8159. 'And Pharaoh drew near' means an oppressive influx from there of falsity arising from evil. This is clear from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as those steeped in falsities arising from evil, dealt with in 8132, 8135, 8146, 8148; and from the meaning of 'drawing near' as influx. The internal sense deals with the first temptation of those who have been delivered, and all temptation comes about through influx from the hells. For spirits from there stir up and bring out all the wicked deeds a person has performed and wicked thoughts he has entertained, and they use these to incriminate him and condemn him. As a result he suffers pangs of conscience, and anxiety fills his mind. These feelings are brought about by an influx from the hells, in particular from the hell that is represented by the Sea Suph. From all this one may see that in the spiritual sense, which is dealing with temptations, 'drawing near' means influx.

[2] Since the verses which immediately follow deal with the first temptation of those belonging to the spiritual Church, it should be realized that those people could not undergo temptations until after the Lord had glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine, and was present among them in this glorified Human. If they had undergone them before then they would have given way; for those belonging to the spiritual Church were saved solely by the Lord's Divine Human. The temptations of those belonging to the spiritual Church, which they were to undergo after the Lord had come into the world, when He would be able to fight from the Divine Human for them against the hells, are meant by the following words in Malachi,

Suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you seek, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, said Jehovah Zebaoth. Who can endure the day of His Coming, and who will stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and purge them like gold, and like silver, in order that they may bring to Jehovah a minchah in righteousness. Then the minchah of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Jehovah, as in the days of eternity, and as in former years. Malachi 3:1-4.

This plainly refers to the Lord's Coming. 'The sons of Levi' here are members of the spiritual Church, for 'Levi' means charity or spiritual good, 3875, 4497, 4502, 4503. 'A refiner's fire' is temptation, the means of purification, which 'purifying and purging them like gold and silver' is used to mean. 'The minchah' they will bring to Jehovah is faith and charity; and 'the days of eternity' and 'former years' are the Ancient Churches and states of worship of the Lord in those times.

[3] As regards the nature of temptations, it is as has been stated above in 8131, that the hells fight against a person and the Lord for a person. Any falsity that the hells introduce is met with a response from the Divine. The falsities which come from hell are thrust into and enter the external or natural man, but the response from the Divine enters the internal or spiritual man. The person is less conscious of this response which comes from the Divine than he is of those falsities. It does not touch his individual thoughts, only his general awareness, yet in such a way that he scarcely comes to be conscious of it except as hope and consequent comfort, which however hold within them countless blessings that the person has no knowledge of. These are such that they are suited to his affection or love, especially his affection for or love of truth and goodness, which form his conscience.

[4] These things have been stated to let it be known that the life of the children of Israel in the wilderness describes the temptations, in the sequence in which they occurred, that were undergone by those who belonged to the Lord's spiritual Church and were delivered. The reason why they underwent the temptations was in order that they might be prepared further for heaven. For through temptations, through them as the one and only means, forms of good and truths are corroborated and joined together. Through them charity becomes the charity that goes with faith, and faith becomes the faith that goes with charity. The fact that those who belong to the Church must undergo temptations is what one should understand by the following things the Lord said, in Matthew,

Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:38-39; Mark 8:31 end.

In the same gospel,

He said to His disciples, If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. Matthew 16:24-25; Luke 9:23-24.

In Luke,

Whoever does not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:27.

In Mark,

Jesus said to the rich [young ruler], Come, follow Me, taking up the cross. Mark 10:21.

And in Matthew,

Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34.

[5] But it should be recognized that in temptations a person does not do the fighting; the Lord alone does it for the person, though the appearance is that it is done by the person. And when the Lord does the fighting for a person, the person is in all things victorious. At the present day few are allowed to experience temptations because they do not live as faith requires and do not therefore possess a conscience composed of truth; and anyone without a conscience composed of truth as a result of leading a good life goes under, and then his latter state is worse than his former.

4503. 'The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city' means that all his descendants destroyed that doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sons of Jacob' as descendants from Jacob, dealt with above; from the meaning of 'plundering' as destroying; and from the meaning of 'the city' as the doctrine of the Church, dealt with above in 4500. Simeon and Levi's going away after they had killed every male in the city as well as Hamor and Shechem, and then Jacob's sons' coming upon the slain and plundering the city, involves an arcanum, the meaning of which is not evident except from the internal sense.

[2] That arcanum is this: After the truth and good of the Church which are represented by 'Simeon and Levi' were wiped out and falsity and evil took their place, further falsities and evils were added, which are meant in the contrary sense by the rest of Jacob's sons. Each son of Jacob represented some general aspect of faith and charity, as has been shown in 2129, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060.

Which aspect is represented by each, see the following:

Reuben, 3861, 3866, 3870;

Judah, 3881;

Dan, 3921-3923;

Naphtali, 3927, 3928;

Gad, 3934, 3935;

Asher, 3938, 3939;

Issachar, 3956, 3957;

Zebulun, 3960, 3961.

