7090. 'And said to Pharaoh' means an admonition [from them] to those who are opposed to the Church's truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' - since it came by Divine command from Moses and Aaron - as an admonition, as also in 7033; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as factual knowledge that is opposed to the Church's truths, dealt with in 6651, 6673, 6683, thus people who are opposed to them. Here and in what follows the subject is those belonging to the spiritual Church who were saved through the Lord's Coming into the world but who before His Coming had been held back on the lower earth, where they were harassed by falsities, that is, by those from hell steeped in falsities stemming from evil. That lower earth is situated below the soles of the feet and is surrounded by hells - in front of it those who have falsified truths and adulterated forms of good; to the right those who pervert Divine order and thereby strive to obtain power; to the rear the evil genii who, motivated by self-love, have secretly devised evil against their neighbour; and deep down underneath those who have rejected the Divine with utter contempt and worshipped nature, and in so doing have banished from themselves everything spiritual. Such are the hells surrounding those on the lower earth, where before the Lord's Coming people belonging to the spiritual Church were held in safe keeping. Though they were molested there the Lord protected them, and they were brought into heaven with the Lord when He rose again. See what has been stated and shown already regarding these people in 6854, 6865, 6914, 6945, 7035.

[2] The lower earth where those who belonged to the spiritual Church were held in safe keeping up to the Lord's Coming is mentioned a number of times in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Sing, O heavens, for Jehovah has done [it]! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Be filled, O mountains, with singing, O forest and every tree in it! For Jehovah has redeemed Jacob, and made Himself glorious in Israel. Isaiah 44:23.

This refers to those on the lower earth, to the fact that they were saved by the Lord. 'Jacob' and 'Israel' are the spiritual Church, 'Jacob' being the external Church, 'Israel' the internal Church, 3305, 4286, 6426. In Ezekiel,

I will cause you to go down with those going down to the pit, to the people of old, ¹ and I will cause you to dwell in the land of the lower ones in desolations. Ezekiel 16:20.

In the same prophet,

. . . to the lower earth in the midst of the sons of men, to those going down to the pit. Consequently all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the most excellent of Lebanon, all those drinking water, will comfort themselves on the lower earth. Ezekiel 31:14, 16.

This refers to the lower earth where those who belonged to the spiritual Church were.

[3] At the present day too those belonging to the Church who have filled their minds with worldly and also earthly ideas and have acted in such a way that the truths of faith have become tied up with them are sent down to the lower earth, where they likewise have battles to fight. These battles continue until their worldly and earthly ideas have been separated from the truths of faith and other notions have been introduced, of such a nature that they cannot be linked together any longer. Once this has been accomplished those people are raised from there into heaven; for until such ideas of theirs have been removed they cannot possibly be in the company of angels, since those ideas are full of darkness and defilement that do not accord with the light and purity of heaven. Those worldly and earthly ideas cannot be separated and removed except by means of battles against falsities, battles which take place in the following manner: Those on that lower earth are molested by illusions and by falsities based on them which emanate from inhabitants of the surrounding hells; but the Lord employs heaven to rebut those illusions and falsities and at the same time to introduce truths. These truths seem to reside with those undergoing the conflicts.

[4] All this being so, the spiritual Church ought to be spoken of as a militant Church. But at the present day it is rarely militant with anyone in the world; for while a member of the Church is living in the world he does not experience conflict, because of the wicked crowded around him and because of the weakness of the flesh in which he lives. In the next life a person may be held firmly by the bonds of conscience, but not so in the world, for if in the world he is subjected to any degree of despair, as normally happens to those undergoing conflicts, he instantly breaks those bonds. And if he breaks them he gives in; and if he gives in he is done for so far as his salvation is concerned. This explains why the Lord allows few within the Church at the present day to enter into battles against falsities on behalf of truths; those battles are spiritual temptations. See also what has been shown already regarding the lower earth and vastations that take place there, in 4728, 4940-4951, 6854.

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4728. 'And let us throw him into one of the pits' means among falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'pits' as falsities. The reason 'pits' means falsities is that people who are immersed in false assumptions are kept for a considerable time after death beneath the lower earth, until falsities have been removed from them and so to speak cast away to the sidelines. The places situated there are called pits. Those who go there are people who have to undergo vastation, dealt with in 1106-1113, 2699, 2701, 2704. ¹ This is why by 'pits' in the abstract sense falsities are meant. The lower earth is directly below the feet, and is a region that does not extend to any great distance all around. There the majority stay after death before being raised up into heaven. Mention is also made of this lower earth in various places in the Word. Below it are places where vastation takes place, and they are called pits. Beneath these places and extending to quite a distance all around are the hells.

[2] From this one may have some idea of what is meant by hell, the lower earth, or the pit, when these are mentioned in the Word, as in Isaiah,

You have been sent down to hell, to the sides of the pit; you are cast out from your sepulchre like an abominable branch, a garment of the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit. Isaiah 14:15, 19.

