LEVITICUS 24
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Leviticus Chapter 24

Summary of the Spiritual Sense

1. The good of celestial love, adapted to the state of the spiritual man, is the origin of all spiritual truth in order that there may be light in the spiritual kingdom perpetually, vers. 1-4.
2. On the manifestation of celestial and spiritual good, or, in other words, of pure love to the Lord and love to the neighbour, to the man of the church; that they are to be accurately distinguished; that they are acquired by spiritual conflict; that they are in their receptacles with man; that they are acknowledged to be from the Lord; that they are accompanied by their corresponding truth; and that they are appropriated by man, vers. 5-9.
3. Concerning the falsity derived from evil which infests the church and profanes the truth, and especially the doctrine of the Divine Human; that those who are of this character are, in the meantime, restrained by external bonds; that they come into judgement; and that they are condemned, vers. 10-14.
4. Concerning profanation; concerning injury done to truth and good; and concerning the law of retribution, by which evil and falsity bring upon themselves their own punishment, vers. 15-23.

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.  Commanding the children of Israel denotes influx from the Lord with the man of the Spiritual Church, 5486, 3654; bringing to Moses pure olive oil beaten for the light, denotes the acknowledgement that the good of celestial love adapted to the state is from the Lord by means of Divine Truth, 886, 10303, 7010; oil for the light denotes also that good is the origin of truth, 9296⁵, 9667; and to cause a lamp to burn continually denotes in order that there may be light in the spiritual kingdom perpetually, 9549, 9550, 10200-02.

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3.  Aaron ordering it from evening to morning, without the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting before the Lord continually, denotes that this light flows in from the celestial to the spiritual degree of man's mind in every state of obscurity and brightness through the operation of celestial good, 9046, 10200-02, 9670, 3540³, 10133; and it being a statute for ever throughout your generations denotes even both with regard to the internal and external man during the course of regeneration, and afterwards to eternity, 7884, 7931.

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4.  Ordering the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually, denotes that the spiritual degree is the especial receptacle of Divine Truth unmixed with falsity from the Lord continually, 9548-50, 10133.

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5.  Taking fine flour and baking twelve cakes thereof denotes pure celestial truth in which celestial good is manifested, and whence spiritual good is derived to the Spiritual, 9995, 2177, 2280, 3272; and two tenth parts of an ephah being in one cake denotes through which the celestial and spiritual heavens are conjoined, 2177, 2280.

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6.  Setting them in two rows, six in a row upon the pure table before the Lord, denotes that, nevertheless, spiritual good is distinguished from celestial good, and that both are acquired through victory in temptations in all fullness; and that they are in their receptacle with the man of the Spiritual Church, and are acknowledged to be from the Lord, 5194, 9864, 8888, 9545, 2001, 3272.

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7.  Putting pure frankincense upon each row that it may be to the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire to the Lord, denotes that these goods are to be accompanied by their corresponding truth, which generally is the truth of faith; for truth is the form or expression of good, and through it good is perpetually in the memory; and thus the Lord is acknowledged from love and by faith conjoined, 2177, 10177, 6888, 10055.

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8.  Setting it before the Lord every Sabbath, in order, continually, denotes that both celestial and spiritual good are derived to man from the Lord, 2177, 8886, 8889; and it being, on behalf of the children of Israel, an everlasting covenant, denotes that, by virtue of the Lord's glorification of the Human, these are from the Divine Human with man, 8886, 8889; also that by these the man of the church has conjunction with the Lord to eternity, 665, 666.

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9.  It being for Aaron and for his sons denotes good for the celestial and spiritual man, 9946; their eating it in a holy place denotes that they appropriate it in a holy state, 2187, 3210; and it being most holy to him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statue, denotes that good is the very life of the celestial man being directly manifested in truth, and that he is enabled to acknowledge and worship the Lord from love in a supereminent degree, 10055, 7884, 7931.

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10.  The son of an Israelitish woman whose father was an Egyptian, denotes falsity derived from the evil of merely natural love, 1147, 3654, 3703²⁰, 9391¹⁰; this evil originates in selfishness in the Spiritual Church perverted, 3703. end, 7488; going out among the children of Israel denotes the influx of falsity from evil with the man of the church, 7124; and the son of the Israelitish woman and the man of Israel striving together in the camp denotes the infestation of falsity and conflict, 1571.

