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Exodus 7

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1 Yahweh said to Moses, "Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.

2 You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

3 I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

4 But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring forth my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

5 The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch forth my hand on Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them."

6 Moses and Aaron did so. As Yahweh commanded them, so they did.

7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

8 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

9 "When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Perform a miracle!' then you shall tell Aaron, 'Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent.'"

10 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments.

12 For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

13 Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken.

14 Yahweh said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go.

15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he goes out to the water; and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand.

16 You shall tell him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness:" and behold, until now you haven't listened.

17 Thus says Yahweh, "In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold, I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

18 The fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall become foul; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink water from the river."'"

19 Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'"

20 Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

21 The fish that were in the river died; and the river became foul, and the Egyptians couldn't drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.

22 The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken.

23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he lay even this to heart.

24 All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn't drink of the water of the river.

25 Seven days were fulfilled, after Yahweh had struck the river.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 7318

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7318. 'And the fish that are in the river will die' means that factual knowledge of truth will be destroyed. This is clear from the meaning of 'fish' as factual knowledge, dealt with in 40, 991, at this point factual knowledge of truth since it says that the fish are going to die because the water they are in has been turned into blood, meaning that such knowledge will be destroyed through falsification; and from the meaning of 'dying' as being destroyed. A number of examples will show what the falsification of truth is. Truth is falsified when on the basis of false reasonings people deduce and declare that because no one can do good all by himself good contributes nothing to salvation. Truth is also falsified when they declare that whatever good a person does has self in view and is done for the sake of reward, and this being so, that the works of charity do not need to be performed. Truth is falsified when people declare that because all good has its origin in the Lord a person should not perform anything good at all but should wait for inspiration. Truth is falsified when they declare that truth can exist with a person without the good of charity, thus faith without charity. Truth is falsified when people declare that nobody can enter heaven except him who is wretched and poor, and also when they declare that no one can enter unless he gives all his goods to the poor and reduces himself to a state of wretchedness.

[2] Truth is falsified when people declare that everyone, irrespective of the kind of life he has been leading, can by mercy be admitted into heaven. Truth is falsified further still when they declare that someone has been given the power to admit whomever he chooses into heaven. Truth is falsified when people declare that sins are altogether purged, and washed away like dirt by water. And truth is falsified further still when they declare that somebody has the power to forgive sins, and that when they have been forgiven those sins are altogether purged, making the person pure. Truth is falsified when people declare that the Lord has taken onto Himself and so bears all sins, so that a person can be saved no matter what kind of life he leads. Truth is falsified when they declare that no one is saved except him who is within the Church. The reasonings by means of which falsification is effected are contained in the notion that those who are within the Church have been baptized, possess the Word, know about the Lord, resurrection, eternal life, heaven, and hell, and accordingly know what the faith that enables them to be justified is. Reasonings like these are countless, for not one single truth exists that is incapable of being falsified, and there is no falsification that cannot be substantiated by means of reasonings based on illusions.

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