Page:A Compendium of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.djvu/265

Rh ; and by those of the he-lamb, the ewe-lamb, and the kid of the she-goats was represented the purification or regeneration of the inmost or celestial man. Because there are three degrees in man in succession [from this inmost], the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural; and because, in order that he may be regenerated, man must be regenerated both as to internals and as to externals. . . . The reason why in the highest sense the sacrifices and burnt-offerings signify the glorification of the Lord's Humanity is that all the rituals of the worship instituted among the Israelitish and Jewish nation had reference to the Lord alone; and so the sacrifices and burnt-offerings by which in general the whole of worship was represented, referred principally to Him. And besides, the regeneration of man is from no other source than the Lord: and therefore, wherever in the Word the regeneration of man is referred to, in the highest sense it refers to the glorification of the Lord's Humanity. For man's regeneration is an image of the Lord's glorification. To glorify the Human was to make it Divine; and to regenerate man is to make him heavenly, that the Divine of the Lord may dwell in him. (A. C. n. 10,042).

The mystery of the ass upon which Balaam rode, which turned three times out of the way on seeing an angel with a drawn sword, and the circumstance of its speaking to Balaam, I will here briefly explain. While Balaam was riding upon the ass he continually meditated sorcery against the children of Israel. The gain with which he should be honoured was in his mind; as appears from these words concerning him; "He went not as at other times to seek for enchantments" (Numb. xxiv. 1). He was in truth a soothsayer in heart; and therefore he thought of nothing else when he thought from himself. By the ass upon which he rode is signified, in the spiritual sense of the Word, an enlightened intellectual [faculty]. Therefore to ride upon an ass or mule was among the insignia of a chief judge and of a king. The angel with the drawn sword signifies Divine Truth enlightened, and contending against what is false. Hence by the ass turning three times out of the way, it is signified that the understanding when enlightened did not agree with the thought of the sorcerer; and this also is meant by what the angel said unto Balaam: "Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me" (Numb. xxii. 32). By a way in the spiritual sense of the Word, that which a man thinks from his intention is signified. It is evident too from what the angel said to him that he was 17