8185. 'And let the children of Israel come into the middle of the sea on dry ground' means in order that those belonging to the spiritual Church may pass through in safety and without falsity flowing in. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming into (or entering) the middle' as passing through; from the representation of 'the children of Israel' as those belonging to the spiritual Church, dealt with often; and from the meaning of 'on dry ground' as in safety and without falsity flowing in. Falsities arising from evil are meant by 'the waters' of that sea, 8137, 8138, and therefore 'dry ground' means without falsity. 'Dry' and 'drying up' have a similar meaning in David,

You broke in pieces the heads of Leviathan, You split open fountain and river, You dried up rivers of strength. Psalms 74:14-15.

'Drying up rivers of strength' stands for dispersing quite powerful falsities.

[2] In Zechariah,

I will gather them, for I will redeem them. I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria. And I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon. He will go through the sea of distress; but he will strike the waves in the sea, and dry up all the depths of the River. And the pride of Asshur will be thrown down, and the rod of Egypt will depart. And I will render them strong in Jehovah. Zechariah 10:8-end.

This refers to those who in spiritual matters trust in themselves and their own wisdom, also to the dispersing of falsities through temptations. 'The land of Egypt' stands for factual knowledge; 'Assyria' stands for reasonings based on that knowledge; 'going through the sea of distress' stands for temptations; 'striking the waves in the sea, and drying up the depths of the River' stands for dispersing falsities from there; and 'the pride of Asshur will be thrown down, and the rod of Egypt will depart' stands for trusting no longer in their own wisdom but in wisdom received from the Lord, which is meant by 'I will render them strong in Jehovah'.

[3] Likewise in Isaiah,

He who says to Jerusalem, You will be dwelt in, and to the cities of Judah, You will be built, and I will raise up her waste places. He who says to the abyss, Be dry! and I will dry up your rivers. Isaiah 44:26-27.

'Saying to the abyss, Be dry!' and 'drying up its rivers' stand for dispersing evils and falsities. But when 'waters' means truths, 'drying up' means a state that is truthless or devoid of truth, as in Isaiah,

I will pour out waters upon the thirsty land, and streams upon the dry. Isaiah 44:3.

'Waters' and 'streams' stand for truths, 'the dry land' for the place that is truthless.

[4] In Jeremiah,

O sword against the Chaldeans and against the inhabitants of Babel! O sword against its horses and against its chariots! A drought on its waters, in order that they may dry up! Jeremiah 50:35, 37-38.

'The Chaldeans' stands for those who render truths profane, and 'the inhabitants of Babel' for those who render forms of good profane, 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326. 'Sword' stands for truth fighting against falsity, or for falsity fighting against truth, and from this for vastation, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102; 'horses' stands for the power of understanding, 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6534; 'chariots' stands for doctrinal teachings, 5321, 8146, 8148; and 'a drought on its waters, in order that they may dry up' stands for truths with no life at all in them owing to falsification.

But when the expressions 'dry' or 'drying up' are used in the Word in connection with other things, such as trees, plants, harvest, or bones, those things take on a contrary meaning. Also, in relation to the sea actual land is called the dry land; and in that case 'the dry land' has reference to good, and 'the sea' to truth.

1868. That these things are meant by these nations would take too long to confirm from the Word; nor is there any need to do so here as no more than their names are mentioned. Some of them have been dealt with already, for example that 'the Rephaim' means false persuasions, 567, 581, 1673; 'the Amorites' evils, 1680; 'the Canaanites' evils, above at verse 16; 'the Perizzites' falsities, 1574. What the rest of the nations mean individually will in the Lord's Divine mercy be explained as they occur later on.

[2] As regards the nations that were to be cast out of the Lord's kingdom, in the next life evil and devilish spirits like nothing more than to surface in the world of spirits and to infest good spirits. But as often as they do so they are cast out, in much the same way as the falsities and evils that have taken possession of one who is being regenerated are overpowered and dispersed, and in their place truths and goods are implanted that belong to the Lord's kingdom.

[3] These falsities and evils were represented by the nations that were driven out of the land of Canaan by the descendants of Jacob. They were represented as well by the Jews themselves who at a later period were driven out from there. The same occurred with many other nations of old by whom similar things had been represented, such as the Horites who were driven from Mount Seir by the descendants of Esau, mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:12, 22; then the Avim who were driven out by the Kaphtorim, mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:23; also the Emim or Rephaim who were driven out by the Moabites, mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:9-11; as well as the Zamzummim who were driven out by the Ammonites, mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:19-21; besides many others referred to in the Prophets.