These general aspects of faith and charity which those sons represented become falsities and evils of that kind once the truth and good of the Church have been wiped out and those further falsities and evils have been added to them; for falsities and evils are constantly on the increase within the Church once it has been perverted and wiped out. It is these added falsities and evils that are meant by the reference to Jacob's sons coming upon the slain and plundering the city after Simeon and Levi had killed every male in the city as well as Hamor and Shechem, and had taken Dinah and gone away.

[3] That 'the slain' in the Word means truths and goods which have been wiped out may be seen from the following places: In Isaiah,

You are cast out from your sepulchre like an abominable branch, a garment of the killed - slain with the sword - who go down to the stones of the pit like a dead body trodden underfoot. Isaiah 14:19.

This refers to Babel. 'Those slain with the sword' stands for those who have profaned the truths of the Church. In the same prophet,

So that their slain are cast out and the stench of their dead bodies rises up. Isaiah 34:3.

This refers to the falsities and evils which infest the Church, 'the slain' standing for these.

[4] In Ezekiel,

The violent of the nations will draw the sword against the beauty of your wisdom, and they will profane your loveliness. They will bring you down into the pit and you will die the deaths of those slain in the midst of the seas. Ezekiel 28:7-8.

This refers to the prince of Tyre who means the leading cognitions of truth and good. 'Dying the deaths of those slain in the midst of the seas' stands for those who use facts to hatch falsities and in consequence defile the truths of the Church.

[5] In the same prophet,

They also will go down with them into hell, to those slain with the sword. You will be made to go down with the trees of Eden into the nether world, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will lie with those slain with the sword. Ezekiel 31:17-18.

In the same prophet,

Go down and lie with the uncircumcised; they will fall in the midst of those slain with the sword; the chief of the powerful ones will speak to him in the midst of hell. Ezekiel 32:19-21.

This refers to Pharaoh and Egypt. 'Those slain with the sword' stands for those who by their use of knowledge become insane; by their use of it they destroy all belief in the truth known to the Church.

[6] In David,

I have been reckoned with them going down to the pit; I have become as a man with no strength, neglected among the dead, like the slain lying in the sepulchre whom you remember no more and who have been cut off by your hand.

'The slain' in hell - those in the pit and 'in the sepulchre' - stands for those who have destroyed the truths and goods residing with them by means of falsities and evils. Anyone can recognize that these are not in hell merely because they have been slain with the sword.

[7] In Isaiah,

A city of tumults, an exultant city, [your slain] have not been slain with the sword, and they have not been killed in war. All who have been found in you have been bound together in chains. They have fled from far away. Isaiah 22:2-3.

This refers to the illusions resulting from the evidence of the senses which do not enable the truths of the Church to be seen. It refers therefore to people subject to negative doubt, and these are called 'slain but not with the sword'.

[8] In Ezekiel,

I am bringing a sword upon you and destroying your high places; and your altars will be destroyed, and your statues will be broken; and I will cause your slain to lie before your idols. When the slain have fallen in the midst of you, you will know that I am Jehovah. Then you will acknowledge, when the slain are in the midst of their idols, around their altar. Ezekiel 6:3-4, 7, 13.

'The slain' stands for those who are governed by falsities of doctrine.

[9] In the same prophet,

Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. They went forth and smote in the city. Ezekiel 9:7.

This is a prophetic vision. 'Defiling the house and filling the courts with the slain' stands for profaning goods and truths. In the same prophet,

You have multiplied your slain in this city, and have filled its streets with the slain. Therefore said the Lord Jehovih, Your slain whom you have placed in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and that is the pot; and he will lead you out from the midst of it. Ezekiel 11:6-7.

[10] Because 'the slain' meant those who have annihilated the truths of the Church by means of falsities and evils, therefore also in the representative Church those who touched one who had been slain were unclean. Such persons are referred to in Moses as follows,

Everyone who has touched on the surface of the field one slain with the sword, or one dead, or a human bone, or a sepulchre will be unclean for seven days. Numbers 19:16, 18.

Inquiry was therefore made and atonement effected by means of a heifer. In the same author,

If one is found slain, lying in the field, and it is not known who smote him, then the elders of the city and the judges shall come out and they shall measure [the distance] to the cities which are around the one slain. It shall be, that in the city nearest to the one slain the elders of that city shall take a heifer by means of which no work has been done, which has not pulled in the yoke, and they shall bring it down to the river or valley, and there they shall break the heifer's neck. And they shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck has been broken and shall say, Our hands have not shed blood, and our eyes have not seen it. Expiate Your people Israel, O Jehovah, and do not set innocent blood in the midst of Your people; and the blood shall be expiated for them. Deuteronomy 21:1-8.

[11] These laws were laid down because one who has been slain means the perversion, destruction, and profanation of the truth of the Church by means of falsity and evil, as is evident from each detail in the internal sense. The expression 'one slain, lying in the field' is used because 'the field' means the Church, see 2971, 3310, 3766. 'A heifer by means of which no work has been done' means the innocence of the external man which is present within ignorance. Without a clear knowledge of these things meant in the internal sense everyone will be surprised that a procedure such as this for making expiation should ever have been ordained.