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Exodus 17

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1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and encamped in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

2 Wherefore the people contended with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said to them, Why chide you with me? Why do ye tempt the LORD?

3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why is this that thou hast brought us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

4 And Moses cried to the LORD, saying, What shall I do to this people? they are almost ready to stone me.

5 And the LORD said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel: and thy rod, with which thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and Go.

6 Behold, I will stand before thee there on the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

9 And Moses said to Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.

10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur, went up to the top of the hill.

11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12 But Moses's hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat upon it: and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

14 And the LORD said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it JEHOVAH-nissi:

16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 8598

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8598. 'Tomorrow I stand on the top of the hill' means the joining of God's truth to the good of charity, and influx from there. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses', who was going to stand on the top of the hill, as God's truth, dealt with often; from the meaning of 'standing' as being joined to and flowing in (the reason why 'standing' here means being joined to is that he would at that time be on the top of the hill, and 'hill' means the good of charity; and the reason why flowing in is meant as well is that he looked down from there on the battle and also controlled the course of it, which is meant by the description that when he raised up his hand Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed); and from the meaning of 'the hill' as the good of charity, dealt with in 6435.

[2] A brief statement is needed to indicate what that joining together really is and what an influx of the good of charity into truth that engages in conflict is. God's truth becomes that which engages in conflict when it is joined to those who are truly zealous, as stated above. Those who are zealous engage in conflict; yet they do so not because they are moved by any feeling of enmity or hostility, but rather by charity. Zeal is different from anger in that zeal holds the good of charity within it, and therefore when zeal goes into battle it merely removes those ruled by falsity and evil to prevent them from harming those governed by goodness and truth. Anger however not only removes them but also pursues them in a spirit of hatred and vengeance. For zeal, because of the charity within it, desires the welfare even of those ruled by evil and falsity, and also works towards it provided that they cannot do any harm to those who are good. But anger, because of the hatred and vengeance within it, wishes harm to all with whom it engages in conflict, whether they are good or evil. From all this one may see what is meant by an influx of the good of charity into truth that engages in conflict. As regards zeal, that it holds good within it, while anger holds evil, see 4164, 4444.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.