9010. 'And God caused it to happen at his hand' means appearing as something happening by chance. This is clear from ancient people's idea of chance, which was that whatever happened was brought about by God; and this was why they expressed the idea of chance by saying that 'God caused it to happen at someone's hand'. Those who belonged to the ancient Churches knew that the Lord's providence was present in every single thing, and that contingencies, that is, things which appeared to happen by chance, were providential. Simple people therefore who could see no difference between things that happened because He permitted them and those that happened because He was well pleased by them attributed to the Lord both good and evil, good because they knew that He was the author of everything good, but evil on account of the appearance. For when a person performs evil deeds, and by performing them turns away from the Lord, the appearance is that the Lord turns away; at this time the Lord appears to him to be behind, not in front of him. These then are the reasons why if anyone struck another by chance, that is, his will had not contemplated the deed beforehand, the words 'God caused it to happen at his hand' were used to express it.

The Lord's providence is in every single thing, see 1919 (end), 4329, 5122 (end), 5155, 5195, 5894 (end), 6058, 6481-6487, 6489, 6491, 7004, 7007, 8478, 8717.

Contingencies or chance occurrences are providential, 5508, 6493, 6494.

Evil is attributed to the Lord, when in fact it originates in man, 2447, 5798, 6071, 6832, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7877, 7926, 8197, 8227, 8228, 8282, 8284, 8483, 8632.

8197. 'And it was cloud and darkness [for the former]' means that the falsity arising from evil on the one side was intensified; 'and it lit up the night [for the latter]' means that the truth springing from good on the other side grew brighter. This is clear from the meaning of 'cloud and darkness' as the intensification of falsity arising from evil ('cloud' means falsity, see 1043, 1047, 8137, 8138, as also does 'darkness', 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531, 7688, 7711); and from the meaning of 'lighting up the night' as the brightening of truth springing from good. 'A pillar of fire by night' means a state of dimmed truth, moderated by enlightenment from good, 8108.

[2] With regard to the pillar, that it brought darkness to the Egyptians but light among the children of Israel, the situation is that the Lord's presence, which is meant here by 'the pillar', is heavenly light itself. From this heaven derives its light, a light that is a thousand times brighter than light in the world at midday. Yet the same light turns into thick darkness among the evil, even though they may be in actual light; and it turns to even thicker darkness as the falsity arising from evil among them grows in intensity. The reason for this is that God's truth coming from the Lord appears before angels' eyes as light. But it cannot appear as light to those steeped in falsities arising from evil, only as thick darkness, since falsity is the opposite of truth and snuffs it out. This is why the pillar, which was the Lord's presence, brought cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, 'the Egyptians' meaning those steeped in falsities arising from evil, and lit up the night among the children of Israel, 'the children of Israel' meaning those guided by truth springing from good. The Lord appears to each person in a way suited to the kind of person he is, see 1861(end), 6832.