5702. 'Since that is an abomination to the Egyptians' means that they are in a contrary position. This is clear from the representation of 'the Egyptians' as those with whom order has been inverted, 5700; and from the representation of 'the Hebrews', to eat with whom was an abomination to the Egyptians, as those with whom genuine order exists, 5701. Thus the two are set in contrary positions, and this gives rise to strong dislike and at length to what is an abomination. Regarding this abomination, it should be recognized that people with whom an inverted state of order, that is, evil and consequent falsity, exists, thereby come at length to acquire a strong dislike for the goodness and truth of the Church the moment they hear it referred to. This is even more true when they hear reference made to the interior aspects of that goodness and truth; they find these so abominable that so to speak they feel nauseated and wish to vomit. This is what I have been told and shown to be so when I have wondered why the Christian world does not accept the interior teachings of the Word. Spirits from the Christian world have appeared on the scene and have been compelled to hear about the interior teachings of the Word; they were then so nauseated by these that they said they felt within themselves the great need to vomit. I have also been told that this is what the Christian world is like virtually everywhere at the present day. The reason it is like this is that it has no affection for truth for its own sake, still less any affection for good motivated by good. Anything they think or say that is based on the Word or their religious teachings is due to habit followed since early childhood and to religious custom, and so is something external devoid of anything internal.

[2] The fact that all aspects of the Hebrew Church, the one established at a later time among the descendants of Jacob, were an abomination to the Egyptians is evident not only from their refusal even to eat with them but also from the fact that sacrifices, in which the Hebrew Church made its main worship consist, were an abomination to them, as is evident in Moses,

Pharaoh said, Go away, sacrifice within the land. But Moses said, It is incorrect to do so, for we shall be sacrificing to Jehovah our God what is an abomination to the Egyptians; behold, if we sacrifice what is an abomination to the Egyptians in their eyes, will they not stone us? Exodus 8:25-26.

Also, feeding cattle and being a shepherd was an abomination to them, as is evident again in Moses,

Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. Genesis 46:34.

Thus every aspect of that Church was an abomination to the Egyptians. The reason was that initially even the Egyptians had been among those who constituted the representative Ancient Church, 1238, 2385. But after that they rejected the God of the Ancient Church, who was Jehovah or the Lord, and served idols, in particular calves. Also the actual representatives and meaningful signs of the celestial and spiritual realities of the Ancient Church, which they came to know while part of that Church, were turned by them into magical practices. This being so, order with them became inverted, as a consequence of which everything constituting the Church was an abomination.

9994. 'And unleavened wafers anointed with oil' means what is celestial in the external man. This is clear from the meaning of 'wafers' as what is celestial in the external man, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'unleavened' as what has been purified, dealt with above in 9992; and from the meaning of 'oil' as the good of love, dealt with in 886, 4582, 4638. From these meanings it is evident that 'unleavened wafers anointed with oil' means what is celestial in the external man, which proceeds in order from the first two. The wafers are said to be 'anointed with oil' but the cakes 'mixed with oil' because the wafers are third in order and the cakes second, as stated immediately above in 9993. What is second in order proceeds directly from the inmost and consequently has the inmost celestial within it, meant by 'oil'; and what is third in order proceeds indirectly from the inmost, that is to say, through what is second in order, and does not consequently have the inmost within it in quite the same way as that second in order. So it is that the cakes, since they mean the celestial that is second in order, are said to be 'mixed with oil', whereas the wafers, since they mean the celestial that is third in order, are said to be 'anointed with oil'. But these matters are hardly intelligible to anyone unless he knows something about the way things come into existence in succession; this has the same relation as end, cause, and effect. What is inmost constitutes the end, what is in the middle constitutes the cause, and what stands last constitutes the effect. The end must be within the cause if this is to be the cause belonging to that end, and the cause must be within the effect if this is to be the effect belonging to that cause. The end is not apparent within the effect as it is within the cause, because the effect lies further away from the end than the cause does. All this may enlighten the mind to recognize the nature of the inmost, middle, and external following one another in successive order.