LEVITICUS 7
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Leviticus Chapter 7

Summary of the Spiritual Sense

The general summary of this interesting chapter, expressed also in its closing verses, is as follows:—
1. Laws of Divine Order concerning the worship of the Lord from the truth of faith, vers. 1-7.
2. The general law that man can only appropriate good as if it were his own, vers. 8-10.
3. Laws concerning the worship of the Lord from freedom, vers. 11-36.
4. The general law that man cannot appropriate good and truth as his own absolutely, vers. 22-27.
5. The appropriation of spiritual and celestial good, when vivified by the Lord and acknowledged to be from Him, by man's exercise of his own powers from the Lord, vers. 28-36.
6. A general summary of the laws of Divine Order concerning worship, vers. 37-38.

1.  This is evident, because the guilt offering signifies worship from the truth of faith, 9156; it also signifies deliverance from exterior evils, 3400; and its being most holy signifies that such worship and such deliverance are derived from the inmost state as to good, 10129.

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2.  Killing the animal offered denotes preparation for such worship, 10024; in the place where they kill the burnt offering denotes that such worship is similar to the worship of the Lord from pure love, and is grounded therein, 10053, 2625; and sprinkling the blood on the altar round about denotes that by this worship and deliverance the conjunction of truth with good is effected in every mode and degree, 10047.

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3.  Offering all the fat denotes that all the good of such worship Is to be ascribed to the Lord, 10033; the fat tail denotes exterior natural good, 10071; and the fat that covers the inwards denotes external natural good, 10029, 10030, 9632.

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4.  The two kidneys and the fat that is upon them denote the discrimination or purification of truth, and the good thereof, 10032, 10074; the loins denote the conjunction of truth with good, 3915; the long lobe upon the liver, with the kidneys, denote interior natural good promoting the discrimination of truth, 10031; and these being taken away or separated denote separation from selfish good, and consequently consecration to the service of the Lord, as is evident.

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5.  The priest burning these things upon the altar for an offering made by fire to the Lord, denotes that all these varieties of good are to be ascribed to the Lord, and are to be devoted to Him in worship from pure love, 10052, 10055; and it being a guilt offering denotes that this is the worship by which there is deliverance from exterior evil, 3400, 10042, III.

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6.  Every male among the priests eating thereof denotes that all those who are in the truth of faith derived from the good of charity shall appropriate good in this worship, 725, 9946, 2187; a holy place denotes a holy state, 2625; and it being most holy denotes that it is the outward expression of inmost good,. 10129.

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7.  As is the sin offering so is the guilt offering, denotes that this worship is one with the worship of the Lord from the good of faith, and thence man's deliverance from interior evil, 9156, 10042; there being one law for them denotes the same law for deliverance from evil in general, as is evident; and the priest that makes atonement having it, denotes that those who are in good by which there is deliverance from evil and reconciliation with the Lord, shall appropriate the good of this worship, 9946, 10042, II., 2187.

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8.  By the priest is denoted the good from which any one worships, 9946; by the burnt offering is denoted full devotion to the Lord, 8680; by the skin is denoted what is external, 3540; and by the priest having the skin is denoted appropriation only as to the external, or as if from himself, 2187.

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9.  The meal offering denotes a state of spiritual worship when the burnt offering signifies a state of celestial worship, and therefore it here denotes an intermediate state, 2177; the oven, the frying-pan and the baking-pan denote diversities of good in the natural or external man, 7356; and baking denotes preparation, which takes place in the natural man by conjoining truth with good there, the fine flour denoting truth and the heat good, 8496, 2177, 934.

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10.  The meal offering denotes a sincere act of worship celestial or spiritual, 4581, 2177; mingled with oil denotes consciously from good, or affection, 2177; dry denotes apparently without affection, 8185; and all the sons of Aaron having it denotes appropriation only externally, since sons denote truths which are relatively external, and Aaron, as the high priest, denotes good which is relatively internal, 9946.

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11.  By the law of the sacrifice of the peace offering are denoted the laws of Divine Order in relation to the worship of the Lord from freedom in every individual case, 3880, 10097, 10137.

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12.  Here unleavened cakes mingled with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil of fine flour soaked, denote truth conjoined with good, uncontaminated with falsity, in its three degrees, such truth being derived from good and leading thereto, 3880, 7906, 9993, 9994, 9995.

