5353. “和我父的全家” 表遗传之恶的移除. 这从 “父的家” 的含义清楚可知, “父的家” 在此是指遗传之恶. “家” 在内义上表示一个人, 事实上表示他的心智, 要么是他的理性心智, 要么是他的属世心智, 尤表那里的意愿, 因而表示良善或邪恶, 因为这些作为意愿的属性而存在 (参看710, 2233, 2234, 3128, 4973, 4982, 5023节); 故 “父的爱” 在此表示遗传之恶. “玛拿西” 所表示的性质就包含在这些和此前的话里. 在原文, “玛拿西” 表示 “遗忘”, 因而在内义上表示邪恶的移除, 无论人实际所行的邪恶还是遗传的邪恶; 因为一旦这些邪恶被移除, 一个新意愿就会产生. 这个新意愿通过来自主的良善的流注产生. 来自主的这种良善的流注在人身上是持续不断的; 但却有邪恶存在于那里, 无论他自己所行的邪恶, 还是遗传的邪恶, 阻碍并挡住了对它的接受. 不过, 一旦这些邪恶被移除, 一个新意愿就会产生. 这时, 它的产生在那些遭受不幸, 磨难或疾病的人当中是显而易见的. 在这些经历期间, 为一切邪恶源头的自我之爱和尘世之爱被除去; 于是人便好好思想神和邻舍, 还渴望他的邻舍好. 试探也一样, 试探是属灵的痛苦, 因而是内在的悲伤和绝望. 这些经历主要是为了除去邪恶, 待它们被除去后, 天上的良善就会从主流入, 一个新意愿从这良善而在属世层里面得以形成; 这个新意愿就是代表意义上的 “玛拿西”.

7097. 'I do not know Jehovah' means that they have no interest in the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'not knowing' as having no interest in, for a person who has no interest in something says that he knows nothing about it; and 'Jehovah' is used to mean the Lord, see above in 7091. The implications of this, of Pharaoh's saying that he does not know Jehovah, are as follows: The Egyptians had known Jehovah since ancient times, the reason being that the Ancient Church had existed in Egypt also, as may be plainly recognized from the fact that they were in possession of the representatives and meaningful signs of that Church. Egyptian hieroglyphics are nothing else, for these served to denote spiritual realities; and people knew that they did in actual fact correspond to those realities. But because they began to use such representatives and signs in their sacred worship, to treat them as objects of worship and also at length to turn them into magic, and in so doing to become linked to the devil's crew in hell, they completely destroyed the Ancient Church among themselves. This is why in the Word 'the Egyptians' means facts known to the Church that have been perverted, and also falsities that are opposed to the truths of the Church.

[2] Once the worship of God had become perverted in this way in Egypt, then they were no longer allowed to worship Jehovah either, or at length even to know that Jehovah had been the God of the Ancient Church; and the reason why this happened was to prevent them from profaning the name of Jehovah. The fact that the name of Jehovah was also known at that time, before it was revealed once again to Abraham's descendants through Moses on Mount Horeb, is plainly evident from Balaam, who was from Syria. He not only knew Jehovah but also worshipped Him and offered sacrifice to Him, Numbers 22-24. From all this one may now see why Pharaoh said, 'Who is Jehovah whose voice I am to hear, [telling me] to send the people away? I do not know Jehovah.'

[3] But since 'Pharaoh' represents those in hell who are steeped in falsities and molest those belonging to the spiritual Church, what is involved in all this needs to be stated. Those in hell who molest members of the spiritual Church consist for the most part of the kind of people who have said that faith alone saves and yet have led a life contrary to faith. And since the life they have led, thus the evil which they have contemplated, planned, and carried out, remains after death of the body, therefore to defend the evils assimilated into their life they either employ the things which they have said were matters of faith or else reject them altogether. But to prevent them from misusing the truths of faith, these are taken away from them. And when those truths have been taken they seize on falsities, which are completely contrary to the truths of faith, and then use the falsities to molest those guided by truths. Doing this is then for them the delight of life. Quite a number of them, to acquire power, also learn magic. This is done by those who used various tricks which they devised in the world to deceive their neighbour, and being successful then attributed everything to their own prudence.

[4] Those who have become like this acknowledge the Father as the Creator of all things, but they do not acknowledge the Lord. Regarding the Lord they use similar words to Pharaoh's here regarding Jehovah, 'Who is Jehovah? I do not know Jehovah'. Indeed just as the whole sphere pervading heaven is full of an acknowledgement of and love for the Lord, so the whole sphere pervading the hells is full of a denial of the Lord and of hatred towards Him. Nor can they bear to hear His name mentioned. Those in hell are by nature such that admonitions and threats do not make them leave off, so great is the delight of their life to molest the upright and draw them away from their acknowledgement of the Lord and faith in Him. That delight is intensified by the admonitions they receive to leave off, for they lead them to imagine that those whom they molest will shortly be done for. These are the ones whom 'Pharaoh' and 'the Egyptians' are used to mean specifically.