ACV9 S33 7536-7565

CLICK TO PRINT READING CLICK TO GO TO COMMENTS 7536 Verses 13-18. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For I this time will send all My plagues into thy heart, and into thy servants, and into thy people; that thou mayest know that there is no one as I in the whole earth. For now I would put forth My hand, and smite thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou wouldest be cut off from the earth; but yet for this cause have I made thee to stand, that thou mayest see My power, and that My name may be told in the whole earth. As yet thou exaltest thyself against My people, in thy not letting them go. Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. "And Jehovah said unto Moses," signifies instruction again as to what was to be done; "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh," signifies the uplifting by means of presence of the attention of those who infest; "and say unto him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews," signifies a command from the Lord, who is the God of the church; "Let My people go that they may serve Me," signifies that they should leave those who are of the spiritual church that they may worship the Lord their God; "for this time I will send all My plagues," signifies that it might come to pass that all the coming evils would together rush upon them; "into thy heart," signifies into the inmost; "and into thy servants, and into thy people," signifies into all things in general and in particular; "that thou mayest know that there is no one as I in the whole earth," signifies made known to them from this that the Lord is the only God; "for now I would put forth My hand," signifies that all communication might be taken away; "and smite thee and thy people with pestilence," signifies thus total devastation; "and thou wouldest be cut off from the earth," signifies that thus there would no longer be communication through the things that belong to the church; "but yet for this cause have I made thee to stand," signifies that communication would still remain, and they will pass through states by reason of order; "that thou mayest see My power," signifies that they may notice how great the Divine power is; "and that My name may be told in the whole earth," signifies that thus where the church is the Lord may be acknowledged as the only God; "as yet thou exaltest thyself against My people," signifies because he does not yet desist from infesting those who are in truth and good; "in thy not letting them go," signifies and does not as yet leave them; "behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail," signifies falsities destroying all things of the church with them; "such as hath not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now" signifies that with others there is no such destruction in the natural mind. 7537 And Jehovah said unto Moses. That this signifies instruction again as to what was to be done, see above, n. 7517. 7538 Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh. That this signifies the uplifting by means of presence of the attention of those who infest, is evident from the signification of "rising up early in the morning" (see n. 7435); from the signification, of "standing before" anyone as being presence (n. 7527); and from the representation of Pharaoh, as being those who infest (n. 7107, 7110, 7126, 7142, 7220, 7228). 7539 And say unto him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews. That this signifies a command from the Lord, who is the God of the church, is evident from the signification of "saying," when by Jehovah or the Lord to those who are in evils and infest, as being a command (see n. 7036, 7310); and from the signification of "the Hebrews," as being those of the church, thus the church (n. 6675, 6684, 6738). (That where "Jehovah" is named in the Word, it is the Lord who is meant, see n. 1343, 1736, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5041, 5663, 6280, 6281, 6303, 6905, 6945, 6956). Thus "Jehovah the God of the Hebrews" denotes the Lord, who is the God of the church. 7540 Let My people go, that they may serve Me. That this signifies that they should leave those who are of the spiritual church that they may worship the Lord their God, see above (n. 7500), where are like words. 7541 For this time I will send all My plagues. That this signifies that it might come to pass that all the coming evils would together rush upon them, is evident from the signification of "plagues," as being evils, here evils to come, even until they were utterly cast into hell, for which reason it is said, "all the plagues"; and from the signification of "sending," as being to rush in, for plagues or evils are not sent by Jehovah or the Lord, but rush in from evil itself; for in the other life evil carries its penalty with it, and has it as it were within itself (see n. 696, 697, 1857, 6559). Hence it is that by "I will send all My plagues" is signified that all evils would rush in upon them.[2] It is according to order that one plague should follow another, and the evil be thus successively cast down into hell, and therefore it is here said that it might come to pass that they would all rush in together. As the man of the church has no knowledge about the state of the life after death, he believes that after his life in the body a man is either at once uplifted into heaven, or cast into hell; when nevertheless this takes place successively, although with much variety in respect to times and in respect to states. With the good who are to be uplifted into heaven, evils are successively separated, and the good are filled with goods according to the faculty of reception acquired in the world. And with the evil who are to be cast into hell, goods are successively separated, and the evil are successively filled with evils, according to the faculty of reception acquired in the world.[3] Moreover a man in the other life enters into new states, and undergoes changes. Those who are being uplifted into heaven, and afterward when they have been uplifted, are perfected to eternity; but those who are being cast down to hell, and afterward when they have been cast down, endure evils continually more grievous, and this until they dare not do evil to anyone. After this they remain in hell to eternity, whence they cannot be taken out, because it cannot be given them to will good to anyone, but only, from fear of the penalty, not to do evil, the desire to do it always remaining. 7542 Into thy heart. That this signifies into the inmost, is evident from the signification of the "heart," as being what is of the will, thus of the love (see n. 2930, 3313, 3888, 3889), consequently what is of the very life, for the love, being of the will, makes the very life; hence it is that by the "heart" is signified the inmost. The inmost with the good is love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor, but the inmost with the evil is the love of self and the love of the world; it is this inmost that is here meant. The things that are around this inmost and make as it were its circumferences, are evils with the falsities which favor them; and these are disposed in the order in which they favor. In the other life these are unrolled according to the order in which they have been disposed; first come forth those which occupy the outermost circumferences; afterward those which occupy the more interior ones; and at last the inmost is made manifest. Hence it is that a man in the other life passes through many states, and that by degrees, successively, the evil run into plagues, before they are cast into hell, according to what has just been said. The inmost, to which they finally come, is hell itself with them, for it is the evil itself which had been of their love, thus the end for the sake of which they had done all things, and which in the world they had most deeply hidden. 7543 And into thy servants, and into thy people. That this signifies into all things in general and in particular, is evident from the signification of "servants" and "people" as being all and each, thus all things and each (see n. 7396). 7544 That thou mayest know that there is no one as I in the whole earth. That this signifies made known to them from this, that the Lord is the only God, is evident from what was said above (n. 7401). 7545 For now I would put forth My hand. That this signifies that all communication might be taken away, is evident from the signification of "hand," as being power (see n. 4931-4937, 6292, 6947, 7188, 7189, 7518); and of "the hand of Jehovah," as being omnipotence (n. 878, 3387, 7518). Hence "to put forth the hand" denotes to show power, and from omnipotence to do it. This omnipotence is described by his being able "to send all plagues into his heart, into his servants, and into his people," whereby is signified that all evils would rush in together, and thus that communication with the things of heaven would be taken away. It is this exercise of power that is here signified by these words. How the case is with this communication has already been told, namely, that those who infest the upright in the other life are such as in the world have been in the church and have read the Word, and have known the doctrinal things of faith of their church and have also professed them, but have lived a life of evil. So long as such in the other life retain the things of faith, they have communication with heaven, and so long they cannot be cast down into hell; and therefore it is these things that are by degrees taken away from them; and after these have been taken away, the evil no longer have anything to hold them up; but then like weights without support, or like birds with their wings cut off, they fall downward,...