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13.  Cakes of leavened bread offered with the sacrifice of peace offerings for thanksgiving denote that he who worships the Lord freely from gratitude grounded in celestial love acknowledges that of himself he is only evil, and has been purified by the Lord through temptations, 7906.

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14.  Offering one out of each oblation for a heave offering denotes good received from the Lord alone, 10097; and it being the priest's denotes that pure heavenly good is appropriated by him who conjoins truth with good in such worship, 9946, 10047.

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15.  The flesh being eaten on the day of the oblation denotes that this particular good of worship from gratitude is appropriated only under that preparatory state, 2187, 487; and not leaving any of it until the morning, denotes non-appropriation if contaminated with selfish love on the one hand, or separated from the new state of regeneration on the other, 10114-17, 7860, 8480-3.

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16.  This is evident from the signification of a vow as denoting worship from spiritual love, and a willingness that the Lord may provide, 3880; of a free-will offering as denoting worship from freedom, 10097; of eating as denoting appropriation, 2187; of day as denoting state, 487; and of the morrow as denoting perpetually afterwards, 3998, 8788.

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17.  That which remains of the sacrifice until the third day being burnt with fire, denotes that in the process of Judgement, when the state of good is completed, all merely selfish good shall be dissipated, 8480-3, 10115, 900.

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18.  In this verse the flesh of the sacrifice, which properly denotes heavenly good, denotes the opposite, that is, selfish good, because of abuse, 10114; not being accepted evidently denotes non-conjunction with the Lord; and its not being imputed denotes that it cannot be imputed as heavenly good, 9713, 1813; while by its being an abomination, and by iniquity being borne, are denoted that it is utterly opposed to such good, and that he who is in it must remain in his evil state conjoining it with falsity, 6052, 7454, 9937.

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19.  This is true because by the flesh here is evidently denoted good, 10114; by touching is denoted contact spiritually, 4404, 10199; by an unclean thing is denoted an evil affection, 10130; by not being eaten is denoted non-appropriation, 2187; by being burnt with fire is denoted purification by temptations, or overcoming by the power of heavenly love, 7861, 934; and by every one who is clean eating thereof is denoted that good may be appropriated by every one who is purified from evil, 2187, 10130.

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20.  The soul that eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings having his uncleanness upon him being cut off from his people, denotes that he who appropriates good in the worship of the Lord from freedom externally, when yet he has not done the work of repentance by purifying himself internally, is thereby separated entirely from truth and good, 2187, 3880, 10097, 10130, 5302, 3294-5.

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21.  Touching an unclean thing denotes contact with evil, 4404, 10199 10130; man, beast, and abomination denote internally, interiorly, and externally respectively, 7523, 6052; to eat the flesh of the sacrifice, in such a case, is to presume to appropriate good externally, 2187; and to be cut off from his people is to be separated from truth and good, 5302, 3294-5.

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22.  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, 6752; and by saying is denoted perception, 1791, 1822.

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23.  Speaking to the children of Israel and saying, denotes instruction to the man of the Spiritual Church who thence perceives, 7063, 3654, 1791; to eat denotes to appropriate, 2187; fat denotes celestial good, 10033; and ox, and sheep, and goat denote respectively natural and spiritual good, and the state of truth leading to good, 5913, 6126, 4169.

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24.  By the fat of that which dies of itself is denoted affection in which there is no spiritual life, and by the fat of what was torn is denoted injury by lusts, 4171; by being used for any other service is denoted that such affections may be made useful as means, 2541, 5148; and by their not being eaten is denoted that they cannot be appropriated, 2187.

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25.  The soul that eats the fat of the beast of which men offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, being cut off from his people, denotes that if any one presumes to claim as his own absolutely the good which may be appropriated from the Lord, he is separated from the church, 2187, 10055, 5302, 3294-5.

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26.  Eating no manner of blood, whether it be of bird or of beast, in any of your dwellings, denotes that it is unlawful for the spiritual man to claim as his own absolutely the good, intellectual or voluntary, which he receives from the Lord, 2187, 10033, 40, 46.

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27.  Whatever soul eating blood being cut off from his people, signifies that whoever presumes to appropriate good hypocritically in external worship is on that account separated from the church, 10033, 2187, 5302, 3294-5.

