7498. 'Go to Pharaoh, and you are to tell him' means the appearance of the truth from God among those engaged in molestation. This is clear from the meaning of 'going (in) to someone' as becoming present or appearing, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'telling' as communication; from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as those who in the next life molest members of the spiritual Church, dealt with in 7107, 7110, 7126, 7142, 7220, 7228, 7317; and from the representation of Moses, who was to go in to Pharaoh and speak to him, as the truth from God, dealt with in 6771, 6827, 7014, 7382. The reason why 'going (in) to' means the presence or appearance is that in the spiritual sense things connected with the mind and therefore with thought are meant, and when 'going (in) to someone is used in reference to thought, it means making that person present in one's thought; for one who thinks about another causes that other to be present in his thought. And what is astonishing, in the next life when one person is thinking about another because he wishes to talk to him, that other becomes present with him. From this it is evident that in these matters there is a similarity between what goes on in the thinking of a person in the world and what takes place visibly in the next life. From all this one may now see that 'going (in) to someone' means the presence or appearance.

7382. 'Stretch out your hand with your rod' means the power of inward truth directed through outward truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'hand' as spiritual power, which belongs to inward truth, and from the representation of 'rod' as natural power, which belongs to outward truth, both dealt with in 6947, 6948. For the fact that all power in the spiritual world belongs to truth, see 3091, 3787, 4931, 6344, 6423, 6948. Since 'Moses' represents inward law, which is the same as inward truth, and 'Aaron' represents outward law, which is the same as outward truth, and since inward truth flows into outward truth and gives it power, 7381, Moses' word of command to Aaron 'stretch out your hand with your rod' means the power of inward truth directed through outward truth.