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11.  The son of the Israelitish woman blaspheming the Name and cursing, denotes that falsities in the church or all those who are in falsities derived from evil, profane the truths of the church, and especially the doctrine of the Divine Human, and thereby avert themselves from the Lord and confirm themselves in evil, 1147, 8882, 6887, 379; being brought to Moses denotes to be brought under the judgement of Divine Truth, at the end of the church, 7010, 931; and his mother's name being Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan, denotes that the external origin of such a state is merely sensual and corporeal delight from the fallacies of the senses, and from the imagination of the merely natural man, which judges of things from the outward appearance, because by mother is denoted external origin, 1815, 8897; name denotes quality or state, 144, 145; Shelomith means "my peace, my happiness, my recompense" and therefore denotes, in the best sense, heavenly peace, happiness, and reward, but here, in the opposite sense, merely sensual and corporeal happiness or delight, 4681, 995; by daughter is denoted affection, good or evil as the case may be, hence in this place evil affection, 489, 568; Dibri, according to Gesenius, means probably eloquent, and, according to Fuerst, one from the field, and thus it denotes thoughts grounded in sensual things, or the fallacies of the senses, 9987, 4440; and Dan means one who judges, and denotes in a good sense the affirmation of the truth which is the first thing with those about to be regenerated, and the last with those who are regenerated; but in the opposite sense, as here, he denotes reasoning from the imagination of the merely natural man which judges of things from the outward appearance, 3923, 6397-6401.

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12.  Putting him in ward that it might be declared to them by the Word of the Lord, denotes that persons of this character are, in the meantime, restrained by external bonds until the state of consummation is arrived, 5037, 5096, 4217, 9096.

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13.  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; by saying is denoted perception, 1791, 1822.

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14.  Bringing forth him that had cursed without the camp, denotes that the real character of those confirmed in evil and falsity must be manifested in the process of judgement, 379, 10038, 10023; all that heard him putting their hands upon his head denotes proof by the testimony of Divine Truth, 9311, 4197, 10023; and all the congregation stoning him denotes condemnation to the consequences of their life, and rejection by the spiritual man, 6338, 8799, 7456.

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15.  Speaking to the children of Israel and saying, denotes that it is the testimony of Divine Truth, 7010, 10355, 1822; cursing denotes aversion from the Lord by a wicked life, 379, 8882; and bearing his iniquity denotes to be vastated by his own choice, 9937 end.

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16.  He that blasphemes the Name of the Lord being surely put to death, denotes that especially is this the case with those who profane the truth, and that they must in consequence be deprived of all truths, 8882, 6887, 2908; all the congregation stoning him denotes the punishment of falsity and rejection by the church, 6338, 8799, 7456; as well the stranger as the native, denotes whether they belong to the external or to the internal of the church, 7908; and when he blasphemes the name of the Lord being surely put to death, denotes because such profanation, internally or externally, cannot possibly be continued but must be removed, 8882, 6887, 2908.

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17.  He that smites any man mortally being surely put to death denotes that every one during his probationary state, rejecting the truth by an evil life, must suffer vastation, 8902, 4251, 2908.

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18.  He that smites a beast mortally, making it good, life for life, denotes that if any one only destroys the life of good in the natural man, he is capable of regeneration by the rejection of the selfish life, and the reception of the heavenly life, 4251, 7424, 9097, 9048, 9049.

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19.  A man causing a blemish in his neighbour, as he has done it being done to him, denotes that if any one destroys charity in another he also destroys it in himself, 7837, 10490, 9048, 9049.

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20.  Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, denotes that this is the case also with regard to injuries as to the will, as to the understanding, and as to the outward life, 9163, 2148, 6380; and "as he has caused a blemish so shall it be rendered to him" denotes that evil invariably brings punishment upon itself, and that he who acts from falsity must suffer the consequences of falsity, 9048, 9049.

