7600. Verses 31-end And the flax and the barley were struck; for the barley was a ripening ear, and the flax a stem. ¹ And the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they were hidden. ² And Moses went out from Pharaoh, from the city, and spread out his palms towards Jehovah; and the voices' and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. And Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the voices ³ had ceased; and he continued to sin, and made his heart stubborn, he and his servants. And Pharaoh's heart was made unyielding, and he did not send the children of Israel away, as Jehovah had spoken through the hand of Moses.

'And the flax' means the truth of the exterior natural. 'And the barley' means its good. 'Were struck' means that they were destroyed. 'For the barley was a ripening ear, and the flax a stem' means that that good and truth were conspicuous and looked downwards. 'And the wheat and the spelt' means the good of the interior natural and its truth. 'Were not struck' means that they were not destroyed. 'For they were hidden' means because they were not conspicuous and because they turned in an inward direction. 'And Moses went out from Pharaoh, from the city' means a separation from them. 'And spread out his palms towards Jehovah' means intercession. 'And the voices and the hail ceased' means the end of that state. 'And the rain was not poured on the earth' means that those falsities no longer made their appearance. 'And Pharaoh saw' means a discernment. 'That the rain and the hail and the voices had ceased' means that it was the end of that state. 'And he continued to sin' means a departure still further away. 'And made his heart stubborn, he and his servants' means obstinacy. 'And Pharaoh's heart was made unyielding' means that evil was the cause of their obstinate behaviour. 'And he did not send the children of Israel away' means so that they did not leave. 'As Jehovah had spoken' means as accorded with what had been foretold. 'Through the hand of Moses' means by means of the law from God.

Poznámky pod čarou:

530. As has been stated, the names used in this chapter mean Churches, or what amounts to the same, doctrinal systems, for it is by virtue of its doctrine that a Church exists and takes its name. Thus Noah means the Ancient Church, or the doctrine that remained from the Most Ancient Church. The situation with Churches or doctrines has been stated already, namely that they dwindle away until nothing remains any longer of the goods and truths of faith. And when that point has been reached, the Church is in the Word called vastated. Nevertheless a remnant is always preserved, that is, some people are preserved, no matter how few, with whom the good and truth of faith persist. And unless that good and truth of faith were preserved with those people there would be no conjunction of heaven with the human race.

[2] As regards the remnants that reside with the individual, the fewer they are the less possible it is for the rational concepts and the factual knowledge he possesses to receive light; for the light of good and truth flows in from the remnants, or rather from the Lord by way of the remnants. If there were no remnants residing with a person, he would not be a human being, but someone far inferior to any animal. The fewer the remnants, the less he is a human being, while the more they are, the more he is a human being. Remnants are like a star in the sky; the smaller it is the weaker the light coming from it, but the greater it is, the brighter the light coming from it. The few things that did remain from the Most Ancient Church resided with those who constituted the Church called Noah. Those things were not however the remains of perception but of integrity, and also of doctrine deriving from the things of the Most Ancient Churches that were matters of perception. At that point therefore a new Church was raised up by the Lord. Being entirely different in disposition from the Most Ancient Churches, it is to be referred to as the Ancient Church, ancient from the fact that it existed at the last stage before the Flood and in the first period of time after it. This Church will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with later on.