3854. 'Jehovah saw' means the Lord's foresight and providence. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' in reference to the Lord as foresight and providence, dealt with in the next verse where Reuben is the subject, who was so named from the expression 'to see' - 'Jehovah' being the Lord, see 1343, 1736, 1793, 2156, 2329, 2921, 3023, 3035.

[2] As regards foresight and providence in general, foresight has reference more to man, providence more to the Lord. The Lord foresaw from eternity what the human race was going to be like in the future and what every member of it was going to be like, and that evil was going to increase all the time, so that at length man, of himself, would rush headlong into hell. That being so, the Lord has provided not only the means by which He makes it possible for him to be diverted from hell and led towards heaven, but also does in His providence divert and lead him all the time. The Lord also foresaw that it would be impossible for any good to take root in man except in his freedom, for that which does not take root in freedom is dispelled at the first sign of evil and of temptation. This the Lord foresaw, as well as the fact that of himself, that is, from his own freedom, man would be inclined towards the deepest hell. That being so, the Lord provided that if he would not allow himself to be led in freedom towards heaven he could still be diverted towards a milder hell; but if he would allow himself to be led in freedom towards good then he could be diverted towards heaven. From these considerations one may see what foresight is and what providence is, and that appropriate provisions are made for things that are foreseen.

[3] From this it may be seen how far someone errs who believes that the Lord has not foreseen and does not see the smallest individual thing with man, or that within the smallest individual thing He does not foresee and lead, when in fact the Lord's foresight and providence are present within the tiniest details of all the smallest individual things with him, and in details so tiny that it is impossible to comprehend in any manner of thought one in many millions of them. For every smallest fraction of a moment of a person's life entails a chain of consequences extending into eternity. Indeed every one is like a new beginning to those that follow, and so every single moment of the life both of his understanding and of his will is a new beginning. And since the Lord foresaw from eternity what man was going to be like in the future and even into eternity it is clear that providence is present in the smallest individual things, and, as has been stated, is governing him and diverting him so that he may be such, this being achieved by constant re-shaping of his freedom. But this subject will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed further later on.

10638. 'Behold, I am driving out from [before] your face the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite' means the moving away then of evils and the falsities arising from them. This is clear from the meaning of 'driving out from [before] the face' as moving or shifting something away from the interiors composing thought and affection (for 'driving out' means moving or shifting something away, while 'the face' means interior things, see in the places referred to in 9546; and the interiors of a human being are the things present in his understanding and will, or thought and affection, so that 'driving out from the face' means moving [evils and falsities] away from these); and from the representation of the nations in the land of Canaan as evils and falsities, dealt with in the places referred to in 9327. But as regards which particular evil or falsity is represented by each nation, see in explanations where they are the subject; that is, for what 'the Amorite' means, see 6306, 6859; for what 'the Canaanite' means, 1573, 1574, 4818; for what 'the Hittite' means, 2913, 6858; for what 'the Perizzite' means, 1573, 1574, 6859; and for what 'the Hivite' and 'the Jebusite' mean, 6860. But these things are said in regard to the Word, for 'Moses', from whose face those nations were to be driven out, represents the Word, as may be recognized from what has gone before.

[2] The implications of all this must be stated briefly. When it says that if he observed what Jehovah commanded He would drive out those nations from [before] his face the meaning is, If they carried out the chief commands laid down by eternal truth evils and falsities would be moved or shifted away. Those commands are what come next in the internal sense, the main ones being that they should acknowledge no other God than the Lord, that He is the Source of everything good and everything true, and also that salvation and eternal life come from Him. And when people who believe these things and love the truth of them are reading the Word everything evil and false is shifted away from them, because at that time the Lord enlightens them and leads them. At that time also what they think does not originate in themselves, nor does their affection for the Word originate in themselves but in the Lord. Consequently no evil at all or falsity of evil comes in, for the Lord moves them away. These are the ones who understand the Word, have an affection for the truths derived from it, and also love to live in accord with them.

[3] But when people who do not acknowledge those main commands laid down by eternal truth read the Word they do not receive any enlightenment, and so do not rely on the Lord's help to see the truths there. Instead the things which they see they see all by themselves; and when people see things all by themselves they see falsities instead of truths, or if they do see truths they nevertheless falsify them by means of ideas of their own which they have adopted, or by means of their selfish loves to which they direct and so attach the truths, from which falsities of evil result. These are the things which are meant in the internal sense by the words of the present verse. The reason why those things are meant is that angels who understand the Word in its internal sense when someone in the world reads it do not become aware of Moses, nor of the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, for no names pass into heaven, only the realities meant by them, so that by Moses the Word is understood there, and by those nations evils and falsities.