9125. 'If a thief is caught digging through' means if it is not apparent that good or truth is being taken away. This is clear from the meaning of 'digging through' as perpetrating evil in concealment, and - when said of a thief - as taking away good or truth by means of falsity arising from evil so as not to be seen, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'a thief' as one who takes away good and truth, dealt with in 5135, 8906, 9018, 9020, and in the abstract sense as truth or good that has been taken away. The term 'abstract sense' is used because angels, who see the internal sense of the Word, think in abstraction from persons, 5225, 5287, 5434, 8343, 8985, 9007. The Word too in its internal sense has spiritual realities instead of worldly objects, without any narrowing down to persons or places.

[2] As regards the meaning of 'digging through' as perpetrating evil in concealment, and - when said of a thief - as taking away good or truth by means of falsity arising from evil so as not to be seen, all this is evident from the consideration that a distinction is drawn here between a theft committed by digging through and a theft committed when the sun has risen, spoken of in the next verse. That 'digging through' has this meaning is also clear from places in the Word in which the expression occurs, as in Jeremiah,

Yes, in your skirts the blood of poor innocent souls is found. I have found those things not by digging through but on them all. Jeremiah 2:34.

This refers to foul kinds of love and the evils resulting from them. 'I have found those things not by digging through' stands for not discovering them by investigating secretly. Therefore it says those things are 'on them all', that is, they are visible everywhere. In Ezekiel,

He brought me to the door of the court, where I looked, and behold, a hole in the wall. He said to me, Dig, now, through the wall. I therefore dug through the wall, and behold, a door. Ezekiel 8:7-8.

This refers to the abominations of the house of Israel which they performed secretly. 'Digging through the wall' means going in secretly and seeing what they do. In Amos,

If they dig through into hell, from there My hand will take them. Or if they mount up into heaven, from there I will throw them down. Amos 9:2.

'Digging through into hell' means hiding oneself there, and so among falsities arising from evil. Hell consists in falsity arising from evil, since that falsity reigns there. The falsities there are called darkness, within which they hide away from the light of heaven; for they flee from the light of heaven, which is Divine Truth from the Lord. In Job,

The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight, saying, No eye will see me. And he will put on a covering for his face. He digs through ¹ houses in the darkness. In the daytime they mark [them] for themselves; they do not acknowledge the light. For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death, since they acknowledge the terrors of the shadow of death. Job 24:15-17.

Here 'digging through houses' plainly stands for secretly plundering another's goods. For it says that 'he digs through houses in the darkness'; that he watches for twilight, so that no eye may see him; that he puts a covering on his face; they do not acknowledge the light; also that the morning is the shadow of death to them.

[3] The use of 'digging through a house' to mean secretly taking away another's good has its origin in representatives in the next life. There when angels are talking about falsity secretly destroying good, this destruction appears as the digging through of a wall when it is represented on a lower level, where the things angels talk about are manifested in visual images. On the other hand, when angels are talking about truth approaching good and linking itself to it, that approach is represented as an open door through which people enter. This is why the Lord, who spoke in accordance with representatives in heaven and in accordance with correspondences, says in John,

Truly, truly, I say to you, He who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. John 10:1-2.

And in Luke,

Know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming he would certainly have been awake and would not have permitted his house to be dug through. ² Luke 12:39.

Here also 'the thief' is one who destroys forms of the good of faith by means of falsities. 'Digging through a house' means carrying out such destruction secretly, since it is done when the householder is not awake. So it is also that coming like a thief means coming without being recognized, because he does not come through the door but by some other way. In John,

If you are not awake I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. Revelation 3:3.

And in the same book,

Behold, I am coming like a thief; blessed is he who is awake. Revelation 16:15.

'Coming like a thief' means coming without being recognized and unexpectedly.

The Lord is spoken of in such a way because the meaning is that the door in a person is closed by falsity arising from evil.

Notas a pie de página:

8148. 'And he took six hundred chosen chariots' means each and every doctrinal teaching that upholds falsity belonging to separated faith, in their own order. This is clear from the meaning of the number 'six hundred' as each and every aspect of the truth and good of faith taken all together, and so in the contrary sense as each and every aspect of the falsity and evil of faith separated from charity (this meaning of 'six hundred' may become clear from what has been shown regarding the number 'six hundred thousand' in 7973); and from the meaning of 'chariots' as doctrinal teachings upholding faith, in this instance separated faith, dealt with just above in 8146. 'Chosen chariots' means the chief doctrinal teachings that uphold that faith, to which all other teachings are subordinate. Those that are subordinate to them or serve them are meant by 'the chariots of Egypt', referred to immediately after the six hundred chosen ones.

[2] It should be recognized that these falsities - the ones that are meant here by Pharaoh, his army and people, and also his chariots, horses, and horsemen - are chiefly falsities present with people whose faith is no more than persuasion, that is, people who persuade themselves that the teachings of the Church they are in are true and who nevertheless lead a life of evil. This kind of faith, unlike saving faith, goes together with evil in life, because it is a faith in which people persuade themselves that everything the Church teaches is true, yet do so not for the sake of truth, or for the sake of life, or even for the sake of salvation (since they have scarcely any belief in this), only for their own advantage, that is, to acquire important positions and wealth, and reputation because of these. It is to gain such advantages that they imbibe religious teachings. Thus they do not learn them to the end that they may be of service to the Church and the salvation of souls, but to themselves and their dependents. Therefore it makes no difference to them whether those teachings are true or false. They do not care which they are, much less do they bother to find out; for they have no affection for truth because it is the truth. They endorse those teachings regardless of the character of them; and when they have endorsed them they tell themselves that they are true, without stopping to think that falsities can be endorsed just as much as truths, 4741, 5033, 6865, 7012, 7680, 7950.

[3] This is how faith that is no more than persuasion arises. And since it does not see the neighbour and the good of the neighbour, or therefore the Lord, as the end in view, only self and the world, that is, important positions and material gain, that kind of faith is linked to evil in life, and not to good in life. For faith, when linked to this good, is saving faith. This kind of faith is imparted by the Lord, but the other has its origin in people themselves. Faith imparted by the Lord remains forever, the other kind melts away in the next life. It even melts away in the world if they can gain nothing by it. As long as they can gain anything they fight for it as if for heaven itself, though in fact they do so not for that faith but for themselves. For the things that belong to faith, which are religious teachings, are for those people simply the means to an end, which is high position and wealth. People in the world with this type of faith are scarcely distinguishable from those possessing saving faith, since they speak and proclaim in favour of religious teachings with an ardour that seemingly belongs to true zeal, but is an ardour fired by selfish and worldly love.

[4] These are the people who are meant in particular by 'Pharaoh' and 'the Egyptians', who in the next life undergo vastation of that kind of faith. When that vastation is completed they are steeped in utter falsities arising from evil, for falsities now burst out of evil. Falsities do so because all evil has falsity present with it, since the two have been joined together. Those falsities make their appearance when such people are left exposed to the evil in their life. That evil is then like fire, and the falsities are like the light coming from a fire. This kind of evil, and the falsity arising from it, is altogether different from other kinds of evil and derivative falsities. It is more loathsome than all the rest, because it is contrary to the forms of good and the truths of faith, and that kind of evil consequently holds profanation within it. Profanation consists in acknowledging truth and good and yet living contrary to them, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 2051, 3398, 3898, 4289, 4601, 6959, 6963, 6971.