747. Who accuseth them before God day and night.- That this signifies, and who have rebuked them and disputed with them continually from the Word, is evident from the signification of accusing, as denoting to fight against (concerning which see above, n. 746), consequently it means to rebuke and to dispute with, for he who accuses also disputes and rebukes; from the signification of before God, as denoting from the Word (of which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of day and night, as denoting continually and without intermission; for day and night signify all states of life, day signifying the state of the life when the mind is in clear thought, and night, when the mind is in obscure thought. These two states of life mean continually, because, in the spiritual world, there is no division of times into years, months, weeks, days, and hours, but instead of these there are changes of state; for angels and spirits there are sometimes in clear thought, and sometimes in obscure thought. That angels and spirits are alternately in a state of clear perception, and in a state of obscure perception, may be seen in Heaven and Hell 154-161). But individually their states succeed each other variously, as from one affection into another; and it is according to these states that angels and spirits reckon their times, they are thus in the place of times in the world, which are years, months, weeks, days, nights, and hours. Because then their states of life in general change as to clearness or obscurity of the understanding, and thus are in a continual succession, so days and nights signify continually. To accuse before God signifies to rebuke and dispute from the Word, because those who are meant by the dragon - and these are they who separate faith from life - argue and dispute from the Word; and to dispute from the Word is to dispute before God, for God is in the Word, since the Word is from God, and is Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord. This is why it is said in John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word" (1:1). These dispute in favour of faith separated from the life of charity, because they confirm their heresy from certain passages in the Word understood according to the letter only; and when they have thus confirmed it they believe it to be the essential truth of the church although it is a falsity. In general, to accuse day and night signifies the continual influx of falsity from those meant by the dragon; and as their falsities are from the Word falsified, therefore this is signified by accusing before God.

5079. 'Against their lord the king of Egypt' means that these - the external or bodily senses, meant by 'the cupbearer and the baker' - were contrary to the new state in the natural man. This is clear from the meaning of 'the king of Egypt' as factual knowledge in general, dealt with in 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966; for, the king being the head of the nation, 'the king of Egypt' is similar in meaning to 'Egypt', the same as in other places where the king of any nation is referred to or named, 4789. Since factual knowledge in general is meant by 'the king of Egypt', so also is the natural man meant by him; for all factual knowledge is truth as it exists in the natural man, 4967. While the actual good there is meant by 'the lord', 4973. The reason a new state in the natural man is meant is that the previous chapter dealt with the interior aspects of the natural, which were made new, or - in the highest sense, in which the Lord is the subject - were glorified, whereas the present chapter deals with the exterior aspects of the natural which are to be brought into accord or agreement with those interior ones. These interior aspects of the natural which have been made new - or, what amounts to the same, a new state in the natural man - are what are meant by 'the lord the king of Egypt', while the exterior aspects which have not been brought into a state of order and are consequently contrary to it are meant by 'the cupbearer and the baker'.

[2] There are interior aspects of the natural and there are exterior ones. The interior aspects of the natural are known facts and the affections for them, but the exterior aspects are both kinds of sensory perception spoken of above in 5077. When a person dies he leaves behind those exterior aspects of the natural; but the interior aspects of the natural he takes with him into the next life where they serve as the foundation on which spiritual and celestial things can be based; for when a person dies he loses nothing apart from his flesh and bones. He keeps his memory in which everything he has done, spoken, or thought is recorded, and he keeps every natural affection and desire, and so every interior aspect of the natural. He does not need its exterior aspects, for he does not see anything that is in the world, or hear anything that is in the world, or smell, taste, or touch anything that is in the world, only what is in the next life. Things in the next life, it is true, seem for the most part to be like those in the world, but they are not, for they hold what is living within them, such as things proper to the natural world do not hold within them. For every single thing in the next life owes the beginning and the continuance of its existence to the Sun there, which is the Lord, as a consequence of which it has that which is living within it. But every single thing in the natural world owes the beginning and the continuance of its existence to the sun there, which is material fire, as a consequence of which it does not have that which is living within it. What gives it the appearance of having life within it is that its origin lies solely in the spiritual world, that is, in the Lord through the spiritual world.