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Exodus 9

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1 And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharao, and speak to him: Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let my people Go to sacrifice to me.

2 But if thou refuse, and withhold them still:

3 Behold my hand shall be upon thy fields: and a very grievous murrain upon thy horses, and asses, and camels, and oxen, and sheep.

4 And the Lord will make a wonderful difference between the possessions of Israel and the possessions of the Egyptians, that nothing at all shall die of those things that belong to the children of Israel.

5 And the Lord appointed a time, saying: To morrow will the Lord do this thing in the land.

6 The Lord therefore did this thing the next day: and all the beasts of the Egyptians died, but of the beasts of the children of Israel there died not one.

7 And Pharao sent to see: and there was not any thing dead of that which Israel possessed. And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

8 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Take to you handfuls of ashes out of the chimney, and let Moses sprinkle it in the air in the presence of Pharao.

9 And be there dust upon all the land of Egypt: for there shall be boils and swelling blains both in men and beasts in the whole land of Egypt.

10 And they took ashes out of the chimney, and stood before Pharao, and Moses sprinkled it in the air: and there came boils with swelling blains in men and beasts.

11 Neither could the magicians stand before Moses for the boils that were upon them, and in all the land of Egypt.

12 And the Lord hardened Pharao's heart, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

13 And the Lord said to Moses: Arise in the morning, and stand before Pharao, and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to sacrifice to me.

14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people: that thou mayst know there is none like me in all the earth.

15 For now I will stretch out my hand to strike thee, and thy people with pestilence, and thou shalt perish from the earth.

16 And therefore have I raised thee, that I may shew my power in thee, and my name may be spoken of throughout all the earth.

17 Dost thou yet hold back my people: and wilt thou not let them go?

18 Behold I will cause it to rain to morrow at this same hour, an exceeding great hail: such as hath not been in Egypt from the day that it was founded, until this present time.

19 Send therefore now presently, and gather together thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field: for men and beasts, and all things that shall be found abroad, and not gathered together out of the fields, which the hail shall fall upon, shall die.

20 He that feared the word of the Lord among Pharao's servants, made his servants and his cattle flee into houses:

21 And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand towards heaven, that there may be hail in the whole land of Egypt, upon men, and upon beasts, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt.

22 And Moses stretched forth his rod towards heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning running along the ground: and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

24 And the hail and fire mixed with it drove on together: and it was of so great bigness, as never before was seen in the whole land of Egypt since that nation was founded.

25 And the hail destroyed through all the land of Egypt all things that were in the fields, both man and beast: and the hail smote every herb of the field, and it broke every tree of the country.

26 Only in the land of Gessen, where the children of Israel were, the hail fell not.

27 And Pharao sent and called Moses and Aaron, saying to them: I have sinned this time also; the Lord is just: I and my people are wicked.

28 Pray ye to the Lord, that the thunderings of God and the hail may cease: that I may let you go, and that you may stay here no longer.

29 Moses said: As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will stretch forth my hands to the Lord, and the thunders shall cease, and the hail shall be no more: that thou mayst know that the earth is the Lord's.

30 But I know that neither thou, nor thy servants do yet fear the Lord God.

31 The flax therefore and the barley were hurt, because the barley was green, and the flax was now boiled:

32 But the wheat, and other winter corn were not hurt, because they were lateward.

33 And when Moses was gone from Pharao out of the city, he stretched forth his hands to the Lord: and the thunders and the hail ceased, neither did there drop any more rain upon the earth.

34 And Pharao seeing that the rain and the hail, and the thunders were ceased, increased his sin.

35 And his heart was hardened, and the heart of his servants, and it was made exceeding hard: neither did he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4876

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4876. 'And your rod which is in your hand' means through the power of this, that is, of this truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a rod' as power, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the hand' too as power, dealt with in 876, 3091, 3387, 3563. The phrase 'which is in your hand' is used because the power of that truth, namely lowest truth, is meant, like that present with the semblance of religion among the Jewish nation, meant here by 'Judah'. Regarding the attribution of power to truth, see 3091, 3563. Frequent mention is made in the Word of 'a rod', yet surprisingly few at the present day know that something in the spiritual world was represented by it, as for instance when Moses was commanded, every time a miracle was performed, to lift up his rod and so it was accomplished. The existence of such knowledge even among gentiles may be recognized from their myths in which rods are assigned to magicians. The reason 'a rod' means power is that it is a support, for it gives support to the hand and arm, and through these to the whole body. This being so, a rod takes on the meaning of the part to which it immediately gives support, namely that of the hand and the arm, both of which mean in the Word the power of truth. Also, the hand and arm correspond to that power in the Grand Man, as will be seen at the ends of chapters.

[2] That 'a rod' represented power is evident, as has been stated, from what is recorded about Moses,

He was commanded to take a rod and use it to perform miracles; so he took the rod of God in his hand. Exodus 4:17, 20.

When the waters in Egypt were struck with the rod, they turned to blood.

Exodus 7:15, 19.

When the rod was stretched out over the streams, frogs came forth. Exodus 8:5-15.

When the dust was struck by the use of the rod, it turned into lice. Exodus 8:16-20.

