. But this brings us into our fourth section, and something is to be said thereon.

"Charity is to be distinguished from faith, and is to be recognized as the only means of conjunction with the Lord." The reason is, because faith or truth, taken by itself, may be used either for selfish or for unselfish purposes, but charity or love cannot be selfish, and it is continually operative, with the spiritual man, from the Lord. Besides this, it may be property considered as the Lord's life in man, and we see why it is so especially the wave offering, and thus the very life of all faith, when it has full conjunction with it.

For the next section shows not only this, and that charity is to be expressed in the performances of uses, but also how faith, which is represented by all the firstborn among the children of Israel, may apparently hold the chief place in the beginning of regeneration. And as it is very important to understand this part of our chapter, other portions of the Word, in which it is particularly explained in The internal sense, may be usefuly consulted, as, for example, the interesting allegory concerning Cain and Abel, and the history of Esau and Jacob in the Old Testament, and particularly what is frequently said about Peter, James and John, and their representation in the New Testament.

With regard to the section included in vers. 20-22, however, it is in be noticed that in the literal sense it is merely a statement that the instructions given to Moses and Aaron concerning the Levites were carried into effect; and yet a careful study of its, internal sense will show that it is so expressed as to reveal other truths in relation to the general subject, while at the same time there is a recapitulation of the orderly series according to man's experience, namely, purification internally and externally, the full activity of the Lord's life in consequence, the reconciliation of the external with the internal man following, and lastly the performance of uses as the result of the whole process. And here, indeed, a moment's reflection will show that unless we are first purified, and then receive new life and energy from the Lord, we cannot perform genuine good works untainted with unworthy motives.

And now, therefore, it will be very interesting to consider our last section in its connection with all that precedes, noticing first, however, that in ver. 24, twenty-five years is named as the age at which the Levites were required to commence their duties instead of thirty, as in chap. iv., where the apparent discrepancy is considered in the commentary at the end of the chapter. But we now have to consider, from the spiritual side, why we have twenty-five and not thirty. In the first place, the literal sense in the former chapter, that is, numbering from thirty years old to fifty, expresses the whole duration of the "service" or "warfare," meaning, spiritually, the whole period during which there should be temptations; but, in this chapter, the literal sense describes rather the point at which this should begin, and that at which it should cease, meaning, spiritually, to distinguish the imperfect state of conjunction with the Lord at the commencement of temptations, from the state of rest when they should be over, as well as their duration. Now, the number thirty, which signifies "somewhat of combat," in relation to the number fifty, which denotes fullness, means little of temptation in relation to fullness of it; and there being twenty between the two numbers, involves the truth that conjunction with the Lord is effected by temptations, because twenty, like two, signifies conjunction. But, again, the relation between twenty-five and fifty is that the former is half of the latter, thus denoting less of fullness and less of conjunction, rather than less of temptation like thirty, 10255. Hence then, again, we see, as well as from the references given on ver. 24, that: twenty-five properly signifies there "the state of imperfect conjunction as to faith and charity," while in chap. iv. the number thirty properly signifies "somewhat of combat," that is, of spiritual temptations. But with regard to numbers in general, we do well to notice that their specific signification is very often dependent on the connection in which they stand as to the subject and as to the series in the internal sense.

And, secondly, it is to be observed that what is said in this section about the service or warfare of the Levites in the tent of meeting, before the age of fifty, refers spiritually to the whole course of temptations experienced by him who is in charity during his state of truth, leading to his full realization of good. For the purification of man from evil, and all the worship connected therewith, as represented by the washings and the sacrifices of different kinds, cannot be effected without temptations, and only one who is in charity, as a principle upon which he regulates his life, can endure temptations. For he who is in faith without charity, or in no faith at all, cannot, of course, experience any conflict between good and evil, and consequently any purification. Let us then "count it all joy when we enter into diverse temptations" (James 1:2).