Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10054

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10054. 'It is an odour of rest' means the perception of peace. This is clear from the meaning of 'an odour' as perception, dealt with in 3577, 4624-4634, 4748; and from the meaning of 'rest' as peace. What Divine peace in the heavens is, see 92, 93, 2780, 5662, 8455, 8665, 8722; in the highest sense 'peace' means the Lord, and the Divine emanation from Him that influences at an inmost level the good which reigns in the heavens, 3780, 8517. The reason why the burnt offering is called 'an odour of rest to Jehovah' is that a burnt offering represented the uniting of the Lord's Divine Human to Divinity itself, dealt with above in 10053; and it was through that uniting that peace was attained in the heavens. For when the Lord was in the world all the hells were subdued by Him, and all the heavens were restored to order, 9715, 9809, 9937, 10019. From this it is evident how it comes about that a burnt offering is called 'an odour of rest to Jehovah', as it is many times elsewhere in which burnt offerings and minchah are the subject, such as Lev 1:9,13,17; 2:2,9,12; 3:5; 4:31; 6:15,21; 8:28; 23:13,18; Num 15:3,7,13; 28:6,8,13; 29:2,6,8,13.


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