Arcana Coelestia #7522
7522. 'And there will then be dust in all the land of Egypt' means the damnation of those falsities in the natural mind. This is clear from the meaning of 'dust' as that which is damned, dealt with above in 7418; from the meaning of 'the ashes of the furnace', which were turned into dust, as falsities that are the product of evil desires, dealt with just above in 7519, 7520; and from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as the natural mind, dealt with in 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301. The meaning of 'dust' as that which is damned is evident from the places in the Word quoted in 7418, and also from the following in Moses,
If you will not obey the voice of Jehovah your God, cursed shall you be in the city, cursed shall you be in the field. Jehovah will make the rain of your land dust and grit; 2 it will come down onto you from heaven until you are destroyed. Deuteronomy 28:15-16, 24.
Jonah 3:7-8
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He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, "Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
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but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.