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28.  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, 6752; and by saying is denoted perception, 1791, 1822.

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29.  This is true, because speaking to the children of Israel saying, denotes instruction to the men of the Spiritual Church, giving perception, 7063, 3654, 1791; peace offerings denote the worship of the Lord from freedom, 10097; bringing his oblation to the Lord denotes that he is inwardly in pure good, 2001; and out of the sacrifice of his peace offerings denotes acting from that good as from himself, 10097.

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30.  His own hands bringing the offering of the Lord made by fire, denotes that by the exercise of his own will and understanding he shall inwardly devote himself to the Lord from pure love, 8066, 10062, 10055; the fat with the breast denotes that he shall worship from celestial in spiritual good, 10033, 10087; and the waving denotes vivification from the Lord, 10083, 10093.

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31.  The priest burning the fat upon the altar denotes conjunction with the Lord by celestial good in worship, 10033, 10052; and the breast being for Aaron and his sons denotes conjunction with the Lord by charity, 10087.

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32.  The right thigh being given to the priest for a heave offering out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings, denotes that inmost celestial good and truth conjoined in the heavenly marriage must be ascribed solely to the Lord in worship from a state of freedom, that good may be received and rendered active externally in uses, 10092-3, 10097.

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33.  He among the sons of Aaron that offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat having the right thigh for a portion, denotes that inmost celestial truth from good by which the conjunction of truth with good and of good with truth is effected in worship which in externals is relatively imperfect, is that which appropriates immediately the life of good from the Lord, 9946, 10047, 10033, 10092-3, 2187.

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34.  The wave breast and the heave thigh denote spiritual and celestial good, 10087, 10092-3; taken from the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of peace offerings, denotes that they are from the Lord as the sources of all activity, 10087, 10092-3; out of their sacrifices of peace offerings denotes when worship is from freedom, 10097; given to Aaron and his sons denotes that they must be ascribed to the Lord who is Divine Good and Divine Truth, 10277, 9946, 10093; and the Lord giving them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a due, or a statute, for ever, denotes that they are appropriated by the celestial and spiritual man as if they were their own to eternity, and are derived from the exercise of his innate powers, 9946, 7884, 7931, 1712.

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35.  This is true because anointing portions denote what gives conjunction with the Divine life, 9954; Aaron and his sons denote Divine Good and Divine Truth, and thus the inmost celestial degree as to the will and understanding, 9946; the offerings of the Lord made by fire denote the worship of the Lord sincerely, though, imperfectly, from love, 10055; and the day when he presented them, to minister to the Lord in the priest's office, denotes when man thus inwardly acknowledges that all life is from the Lord in the genuine worship of Him, 10097.

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36.  Which the Lord commanded to be given them of the children of Israel in the day that he anointed them, denotes that every man of the Spiritual Church, by influx from the Lord, is enabled to acknowledge that inmost life is from Him in worship by conjunction with Him, 5486, 10227, 3654, 10097; and a due, or statute, for ever throughout your generations, denotes that thus must the spiritual man perpetually acknowledge the Lord in every state of the regenerate life in heaven, 7884, 7931, 9845, 1712.

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37.  The law of the burnt offering, of the meal offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the consecration, and of the peace offerings, denotes the laws of Divine Order in relation to the acknowledgement of the Lord, and His worship in all its degrees as-to the reception of celestial and spiritual good, as to deliverance from evil internally and externally, as to conjunction with the Lord, and as to the worship of the Lord from freedom in relatively imperfect states. This appears from the explanation of the whole series as here given with the various proofs.

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38.  By the Lord commanding Moses in Mount Sinai is denoted commencement in a state of instruction in Divine Truth from a principle of good, 7010, 6752, 8753, 5486; by the Lord commanding Moses is denoted influx from the Lord even to ultimates, 5486; and by offering oblations to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai is denoted the worship of the Lord in the obscurity of such a state of instruction, 349, 922, 8753.

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Having now completed the proofs of each verse in this chapter, we pursue our plan by such comments as may be useful in illustrating the various laws of Divine Order concerning worship, which come successively before us. Every one, surely, in the present day is willing to believe that the External of the universe is governed by laws, and to admit that were it not so, or did man remain ignorant of those laws, confusion would be the result in the universe, or man would appear out of joint with every other created thing or being. Hence, then, we find that man is endowed with the capacity to understand natural law, and to provide for his material comfort and happiness by bringing himself into harmony with it.

