3368. Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land of which I tell thee. That this signifies that He should not go down to memory-knowledges, but to rational things which being enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth, is evident from the signification of “Egypt,” as being memory-knowledge (n. 1164-1165, 1186, 1462); and from the signification of “land,” as being here rational things which when enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth; for the land which is here meant is Gerar, where Abimelech king of the Philistines was, and by “Gerar” is signified faith; by “Abimelech,” the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; and by the “king of the Philistines,” doctrinal things (n. 3363, 3365); so that the “land,” namely, Gerar where Abimelech was, has the above signification in the internal sense.

[2] For the signification of “land” is various (n. 620, 636, 1066), denoting the quality of the nation of which it is predicated (n. 1262). But in the proper sense “land” signifies the church (n. 3355); and because it signifies the church, it signifies also those things which are of the church, consequently the doctrinal things of charity and faith; thus also rational things which being enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth; for that these appearances are the truths of the church, thus its doctrinal things, may be seen above (n. 3364, 3365). Whether you say rational things enlightened by the Divine, or appearances of truth, or celestial and spiritual truths such as are in the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens, or in heaven, and such as are in His kingdom on the earths, or in the church, comes to the same thing; and the same are also called doctrinal things, but this from the truths that are in them. The angelic and human rational is and is called rational from appearances of truth that are enlightened by the Divine, and without these it is not rational; thus rational things are these appearances of truth.

[3] The reason why it is here said that He should not go down into Egypt, that is, not to memory-knowledges, is that memory-knowledges have already been treated of; for Abraham’s sojourning in Egypt represented the Lord’s instruction in His childhood in memory-knowledges (n. 1502). As regards the arcanum that He should not go down into Egypt, but should sojourn in the land of Gerar, that is, that He should not look to memory-knowledges, but to rational things, the case is this: All appearances of truth that have what is Divine in them belong to the rational, insomuch that rational truths and appearances of truth are the same; whereas memory-knowledges belong to the natural, insomuch that natural truths and memory-truths are the same. Rational truths, or appearances of truth, cannot possibly be and come forth except from the influx of the Divine into the rational, and through rational things into the memory-knowledges which are of the natural. The things which then take place in the rational appear in the natural; just as an image of many things appears all together in a mirror; and thereby they are presented before the man, and also before an angel; before an angel however they are not presented so evidently in the natural as they are with those who are in the world of spirits and are in the spiritual natural, and hence these have representatives of truth.

[4] The case is similar with every man, for as before said the man who is in good is a little heaven, or what is the same is an image of the Grand Heaven; and because Divine truth cannot inflow immediately into memory-knowledges, which are of the natural man, but only through rational things, as before said, therefore it is here said that Isaac should not go down into Egypt, but should reside in the land of Gerar. But a clear idea cannot be had concerning these things unless the nature of influx is known, and also the nature of ideas; and therefore of the Lord’s Divine mercy these things will be treated of at the close of the chapters, where experiences are related.

2495. CHAPTER 20

That the Word contains within it an internal sense that is not apparent in the letter has already been stated and shown in many places, and the nature of this internal sense appears from all that has thus far been unfolded, beginning with the first chapter of Genesis. Nevertheless as the few who at this day believe in the Word do not know that there is such a sense, it may be well to confirm it further.

[2] The Lord describes the Consummation of the Age, or the last period of the church, as follows:

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24).

That in this passage the “sun” does not mean the sun, nor the “moon” the moon, nor the “stars” the stars; but that the “sun” signifies love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; the “moon” the faith of love and charity; and the “stars” the knowledges of good and truth, was shown above (n. 31, 32, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2120, 2441); so that by these words of the Lord there is signified that in the consummation of the age (or last period of the church) there will no longer be any love, or charity, nor therefore any faith.

[3] That this is the meaning is evident from similar words of the Lord in the Prophets, as in Isaiah:

Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, to make the earth a solitude; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it; for the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (Isaiah 13:9-10); where also the last period of the church, or what is the same, the consummation of the age, is treated of.

In Joel:

A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity, before Him the earth quaked, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining (Joel 2:2, 10);

with a similar meaning. Again in the same:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes (Joel 2:31).

And again in the same:

The day of Jehovah is near, the sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining (Joel 3:14-15).

In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all the luminaries of light in the heavens will I make dark, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7-8).

So too in John:

I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and behold there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell unto the earth (Revelation 6:12-13).

The fourth angel sounded, so that the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, and the third part of them was darkened (Revelation 8:12).

[4] From these passages it is evident that the Lord’s words in the Evangelists involve much the same as His words in the Prophets, namely, that in the last times there will be neither charity, nor faith; and that this is the internal sense; as also is still further evident in Isaiah:

The moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, for Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem (Isaiah 24:23).

That is to say, faith, which is the “moon,” shall blush; and charity, which is the “sun,” shall be ashamed, because they are such; for it cannot be said of the moon and the sun that they shall blush and be ashamed. And in Daniel:

The goat’s horn grew toward the south, and toward the east, and grew even to the army of the heavens, and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth and trampled upon them (Daniel 8:9-10); where it is plain to everyone that the “army of the heavens” does not signify an “army,” nor the “stars” stars.