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Exodus 3

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1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God's mountain, to Horeb.

2 The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

3 Moses said, "I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."

4 When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Here I am."

5 He said, "Don't come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground."

6 Moreover he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.

7 Yahweh said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

8 I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

9 Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

10 Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

11 Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

12 He said, "Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

13 Moses said to God, "Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you;' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What should I tell them?"

14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," and he said, "You shall tell the children of Israel this: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

15 God said moreover to Moses, "You shall tell the children of Israel this, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.

16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;

17 and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey."'

18 They will listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.'

19 I know that the king of Egypt won't give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand.

20 I will put forth my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in its midst, and after that he will let you go.

21 I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed.

22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians."

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 6829

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6829. 'And came to the mountain of God' means that after them the good of God's love appeared. This is clear from the meaning of 'the mountain of God' as the good of God's love, 'mountain' being the good of love, see 795, 796, 2722, 4210, 6435. The appearance of that good after they had undergone temptations is what is meant by his coming to that mountain at the back of the wilderness. The situation is that when a person undergoes temptation he is besieged all round by falsities and evils which block the flow of light from the Divine, that is, of truth and good; and that person is so to speak in darkness. Darkness in the next life is nothing other than being besieged by falsities, for these take away the light and so take away from the one undergoing temptation any sense of consolation gained from truths. But when the person comes out of temptation light appears together with the spiritual heat that goes with it, that is, truth together with the good that goes with it. This brings the person cheerfulness after his distress; and that cheerfulness is the morning that follows night in the next life. The reason why good is perceived then and truth appears is that after temptation truth and good penetrate more deeply within and become firmly rooted. For while a person undergoes temptation he so to speak hungers for good and thirsts for truth, and therefore when he comes out of temptation he takes in good like one hungry for food and receives truth like one thirsting for drink. And in addition to this, when the light from the Divine appears falsities and evils are removed; and once they have been removed there is a means of access for truth and good to penetrate more deeply within. These are the reasons why after temptations the good of love appears together with the light from the Lord that goes with it. It is well known to everyone in the next life that brightness and cheerfulness appear after the gloom and distress of temptations, because this is a common happening there.

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