But this being the case, we are led to reflect that, certainly also, the Internal of the universe, which must be the cause of the External, is also governed by laws; and that it is equally necessary that man should become acquainted with them, and live according to them. For if, by obedience to natural law, the natural man is so greatly benefited, how much more will he be so by obedience to spiritual law as well! Nay, further, does it not appear reasonable that without the knowledge and practice of spiritual law, obedience to natural law merely, valuable as it is, does not accomplish all that is desirable for man? Need we wonder, then, at the Lord's words in the Gospel, where He counsels His disciples to seek FIRST the kingdom of God, and His righteousness?

But how "are the laws which regulate the Internal of the universe to be discovered and understood? Not by any merely natural process of investigation, but by revelation. The natural man cannot discover and verify spiritual laws because they are above his capacity. And the spiritual man, although he can understand spiritual laws when revealed, cannot, by himself, discover them, because they have their origin in the Lord who is Infinite; and since no one can comprehend the Infinite, but only what proceeds from the Infinite, when that proceeding is successively and adequately accommodated (John 1:18), therefore revelation has been given which is the Word, and indeed has always been given (John 1:1). And in the Word, on this account, are contained the laws of spiritual life made manifest through the correspondences, by means of which spiritual truth is conveyed to man, and could not be conveyed in any other way (Matt 13:34; Ps 78:2). Let us then reverently and lovingly consider the laws set before us in our chapter.

Now the first law governing the worship of those who are in the truth of faith is, that such worship proceeds from the inmost state as to good. The worshiper, however, is not aware, consciously, of the operation of this law, for he does not even know what his inmost state as to good is, nor does he perceive that the Lord is operating upon him through it. But it is there nevertheless, 1555. The next law is that preparation for this worship is similar to preparation for worship from pure love. What is this preparation? It is the denial of self, the shunning of evils as sins, and the acknowledgement of the Lord. The old life must be rejected, its delights must be relinquished, and a determination to act according to the truth must be exercised, this last necessarily involving the acknowledgement of the Lord and of responsibility to Him. And these result in worship from the truth of faith, of which every one may be conscious when he acts according to the truth, although only on the principle or rule that the truth must be obeyed because the Lord has so commanded. But the third law in this case is, that truth must be conjoined with good, or faith with love, according to the state. And this, as far as the worshiper is concerned, is effected by a life of obedience; but as far as the Lord's operation is concerned by an arrangement of truth under the state of good at this stage realized. For by his obedience the worshiper confirms the conjunction, and by the Lord's secret operation an elevation of state is produced in preparation for a higher degree of worship. The fourth Jaw, which is described in verses 3-5, is that all the good of this worship, denoted by the fat, and all the truth thereof denoted by the kidneys, both exterior and interior, shall be ascribed to the Lord and devoted to His service; and then it follows that all who are in truth derived from good will appropriate good, that is (according to a law afterwards explained), only externally, or as if from self, because the flesh in relation to the fat and the blood denotes what is external. The fifth law is that the worship of the Lord from the truth of faith and from the good of faith are identical, since they both relate to the removal of evil, arid both classes of worshipers can appropriate good according to the law, which is described in verses 8-10, and is shown to be applicable to appropriation under different states of worship, namely, that it is only external, or as if good belonged to man as his own. And this general law is here stated evidently to show that even the angels of the superior heavens, as well as those of the ultimate heaven, cannot appropriate life or love as their own absolutely, the reason being that the Lord only has self-existent life. Thus is man every moment dependent on the source of life; and all evil arises from the abuse of his free determination under the delusion that life really appertains to himself. But this sixth law, which may be called the general law of appropriation, requires a little further consideration. In the sixth verse it is said, concerning the flesh of the sacrifice, "every male among the priests shall eat thereof," meaning, spiritually, that all in truth derived from good not as yet realized will appropriate good; but in the eighth verse it is also said the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering, meaning that good will appropriate its own ultimate truth, as well as that good is only appropriated by men, even in celestial worship, externally; and another aspect of this correspondential statement is, that when man is fully in good internally, he will not only appropriate good externally, which is specifically represented by eating the fleshy but ultimate truth also, denoted by having the skin. Now all these three aspects of the internal sense of this Mosaic law are legitimate interpretation, and cohere. For fullness of appropriation involves three things: first, the consciousness that we are recipients of good and truth continually; secondly, that the internal appropriates what is external; and thirdly, that the more we are filled with love to the Lord and the neighbour internally, the more full and complete, ultimately, will be our external enjoyment of life. And now, further, we may see how the spiritual sense of verses 9-10 show the working of this law in fullness with spiritual and natural men as well as with the celestial. Observe that "the sons of Aaron " here include those who are in truth from good natural as well as spiritual, and that this is the reason why it is said, "one as well as another"; also that when we state the spiritual sense in ordinary language, as is necessary in expositions, we cannot express more than one aspect of the truth involved when writing a series.

