8275. 'Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has thrown into the sea' means the particular and the general falsities arising from evil of those belonging to the Church who led a life of evil in it, and the fact that at His presence those falsities have cast themselves into the hells. This is clear from the meaning of 'chariots' as falsities, dealt with in 8146, 8148, 8215, at this point particular falsities since the word 'army', meaning general falsities, is also used (for the meaning of 'army' as falsities, see 3448, 8138, 8146, 8148); from the representation of 'Pharaoh' and of 'the Egyptians' as those belonging to the Church who uphold separated faith and lead a life of evil, and are therefore steeped in utter falsities arising from evil, dealt with in 7926, 8132, 8135, 8138, 8148; and from the meaning of 'the sea', the Sea Suph at this point, as the hell where those steeped in those falsities are, dealt with in 8099, 8137, 8148, so that 'He has thrown into the sea' means that He has cast into hell, in the internal sense that they have cast themselves into it simply at the presence of the Lord, see 8265. From all this it is evident that 'Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has thrown into the sea' means that the particular and the general falsities arising from evil of those belonging to the Church who led a life of evil in it have cast themselves at the presence of the Lord into the hells.

7926. 'To inflict the plague on Egypt' means as a result of which damnation comes to those belonging to the Church who have been governed by faith separated from charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'the plague', which in this case is the death of the firstborn, as the damnation of those belonging to the Church [who have been governed by faith] separated from charity, dealt with in 7766, 7778. For 'Egypt' - that is, the Egyptians - means those who have had a knowledge of those kinds of things that belong to the Church, yet have separated life from religious teaching, that is, charity from faith. The Egyptians too were like them, for they possessed a knowledge of the things belonging to the Church at that time, a Church that was representative. They were familiar with the representations of spiritual realities through natural things, which constituted the ceremonies of the Church at that time, and were accordingly familiar with correspondences, as is plainly shown by their hieroglyphics, which were pictures of natural things representing spiritual realities. This explains why 'the Egyptians' means those who have a knowledge of matters of faith yet lead an evil life. In the next life such people undergo vastation of all that composes faith, that is, all that composes the Church, and are eventually damned. That damnation is what is understood in the internal sense by the death of the firstborn in Egypt.

[2] Since it says 'Jehovah will go through to inflict the plague on Egypt', and these words mean the presence of the Divine, as a result of which damnation comes to those belonging to the Church who have been governed by faith separated from charity, something must be said to explain all this. Jehovah or the Lord does not present Himself among those in hell in order to inflict damnation; but even so His presence is what brings it about. The hells have a constant desire to molest the good and also a constant longing to rise into heaven and dislodge those who are there, though their efforts cannot get them past those living in the outermost parts of heaven. For it is enmity constantly exhaling hostility and violence. But the Lord makes unceasing provision to keep those living in the outermost parts of heaven secure and undisturbed. This He accomplishes by His presence among them. When those belonging to hell bring themselves to where the Lord is present, that is, into His presence, they cast themselves into the miseries of vastation, and eventually into damnation; for as shown already in various places, the Lord's presence which they run into brings those things about. From this it is evident that the Lord does not present Himself among them in order to inflict the miseries of punishment on them, but that they cast themselves into those miseries. These considerations show that nothing but good is attributable to the Lord, and that everything bad is attributable to those themselves who are immersed in evil, thus that the ones to inflict vastation, damnation, and hell on the evil are the evil themselves. This shows one how to understand 'Jehovah will go through to inflict the plague on Egypt'.