Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10568

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10568. 'And he said to Him, If Your face is not going [before me], do not cause us to go up from here' means that if the Divine is not present there, nothing constituting the Church will be there. This is clear from the meaning of 'Jehovah's face' as things that are interior and Divine in the Church, worship, and the Word, dealt with immediately above in 10567; and from the meaning of 'do not cause us to go up from here' as that nothing constituting the Church will be there. The reason why these words have this meaning is that being led into the land of Canaan means the establishment of the Church, and therefore 'do not cause us to go up from here' means that without those interior things nothing constituting the Church will be present. For the meaning of being led into the land of Canaan as the establishment of the Church, see above in 10560, 10561. The reason why being led into the land of Canaan means the establishment of the Church is that by the land of Canaan in the Word those in heaven understand nothing at all other than the Church. They perceive everything in the Word on a spiritual level; consequently when any land is mentioned they think of the kinds of things constituting the Church that exist in that land or among the nation inhabiting it. Angels in heaven cannot keep their mind focused on the idea of a land because that idea is a material one, nor on the idea of any nation since this idea too is material; therefore a spiritual idea is what immediately presents itself to them, an idea that has something to do with the Church. In general a spiritual idea has to do with the Lord, His kingdom, heaven, the Church, love to the Lord and faith in Him, and countless aspects of faith and love, thus of the Church. And if you are willing to believe it, it is impossible for any material idea to enter heaven; it is cast off at the gateway of heaven. This is how it is with every single thing in the Word. So it is then that being led into the land of Canaan means the establishment of the Church, and not being led in, implied in the present verse, its not being established.


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