NUMBERS 30      Other translations  -  previous  -  next  -  notes  -  discussion  -  Numbers  -  BM Home  -  Full Page

Numbers Chapter 30

Summary of the Spiritual Sense

1. When any one in the knowledge of the truth devotes himself to the Lord internally or externally by compelling himself to obedience, he must not profane the truth by acts of disobedience, vers. 1-2.
2. When any one in the affection of truth in the beginning of regeneration, does the same, his devotion may be confirmed if it is in agreement with internal good, but not otherwise; and remission may follow, because ignorance or error prevents the agreement of external good with internal, vers. 3-5.
3. Also if any one who is externally in truth conjoined with good does the same, similar results will follow, vers. 6-8.
4. But devotion from merely selfish motives, results in the confirmation of falsity and evil, ver. 9.
5. While yet devotion from selfish motives apparently, when truth conjoined with good is predominant internally, may also be followed by genuine confirmation or not, vers. 10-12.
6. For it is the state as to internal truth conjoined with good that decides, ver. 13.
7. And therefore, generally, confirmation in good or otherwise, depends upon the state internally; and it is the internal man that must endure temptations, and thus overcome evil, by power from the Lord, in order that the external may come into harmony with it, vers. 14-15.
8. All the foregoing are laws of Divine Order as to the conjunction of good and truth and as to the relation between the internal and external man, ver. 16.

1.  Moses speaking to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel saying, "This is the thing which the Lord has commanded," denotes that now there is influx from the Lord by Divine Truth with the man of the Spiritual Church giving instruction, 7010, 2619, 3728, 3858, 3654. 5486.

   [Back to 1]

2.  By a man vowing a vow to the Lord, is denoted when he devotes himself to the Lord by willing that He may provide, 3732; by swearing an oath is denoted to confirm truth in himself, 2842; by binding his soul with a bond, is denoted compelling himself to obey the truth, received into his understanding, from conscience, 9096; and by his not breaking his word but doing according to all that proceeds out of his mouth, is evidently denoted to take heed not to profane the truth either inwardly or outwardly by any act of disobedience, 8882, 5075, 4258, 6985, 6987.

   [Back to 2]

3.  By a woman vowing a vow to the Lord, is denoted when those who are in the affection of truth, from that affection devote themselves to the Lord by willing that He may provide, 5946, 3732; by binding herself by a bond, is denoted confirming the truth in their understanding internally from conscience, as well as externally from the affection of knowing, 9096; and by being in her father's house in her youth, is denoted that this is the form which truth from good takes in the beginning of regeneration, 3128, 3183.

   [Back to 3]

4.  By her father hearing her vow, and her bond with which she has bound her soul, is denoted that this determination of the will and understanding is perceived by essential good from the Lord, 2803, 8361, 3732, 9096; by her father holding his peace at her, is denoted the consecration of this devotion from its harmony with internal good, 2803, 8176; and by all her vows standing, and every bond with which she has bound her soul standing, is denoted the confirmation of what proceeds from external motives, by internal motives, 3732, 9096, 4103, 7548, 8176.

   [Back to 4]

5.  By her father disallowing her in the day that he hears, is denoted that such comparatively external devotion is not in harmony with essential good from the Lord, 2803, 8361; by none of her vows or of her bonds, with which she has bound her soul, standing, is denoted that such devotion is not to be confirmed inwardly, ver. 4; by the Lord forgiving her, is denoted that remission will follow, 2001, 868, 8393; and by this being done because her father disallowed her, is denoted that the vows arose from ignorance, or error, since they were contrary to essential good, and yet their motive was externally good, 2803, 8361.

   [Back to 5]

6.  By the woman being married to a husband, is denoted one in such a state that devotion is not only from the affection of truth, but also from the conjunction of truth with good, 5946, 2618; and by her vows being upon her, or the rash utterance of her lips with which she has bound her soul, is denoted that yet the external man is led astray by possibly mistaking falsity for truth, 3732, 9096, 7225, 9049⁸, 2930.

