588. Which can neither see nor hear nor walk, signifies in which and from which there is nothing of the understanding of truth or the perception of good, and thus nothing of spiritual life. This is evident from the signification of "to see," as being to understand truth (See above, n. 11, 260, 529); also from the signification of "to hear," as being to perceive and obey (See also above, n. 14, 249), and as being to have understanding to perceive, n. 529; also from the signification of "to walk," as being to live spiritually, and in reference to the Lord that it is life itself (See above, n. 97). From this it is clear that "not to see, to hear, or to walk," signifies that there is no understanding of truth, no perception of good, and thence no spiritual life; these are not in idols or from them, for "idols" signify the falsities of doctrine, of religion, and of worship, and such things are not in falsities, but in truths that are from good; in truths and from them is all understanding, all perception from the will of good, and consequently spiritual life. It is said "consequently," because spiritual life consists in the understanding of truth and in perception from the will of good; for truths are in the light of heaven, and this so much that the truths themselves give light in heaven, and this because the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord makes all light in the spiritual world, and that light gives all intelligence and wisdom to angels.

Now as truths themselves are of the light it follows that falsities are of no light, for they extinguish light, consequently falsities are called in the Word "darkness" (See above, n. 526); and as they are darkness, they are the shadow of spiritual death. But it is to be known that the falsities of evil constitute such darkness, not falsities that are not from evil. "To hear" signifies perception from the will of good, and thence obedience, because speech enters the ear at the same time with the sound, and the truths uttered enter the understanding and thence the thought, while sounds enter the will and thence the affection. That in the spiritual world sounds present and produce the affection which is of the will, and the words of the sound the thought which is of the understanding, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 236, 241, and above n. 323. From this it can be seen why "to hear" and "to hearken" also signify to obey, and the "ear" and "hearing" obedience.

10526. 'Go! go up from here, you and the people whom you have caused to come up out of the land of Egypt, to the land' means that this nation will represent the Church, but the Church will not reside among them, because they cannot be raised from external things. This is clear from the meaning of 'going up to the land' as in order to establish the Church (for 'the land' in the Word means the Church, see in the places referred to in 9325, and 'going up to it' means establishing it, since it was for that purpose that they were being led or going up towards it), though not establishing the Church, only representing it, is meant here because the interest of that nation lay in external things and not in what was internal, and the Church resides with a person in what is internal with him (the fact that not establishing the Church, only representing the things that constitute the Church is meant here explains why it says, 'Go! go up from here', and also, 'you and the people whom you have caused to come up out of the land of Egypt', thus whom Moses, not Jehovah, caused to come up; and in a subsequent verse, 'I will not go up in your midst, since you are a stiff-necked people', meaning that what is Divine is not among them, and where what is Divine is not received inwardly, no Church exists either, only an outward representation of the Church); and from the meaning of 'causing to come up out of the land of Egypt' as being raised from external things to what is internal, but here not being so raised since it says that Moses caused them to come up and not that Jehovah did so. For this meaning of 'causing to come up out of the land of Egypt', see 10421.

No Church resided among the Israelite nation, only that which was representative of the Church, see 4281, 4288, 4311, 4500, 4899, 4912, 6304, 6704, 9320, and wherever it is spoken of in the previous chapter.