But proceeding, we have now to make some remarks on the internal sense as far as verse 21. The various laws concerning the peace offerings, as the references show, denote the laws of Divine Order in relation to man's worship of the Lord from freedom in every individual case. Simply to read over this description in the literal sense is enough to prove that the directions here given must involve more than appears on the surface. Who can tell, for example, from the literal sense, why the flesh of the sacrifice of confession, or thanksgiving, was only to be eaten on the day when offered, when yet that of the votive and retributory offerings was permitted to be eaten on the second day as well? But the internal sense shows us why. There is only one thing which really constitutes true worship in any degree of man's life, and that is, the love of the object of worship for his own sake, and not for any less interior motive or reason. To love and worship the Lord for what He is, is a great deal more important than to love and worship Him on account of the benefits He has conferred, or is likely to confer upon us. Hence, then, worship merely from gratitude is decidedly inferior to worship from genuine love in any degree of our life. Of course it is natural that we should be grateful for blessing's bestowed upon us by anybody, and it has been said that ingratitude is a crime so shameful that no one could be found who would acknowledge himself guilty of it. But still, does not the Lord want us to love Him for His own Name's sake, rather than because His kindness constrains us? To love His kindness is good, but to love Himself, and thus imitate His kindness is better. Hence, then, we see why an offering of thanksgiving is inferior to an offering from love, and why the former, distinguished from the latter, must be involved in the latter to constitute real thanksgiving; or, in the words of the literal sense, why we must eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of thanksgiving only on the day when it is offered, that is, spiritually, our gratitude must not be apart from our genuine love to the Lord. Now this is really the sum and substance of the internal sense of vers. 11-15. But besides the sacrifices of thanksgiving, the peace offerings included vows; and consulting 3880, we find numerous passages of scripture quoted to show that they represented spiritual worship as distinguished from celestial, or worship from charity to the neighbour as distinguished from love to the Lord. And it therefore follows that the free-will offerings named along with the vows, denote natural worship from freedom. Now to worship the Lord from freedom is to worship Him from love; and therefore it is said concerning all the peace offerings that they were "not so much for purification and sanctification as the rest, but that they might eat together in the holy place, and testify joy of heart from Divine worship" (10114). Evidently, then, they represented worship from the freedom of love after victory in temptation, and also in the fully regenerated state; and the appropriation of good, under such conditions, was denoted by eating of the sacrifices; and that such appropriation was and is continual, is denoted by eating on the "morrow," or on the second day, what was left on the first. For to eternity man will require to be nourished with heavenly good, and during regeneration he is nourished by the appropriation of good successively in states of peace and rest after temptations. And, moreover, whereas in the celestial state, described in ver. 12, he has reached the third heaven, beyond which he cannot go, and which is the third day, or final new state, 10114, he can only appropriate good in that day, on the other hand, the spiritual man, in his state of appropriation, or in his states of the realization of good, is looking forward to the "morrow" of the celestial state, and the natural man to the "morrow" of the spiritual and celestial states, from all which we see another reason why the law of appropriation is differently described in the fifteenth and sixteenth verses. There are, however, other laws regarding this appropriation of good which now require attention.

