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Shemot 1:6

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6 וַיָּמָת יֹוסֵף וְכָל־אֶחָיו וְכֹל הַדֹּור הַהוּא׃

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Arcana Coelestia # 6639

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6639. 'A man and his household they came' means in regard to truth and in regard to good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a man' as truth, dealt with in 3134, 3459; and from the meaning of 'household' or 'house' as good, dealt with in 3720, 4982. Since the subject in those chapters in Genesis that deal with the coming of Jacob's sons, and of Israel himself, into Egypt to Joseph was the introduction of the Church's truths into factual knowledge, and since the Church was not established until after that introduction had taken place, the subject now - keeping to the train of thought in the internal sense - is the Church which has been established and the way in which it is constantly molested by factual knowledge and falsities. For no matter how far truths have been introduced and the Church has been established with a person, factual knowledge and falsities are nevertheless constantly rising up and attacking the things of the Church that are present with him. These are the considerations that are represented by the fact that Pharaoh and the Egyptians afflicted the children of Israel and wished to kill their baby boys.

[2] Anyone unacquainted with the situation in which the Church's truth is under attack from factual knowledge and falsities among those in the next life who belong to the Church cannot possibly believe that such a thing is true. A member of the Church who enters the next life has to be purified from the kinds of things that molest truths and forms of good, otherwise he cannot be raised into heaven and live among a community of people there who have been purified from the same kind of things. If he were raised into heaven before such purification had taken place he would be like fog surrounded by clear air or like a patch or darkness amid bright light. In order therefore that a member of the Church recently arrived from the world may undergo purification, he is kept in a state in which he may receive attacks from factual knowledge that does not agree with truths, and also from falsities; and he remains in this state until that factual knowledge becomes worthless to him and is removed. This rarely happens to a person during his lifetime, but in the next life it is exactly what happens to those who are to be raised into heaven, though there is considerable variation to the process. I have been allowed to know that all this is true from much experience, which would fill quite a number of pages if all of it were recounted.

[3] There are the matters that are described in the internal sense by the oppression of the children of Israel by the Egyptians, after that by their deliverance from them, and finally by their introduction - after various states in the wilderness - into the land of Canaan. The truth of all this cannot possibly be grasped by those who believe that salvation is simply being admitted into heaven through an act of mercy, and that anyone can be admitted who thinks - on the basis of seeming trust, called faith - that he can be saved, regardless of the life he has led, because the Lord has suffered on his behalf. For if salvation involved simply being admitted into heaven through an act of mercy, then everyone in the whole world would be saved, since the Lord, who is Mercy itself, desires the salvation of all and the death or damnation of none.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 3134

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3134. 'Who said, Thus the man spoke to me' means the leanings of truth in the natural man. This likewise is clear from the affection that occurs here, and also from what the man, or Abraham's servant, said to Rebekah, from which it is evident that the leanings of truth are meant; and from the meaning of 'the man' as truth, dealt with in 265, 749, 1007, here truth within the natural man and coming from the Divine, as he is Abraham's oldest servant, who means the natural man, see 3019. In the prophetical part of the Word especially 'man' (vir) is a word that occurs often - in the expressions 'man and wife', 'man and woman', 'man and inhabitant', and also 'man and human being' (vir et homo). In those expressions 'man' in the internal sense means that which belongs to the understanding, which is truth, while 'wife', 'woman', 'inhabitant', and 'human being' mean that which belongs to the will, which is good. As in Isaiah,

I look, and there is no man, and from these there is no counsellor. Isaiah 41:28.

'No man' stands for no one having intelligence, and so for no truth.

[2] In the same prophet,

I came, and there was no man; I called and no one answered. Isaiah 50:2.

Here the meaning is the same. In the same prophet,

Truth has stumbled in the street, and uprightness has been unable to come in, and truth has been removed, and he who retreats from evil is insane. Jehovah saw, and it was evil in His eyes that there was no judgement. And He saw, and there was no man, and wondered. Isaiah 59:14-16.

'No man' clearly stands for no one having intelligence, and so in the universal sense for no truth. These verses in Isaiah refer to the final period of the Church when no truth at all exists any longer. Hence the statement 'truth has stumbled in the street, uprightness cannot come in, and truth has been removed'. 'The street' too has reference to truth, see 2336, as does 'judgement', 2235. In Jeremiah,

Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now, and take note, and search in its broad places, if you find a man, if anyone is executing judgement and seeking truth. Jeremiah 5:1.

Here also 'a man' clearly stands for one having intelligence, and for truth. In Zephaniah,

I will make their streets desolate with none passing through; their cities will be devastated, with not a man and not an inhabitant there. Zephaniah 3:6.

'Not a man' stands for no truth, 'not an inhabitant' for no good, 2268, 2451, 2712. The same occurs in many other places besides these.

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