7090. 'And said to Pharaoh' means an admonition [from them] to those who are opposed to the Church's truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' - since it came by Divine command from Moses and Aaron - as an admonition, as also in 7033; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as factual knowledge that is opposed to the Church's truths, dealt with in 6651, 6673, 6683, thus people who are opposed to them. Here and in what follows the subject is those belonging to the spiritual Church who were saved through the Lord's Coming into the world but who before His Coming had been held back on the lower earth, where they were harassed by falsities, that is, by those from hell steeped in falsities stemming from evil. That lower earth is situated below the soles of the feet and is surrounded by hells - in front of it those who have falsified truths and adulterated forms of good; to the right those who pervert Divine order and thereby strive to obtain power; to the rear the evil genii who, motivated by self-love, have secretly devised evil against their neighbour; and deep down underneath those who have rejected the Divine with utter contempt and worshipped nature, and in so doing have banished from themselves everything spiritual. Such are the hells surrounding those on the lower earth, where before the Lord's Coming people belonging to the spiritual Church were held in safe keeping. Though they were molested there the Lord protected them, and they were brought into heaven with the Lord when He rose again. See what has been stated and shown already regarding these people in 6854, 6865, 6914, 6945, 7035.

[2] The lower earth where those who belonged to the spiritual Church were held in safe keeping up to the Lord's Coming is mentioned a number of times in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Sing, O heavens, for Jehovah has done [it]! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Be filled, O mountains, with singing, O forest and every tree in it! For Jehovah has redeemed Jacob, and made Himself glorious in Israel. Isaiah 44:23.

This refers to those on the lower earth, to the fact that they were saved by the Lord. 'Jacob' and 'Israel' are the spiritual Church, 'Jacob' being the external Church, 'Israel' the internal Church, 3305, 4286, 6426. In Ezekiel,

I will cause you to go down with those going down to the pit, to the people of old, ¹ and I will cause you to dwell in the land of the lower ones in desolations. Ezekiel 16:20.

In the same prophet,

. . . to the lower earth in the midst of the sons of men, to those going down to the pit. Consequently all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the most excellent of Lebanon, all those drinking water, will comfort themselves on the lower earth. Ezekiel 31:14, 16.

This refers to the lower earth where those who belonged to the spiritual Church were.

[3] At the present day too those belonging to the Church who have filled their minds with worldly and also earthly ideas and have acted in such a way that the truths of faith have become tied up with them are sent down to the lower earth, where they likewise have battles to fight. These battles continue until their worldly and earthly ideas have been separated from the truths of faith and other notions have been introduced, of such a nature that they cannot be linked together any longer. Once this has been accomplished those people are raised from there into heaven; for until such ideas of theirs have been removed they cannot possibly be in the company of angels, since those ideas are full of darkness and defilement that do not accord with the light and purity of heaven. Those worldly and earthly ideas cannot be separated and removed except by means of battles against falsities, battles which take place in the following manner: Those on that lower earth are molested by illusions and by falsities based on them which emanate from inhabitants of the surrounding hells; but the Lord employs heaven to rebut those illusions and falsities and at the same time to introduce truths. These truths seem to reside with those undergoing the conflicts.

[4] All this being so, the spiritual Church ought to be spoken of as a militant Church. But at the present day it is rarely militant with anyone in the world; for while a member of the Church is living in the world he does not experience conflict, because of the wicked crowded around him and because of the weakness of the flesh in which he lives. In the next life a person may be held firmly by the bonds of conscience, but not so in the world, for if in the world he is subjected to any degree of despair, as normally happens to those undergoing conflicts, he instantly breaks those bonds. And if he breaks them he gives in; and if he gives in he is done for so far as his salvation is concerned. This explains why the Lord allows few within the Church at the present day to enter into battles against falsities on behalf of truths; those battles are spiritual temptations. See also what has been shown already regarding the lower earth and vastations that take place there, in 4728, 4940-4951, 6854.

Bilješke:

1736. The fact that the Lord is Jehovah, who is here called 'God Most High', is quite clear from the Word: in Isaiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth He is called. Isaiah 54:5.

Here it is explicitly stated that 'the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel', who is the Lord alone, is 'Jehovah Zebaoth' and 'the God of the whole earth'. In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah your God. Isaiah 48:17.

In the same prophet,

I am helping you, said Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 41:14.

The expressions 'the Holy One of Israel' and 'the God of Israel' occur many times. That the Lord is the Holy One of Israel and the God of Israel is quite clear from where it is said that they saw the God of Israel, under whose feet there was so to speak a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky for purity, Exodus 24:10.

[2] None other was acknowledged and called Jehovah by the Jewish Church because that Church worshipped the one God Jehovah, and more importantly, because all the religious observances of that Church represented Him -- though the majority did not know this - and because all things in the internal sense of the Word had Him as their meaning. In Isaiah,

He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord Jehovih will wipe away tears from all faces. And it will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God, we have waited for Him and He will save us. This is Jehovah, whom we have waited for; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation. Isaiah 25:8-9.

This refers to the Coming of the Lord.

[3] In the same prophet,

Behold, the Lord Jehovih will come with might, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him. He will pasture His flock like a shepherd, He will gather into His arm, He will carry the tiny lambs in His bosom, ¹ and will lead those that give suck. Isaiah 40:10-11.

This refers explicitly to the Lord who is 'the Lord Jehovih'. 'He will come with might, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him' stands for the fact that He would by His own power overcome the hells. 'Pasturing the flock', 'gathering into His arm', 'carrying the tiny lambs in His bosom', and 'leading those that give suck' have reference to His love, or mercy.

[4] In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah, God Himself who created the heavens, who formed the earth and made it, who Himself established it and created it not an emptiness, and formed it to dwell in: I am Jehovah, and there is none else. Am not I Jehovah and there is no God else besides Me? A just God, and a Saviour, there is none besides Me. Look to Me and be saved, all ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other. Isaiah 45:18, 21-22.

Here it is explicitly stated that the Lord alone is Jehovah and God. 'To create the heavens and form the earth' is to regenerate, and so 'the Creator of heaven and earth' is the Regenerator, see 16, 88, 472, and elsewhere. This is why the Lord is in various places called Creator, One who forms, and Maker.

[5] In the same prophet,

You are our Father, for Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Jehovah, are our rather, our Redeemer; from of old is Your name. Isaiah 63:15-16.

This refers explicitly to the Lord who alone is the Redeemer. In Moses,

Take notice of His face, ² and hearken to His voice, lest you provoke Him, for He will not endure your transgression, for My name is in the midst of Him. Exodus 23:21.

'Name' is the essential nature, see 144, 145, while 'in the midst' is the inmost, 1074.

[6] In Isaiah,

To us a Boy is born, to us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. His name will be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6-7.

This plainly refers to the Lord. In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming and I will raise up for David a righteous branch and He will reign as King, and act with understanding, and execute judgement and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell with confidence. And this is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jeremiah 23:5-6.

This plainly refers to the Lord. In Zechariah,

Jehovah will be King over all the earth; in that day there will be one Jehovah, and His name one. Zechariah 14:9.

This is plainly a reference to the Lord. 'Name' stands for Essential Nature.

Bilješke: