8186. 'And I, behold, I am hardening the hearts of the Egyptians' means obstinate resistance by falsity arising from evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'hardening the heart' as obstinacy, dealt with in 7272, 7300, 7305, 7616; and from the representation of 'the Egyptians' as those steeped in falsities arising from evil, dealt with in 8132, 8135, 8148. When the Word says that Jehovah hardens the heart and also that He is responsible for something ill, the meaning in the internal sense, where the truth itself exists unclothed, is that people ruled by falsity and evil are themselves the ones to harden their hearts and to be responsible for the ill that happens to them, see 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7877, 7926.

6071. 'And placed them before Pharaoh' means an introduction into factual knowledge. This is clear from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as factual knowledge in general, dealt with in 5799, 6015. An introduction is meant by 'placing before him', for the intention behind his presentation of them was so that he might introduce them, that is, the truths of the Church, since these are meant by 'the sons of Jacob'. Regarding the need for the truths known to the Church to be introduced into the Church's factual knowledge, see 6004, 6023, 6052; but as this is a subject that is not known about at the present day, let some more light be shed on it.

[2] The facts known to the Church are at the present day the things stated in the literal sense of the Word. Unless truths from the internal sense are introduced into those facts the mind can be misled into all kinds of heresy; but once truths have been introduced into them the mind cannot be misled into heresies. For example the person who has learned from the literal sense of the Word statements that God can be angry, punish, lead into temptations, cast into hell, and do evil can be misled into false ideas about God. He may be led to think that Goodness itself, which is what God is, can be the source even of evil, thus the opposite of what He is, when in fact good comes from good, and evil from evil. But this fact [which he knows from the literal sense] takes on a different appearance if interior truths are introduced into it, such as the truth that evil in a person is what creates anger in him, leads into temptations, punishes, casts into hell, and constantly brings forth further evils. There is also the truth that the situation with these woes is like the laws that countries have; the laws come from the monarch, but the miseries that come with punishment are not attributable to the monarch but to those who commit evils.

[3] Then there is the truth that the hells are the source of all evil and are allowed to be the source of it because on man's account it cannot be otherwise. For he is sunk in evil and his life arises out of it, and therefore unless he is left in evil he cannot be in freedom, or thus be reformed. Even so, nothing but good comes from God, for to the extent a person allows, God turns that evil towards what is good.

[4] There is too the truth that the very general outlines of belief must come first, after which they must be filled out with individual truths. This is so with the general piece of knowledge that all things which happen come without exception from God, including the miseries that punishment brings. In what way those miseries come from Him has to be learned subsequently, as also do the nature and source of what happens by permission.

[5] There is likewise the truth that all worship of God inevitably has its beginning in holy fear, which holds within it the belief that God rewards good people and punishes the bad. Simple people and young children must believe this because they have no understanding as yet of permission; and their belief is in keeping with the Lord's words,

Rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. Matthew 10:28.

So although to begin with it is out of fear that they do not dare to do evil, love accompanied by good is gradually introduced, and then they start to know and perceive that nothing but good comes from God, and that evil comes from themselves; then at length that all evil comes from hell.

[6] Furthermore those in heaven perceive that nothing but good comes from God; but those in hell say that everything evil comes from God because He permits it and does not take it away. But in reply to this those of them who are in the world of spirits are told that if evil were taken away from them they would not possess any life; and neither would anyone in the world who is engrossed in evil. They are also told that the evil within them punishes itself in accordance with the law, and that the miseries that punishment brings eventually causes them to refrain from the doing of evils, also that the punishment of evil persons is the protection of the good.

[7] Added to all this is the consideration that people engrossed in evil, also those whose worship is external devoid of anything internal, as that of the Jews was, must live altogether in fear of God and in a belief that He is the one who punishes; for their fear of God can lead them to do what is good, but love never can. When these and many other truths are introduced into that known fact [drawn from the literal sense of the Word] it takes on a completely different appearance. It becomes like a transparent vase containing truths which shine through and make the vase look like nothing else than a single and general body of truth.