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21.  He that kills a beast making it good, and he that kills a man being put to death, denotes that he who destroys good only in the external man is capable of regeneration by repentance, while he who also destroys it in the internal man must be vastated, 8902, 9097, 7424, 2908.

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22.  Having one manner of law as well for the stranger as for the native, and " I am the Lord your God," denotes that this law of retribution is equally applicable to those out of the church and within; for Divine Good acts inflexibly according to Divine Truth, 9048, 9049, 6887, 2001.

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23.  Moses speaking to the children of Israel denotes that Divine Truth, in the Judgement, cannot do otherwise than reject those who are in evil, 7010, 2951, 3654; bringing forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stoning him with stones, denotes leaving the evil to conjoin therewith the falsity of evil, 379, 10023, 10038, 6338, 8799, 7456; and the children of Israel doing as the Lord commanded Moses denotes that those in the infernal life are separated from those in the heavenly life of obedience to Divine Truth from Divine Good, 3654, 7010, 2001, 5486.

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When we know the universal principles from which all things are, we are in a better position to understand all the particulars thence derived; and good and truth from the Lord are those universal principles. Now it is on this account that these terms are so very frequently used in the Writings of the church; and there is nothing in creation that we can conceive of which is not, in some way, a form of good and truth. But, first of all, good is nothing else but love in operation. Most people mean by good things the things which they love, and by true things those which are in agreement with their love, embody it, and express it.

Love, therefore, may properly be called the universal thing; for the Lord is Love, and from the Lord, Who is the self-existent ONE, proceeds all things. But seeing that Divine Love is the origin of all things, we notice also that love in general exhibits itself in a variety of ways in human beings; and thus we are led to ask for some distinct definition of Divine Love. We put it thus: it is the love of imparting life, happiness, joy and delight, without any selfish motive; or, in other well-known words, it is the love of forming a heaven from the human race. Divine Good, therefore, is the manifestation of this love, and in the supreme sense is denoted in our chapter by pure olive oil. There are several interesting passages in the Word which show this. Take, for example, chap 8:10-12; 1 Kings 1:39; 2 Kings 4:2-7; and Luke 10:34. And then by the Israelites bringing the oil is denoted the acknowledgement on man's part that he receives all good from the Lord; its being beaten denotes adaptation to the state; its being for the light signifies that good is the origin of truth; and its burning continually denotes, as has been shown, spiritual light from a state of good perpetually. Thus, then, we see the importance of the teaching in our first section, so far as it may be applied individually; and this is particularly manifest from the contents of the following verses. And note here also one reason why the light appeared outside the veil. The spiritual man must have good and its truth continually as for his own use, and he must appear to disguise them as from himself in every state. But he knows, at the same time, that there is a power operating, also perpetually, behind the veil; nor does he, if he is wise, seek to penetrate into Divine mysteries which are necessarily above his comprehension. How delightful is the thought that each of us will enjoy his own heaven, and make progress in his own use to eternity, without desiring or ambitiously longing for some height to which he can never attain, or, on the other hand, fearing any longer that he may fall below his proper position! And notice also especially the closing words, "a statute for ever throughout your generations." For by a statute is specifically signified a state of the external life resulting from a state of the internal. Before full regeneration there is the perpetual conflict between the external and internal man which is called temptation. But afterwards in heaven there are no conflicts of this kind, but a peaceful and perpetual harmony. And is not this worth striving for, as we journey? Truly, it is; and we may gather strength and courage, therefore, in our state of probation, by the contemplation of these words in their inner signification. But we must now turn to the second section.

And first, it is to be noted that, in this description, although the bread signifies celestial good, which certainly is prior to its truth, yet the lighting of the lamps is treated of before the bread. Why is this? It is because the general subject is the Spiritual Heaven, and the Spiritual Church, and the manifestation of Divine principles there; and also because that which proceeds from the Lord, even to the Celestial Heaven, is properly Divine Truth in which is Divine  Good adapted to the state of the celestial man; for otherwise good, or love from the Lord to the Lord, could not be received by him. And since this is the case even with the celestial man (John 1:18), much more is it so with the spiritual man, who is led by truth to a state of good, the love distinguishing the celestial man being thus love to the Lord, and that distinguishing the spiritual man being charity, or love to the neighbour.

