9014. 'You shall take him from My altar to die' means damnation even though he flees to worship the Lord, pleads for forgiveness, and promises to repent. This is clear from the meaning of Jehovah's altar' as the chief representative of worship of the Lord, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811, 4541, 8935, 8940, and since the altar was representative of worship 'fleeing to the altar' means going to the Lord, pleading for forgiveness, and also promising to repent, for one action follows the other; and from the meaning of 'dying' as damnation, dealt with in 5407, 6119, 9008.

[2] The implications of all this may be recognized from what has been shown in paragraph 9013 above, to the effect that guile in spiritual things, that is, hypocrisy, is not able to be forgiven. The reason why is that guile is like poison that penetrates right through to the inward parts; it kills all of the faith and charity there, and destroys remnants, which are the truths and forms of the good of faith and charity stored away by the Lord in a person inwardly. And when these have been destroyed no spiritual life at all survives any longer. Regarding remnants, see 468, 530, 560-563, 660, 661, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284, 5135, 5342, 5344, 5897, 5898, 6156, 7560, 7564. Consequently when people full of guile plead with the Lord to be forgiven and promise to repent, meant by 'fleeing to the altar', their pleas and promises do not come at all from the heart but are made only with the lips. Therefore they are not heard, for the Lord looks on the heart, not on words separated and isolated from the heart. So it is that there is no forgiveness for them, because they are not capable of any repentance.

[3] The majority within the Church think that the forgiveness of sins involves wiping and washing them away, like the removal of dirt by water, and that after forgiveness people go about clean and pure. This idea reigns especially with those who attribute all of salvation to faith alone. But let it be known that the situation with the forgiveness of sins is altogether different from that being Mercy itself, the Lord forgives everyone their sins. Nevertheless they do not come to be forgiven unless the person sincerely repents, refrains from evils, and after that leads a life of faith and charity, doing so to the end of his life. When this happens the person receives spiritual life from the Lord, called new life. Then when with this new life he looks at the evils of his former life, turns away from them, and abhors them, his evils have for the first time been forgiven. For the person is now maintained in truths and forms of good by the Lord and held back from evils. This shows what the forgiveness of sins is, and that it cannot take place within an hour, nor within a year. The Church knows this to be so, for it says to those who attend the Holy Supper that their sins are forgiven if they begin a new life by refraining from evils and abhorring them.

[4] All this now shows what the situation is with hypocrites who through guile are inwardly eaten up by evils - they are incapable of repenting. For the actual remnants of goodness and truth present with them have been destroyed and lost, and everything of spiritual life with them. And being incapable of repenting they cannot be forgiven. This is meant by the law that those who kill their neighbour with guile must be taken from the altar to die.

[5] Their damnation was described by the following prophetic utterance made by David regarding Joab, who had killed Abner with guile,

There will always be in the house of Joab ¹ one who suffers from a discharge, or is a leper, or supports himself with a rod, or falls by the sword, or lacks bread. 2 Samuel 3:27, 29.

'One suffering from a discharge' means profanation of the good of love; 'a leper' means profanation of the truth of faith, 6963; 'one supporting himself with a rod', or a person who is lame, means those with whom all good has been lost, 4302, 4314; 'one falling by the sword' means those constantly dying through falsities, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294; and 'one lacking bread' means those deprived of all spiritual life, for 'bread' is the sustainment of spiritual life by means of good, 6118, 8410. Because such people were meant by 'Joab' he was killed by the command of Solomon at the altar to which he had fled, 1 Kings 2:28-32.

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7495. Exodus 9

1. And Jehovah said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, and you are to tell him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, Send My People away, and let them serve Me.

2. For if you refuse to send them away and you still hold them back,

3. Behold, the hand of Jehovah will be on your livestock that are in the field, on the horses, on the asses, on the camels, on the herd, and on the flock - an extremely severe pestilence.

4. And Jehovah will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of the Egyptians, and nothing will die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.

5. And Jehovah set a fixed time, saying, Tomorrow Jehovah will do this thing in the land.

6. And Jehovah did this thing on the morrow, and all the livestock of the Egyptians died; and of the livestock of the children of Israel not one died.

7. And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not even one of the livestock of Israel had died. And Pharaoh's heart was stubborn, and he did not send the people away.

8. And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Take for yourselves in fistfuls ¹ the ashes of the furnace, and let Moses scatter them in the direction of heaven before Pharaoh's eyes.

9. And there will then be dust over all the land of Egypt, and there will be on man and on beast sores breaking out into pustules, in all the land of Egypt.

10. And they took the ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses scattered them in the direction of heaven, and sores producing pustules developed, breaking out on man and on beast.

11. And the magicians could not stand before Moses on account of the sores; for there were sores on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

12. And Jehovah made Pharaoh's heart unyielding, and he did not hear ² them, as Jehovah had spoken to Moses.

13. And Jehovah said to Moses, Rise up in the morning early, and stand before Pharaoh; and you are to say to him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, Send My people away, and let them serve Me.

14. For this time I am sending all My plagues onto your heart, and onto your servants, and onto your people, in order that you may know that there is none like Me in the whole earth.

15. For now I could stretch out ³ My hand, and strike you and your people with pestilence, and you would be cut off from the earth.

16. But yet for this reason have I caused you to stand ⁴ - for you to see My power, and in order that My name may be declared in the whole earth.

17. You go on exalting yourself against My people by not sending them away.

18. Behold, about this time tomorrow I am causing it to rain an extremely heavy hail, of which there has not been the like in Egypt from the day it was founded even until now.

19. And now send, assemble your livestock and all that you have in the field; every man and beast that will be found in the field and will not be gathered home, ⁵ the hail will come down on them and they will die.

20. And he that feared the word of Jehovah among the servants of Pharaoh caused his servants and his livestock to flee to the houses.

21. And he that did not take the word of Jehovah to heart left his servants and his livestock in the field.

22. And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand towards heaven, and there will be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast, and on every plant of the field in the land of Egypt.

23. And Moses stretched out his rod towards heaven, and Jehovah gave forth voices ⁶ and hail, and fire ran down to the earth; and Jehovah caused hail to rain onto the land of Egypt.

24. And there was hail, and at the same time fire running down ⁷ in the midst of the hail, extremely heavy, of which there had not been the like in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

25. And the hail struck in all the land of Egypt everything that was in the field, from man and even to beast; and the hail struck every plant of the field, and broke every tree of the field.

26. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

27. And Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned this time; Jehovah is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

28. Plead with Jehovah, there have been enough of God's voices' and of hail; and I will send you away, and you will not continue to remain.

29. And Moses said to him, As I am going out of the city I will spread out my palms towards Jehovah; the voices' will cease, and there will be no more hail, in order that you may know that the earth is Jehovah's.

30. And [as for] you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the face of Jehovah God.

31. And the flax and the barley were struck; for the barley was a ripening ear, and the flax a stem. ⁸

32. And the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they were hidden. ⁹

33. And Moses went out from Pharaoh, from the city, and spread out his palms towards Jehovah; and the voices' and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.

34. And Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the voices ⁶ had ceased; and he continued to sin, and made his heart stubborn, he and his servants.

35. And Pharaoh's heart was made unyielding, and he did not send the children of Israel away, as Jehovah had spoken through the hand of Moses.

CONTENTS

This chapter continues to deal with the vastation of those who molest members of the spiritual Church. In the internal sense the chapter deals with the sixth, seventh, and eighth states or stages of their vastation, which the pestilence, the sores breaking out into pustules, and the rain in the form of hail describe. By these plagues is meant the laying waste of things of the Church present with them.

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