ACV9 S12 6889-6932

CLICK TO PRINT READING 6889. Verses 16-20. Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, Jehovah the God of your fathers hath been seen of me, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, saying, Visiting I have visited you, and that which is done to you in Egypt; and I say, I will make you come up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. And they shall hear thy voice, and thou shalt go in, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, Jehovah God of the Hebrews hath met with us; and now let us go we pray a way of three days into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God. And I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, and not by a strong hand. And I will put forth My hand, and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in the midst thereof and afterward he will send you away. "Go and gather the elders of Israel together," signifies the intelligent in the spiritual church; "and say unto them," signifies instruction; "Jehovah the God of your fathers," signifies the Divine of the Ancient Church; "hath been seen of me," signifies His presence; "the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob," signifies the Divine Itself, and the Divine Human of the Lord; "saying, Visiting I have visited you," signifies His coming to those who are of the church; "and that which is done to you in Egypt," signifies the endeavor to subjugate; "and I say, I will make you come up out of the affliction of Egypt," signifies a raising and liberation from false memory-knowledges; "unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite," signifies the region of heaven occupied by those who are in evils and falsities; "unto a land flowing with milk and honey," signifies where are pleasantness and delight; "and they shall hear thy voice," signifies obedience; "and thou shalt go in, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt," signifies communication with those who are in falsities and who have infested; "and ye shall say unto him" signifies influx; "Jehovah God of the Hebrews hath met with us," signifies the Divine of the Lord in the church, and His command; "and now let us go we pray a way of three days into the wilderness," signifies the life of truth in a state altogether removed from falsities, although in obscurity; "that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God," signifies thus the worship of the Lord; "and I know," signifies foresight; "that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go," signifies that falsity would oppose itself; "and not by a strong hand," signifies that the power of those who are of the spiritual church will not prevail against them; "and I will put forth My hand," signifies power from the Divine; "and smite Egypt with all My wonders," signifies the means of Divine power against falsities; "which I will do in the midst thereof," signifies which shall touch them directly; "and afterward he will send you away," signifies their being driven away, and liberation. 6890. Go and gather the elders of Israel together. That this signifies the intelligent in the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of "elders," as being the chief things of wisdom and intelligence (see n. 6524, 6525), thus the intelligent; and from the representation of Israel, as being the spiritual church (n. 4286, 6426). 6891. And say unto them. That this signifies instruction, is evident from the signification of "saying unto them," when this is done by Moses, by whom is represented the law from the Divine, as being instruction (as above, n. 6879, 6881, 6883). 6892. Jehovah the God of your fathers. That this signifies the Divine of the Ancient Church, is evident from what has been unfolded above (n. 6884), where are the same words. 6893. Hath been seen of me. That this signifies presence, is evident from the signification of "being seen of" anyone as being presence; for by "being seen," in the internal sense, is not signified being seen by the eyes, but by the thought. Thought itself also causes presence, for the person thought of appears as if present before the internal sight. In the other life this is actually the case, for when anyone is there thought of intently, he becomes present; hence it is that in the other life friends meet together, and also foes, and from the latter they suffer severely. 6894. The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. That this signifies the Divine Itself, and the Divine Human of the Lord, is evident from what was shown above (n. 6847). 6895. Saying, Visiting I have visited you. That this signifies His coming to those who are of the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of "visiting," as being the coming of the Lord, which precedes the last time of the church, which time in the Word is called the "Last Judgment." (That this is meant by "visitation," see n. 2242, 6588.) That this is called "the Lord's coming," is plain from these words in Matthew: The disciples said unto Jesus, Tell us when shall these things shall be? and what is the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age? (Matt. 24:3); and then the Lord instructed the disciples about the last time of the church, as can be seen from what has been unfolded above (n. 3353-3356, 3486-3489, 3897-3901, 4056-4060, 4229-4231, 4422-4424); and He said that when all these things should come to pass, "then shall appear the sign of the Son of man, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory" (Matt. 24:30). [2] That by the "coming of the Lord" is not meant His appearing with angels in the clouds, but acknowledgment in hearts by love and faith (see n. 3353, 3900); also His appearing from the Word, the inmost or supreme sense of which treats of the Lord alone (n. 4060). This coming is meant by the coming of the Lord which takes place when an old church is rejected, and a new church is set up again by the Lord. And as newness of the church was now to be restored with the posterity of Jacob, it is said, "Visiting I have visited you," as was also said by Joseph when he died: Joseph said unto his brethren, I die; and visiting God will visit you, and will make you come up out of this land unto the land which He sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (Gen. 50:24); by "visiting to visit you," in the sense of the letter, is here signified liberation from slavery in Egypt, and introduction into the land of Canaan; but this is not the spiritual content of the Word, but the natural. The spiritual of the Word treats of the Lord, of His kingdom and church, and of love and faith; and therefore by "visiting to visit" in the spiritual sense is meant liberation from falsities, and thus initiation into what is of the Lord's church and kingdom, thus the coming of the Lord in love and faith with those who will be of the new church. 6896. And that which is done to you in Egypt. That this signifies the endeavor to subjugate, is evident from what goes before, in regard to the affliction and oppression of the sons of Israel, that is, of those who are of the spiritual church; this is what is meant by "that which was done to you in Egypt." (That those afflictions and oppression signify infestations and endeavors to subjugate, see n. 6633, 6666, 6668, 6670, 6671, 6851, 6852, 6863.) 6897. And I say, I will make you come up out of the affliction of Egypt. That this signifies a raising and liberation from infestation by false memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "making to come up," as being a raising toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 5406, 5817, 6007), a raising toward interior things is a raising from infestation by falsities to the truths and goods of faith, hence also "to make to come up" denotes liberation; from the signification of "affliction," as being infestation (n. 6663, 6851); and from the signification of "Egypt," as being false memory-knowledge (n. 6651, 6679, 6683). 6898. Unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. That this signifies the region of heaven occupied by those who are in evils and falsities, is evident from what was shown above (n. 6854, 6858). (That the "Canaanites" and the "Hittites" denote those who are in evils from falsities, see n. 6858; that the "Amorites" and the "Perizzites" denote those who are in evils and the derivative falsities, n. 6859; and that the "Hivites" and the "Jebusites" denote those who are in idolatry in which there is somewhat of good and truth, n. 6860.) 6899. Unto a land flowing with milk and honey. That this signifies where are pleasantness and delight, is evident from the signification of "milk and honey," as being pleasantness and delight (of which above, n. 6857). 6900. And they shall hear thy voice. That this signifies obedience, is evident from the signification of "hearing," as being obedience (see n. 2542, 3869, 4652-4660). 6901. And thou shalt go in, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt. That this signifies communication with those who are in falsities and who have infested, is evident from the signification of "going in," as being communication, for "to go in," in the spiritual sense, is to communicate to another one's thought; from the representation of Moses, as being the law from the Divine (see n. 6827); from the signification of "elders," as being the intelligent (n. 6523, 6525, 6890); and from the representation of Pharaoh, or the king of Egypt, as being falsity infesting the truths of the church (n. 6651, 6679, 6683). From all this it is evident that by "go in, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt" is signified the communication of such thin