Now these remarks are made to show clearly how it is that all the things outside the veil represented what relates to the spiritual man, and his perceptions of Divine things coming to him mediately through the celestial heaven. And this, be it remembered, has a very significant practical bearing. For it shows that there can be no true charity without love to the Lord, and no true natural kindness or good without genuine faith and charity, and also that even the lowest heavenly delights cannot exist without the higher, while evil is produced only by their abuse.

And then, with regard to the practical value of the contents of this section a careful consideration of each point in the general summary at the beginning of the chapter will sufficiently show this.

For a perfect life can only be acquired by making accurate distinctions, and at the same time by seeing the proper connection of things; without the conflict, denoted by the number six, willingly undertaken, a man must, of necessity, remain merely natural; there cannot be spiritual and celestial life apart from the natural life, free from defilement signified by the pure table; we cannot have good without its corresponding truth, nor can we aspire and properly offer up our worship and prayers to the Lord in order that they may be grateful and acceptable, unless we have that which is so appropriately denoted by the odour of the frankincense; the true worshiper must conjoin truth with the ardour of heavenly love, denoted by fire; he remembers best what he really loves; it is only in states of freedom from conflict, signified by the Sabbath, that he can, in some measure, realize his higher life and its heavenly order; nothing but this can give the conjunction with the Lord symbolized by a covenant; he appropriates the good of this life, denoted by eating, in the holy states of loving obedience; and in one word this appropriation is the fullness of his internal adoration from love, expressed in his speech, in his actions, and in the perpetual life of usefulness by which he is particularly distinguished from others.

From considering the origin of heavenly good and truth and their effects, we turn now to the contemplation of the origin of evil and falsity and their effects. This, indeed, is not so agreeable, but still it is necessary, because opposites reveal the quality of each other, when contrasted; also from a state of good the quality of evil may be seen, but from a state of evil the quality of good cannot be seen. But nevertheless the understanding of a wicked man may be enlightened to perceive good and truth in such a way that he may be reformed and regenerated, if he so chooses, because every one who is born a human being has the capacity for regeneration by virtue of this fact; but no one can be compelled to choose either good or evil. The origin of evil and hell, therefore, is not from the Lord, but from man, by the abuse of his natural powers, and this fact is described in our subject by the father of the son of an Israelitish woman being an Egyptian. But see the place referred to, 9391.

But the son of the Israelitish woman, on account of his paternal origin, is falsity derived from evil, just as truth is derived from good. And hence the Lord says concerning the evil principle, which is selfishness, and in the Word is called the Devil, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own; for he is a liar and the father thereof " (John 8:44). Now nothing can be clearer than this, as from another point of view showing the origin of falsity. But we ought to mark well that the Israelitish woman, in the best sense, denotes the affection of truth, and her son the truth itself, and then we shall the better understand the profanation that follows; for no one can profane the truth if he does not, in some way, acknowledge it; and this is the reason why the conflict is described as taking place in the camp, that is in the church. But the camp also signifies heaven, and hence it might be conceived that there is war in heaven, as indeed is plainly stated in Rev 12:7; but by this war is signified conflict in "the former heaven which is passed away," that is, in the corrupted church which passed away (AR 548), and the same thing is signified by the conflict mentioned in this chapter. But there can be no conflict in heaven itself, because every one there has, by the help of the Lord, overcome in all temptations, and the external man is for ever in harmony with the internal.

But into the particulars of the rest of this interesting account it is not necessary to enter, as most of the points have been already illustrated in the expositions of former chapters, and the general series of the internal sense, combined with what is said in giving the references, makes them tolerably clear. But there is one thing further. The concluding sections make it very clear that there are violations of Divine and spiritual laws from the consequences of which man may be delivered by the work of repentance, and thence of purification; while on the other hand confirmation in evil states causes eternal separation from the heavenly life. It is well, therefore, that we should reflect seriously upon what the internal sense here sets before us, and should earnestly resolve that by a consistent life we will confirm ourselves in justice and in an inflexible adherence to Divine laws for their own sake, for this state alone can bring eternal felicity; for it is written, "To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (Rev 2:7).

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