8137. 'And I will be glorified' means that they were about to see a Divine feat, accomplished by the Lord's Divine Human, in the dispersion of falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'being glorified', when it refers to Jehovah or the Lord, as a Divine feat, here a Divine feat accomplished by His Divine Human. For through His coming into the world, assuming the Human, and making it Divine the Lord cast into the hells all evils and falsities, restored the heavens to order, and also delivered from damnation those belonging to the spiritual Church, see 6854, 6914, 7091, 7828, 7932, 8018. These things are meant generally by 'being glorified'; but at this point the meaning is that those who molested the upright were to be cast into hell, where they would be engulfed by falsities as if by the waters of the sea. And this would take place as a Divine feat, accomplished simply by the Lord's presence.

[2] So that the nature of all this may become known, the matter will be explained further. The number of the hells is as great as that of the genera and species of evils. Every hell is separated from the next as if by mists, clouds, or waters. In the next life evils and falsities appear before the eyes of spirits as mists and clouds, and also as waters. The falsities arising from evils of those who belonged to the spiritual Church and led an evil life appear as waters, while the falsities arising from evils of those who belonged to the celestial Church appear as mists. The inhabitants of the hells appear engulfed by such waters or mists, though everywhere the amount and nature of them, the thickness and thinness, the murkiness and dimness varies as determined by each genus and species of falsity arising from evil. The hell inhabited by those who were governed by faith separated from charity and led a life of evil is engulfed as if by waters of the sea. The falsities arising from evil, it is true, do not appear as waters to its inhabitants, only to those looking on from outside. Above that sea they are engulfed in are the adulterers' hells. The reason why they are above it is that in the internal sense adulteries are adulterations of good and consequent perversions of truth, thus evils from which stem falsities opposed to the truths and forms of the good of faith, 2466, 2729, 3399. This kind of falsities exists with those in the hell below, who led a life contrary to the Church's truth and considered its good to be of no importance whatever. And because they considered it to be of no importance they also adulterated and perverted everything the Word states about good, that is, about charity towards the neighbour and love to God.

[3] As regards 'being glorified in Pharaoh and in his army', this implies here their submersion into that hell and their engulfment by waters like those of the sea, simply at the presence of the Lord, as has been stated above. The evil flee from the Lord's presence, that is, from the presence of the goodness and truth that spring from Him; for at their mere approach the evil feel terrified and tormented, and also as a result of the presence of that goodness and truth they are engulfed by their own evils and falsities, because these now burst out from them. They envelop the evil and are interposed to prevent the Divine from flowing into them, as a consequence of which they would suffer torment. This Divine feat is the meaning here of 'being glorified in Pharaoh and in his army'. The reason why the feat is accomplished by the Lord's Divine Human is, as stated above, that through His Coming into the world, assuming the Human and making it Divine the Lord cast all falsities and evils into hell, restored to order truths and forms of good in the heavens, and delivered from damnation those belonging to the spiritual Church.

6854. 'And I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians' means that He would stoop down to them to release them from the power of false factual knowledge, which tries to destroy the truths of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming down' as stooping down, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'to deliver' as to release, for one who releases people from falsities delivers or sets them free; from the meaning of 'the hand' as the power, dealt with in 878, 3387, 3563, 4931-4937, 5544; and from the meaning of 'the Egyptians' as false factual knowledge, which is opposed to the Church's truths, dealt with in 6651, 6679, 6683, and so which tries to destroy them. As regards the Lord's coming down, the situation is that the Lord is said to come or stoop down when He comes to judgement, 1311, and also when He comes down to lower things, in this instance to those belonging to the spiritual Church, who are meant by 'the children of Israel'. For the subject in the internal sense is the way in which those people are molested by falsities, at which time they undergo temptations, and the way in which after that they are set free in order that they may be led into heaven.

[2] But the contents of the internal sense of this verse and of those that follow hold an even deeper mystery which the Church does not yet know about and which must therefore be disclosed. Those who are termed spiritual are people for whom only the understanding part of their mind, not the will part, can be regenerated. In the understanding part of their mind the Lord therefore implants a new will, a will which conforms to the teachings that compose the faith of their Church. These people, that is to say, spiritual ones such as these, were saved solely by the Lord's Coming into the world. The reason why is that the Divine passing through heaven, which was the Divine Human before the Lord's Coming, could not reach them; for to be sure the teachings of their Church were for the most part not truths, and consequently the good in their will was not good either, 6427. Since those people could be saved solely by the Lord's Coming, they could not be raised into heaven before then. They were therefore kept in the meantime on the lower earth, in places there which in the Word are called 'pits'. This lower earth was besieged on every side by the hells where there were falsities, by which they were molested greatly during that time. In spite of this however the Lord protected them. But after the Lord came into the world and made the Human within Himself Divine, He set free those who were in the pits there and raised them to heaven. From these He also formed the spiritual heaven which is the second heaven. This is what is meant by the Lord's descent into the lower parts ¹ and by His deliverance of those who had been bound.

[3] This is the even deeper mystery that is described in the internal sense of this verse and of those that follow. See what has been shown already regarding those who are spiritual,

The spiritual are in obscurity so far as the truth and good of faith are concerned, 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3241, 3833, 6289.

Their obscurity is lightened by the Lord's Divine Human, 2716, 4402.

Because they are in obscurity so far as the truth and good of faith are concerned they are under strong attack from the hells; but the Lord is constantly protecting them, 6419.

Those who are spiritual cannot have the will part of their mind regenerated, only the understanding part; and there the Lord forms a new will, 863, 875, 895, 927, 918, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2156, 4328, 4493, 5113.

The spiritual were saved by the Lord's Coming into the world, 2833, 2834, 3969.

[4] Various places in the prophetical part of the Word mention 'the bound' or 'the bound in the pit' and the fact that the Lord delivered them. The bound' should be taken to mean specifically those spoken of just above, as in Isaiah,

I Jehovah have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, because I will guard you, and give you to be a covenant of the people, ² a light of the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring the bound out of prison, out of the dungeon-house those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:6-7.

In the same prophet,

I have guarded you, and I have given you as covenant of the people - to restore the land; to share out the devastated inheritances; to say to the bound, Go out; to those who are in darkness, Reveal yourselves. They will feed along the ways, and on all slopes will their pasture be. Isaiah 49:8-9.

This plainly refers to the Lord. 'The bound' stands in particular for those who were held back on the lower earth until the Lord's Coming, when they were raised up to heaven, and in general for all who are governed by good, yet are held back as though bound by falsities, from which however they wish to break away.

[5] In Zechariah,

Through the blood of your covenant I will let out your bound ones from the pit. Zechariah 9:11.

In Isaiah,

They will surely be gathered together, the bound ones in the pit, and they will be shut up in the dungeon; after a multitude of days they will be visited. Isaiah 24:21.

'The bound ones in the pit' stands for the same people. And in addition to these places the same meaning can be seen from the following words in Isaiah,

Jehovah has anointed Me to bring good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the broken in heart; to preach liberty to captives, to those who are bound, to him who is blind; to proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure. Isaiah 61:1-2.

And elsewhere,

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shone out. Isaiah 9:2.

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