8049. 'Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slaves' means that especially should they call to mind that state which was theirs when they were delivered from spiritual captivity by the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'remember' as that they should call to mind; from the meaning of 'day' as state, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850, 5672, 5962, 7680; from the meaning of 'coming out' as being delivered, for the exodus of the children of Israel means the deliverance by the Lord of those belonging to the spiritual Church, regarding which deliverance see 6854, 6914, 7091 (end), 7828, 7932, 8018; and from the meaning of 'Egypt' and 'the house of slaves' as spiritual captivity. For 'Pharaoh' and 'the Egyptians' mean those in the next life who molested spiritual people by means of falsities, 7097, 7107, 7110, 7126, 7142, 7220, 7228, 7317, and therefore 'the land of Egypt' means molestation, 7278. Molestation by means of falsities is nothing else than spiritual captivity, for when people suffer molestation they are held captive so to speak in falsities from which they constantly strive to be delivered. This also explains why they are called in the Word 'the bound in the pit', 6854. That spiritual captivity is what is also meant by 'the house of slaves (or servants)'. 'Slavery' (or service) means being under attack from falsities, which is molestation, see 7120, 7129.

7106. Verses 5-9 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you have made them rest from their burdens. And Pharaoh gave orders that day to the taskmasters over the people and to their officers, saying, You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as you did yesterday and the day before; ¹ they must go and gather straw for themselves. And the tally of bricks which they were making yesterday and the day before' shall you impose on them; you shall not reduce it. For they are slack; therefore they cry out, saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God. Let the service be made heavy on the men, and let them do it and pay no attention to lying words.

'And Pharaoh said' means the will of those who molest the Church's truths. 'Behold, the people of the land are now many' means the greatness in numbers of those who belong to the spiritual Church. 'And you have made them rest from their burdens' means that they have not molested them enough. 'And Pharaoh gave orders that day' means a strong desire to molest the Church's truths while in that state. 'To the taskmasters over the people and to their officers, saying' means those in the nearest position to molest, and those in the nearest position to receive. 'You shall no longer give the people straw' means the basest kind of factual knowledge, which is the most general of all. 'To make bricks' means for fabrications and falsities which are to be introduced. 'As you did yesterday and the day before' means not as in the previous state. 'They must go and gather straw for themselves' means in order that they may acquire that basest kind of factual knowledge for themselves. 'And the tally of bricks which they were making yesterday and the day before shall you impose on them' means that fabrications and falsities are to be introduced in the same abundance as before. 'You shall not reduce it' means without diminution. 'For they are slack' means because they have not been sufficiently assaulted. 'Therefore they cry out, saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God' means that for that reason they give so much thought to such worship. 'Let the service be made heavy on the men means that the assault should be enlarged. 'And let them do it' means in order to produce the desired result. 'And pay no attention to lying words means to keep them from turning towards truths.

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