When the rod was stretched out towards heaven, hail fell. Exodus 9:23.

When the rod was stretched out over the earth, locusts came forth. Exodus 10:3-21.

Since 'the hand', which means power, comes first, while 'a rod' is merely its instrument, the following references to 'the hand' also occur:

The miracles happened when Moses' hand was stretched out. Exodus 10:12-13. When he stretched out his hand towards heaven, thick darkness came over the land of Egypt. Exodus 10:21-22. When he stretched out his hand over the Sea Suph, an east wind made the sea dry land; and when again he stretched out his hand, the waters returned. Exodus 14:21, 26-27.

[3] Reference is in addition made to the rod being used to strike the rock at Horeb, after which water flowed out, Exodus 17:5-6; Numbers 20:7-10. Also, when Joshua was about to fight against Amalek,

Moses said to Joshua, Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, with God's rod in my hand. And it happened, that when Moses lifted up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. Exodus 17:9-11.

From these references it is quite plain that 'a rod', like the hand, represented power, and in the highest sense the Lord's Divine almighty power. It is also evident that at that time representatives constituted the external features of the Church, and that its internal features - which were spiritual and celestial realities such as exist in heaven - corresponded to those external ones, which owed their efficacy to that correspondence. From this it is also evident how crazy those people are who believe that power had been infused into and therefore dwelt in Moses' rod or hand.

[4] The meaning in the spiritual sense of 'a rod' as power is also evident from many places in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

Behold, the Lord Jehovah Zebaoth is taking away from Jerusalem rod and stay, the whole rod of bread, and the whole rod of water. Isaiah 3:1.

'The rod of bread' stands for the support and power provided by the good of love, 'the rod of water' for the support and power provided by the truth of faith. For 'bread' means the good of love, see 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735; and 'water' the truth of faith' 28, 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424. 'The rod of bread' is used with a similar meaning in Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13; Psalms 105:16.

[5] In addition to this, in Isaiah,

The Lord, Jehovih Zebaoth, said, Do not be afraid - O My people, inhabitant of Zion - of Asshur, who will smite you with a stick and will lift up the rod over you in the way of Egypt. Jehovah will lift up the scourge against him, as when Midian was smitten in the rock of Oreb, and his rod will be over the sea, which he will lift up in the way of Egypt. Isaiah 10:24, 26.

Here 'the rod' stands for power provided by reasoning and knowledge, like that which those people possess who, with ideas based on factual knowledge, reason against the truths of faith and pervert these or else treat them as worthless. This is what is meant by 'the stick with which Asshur will smite' and by 'the rod which he will lift up in the way of Egypt'. For 'Asshur' means reasoning, see 1186, and 'Egypt' knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462.

[6] Similarly in Zechariah,

The pride of Asshur will be thrown down, and the rod of Egypt will depart. Zechariah 10:11.

In Isaiah,

You relied on the rod of a bruised reed, on Egypt, which, when anyone leans on it, goes into his hand and pierces it. Isaiah 36:6.

'Egypt' stands for factual knowledge, as above; and power in spiritual things which is received from that knowledge is meant by 'the rod of a bruised reed'. By 'the hand which it enters and pierces' is meant power received from the Word. In the same prophet,

Jehovah has broken the rod of the wicked, the stick of those who have dominion. Isaiah 14:5

'The rod' and 'the stick' plainly stand for power.

[7] In Jeremiah,

Grieve, all regions surrounding Moab; say, How is the rod of strength, the rod of beauty, broken! Jeremiah 48:17.

'The rod of strength' stands for power received from good, and 'the rod of beauty' for power received from truth.

[8] In Hosea,

My people enquire of their piece of wood, and their rod gives them a reply, for the spirit of whoredom has led them astray. Hosea 4:12.

'Inquiring of a piece of wood' stands for consulting evils, 'the rod gives reply' for the fact that falsity results from these, its power being derived from the evil to which they give support. 'The spirit of whoredom' stands for the life of falsity resulting from evil. In David,

Even when I walk in the valley of the shadow I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your stick and Your rod comfort me. Psalms 23:4.

'Your stick and your rod' stands for Divine truth and good, which have power. In the same author,

The rod of the wicked will not rest on the lot of the righteous. Psalms 125:3.

[9] In the same author,

You will break them in pieces with a stick of iron, you will dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Psalms 2:9.

'A stick of iron' stands for the power of spiritual truth within the natural, for all natural truth that has spiritual truth present within it possesses power. 'Iron' means natural truth, 425, 426. Similarly in John,

He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations to rule 1 them untie a stick of iron as when earthen pots are broken in pieces. Revelation 2:26-27. (Also Revelation 12:5; 19:15.)

[10] Because 'a rod' represented the power of truth, that is, the power of good expressed by means of truth, kings therefore had sceptres; and those sceptres were shaped like short rods. For kings represent the Lord as regards truth, while kingship itself means Divine Truth, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3670, 4581. The sceptre means the power which is theirs not by virtue of their high position but of truth which must reign. Nor must this be any other kind of truth than that which is grounded in good, and so is primarily Divine Truth, and among Christians is the Lord, the source of all Divine Truth.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, pasture

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