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Exodus 14

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea: before Baal-Zephon, opposite to it, shall ye encamp by the sea.

3 And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has hemmed them in.

4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he may pursue after them; and I will glorify myself in Pharaoh, and in all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah. And they did so.

5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his bondmen was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from our service?

6 And he yoked his chariot, and took his people with him.

7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

8 And Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; and the children of Israel had gone out with a high hand.

9 And the Egyptians pursued after them, -- all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them where they had encamped by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, opposite to Baal-Zephon.

10 And Pharaoh approached; and the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and the children of Israel were much afraid, and cried out to Jehovah.

11 And they said to Moses, Is it because there were no graves in Egypt, thou hast taken us away to die in the wilderness? why hast thou done this to us, that thou hast led us out of Egypt?

12 Is not this what we told thee in Egypt, when we said, Let us alone, and we will serve the Egyptians? For [it had been] better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

13 And Moses said to the people, Fear not: stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will work for you to-day; for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

14 Jehovah will fight for you, and ye shall be still.

15 And Jehovah said to Moses, Why dost thou cry unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.

16 And thou, lift thy staff, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go on dry [ground] through the midst of the sea.

17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall pursue after them; and I will glorify myself in Pharaoh and in all his host, in his chariots and in his horsemen.

18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have glorified myself in Pharaoh, in his chariots and in his horsemen.

19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before them, and stood behind them.

20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and was a cloud and darkness, and lit up the night; and the one did not come near the other all the night.

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Jehovah made the sea go [back] by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry [land], and the waters were divided.

22 And the children of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry [ground]; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

23 And the Egyptians pursued and came after them -- all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen, into the midst of the sea.

24 And it came to pass in the morning watch, that Jehovah looked upon the camp of the Egyptians, in the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and embarrassed the camp of the Egyptians.

25 And he took off their chariot wheels, and caused them to drive with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, Let us flee before Israel, for Jehovah is fighting for them against the Egyptians!

26 And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea, that the waters may return upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen.

27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength toward the morning; and the Egyptians fled against it; and Jehovah overturned the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.

28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the host of Pharaoh that had come into the sea after them; there remained not even one of them.

29 And the children of Israel walked on dry [ground] through the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

30 Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the sea-shore.

31 And Israel saw the great power [with] which Jehovah had wrought against the Egyptians; and the people feared Jehovah, and believed in Jehovah, and in Moses his bondman.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 8151

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8151. 'And Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh [king of Egypt]' means obstinate opposition from the falsity that arose from evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'hardening the heart' as behaving obstinately, dealt with in 7272, 7300, 7305, 7616. When it says that Jehovah hardened his heart the meaning in the internal sense is that those steeped in evil and falsity hardened themselves, thus that the actual evils and falsities did so. On this matter see 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7643, 7877, 7926.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia # 7877

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7877. 'And I will see the blood' means the discernment of that truth by those who inflict damnation. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as understanding and discerning, dealt with in 2150, 2325, 2807, 3764, 4403-4421, 4567, 4723, 5400 (its being the discernment by those who inflict damnation is shown in what follows); and from the meaning of 'the blood' as truth that belongs to the good of innocence, as above in 7846.

[2] What truth belonging to the good of innocence is must be stated. The good of innocence is the good of love to the Lord; for those governed by this love have innocence within them. This explains why those who are in the inmost or third heaven, being governed by love to the Lord, possess more innocence than all others. Because of their innocence those who are there look to others like young children, and yet they are the wisest of all in heaven, see 2306; for innocence resides within wisdom, 2305, 3495, 4797. The truth belonging to the good of innocence which exists with them is not the truth of faith but the good of charity. Those in the third heaven do not know what faith is, nor consequently what the truth of faith is; for they perceive intuitively the truth that composes faith, and in perceiving it intuitively know immediately that it is indeed the truth. They never engage in reasoning about whether it is such, let alone argue with one another about it. What is perceived in that intuitive way does not then come to be acquired knowledge. It is different with spiritual angels in the second heaven. The truth of faith leads them to the good of charity. They do therefore engage in reasoning about whether it is the truth or not, since they have no intuitive perception of whether it is or not. Truths then become knowledge they have acquired and are called matters of doctrine composing faith.

[3] For more about those in the inmost or third heaven, about their state being such that they perceive intuitively what the truth of faith is and do not therefore add it to their acquired knowledge, see 202, 337, 2715, 2718, 3246, 4448.

Why it is that Jehovah's words 'I will see', thus something said about Himself, mean discernment by those who inflict damnation, that is, by spirits from hell, may become evident from what has been shown before about the attribution of evil to Jehovah or the Lord, though in fact no evil at all comes from Him but from hell, see 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7643. Evil which is permitted to exist seems to come from Him who permits it, since He is able to remove it. That is how it is here when it says that the firstborn of the Egyptians were put to death. It is attributed to Jehovah, for it says in verses 12 and 29,

I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.

And it happened at midnight, that Jehovah struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from Pharaoh's firstborn who was to sit on his throne, even to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon.

Yet in the present verse the one to do this is called 'the destroyer',

The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and I will see the blood and will pass you by, and the plague will not be on you for the destroyer.

[4] It is similar with the vastation undergone by the evil in the next life, their damnation, and their being cast into hell, which are meant in the internal sense by the plagues, the death of the firstborn, and their being drowned in the Sea Suph. Jehovah or the Lord does not subject anyone to vastation, still less damn or cast into hell. Rather an evil spirit himself is the one who does it to himself, that is, the evil within him does it. This then is why 'I will see the blood' means a discernment by those who inflict damnation.

[5] As regards permission, it is impossible to state briefly the nature of it since a very large number of arcana are involved in it. When the wicked suffer damnation and torment the Lord's permission is not like that of one who desires what happens to them. It is like that of one who does not desire it yet cannot help them because His end in view, which is the salvation of the entire human race, is urgent and prevents Him from helping. For if He were to help them, that would be doing ill, which is completely contrary to the Divine. But more on these matters will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated elsewhere.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.