ACV9 S34 7566-7599

CLICK TO PRINT READING CLICK TO GO TO COMMENTS 7566 Verses 22-26. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven, and there shall be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and Jehovah gave voices and hail, and the fire walked unto the land, and Jehovah made it rain hail upon the land of Egypt. And there was hail, and fire walking at the same time in the midst of the hail, very grievous, such as had not been like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail smote in all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, from man and even to beast, and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, was there no hail. "And Jehovah said unto Moses," signifies a command; "Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven," signifies attention, and the approach of heaven; "and there shall be hail in all the land of Egypt," signifies destroying falsity in the natural mind; "upon man, and upon beast," signifies interior and exterior good; "and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt," signifies every truth of the church in the natural mind; "and Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven," signifies communication with heaven; "and Jehovah gave voices," signifies the withdrawal and separation of the communication with those who are in good and truth; "and hail," signifies falsities destroying these goods and truths; "and the fire walked unto the land," signifies the evils of cupidities; "and Jehovah made it rain hail upon the land of Egypt," signifies the natural mind taken possession of by the falsities of evil; "and there was hail, and fire walking at the same time in the midst of the hail, very grievous," signifies the persuasions of falsity together with the cupidities of evil; "such as has not been like it in all the land of Egypt," signifies that no others had such a state of the natural mind; "since it became a nation," signifies from the day in which it was made capable of admitting good and the derivative truth; "and the hail smote in all the land of Egypt," signifies that this falsity destroyed the things that were in the natural mind; "all that was in the field," signifies whatever was of the church; "from man and even to beast," signifies its interior and exterior good; "and the hail smote every herb of the field," signifies that these falsities destroyed every truth of the church; "and broke every tree of the field," signifies that they also destroyed all the knowledges of truth and good of the church; "only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, was there no hail," signifies that it was not so where those were who were of the spiritual church. 7567 And Jehovah said unto Moses. That this signifies a command, is evident from the signification of "saying," as being a command (see n. 7036, 7107, 7310). 7568 Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven. That this signifies attention, and the approach of heaven, is evident from the signification of "stretching forth the hand," as being to cause to pay attention, for by the stretching forth of the hand, something has the attention directed to it and is shown; and from the signification of "heaven," as being the angelic heaven; and as when anyone has his attention directed to heaven, and it is shown to him, he also directs his sight and thought thither, from this there is also signified approach, for all approach in the spiritual world is effected by the determination of the thought. How the case herein is has indeed been told above (n. 7519), but as these things are such as have been unknown in the world, they may be illustrated a little further. When any change of state is to be effected with the evil who are to be vastated, as with those described in these chapters, this change is effected by a more present influx of good and truth from heaven, because the nearer heaven comes to them, the more the interior evils and falsities with them are excited; for good and truth from heaven penetrate toward the interiors, and the more deeply they penetrate the nearer they come. Hence it is that the infernals dare not come near any heavenly society, but withdraw as far as they can (see n. 4225, 4226, 4299, 4533, 4674, 5057, 5058, 7519). From all this it is now evident what is meant by the attention, and the approach of heaven, which are signified by "Moses stretching forth his hand toward heaven;" for a new state is now described, namely, the state of falsities from evils destroying all the goods and truths of the church with those who infest; and as this state arises through a more present influx of truth from the Divine, and at the same time through the approach of heaven, therefore it is said to Moses that he should "stretch forth his hand toward heaven." 7569 And there shall be hail in all the land of Egypt. That this signifies destroying falsity in the natural mind, is evident from the signification of "hail," as being falsity from evils destroying, namely, every good and truth of the church (see n. 7553); and from the signification of "the land of Egypt," as being the natural mind (n. 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301). 7570 Upon man, and upon beast. That this signifies interior and exterior good, is evident from the signification of "man and beast," as being interior and exterior good (n. 7424, 7523, 7558). 7571 And upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt. That this signifies every truth of the church in the natural mind, is evident from the signification of "herb," as being truth (of which in what follows); from the signification of "field," as being the church (of which above, n. 7557); and from the signification of "the land of Egypt," as being the natural mind (of which also above, n. 7569). That "herb" signifies truth is because the "land" signifies the church, also a "field;" and hence all the produce from it signifies either the truth that is of faith, or the good that is of charity, for these are of the church. By the "herb of the field" is meant all in general that comes from the field, as is plain from the Lord's parable in Matthew:The kingdom of the heavens is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field, but when the herb sprouted forth and bore fruit, then appeared the tares (Matt. 13:24, 26);where "the herb" stands for the produce of the field. That by "the herb" is here signified the truth of the church, and by "tares" falsity is evident; it is indeed a comparison, but all the comparisons in the Word are from significatives (n. 3579). In David:Who causeth grass to sprout forth for the beast, and herb for the ministry of man; to bring forth bread out of the earth (Ps. 104:14);where also "herb" stands for the produce of the field, and by it in the internal sense is here signified truth.[2] In the same:In pastures of herb He will make me lie down, unto the waters of rests He will lead me, He will create anew my soul (Ps. 23:2-3);"pastures of herb" denote the spiritual nourishment which is of the soul, and therefore it is said "He will create anew my soul." In Isaiah:The waters of Nimrim shall be desolations, because the grass is dried up, the herb is consumed, there is no green thing (Isa. 15:6).I will make waste mountains and hills, and I will dry up all their herb, and I will make the rivers islands, and I will lead the blind in a way that they have not known (Isa. 42:15).How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field wither? For the wickedness of them that dwell therein the beasts and the bird shall be consumed (Jer. 12:4).The hind calved in the field, but forsook it, because there was no herb, and the wild asses stood on the hills, they snuffed the wind like whales because there was no herb (Jer. 14:5-6).Be not afraid, ye beasts of my fields, for the habitations of the wilderness are become grassy, for the tree will bear her fruit, the fig tree and the vine will yield its strength (Joel 2:22).When the locusts had completed the devouring of the herb of the land, I said, O Lord Jehovih, forgive, I beseech Thee; how shall Jacob stand when he is little? (Amos. 7:2.)Ask ye of Jehovah the latter rain in season; Jehovah will make clouds, and will give them a shower of rain, to a man herb in the field (Zech. 10:1).The fifth angel sounded, and it was said that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree (Rev. 9:1, 4).[3] Everyone can see that in these passages grass and herb are not meant, but instead of them such things as are of the church; that by the "herb of the land" and the "herb of the field" is meant the truth which is of faith is plain. Without such a spiritual sense no one would ever know why it should be said, in John, when the fifth angel sounded, that "they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing"; nor would anyone know what is meant in Jeremiah, "The hind calved in the field, but forsook it, because there was no herb, and the wild asses snuffed the wind like whales because there was no herb"; nor what is meant in many other passages. From this it is evident how little the Word is understood, and how earthly an idea would be had of very many things contained therein, unless it were known what they signify; at least that there is what is holy in every detail. 7572 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven. That this signifies communication with heaven, is evident from the signification of "stretching forth a rod," as being to direct the attention to, thus to communicate, according to what was unfolded above (n. 7568). By "heaven" is signified the angelic heaven. 7573 And Jehovah gave voices of thunder. That this signifies the withdrawal and separation of the communication with those who are in good and truth is evident from the signification of the "voices," which are those of thunders,...