The first of these is expressed in the seventeenth verse, and it is that, in the process of Judgement, all merely selfish good will be dissipated. This the references given clearly show; and this is applicable, of course, to those who are in genuine good. But the next verse gives another law which concerns the wicked. Selfish good may be appropriated in the process of Judgement, and when it is, it not only causes separation from the Lord and the heavenly life, but the confirmation and perpetual continuance of evil; for the Last Judgement with every one in particular follows immediately after his departure from the natural world, and then, since a man is no longer in liberty of choice between good, and evil (H.H. 480) and will not admit of instruction, it follows that he must remain in evil to eternity; and, we may add, it is better for himself that it should be so, since it provides for his entire separation from good and truth which, to such persons, only cause torment. And the third law, which is contained in the two following verses, is that the appropriation of good must be preceded by purification from evil, while the fourth, which ends the series, declares that merely outward righteousness combined with inward impurity, which is hypocrisy and profanation, also necessarily causes separation from good and truth. And finally all these laws show that good is not appropriated or realized by man during states of instruction or during states of conflict, but after instruction and after conflict, when the Lord is truly worshiped with freedom and joy.

And now follow two more important subdivisions of the general subject of the appropriation of good in worship from freedom, the former teaching that no one can appropriate good or truth as his own absolutely, and the latter that, nevertheless, man must act in the matter as if all depended upon himself, at the same time acknowledging that all the power of doing so is from the Lord, the chapter concluding with a general summary of the laws of worship in all cases from the earliest state of man's instruction in truths with a view to their implantation in good. And all this will be found in harmony with the teaching concerning worship from freedom in chapter the third; but this account is more particular, for it is said not only that it is impossible for man to appropriate any good or truth from himself, but also that affections merely natural, and therefore without spiritual life, and the affections that have been injured by lusts, may be useful as means, but cannot be appropriated. Hence we see therefore the proper use of the selfish and perverted life of man before regeneration, and how the Divine Providence may lead man by that life into the higher life. And indeed, were this not the case, it is difficult to see how we are brought out of the old and corrupted life into that which is heavenly. Moreover, it is according to all human experience that the natural life precedes and the spiritual life follows; and, although it may seem like a paradox, yet it is equally true that regeneration also precedes and purification follows. Thus man in the world lives a chequered life, and hardly knows, notwithstanding his determination to do right, whether his real bias is for heaven or hell. However, let him "trust in the Lord and do good, for so shall he dwell in the land; and verily he shall be fed." And a word may now be said, therefore, on the other aspect of the subject as contained in the internal sense of verses 29-36. The law is that a man cannot be saved except by worshiping the Lord entirely as from his own power. His own hands bringing the offering denotes action from his own power; the fat with the breast denotes celestial good inwardly in spiritual good; and waving denotes vivification from the Lord. We do not, however, see or feel these interior operations in ourselves, only perhaps experiencing an obscure satisfaction in doing our duty, this being the effect of the Lord's hidden work. And still further in this connection, how elevating is the spiritual teaching of the thirty-first verse! For it shows that the appropriation of good, or the realization of charity, denoted by the breast, depends upon the sincere acknowledgement that inmost good, signified by the fat, is entirely from the Lord, and must be consecrated to his service in the life of charity. And it follows that this truth is emphasized in the following verse, the heaving of the right thigh denoting that acknowledgement, and also conjunction with the Lord, while by Aaron and his sons having it, is denoted appropriation and the consequent life of uses; for good is not really appropriated unless it is expressed in words and deeds. But now two remarks made in giving the internal sense of verses 33 and 34

may require explanation. It is said in the former that worship from inmost celestial truth is, in externals, relatively imperfect, and this Is true of all external worship as compared with what is internal, and is illustrated by what is said in 9946 at the end, and in 10047 in these words: "As the Lord glorified His Human, so also He regenerates man: for the Lord with man flows in with good through the soul which is by an internal way, and with truth through hearing and sight, that is by an external way, and so far as man desists from evils, so far the Lord conjoins good with truth, and the good becomes the good of charity towards the neighbour and of love to God, and the truth becomes the truth of faith." Also in verse 34 it is said that spiritual good and celestial good "are derived from the exercise of man's innate powers." By "innate powers " are meant powers received from the Lord, as, for example, the power to use the new will and understanding, 1555, and power to act as from himself, 1712. Thus, too, it is said in verse 35, "The Lord is worshiped sincerely, though imperfectly, from love"; and in verse 36 that man is enabled to acknowledge that inmost life is from the Lord." And in short, the anointing portion of Aaron and his sons is nothing else, with regard to man generally, than the power given to him to acknowledge that his highest good is from the Lord, by conjunction with Him, and thence by the appropriation of that good.

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