Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 4558

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4558. 'And he built an altar there' means through being made holy. This is clear from the meaning of 'an altar' as the chief representative of the Lord, and from this as the holiness of worship, dealt with in 4541; and when it has reference to the Lord, as His Divine Human and the holiness which proceeds from this, 2811. For that which in the Church is the chief representative of the Lord also means in the highest sense the Lord Himself as to His Divine Human, because that which is the representative of it is in the highest sense that Human itself. The making holy of the natural is meant by 'he built an altar there (that is, in Bethel)', for 'Bethel' means the Divine Natural, see just above in 4556.


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