   [Back to 6]

7.  By her husband hearing it, is denoted that such devotion is certainly perceived by the truth conjoined to good, 1468, 8361; by his holding his peace in the day that he hears it, is denoted that it is in harmony with that truth, 8176, 8361; and by her vows standing, and her bonds with which she has bound her soul standing, is denoted confirmation inwardly both as to the will and as to the understanding, 3732, 9096, 4103, 7548.

   [Back to 7]

8.  By her husband disallowing her in the day that he hears it, is denoted that this is not the case, vers. 5, 7; and by his making void the vow which is upon her, and the rash utterance of her lips by which she has bound her soul, is denoted that such comparatively external devotion shall not be confirmed inwardly, either as to the will or understanding, 2059, 3732, ver. 6; while by the Lord forgiving her is denoted remission by Him, 868, 8393.

   [Back to 8]

9.  By the vow of a widow, or of one that is divorced, even everything with which she has bound her soul standing against her, is denoted that devotion from merely selfish motives, either because truth has been rejected, or good has been adulterated, shall surely be followed by the confirmation of evil, 3732, 9096, 4844¹⁶, 4103, 7548.

   [Back to 9]

10.  If she vowed in her husband's house or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, denotes if such devotion proceed inwardly from truth conjoined to good, as to the will and understanding, 3732, 1468, 9096, 2842.

    [Back to 10]

11.  By her husband hearing it, is denoted the perception of truth conjoined with good, 1468, 8361; by his holding his peace at her, is denoted that it is in harmony with that good and also with truth, 8176, 2233, 1468; by not disallowing her, is also denoted harmony specifically as to the understanding, 1468; and by all her vows standing, and every bond with which she bound her soul standing, is denoted, therefore, confirmation in the Judgement, both as to the will and understanding, 3732, 9096, 4103, 7548.

    [Back to 11]

12.  By her husband making them null and void in the day that he heard them, is denoted if the contrary be the case, and such devotion is not in harmony with truth conjoined to good, 2059, 8361; by whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning the bond of her soul not standing, is denoted non-confirmation in the Judgement, either as to the will or understanding, because it is not from internal good, 7225, 9049⁸, 3732, 9096, 2930, 4103, 7548; and by the Lord forgiving her, is denoted that remission must certainly follow, 2001, 868, 8393

    [Back to 12]

13.  By every vow and every binding oath to afflict the soul being established, or made void by her husband, is denoted that every act of devotion, both as to the will and the understanding, is to be confirmed or not to be confirmed, according to the state as to internal truth and good conjoined, 3732, 9096, 2842, 1937, 2930, 1468, 4103, 7548, 205.9.

    [Back to 13]

14.  By her husband altogether holding his peace at her from day today, is denoted that the genuine ruling truth conjoined with good is altogether and continually in harmony with acts of devotion as regeneration proceeds, 1468, 8176, 487; by his establishing all her vows or all her bonds which are upon her, is denoted that then, assuredly, in the Judgement, the external will be found to be confirmed in agreement with the internal, 4103, 7548, 3732, 9096, 5946; and by his establishing them because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them, is denoted that this confirmation is the result of the harmony of truth with good internally, which had been perceived, 4103, 7548, 8176, 8361.

    [Back to 14]

15.  By the husband making the vows null and void after he has heard them, then bearing the iniquity of his wife, is denoted that if such devotion be contrary to internal good, then repentance and redemption must follow, 1468, 2059, 8361, 9937.

    [Back to 15]

16.  By these being the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, is denoted that these are the laws of Divine Order, 7995, 8357, 2001, 5486, 7010; by between a man and his wife, is denoted as to the conjunction of truth and good, 1468; and by between a father and his daughter being in her youth in her father's house, is denoted as to the relation between the internal and external man in the beginning of regeneration, vers. 3-4.

