Arcana Coelestia # 10436
10436. 'With great power and with a strong hand' means by Divine Power. This is clear from the meaning of 'great power and a strong hand', when it has reference to Jehovah, as Divine Power, dealt with in 7188, 7189, 8050, 8069, 8153. What these words and those before them imply becomes clear from the train of thought in the internal sense, which is that although the Israelite nation's interest lay in external things and not in what was internal, to such an extent that their minds could not be raised at all to more internal levels, what was representative of the Church could nevertheless be established among them and the Word could be written there. These things could be achieved because by the Divine Power contact with heaven by means of those external things in which they were interested without anything internal was nevertheless possible, and so a situation could be effected similar to that which would have existed if they had been interested at the same time in what was internal. On this matter, see what has been shown regarding that nation in the places referred to above in 10396, such as those which show that through the external observances among them, which were representative of inner realities, there was by the Lord's Divine Power contact with heaven, 4311, 4444, 6304, 8588, 8788, 8806.
[2] It should be remembered that the Church is not the Church by virtue of its outward worship but of its inward worship; for outward worship is that of the body whereas inward is that of the soul. Consequently outward worship without the inward is no more than movements of the body, thus worship without life from the Divine. Through the inner components of worship a member of the Church is in contact with the heavens, for whom the outward form serves as the basis on which the inner components may rest like a house on its foundations. And when everything rests like a house on its foundations all is complete and firm, and the whole person is governed by the Divine.
[3] This is what a member of the Ancient Church had been like. This too had been a representative Church and for this reason had been accepted by the Lord, as is clear from a large number of places in the Word. A description of it is contained in the Song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32:3-15. But such a Church could not be established among the Israelite and Jewish nation, for the reason given above, that inwardly they were foul, and so were altogether contrary to the good of heavenly love and the good of faith, which are the inner components of worship. Therefore, when they insisted so stubbornly that they should enter the land of Canaan, which was tantamount to representing the Church, the Lord saw to it that contact with heaven through their merely outward worship should nevertheless be made possible. For the purpose of all worship is contact with heaven, and through this the Lord's being joined to man. These are the matters which the internal sense is dealing with at present.
Exodus 6
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Yahweh said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land."
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God spoke to Moses, and said to him, "I am Yahweh;
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and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them.
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I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens.
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Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant.
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Therefore tell the children of Israel, 'I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:
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and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
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I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.'"
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Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn't listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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"Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel Go out of his land."
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Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, "Behold, the children of Israel haven't listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?"
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Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
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These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.
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The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.
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These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years.
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The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families.
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The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years.
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The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.
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Amram took Jochebed his father's sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years.
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The sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
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The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri.
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Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
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The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.
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Eleazar Aaron's son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites according to their families.
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These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Yahweh said, "Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies."
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These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron.
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It happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
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that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I Speak to you."
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Moses said before Yahweh, "Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?"
