Arcana Coelestia (Potts) n. 10047

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10047. And sprinkle it upon the altar round about. That this signifies conjunction with Divine good, is evident from the signification of "the blood that was to be sprinkled upon the altar round about," as being Divine truth (n. 10026, 10033); and from the representation of the altar, as being a representative of the Lord as to Divine good (n. 9388, 9389, 9714, 9964). From this it is plain that "to sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about," denotes to unite Divine truth with Divine good in the Lord. [2] The case herein is as follows. It was said above that in this chapter the subject treated of is the glorification of the Lord's Human, and in the representative sense the regeneration of man by the Lord. As regards the glorification of the Lord's Human, it was effected by the unition of Divine truth with Divine good. The Divine good, which is Jehovah, was in the Lord as the soul from the father in man, for He was conceived of Jehovah, and through Divine means He made His Human Divine truth, especially through the combats of temptations; and insofar as He united it He glorified it, that is, made it Divine. This unition is what is signified in the supreme sense by "sprinkling the blood round about the altar." (That when the Lord was in the world He made His Human Divine truth and united it with the Divine good which was in Himself, and thus glorified His Human, see the places cited in n. 9199, 9315; as also that Jehovah His father is the Divine good which was in Him, n. 9194.) [3] As the Lord glorified His Human, so also He regenerates man; for with man the Lord flows in with good through the soul, which is through the internal way, and with truth through the hearing and the sight, which is through the external way; and insofar as a man desists from evils, so far the Lord conjoins the good with truth, and the good becomes of charity toward the neighbor and of love to God, and the truth becomes of faith. So does the Lord create the man anew, or regenerate him; for as before said the regeneration of man is effected by purification from evils and falsities, by the implantation of good and truth, and by the conjunction of these. The regeneration of man, and in the supreme sense the glorification of the Lord's Human, is what is represented by the sacrifices and burnt-offerings (n. 10022). [4] Be it known that in the burnt-offerings the blood was sprinkled upon the altar round about; in like manner in the eucharistic sacrifices; but in the sacrifices for guilt and for sin the blood was sprinkled at the base of the altar. By sprinkling the blood on the altar round about was represented the complete unition of Divine truth and Divine good, as well in the internal as in the external man; and by sprinkling the blood at the base of the altar was represented the unition of Divine truth and Divine good in the external man only. [5] With the regenerate, conjunction is effected in the external man, according to the words of the Lord in John:

He that is washed needeth not save to be washed as to his feet, and is wholly clean (John 13:9, 10). "Washing" signifies purification and regeneration (n. 3147, 9089); thus "he that is washed" signifies one purified and regenerated; and the "feet" signify the natural or external of man (n. 2162, 3147, 4938-4952, 9406). That in the burnt-offerings blood was sprinkled upon the altar round about, may be seen in Leviticus 1:5, 11; also in the eucharistic sacrifices, Leviticus 3:2, 8, 13; and that in the sacrifices for guilt and for sin the blood was sprinkled at the base of the altar, Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34; 5:9.


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