    [Back to 16]

Discussion

This chapter is a very interesting one, although it is so short. Almost every one knows what it is to vow a vow or to devote himself to a certain purpose; and it is well known, also, that vows may be made before the Lord, and also entirely on selfish grounds; or, again, they may be made before the Lord with a selfish object in view, or before Him without any selfish object in view. But at any rate, a vow is a sacred determination, or a fixed determination to carry out a certain purpose; and we cannot do better in order to illustrate our subject than to quote the following passage: "Jacob vowed a vow, signifies a state of providence. This appears from the signification of vowing a vow, as denoting in the internal sense, being willing that the Lord shall provide; consequently, in the supreme sense, in which the Lord is treated of, it denotes a state of providence. The reason is this, that in vows there is a desire and affection that what is willed may come to pass; thus, that the Lord may provide. Something of stipulation is implied, and at the same time something of a debt on the part of man, which he engages to discharge in case he comes to possess the object of his wish; as, in the present instance, Jacob vows that Jehovah should be to him for a God, and that the stone which he set for a pillar should be the house of God, and that he would tithe all that was given him, if Jehovah would keep him in the way, and give him bread to eat, and a garment to put on, and if he should return in peace to the house of his father. Hence it is evident that vows at that time were their several obligations, especially to acknowledge God to be their God, in case He should provide for them what they desired, and also to repay Him by some gift, if He so provided. From these considerations it is very evident of what quality the fathers of the Jewish nation were, as, in this instance, Jacob, that as yet he did not acknowledge Jehovah, and that as yet he was undetermined in his choice, whether he should acknowledge Him or another for his God. This was a peculiar characteristic of that nation, even from the time of their fathers, that every one wanted to have his own God, and if any worshiped Jehovah, it only meant that he worshiped some god who was called Jehovah, and distinguished by that name, from the gods of all other nations; thus that their worship, even in this respect, was idolatrous, for the worship of a mere name, even the name of Jehovah, is nothing but idolatrous worship (see 1094); as is the case with those who call themselves Christians, and say they worship Christ, and yet do not live according to His precepts; these worship Him idolatrously, because they worship His name alone, for it is a false Christ whom they worship, concerning which false Christ see Matt 24:23-24," 3723.

Hence, now, we see that vows may be entered upon from different motives, and that when they are religious vows, they may vary in quality, as the whole of our chapter shows, and especially as its spiritual sense shows. Let us, then, think about it, as it is stated in series, according to the correspondences.

The first section states a general law. And it teaches that a determination to serve the Lord, from some knowledge of Him, is to be fully carried out, because otherwise the knowledge, or the truth received is profaned; and we know, from our former studies, that the profanation of the truth is very dangerous, and of a varied character. But, all the same, there is a point in the life of every person in which he must freely choose to devote himself to the Lord, or not. For a vow, although it is a binding, carries with it the idea of free determination. None of us, however, in the beginning, love to be obedient, and we all feel the necessity of compelling ourselves to be so, and thus we see what a vow, spiritually, is. And then, again, we observe that this vow affects both the will and the intellect. We will that the Lord may provide, that is, we decide to give up our own will; and also we determine to obey the truth we have learned, which is, spiritually to bind ourselves by an oath, or in other words to compel ourselves to obey the truth, whether we like it or not. And, lastly, it is evident from the conclusion of this introductory section that our obedience ought to be genuine and true internally and externally. This vow to the lord, therefore, every one ought to make.

