10533. 'Perchance I might consume you on the way' means that this nation would be destroyed if what is Divine were to flow in and reside with it. This is clear from the meaning of 'consuming' as being destroyed. It is self-evident that that nation would be destroyed if what is Divine were to flow in and reside with it, for the words that are used are, 'I will not go up in your midst, perchance I might consume you on the way'. The implications of this are that people whose interest lies in external things and not in what is internal, and so who are ruled by self-love and love of the world, are utterly incapable of receiving anything Divine. For that reason their internal is kept closed. If their internal were opened and what is Divine were to flow in they would be completely destroyed, since their life consists of self-love and love of the world, and unceasing opposition and repugnance exists between these loves and heavenly loves, heavenly loves consisting in what is Divine. Consequently their life would be snuffed out by anything Divine flowing in. The fact that the interest of the Israelite nation lay in external things and not in what was internal has been shown frequently above.