7779. From the firstborn of Pharaoh about to sit upon his throne. That this signifies the falsified truths of faith which are in the first place, is evident from the signification of “the firstborn,” as being faith (see n. 352, 2435, 6344, 7035); from the representation of Pharaoh, as being memory-knowledge in general perverting the truths of the church (n. 6015, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692), thus “the firstborn of Pharaoh” denotes the faith of such, consequently the faith of the falsified truths of faith; and from the signification of “throne,” as being the reign of truth, and in the opposite sense, the reign of falsity (see n. 5313). That the falsified truths of faith which are in the first place are meant by “the firstborn of Pharaoh about to sit upon his throne” is evident from the fact that it is said “even to the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the millstones,” by which are signified the falsified truths of faith which are in the last place; and moreover, the son of a king is what comes first, because a king is the head.

[2] Falsified truths in the first place are those which are acknowledged as essentials, such as these: that faith saves howsoever a man has lived; that it saves man in the last hour of his life; and that he then is pure from sins; thus that sins are wiped away in a moment, like the uncleanness of the hands by water; which insist that there is faith without charity, and that in respect to man’s salvation the life effects nothing, also that a man-devil can in a moment be made an angel of God. Such and the like are falsified truths in the first place. Those which are thence next derived are in the second place. Those which are remotely derived are in the last place. For the derivations of every truth are ample, and in a long series, some of which enter directly, some indirectly; those which only touch being the last.

[3] That such and the like are falsified truths of faith, is very evident; for who does not know, if he thinks justly, that the life of faith causes a man to be spiritual, but not faith except insofar as it has been implanted in the life. The life of man is his love, and that which he loves he wills and intends, and that which he wills and intends, he does. This is the being of man, but not that which he knows and thinks and does not will. This being of man cannot in any wise be changed into another being by thinking about mediation and salvation; but by regeneration anew, which is being effected during a great part of his life; for he must be conceived, born, and grown up anew; and this is not effected by thinking and speaking, but by willing and acting.

[4] These things are said because by the “firstborn of Pharaoh,” and the “firstborn of the Egyptians,” is signified faith separated from charity, which has been shown in what precedes not to be faith, but the memory-knowledge of such things as are of faith. The firstborn of the Egyptians represented this faith because the Egyptians were versed in the knowledge of rituals of the church above the rest who constituted the representative church after the time of the flood (see n. 4749, 4964, 4966, 6004). At that time all rites were representative of the spiritual things which are in heaven. The Egyptians had more knowledge of these things than others, but in process of time they began to love the knowledges alone, and then, in like manner as is done at this day, to make everything of the church consist in the knowledge of such things as are of the church, and no longer in the life of charity. Thus they inverted the whole order of the church, which being inverted, the truths which are called truths of faith could not but be falsified; for the truths which are applied contrary to Divine order (as is the case when they are applied to evils, and among the Egyptians to magic) are no longer truths with them, but become falsities from the evils to which they are applied.

[5] To illustrate this by the worship of a calf among the Egyptians. They knew what a calf represented, namely, the good of charity; so long as they knew this and thought this, when they saw calves, or when they prepared calves in feasts of charity such as the ancients held, and afterward when calves were applied in sacrifices, they then thought sanely and together with the angels in heaven, to whom a calf is the good of charity. But when they began to make calves of gold, and to place them in their temples and worship them, they then thought insanely and together with the infernals; and in this way they inverted a true representative into a false representative.

3355. That in the internal sense an “earthquake” signifies a change in the state of the church, is evident from the signification of “earth,” as being the church (n. 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928); and from the signification of “quaking,” or movement, as being a change of state; here, as to the things of the church, namely, in respect to good and truth. The same is also evident from other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

It shall come to pass that he who fleeth from the voice of the dread shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the cataracts from on high were opened, and the foundations of the earth were shaken; in breaking the earth is broken; in moving the earth is moved; reeling the earth reeleth like a drunken man, and sways to and fro like a hut; and the transgression thereof is heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day that Jehovah shall visit upon the army of the height on high, and upon the kings of the ground upon the ground (Isaiah 24:18-21).

That in this passage the “earth” is the church, is plainly evident; for it is the church that is treated of, whose foundations are said to be “shaken,” and itself to be “broken and moved, and to reel and sway to and fro,” when good and truth are no longer known. The “kings of the ground” are truths; here, falsities, upon which there will be visitation. (That “kings” are truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, see above, n. 1672, 2015; and that “ground,” like “earth,” denotes the church, but with a difference, n. 566, 1068.)

[2] Again:

I will make a man more rare than fine gold, and a man than the gold of Ophir; therefore I will shake the heaven, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place; in the indignation of Jehovah of Armies, and in the day of the wrath of His anger (Isaiah 13:12-13);

speaking of the day of judgment; and in this passage also “earth” clearly denotes the church, which is said to be “shaken out of its place,” when it is changed as to state. (That “place” is state may be seen above, n. 1273-1275, 1377, 2625, 2837) Again:

Is this the man that shaketh the earth, that shaketh kingdoms, that maketh the world as a wilderness, and destroyeth the cities thereof? (Isaiah 14:16-17);

speaking of Lucifer; the “earth” denotes the church, which he is said to “shake” when man attributes to himself all things of it. (That “kingdoms” are the truths of the church may be seen above, n. 1672, 2547)

[3] In Ezekiel:

It shall come to pass in that day, when Gog cometh upon the land of Israel, that My wrath shall rise in Mine anger; in My zeal and in the fire of My indignation I will speak, Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake upon the ground of Israel (Ezekiel 38:18-20);

“Gog” denotes external worship separate from internal, and thus become idolatrous (n. 1151); the “earth” and the “ground of Israel” denote the spiritual church; the “earthquake,” a change in its state.

In Joel:

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon became black, and the stars withdrew their brightness (Joel 2:10); where also the subject is the day of the Last Judgment the “earth quaking” denotes a changed state of the church; the “sun and moon,” the good of love and its truth (n. 1599, 1530, 2441, 2495), which are said to “become black,” when goods and truths are no longer acknowledged; the “stars” denote the knowledges of good and truth (n. 2495, 2849).

In David:

The earth was shaken and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and were shaken, because He was wroth (Psalms 18:7).

The “earth shaken and quaking” denotes the state of the church become perverted.

[4] In John:

And I beheld when he opened the sixth seal, and lo there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth (Revelation 6:12-13); where the “earthquake, sun, moon, and stars” have a like signification as above in Joel. Again:

In that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake names of men seven thousand (Revelation 11:13).

From all these passages it is evident that an “earthquake” is nothing else than a change in the state of the church; and that in the internal sense the “earth” is nothing else than the church; and as the “earth” is the church, it is evident that by the “new heaven and new earth,” which were to succeed in place of the former (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Revelation 21:1), there is signified nothing else than a new church internal and external (n. 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118).