But coming to the next section, we learn that a vow may be made to serve the Lord not only under the influence of some knowledge of Him, from truths, or from the Word, but also from an affection for the truth; and this, as we have seen from the references, is denoted by a woman vowing a vow to the Lord, 5946, 9096; and that this also may take place at the beginning of regeneration, is clear from its being said that the woman is in her father's house in her youth. And we cannot refrain, here, from considering that if it is possible for any man or any woman (for either of these is meant in the internal sense, by the man of the first section, and the woman of the following sections), to make up his mind to devote himself, or herself, to the Lord sincerely, only having a little knowledge, much more is it possible, when there is affection for the truth, and not only some worldly or selfish love of it. For great is the power of the genuine love of truth for its own sake, or because it is truth. Still, however, we see from this section that the affection of truth may err. And this possibility is shown by its being said that the father of the woman, in this case, either holds his peace at her, or disallows her. For the father denotes essential good from the Lord; and any person may be essentially in good internally, and yet may externally be in errors; and it is important that we should remember this. But there is one more point; and it is involved in the expression, "The Lord shall forgive her because her father disallowed her." That is, there is the remission of evil, because the state of essential good in which the regenerating person is internally combined with the genuine love of the truth externally, causes the removal of evil, and consequently the ignorance or error is not imputed; or in other words, a resolution to serve the Lord under the impression that a certain doctrine is true, when yet it is false, because it is contrary to essential good, and is thus disallowed by it, cannot be carried out, since regeneration is the conjunction of good with truth, and cannot be the conjunction of good with falsity or error.

But the third section describes a more internal state, because a woman married to a husband denotes truth conjoined with good; and thus these three cases are illustrations of the natural, spiritual, and celestial degrees, and orders of persons who may devote themselves to the service of the Lord. And yet still the possibility of error is again involved, especially in the words, "the rash utterance of her lips with which she has bound her soul." That is, this rash utterance may be in harmony with the good denoted by the husband, or it may not; and if it is in harmony, her husband is said to hold his peace at her, whereas, on the contrary, if it is not in harmony, he is said to make void the vow and the rash utterance. And also the remission, or removal, of the evil and error follows, because good, where it is conjoined with truth from the Lord, effects this.

And now the next section, which is only one verse, requires a little attention. For a widow or a divorced woman is evidently to be taken as representing a state of separation from good on account of falsity or evil prevailing, since it is said their vow stands against them, and no remission is spoken of; for a widow may signify also any one who is in truth and earnestly desires good, 4844³, and such can have their evils and errors remitted on account of that desire, since it implies the presence of good internally; and a woman divorced on account of adultery, may represent one who is in evil, and is yet capable of amendment, and thus of being forgiven, or having his evil removed (AE 222⁷; John 8:11). We ought, therefore, to be particular, when we study the Word in its internal sense, in noting in what way its correspondential expressions are applied.

But the fifth section, on a cursory examination, appears to be but a repetition of the third; for they both represent a state of truth conjoined with good, in which there may be devotion to the Lord, either genuine or otherwise, and in which remission may follow in the case of error. But the former case is said to denote the external conjunction of truth with good, and the latter such internal conjunction, since that refers specifically to those who belong to the middle heaven, whereas this refers to those who belong to the third heaven, and even they, during regeneration, are not free from the liability to error. For indeed there is no human being in any heaven who has not erred, 868; and the celestial state, or the state of the conjunction of truth with good is predicable of any heaven.

And hence, in proceeding, the sixth section may be seen to be of very great importance in its internal sense. For the law is universal that it is the internal life of every one which must bring the external into harmony and agreement with itself. How utterly vain, therefore, in the light of this great truth, is the attempt of those who imagine that a merely outward morality, which puts on the appearance of goodness, when selfishness lurks within, can stand the test of the final Judgement, which none can avoid.

But, in conclusion, the last section, which sums up the spiritual teaching of the whole of this chapter, is worthy of a most careful study, and especially so with regard to the statement that the husband shall bear the iniquity of his wife, when it happens that he must make her vows null and void. That is, there must either be the removal of evil through temptations and victories involving the work of repentance all through life, or the confirmation of evil, and consequent vastation as to good and truth; for bearing iniquity spiritually involves both these things, according to the quality of the life of him who either suffers himself to be regenerated, or prefers to remain in the unregenerated state. But it is the internal man, or the Lord operating in the internal man, Who fights and overcomes; when yet the man himself must act as from himself in accomplishing this; for only thus can man have conjunction with the Lord; and only thus can the internal man bring the external into harmony with itself.