This refers to the king of Babel, who represents the profanation of truth, for 'a king' represents truth, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, and 'Babel' profanation, 1182, 1326. 'Hell' is the place where the condemned are, and their state of condemnation is compared to 'an abominable branch' and 'a garment of the slain and of those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit'. 'A garment of the slain' means truth that has been made profane; 'those pierced by the sword' means people among whom truth has been annihilated; 'the pit' means falsity that is to be laid waste, 'stones' the limits of that falsity, which are also therefore called 'the sides', for surrounding the pits there are the hells. 'A garment' means truth, 2576, and therefore 'a garment of the slain' means truth that has been made profane, for 'the blood' with which it has been stained means that which has been made profane, 1003. 'Those pierced by the sword' means those among whom truth has been annihilated, 4503. From all this it is also evident that without the internal sense one cannot by any means know what these things mean.

[3] In Ezekiel,

When I cause you to go down with those going down to the pit, to the people of old, and I cause you to dwell in the land of the lower ones, in the desolations from of old, so that you do not dwell with those going down to the pit, I will give beauty in the land of the living. Ezekiel 26:20.

'Those going down to the pit' stands for those who are made to undergo vastation. 'Not dwelling with those who go down to the pit' stands for being delivered from falsities.

[4] In the same prophet,

That none of all the trees by the waters may become arrogant because of their height nor send their trunk up among entangled boughs, and that none of all [the trees] that drink water may reach above them because of their height - all will be given over to death, to the lower earth in the midst of the sons of men, to those going down to the pit. At the sound of its crashing down I will make the nations tremble, when I cause him to go down into hell with those going down to the pit. And all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the most excellent of Lebanon, all those drinking water, will comfort themselves on the lower earth. Ezekiel 31:14, 16.

This refers to Egypt, meaning knowledge, which enters by itself into the mysteries of faith, that is, people who enter into them, 1164, 1165, 1186. What has been stated above makes plain the meaning of hell, the pit, and the lower earth mentioned at this point in the prophet. Nor from anywhere else than the internal sense can anyone see what is meant by 'the trees by the waters', 'the trees of Eden', 'the trunk sent up among entangled boughs', 'the choicest and the most excellent of Lebanon', and 'those drinking water'.

[5] In the same prophet,

Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and cause it and the daughters of magnificent nations to go down to the lower earth. with those going down into the pit. Asshur is there to whom graves have been given in the sides of the pit, all of them slain with the sword. Ezekiel 32:18, 22-23.

What these words mean may be seen from the explanations given above. In David,

Jehovah, You have caused my soul to come up out of hell; You have caused me to live, out of those going down to the pit. Psalms 30:3.

In the same author,

I have been reckoned with them going down to the pit; I have become as a man with no strength. You have put me in the pit of the lower ones, in darkness, in the depths. Psalms 88:4, 6.

In Jonah,

I had gone down to the bottoms of the mountains; the bars of the land were upon me for ever. Nonetheless You brought up my life from the pit. Jonah 2:6.

This refers to the Lord's temptations, and to deliverance from them. 'The bottoms of the mountains' means where the most condemned are, for the gloomy dark clouds which seemingly surround them are mountains.

[6] As regards 'the pit' meaning falsity laid waste, and in the abstract sense falsity itself, this is clear in addition in Isaiah,

They will be gathered together, in a gathering as the bound for the pit, and they will be shut up in the dungeon; but after a multitude of days they will be visited. Isaiah 24:22.

In the same prophet,

Where is the anger of the oppressor? He that leads out will hasten to open, and he will not die at the pit; nor will bread fail. Isaiah 51:13-14.

In Ezekiel,

Behold, I am bringing strangers upon you, the violent of the nations, who will draw their swords against the loveliness of your wisdom, and they will profane your splendour. They will bring you down into the pit, and you will die the deaths of those slain in the heart of the seas. Ezekiel 28:7-8.

This refers to the prince of Tyre, who means people under the influence of false assumptions.

[7] In Zechariah,

Exult greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a noise, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you, just, meek, and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the young of she-asses. Through the blood of the covenant I will let out your bound ones from the pit in which there is no water. Zechariah 9:9, 11.

'The pit in which there is no water' stands for falsity that has no truth at all within it, as also in verse 24 below where it is said that they cast Joseph into the pit and the pit was empty, having no water in it. In David,

To You, O Jehovah, do I call; my rock, do not be silent to me, lest if You are silent to me I seem like those going down into the pit. Psalms 28:1.

In the same author,

Jehovah caused me to come up out of the pit of VASTATION, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock. Psalms 40:2.

[8] In the same author,

Do not let the flow of waters rush over me, nor the deep swallow me up, nor the pit close its mouth over me. Psalms 69:15.

In the same author,

He sent His word and healed them, and rescued them from their pits. Psalms 107:20.

'From pits' stands for from falsities. In the same author,

Make haste, answer me, O Jehovah. My spirit is consumed. Do not hide Your face from me, lest I become like those going down into the pit. Psalms 143:7.

Because 'a pit' means falsity, and 'the blind' those who are immersed in falsities, 2383, the Lord therefore says,

Let them alone; they are blind leaders of the blind. For if the blind leads the blind both will fall into a pit. Matthew 15:13, 14; Luke 6:39.

Something similar to what was represented by Joseph was also represented by the prophet Jeremiah, who describes what happened to him as follows,

They took Jeremiah and cast him into the pit which was in the court of the guard, and let Jeremiah down by ropes into the pit where there was no water. Jeremiah 38:6.

That is, they cast Divine Truths away among falsities that had no truth at all within them.

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