Arcana Coelestia 7628. In this chapter in the internal sense there is further continued the subject of the vastation of those who infest those who are of the spiritual church. The ninth and tenth states or degrees of vastation, which are described by the "locust" and by the "thick darkness," whereby is signified falsity from evil devastating all things of the church with them, are now treated of.

7628. Exodus 10

1. And Jehovah said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh; for I have made his heart stubborn, and the heart of his servants, in order that I may set these My signs in the midst of him;

2. And in order that you may tell in the ears of your son and your son's son the deeds which I have performed in Egypt, and My signs which I have set among them, and that you may know that I am Jehovah.

3. And Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, Thus says Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, How long do you refuse to humble yourself ¹ before Me? Send My people away, and let them serve Me.

4. For if you refuse to send My people away, behold, tomorrow I am bringing locusts into your border.

5. And they will cover the surface of the land, and one will not be able to see the land; and they will devour the residue of what escaped and was left to you from the hail, and will devour every tree growing up for you out of the field.

6. And your houses will be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians - which ² your fathers and your fathers' fathers have not seen, from the day they have been on the ground even to this day. And he looked away and went out from Pharaoh.

7. And Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long will this thing be a snare to us? Send the men away, and let them serve Jehovah their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is perishing?

8. And Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, Go, serve Jehovah your God. But just who will be going? ³

9. And Moses said, We shall go with our children and with our old people; with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds we shall go; for it is a feast of Jehovah for us.

10. And he said to them, So Jehovah will be with you when I send you and your little children away! See that evil is on your faces.

11. Not so! Go now, you young men, and serve Jehovah; for this is what you seek. And he drove them out from Pharaoh's face.

12. And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, and they will come up over the land of Egypt and devour every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.

13. And Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah brought an east wind into the land the whole of that day and the whole night. Morning came, and the east wind brought the locusts.

14. And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt, and rested at all the border of Egypt; they were extremely severe. Before them there were no such locusts like them, and there will not be such after them.

15. And they covered the surface of the whole land, and the land was darkened; and they devoured every plant in the land and all the fruit on the trees which the hail had caused to be left. And there was not left any green on tree and on plant of the field in the whole land of Egypt.

16. And Pharaoh hastened to call Moses and Aaron; and he said, I have sinned against Jehovah your God, and against you.

17. And now forgive, I beg you, my sin only this once, and plead with Jehovah your God, and let Him remove from upon me this death only.

18. And he went out from Pharaoh, and pleaded with Jehovah.

19. And Jehovah turned an extremely strong wind of the sea, ⁴ and it lifted the locusts and cast them into the Sea Suph. Not one locust was left in all the border of Egypt.

20. And Jehovah made Pharaoh's heart unyielding, and he did not send the children of Israel away.

21. And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand towards heaven, and there will be thick darkness over the land of Egypt; and one will grope in the thick darkness.

22. And Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and there was intensely thick darkness in the whole land of Egypt three days.

23. No man could see his brother, and they did not rise up from their places for three days. ⁵ And all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

24. And Pharaoh called Moses, and said, Go, serve Jehovah; only your flocks and your herds will stay behind. Your little children also will go with you.

25. And Moses said, You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, and we must make them to Jehovah our God.

26. And our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof must be left behind, for we must take some of them to serve Jehovah our God, and we ourselves do not know what we must serve Jehovah with until we get there.

27. And Jehovah made Pharaoh's heart unyielding, and he would not send them away.

28. And Pharaoh said to him, Go away from me; take care not to see my face again. For on the day you see my face you will die.

29. And Moses said, Rightly have you spoken; I will not see your face again.

CONTENTS

This chapter goes on in the internal sense to deal further still with the vastation of those who molest people who belong to the spiritual Church. Now the ninth and tenth states or stages of their vastation are dealt with; the locusts and the thick darkness, meaning falsity arising from evil which devastates everything of the Church present with them, serve to describe those states.

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