ACV9 S27 7345-7365

CLICK TO PRINT READING CLICK TO GO TO COMMENTS 7345 Verses 25, 26,* 27, 28, 29. And seven days were fulfilled after that Jehovah had smitten the river. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Come unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Let My people go, that they may serve Me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold I will smite all thy border with frogs; and the river shall make frogs to creep forth, and they shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bed-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants and of thy people,* and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs; and on thee, and on thy people, and on all thy servants, shall the frogs come up. "And seven days were fulfilled after that Jehovah had smitten the river," signifies the end of that state after truths had been falsified; "and Jehovah said unto Moses" signifies new instruction "Come unto Pharaoh, and say unto him," signifies a command to those who infest; "Thus saith Jehovah, Let My people go, that they may serve Me," signifies that they should leave those who are of the church to worship their God in freedom; "and if thou refuse to let them go," signifies if they would not leave them; "behold I will smite all thy border with frogs," signifies reasonings from mere falsities; "and the river shall make frogs to creep forth," signifies that there will be reasonings from these falsities; and they shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bedchamber," signifies that they shall fill the mind even to its interiors; "and upon thy bed," signifies to the inmosts; "and into the house of thy servants, and of thy people," signifies all things that are in the natural; "and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs," signifies into the delights of cupidities; "and on thee, and on thy people, and on all thy servants, shall the frogs come up," signifies that reasonings from falsities shall be in all things both in general and in particular.Numbered as in the Hebrew in the English text Chapter VIII. begins with this verse.** Et in populum tuum, but et populi tui below. 7346 And seven days were fulfilled after that Jehovah had smitten the river. That this signifies the end of that state after truths had been falsified, is evident from the signification of "seven days," as being an entire period from beginning to end, thus a full state (see n. 728, 6508), the same as a week (n. 2044, 3845), thus "seven days fulfilled" denotes the end of that period or state; and from the signification of "after that Jehovah had smitten the river," as being after truths had been falsified; for that the river smitten with the rod of Aaron, and the waters made blood, denotes that truths had been falsified, see n. 7316, 7317, 7330, 7332. 7347 And Jehovah said unto Moses. That this signifies new instruction is evident from the signification of "Jehovah said," when anything is commanded anew, as being new instruction (see n. 7186, 7267, 7304). 348 Come unto Pharaoh, and say unto him. That this signifies a command to those who infest, is evident from the signification of "coming or entering in and saying," when said by Jehovah, as being a command; and from the representation of Pharaoh, as being those who infest by falsities (see n. 7107, 7110, 7126, 7142). 7349 Thus saith Jehovah, Let My people go, that they may serve Me. That this signifies that they should leave those who are of the church to worship their God in freedom, is evident from the signification of "letting go," as being to leave; from the representation of the sons of Israel, who are here "My people," as being those who are of the spiritual church (see n. 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223); and from the signification of "serving Me," as being to worship their God. That it denotes to worship in freedom, is because there could be no worship where falsities were infesting; and because all worship which is truly worship must be in freedom (n. 1947, 2875, 2876, 2880, 2881, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4031). 7350 And If thou refuse to let them go. That this signifies if they did not leave them, is evident from the signification of "letting go," as being to leave (as just above, n. 7349), thus "if thou refuse to let go" denotes if they did not leave them. 7351 Behold I will smite all thy border with frogs. That this signifies reasonings from mere falsities, is evident from the signification of "frogs," as being reasonings; that they are from mere falsities is signified by their "creeping forth from the river," as presently follows (that the "river of Egypt" denotes falsity, see n. 6693, 7307), and because it is said that "all the border should be smitten with them." By these words is also signified that the reasonings shall not be from falsified truths, but from mere falsities, because reasonings from falsified truths are finally turned into blasphemies against truth and good; and moreover the truths themselves reject the falsification, because they cannot be together with falsities; and so long as they are, they fight with them, and at last loosen and separate themselves from them. Hence it is that after a man has falsified truths, he at last wholly denies them; otherwise falsities would have dominion over truths. From this it is that after the evil in the other life have been cast into hell, they are not allowed to reason from falsified truths, but from mere falsities.[2] That "frogs" denote reasonings from falsities, is evident in John:I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, like frogs; for they are the spirits of demons, working signs to go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:13-14);that "frogs" denote reasonings from falsities against truths, is plain from the details of this passage, for it is said that "they went out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet;" also that "they went forth unto the kings of the earth, to gather them together unto war." The "kings of the earth" denote the truths of the church (that "kings" denote truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, see n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148; and that the "earth" denotes the church, n. 662, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577; also that "war" denotes spiritual combat, n. 2686, thus combat against the truths and goods of faith). From this it is plain that "frogs" denote reasonings from falsities against truths.[3] And in David:He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish; He caused frogs to creep forth on their land, in the chambers of their kings (Ps. 105:29-30);it is said "in the chambers of their kings" because there is meant reasoning against truths from falsities; "the chambers of kings" denote interior truths, and in the opposite sense interior falsities. (That "kings" denote truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, see just above.) 7352 And the river shall make frogs to creep forth. That this signifies that there will be reasonings from these falsities, is evident from the signification of "the river of Egypt," as being falsity (see n. 6693, 7307); and from the signification of "frogs," as being reasonings (as above, n. 7351). That "frogs" denote reasonings is because they are in waters, where they make a chattering noise and croak, and are also among things unclean. What reasoning from mere falsities is, shall be illustrated by some examples. That man reasons from mere falsities who attributes all things to nature, and scarcely anything to the Divine; when yet all things are from the Divine, and nature is only the instrumental means by which the Divine works. He reasons from mere falsities who believes that man is like a beast, only more perfect, because he can think; and thus that man will die like a beast; by thus denying the conjunction of man with the Divine through the thought which is of faith, and the affection which is of love, and hence his resurrection and life eternal, such a man speaks from mere falsities. In like manner is he who believes that there is no hell. And also he who believes that all a man has is the delight of this world's life, and therefore he must enjoy this, because when he dies, he dies altogether. He reasons from mere falsities who believes that all things depend upon his own sagacity, and on fortune; and not on the Divine Providence, except such as is universal. And also he who believes that religion is good for nothing except to keep the simple in bonds. Especially do they reason from mere falsities who believe that the Word is not Divine. In short, all those reason from mere falsities who utterly deny truths Divine. 7353 And they shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bedchamber. That this signifies that they shall fill the mind, even to its interiors, is evident from the signification of a "house," as being the mind of man (see n. 3538, 4973, 5023); and from the signification of a "bedchamber" as being the interiors of the mind. That "bed-chambers" denote the interiors of the mind is because they are in the inner part of the house. By "chambers" are signified things interior, and by "bed-chambers" things still more interior, in the following passages:Go, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut the door after thee; hide thyself as for a little moment, until the anger be overpast (Isa. 26:20).He said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the elders of the sons of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his image (Ezek. 8:12).Without shall the sword bereave, and terror from the chambers (Deut 32:25).Elisha the prophet that is in Israel telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber (2 Kings 6:12)....