7671. Verses 12-15 And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, and they will come up over the land of Egypt and devour every plant in the land, all that the hail has left. And Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah brought an east wind into the land the whole of that day and the whole night. Morning came, and the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt, and rested at all the border of Egypt; they were extremely severe. Before them there were no such locusts like them, and there will not be such after them. And they covered the surface of the whole land, and the land was darkened; and they devoured every plant in the land and all the fruit on the trees which the hail had caused to be left. And there was not left any green on tree and on plant of the field in the whole land of Egypt.

'And Jehovah said to Moses' means instruction. 'Stretch out your hand' means an exercising of power. 'Over the land of Egypt for the locusts' means in order that falsity may take possession of the whole natural of the molesting ones. 'And they will come up over the land of Egypt' means an outpouring into everything there. 'And devour every plant in the land' means the total consumption of all truth. 'All that the hail has left' means which the previous falsity has not consumed. 'And Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt' means exercising the power of God's truth over the entire natural of the molesting ones. 'And Jehovah brought an east wind' means an agent of destruction. 'The whole of that day and the whole of that night' means all the perception, both that which was darkened and that which was not darkened, of the molesting ones. 'Morning came' means the state of heaven in rearranged order. 'And the east wind brought the locusts' means massive falsity present with the molesting ones, brought by the agent of destruction. 'And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt' means the outpouring of falsity into everything in the natural. 'And rested at all the border of Egypt' means at the outermost parts there. 'They were extremely severe' means that they penetrated every single part. 'Before them there were no such locusts like them, and there will not be such after them' means that no such falsity has existed since the Church first began, and such will not exist again. 'And they covered the surface of the whole land' means that they took possession of the last and lowest levels of the natural mind. 'And the land was darkened' means that falsity was introduced where there had been truth. 'And they devoured every plant in the land' means that it consumed every known fact about truth. 'And all the fruit on the trees' means every recognition of good. 'And they did not allow any green to be left' means the obliteration of every sensory apprehension of truth. 'On tree and on plant of the field' means belonging to the things the Church recognized and knew. 'In the whole land of Egypt' means on every side in the natural.