7779. From the firstborn of Pharaoh about to sit upon his throne. That this signifies the falsified truths of faith which are in the first place, is evident from the signification of “the firstborn,” as being faith (see n. 352, 2435, 6344, 7035); from the representation of Pharaoh, as being memory-knowledge in general perverting the truths of the church (n. 6015, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692), thus “the firstborn of Pharaoh” denotes the faith of such, consequently the faith of the falsified truths of faith; and from the signification of “throne,” as being the reign of truth, and in the opposite sense, the reign of falsity (see n. 5313). That the falsified truths of faith which are in the first place are meant by “the firstborn of Pharaoh about to sit upon his throne” is evident from the fact that it is said “even to the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the millstones,” by which are signified the falsified truths of faith which are in the last place; and moreover, the son of a king is what comes first, because a king is the head.

[2] Falsified truths in the first place are those which are acknowledged as essentials, such as these: that faith saves howsoever a man has lived; that it saves man in the last hour of his life; and that he then is pure from sins; thus that sins are wiped away in a moment, like the uncleanness of the hands by water; which insist that there is faith without charity, and that in respect to man’s salvation the life effects nothing, also that a man-devil can in a moment be made an angel of God. Such and the like are falsified truths in the first place. Those which are thence next derived are in the second place. Those which are remotely derived are in the last place. For the derivations of every truth are ample, and in a long series, some of which enter directly, some indirectly; those which only touch being the last.

[3] That such and the like are falsified truths of faith, is very evident; for who does not know, if he thinks justly, that the life of faith causes a man to be spiritual, but not faith except insofar as it has been implanted in the life. The life of man is his love, and that which he loves he wills and intends, and that which he wills and intends, he does. This is the being of man, but not that which he knows and thinks and does not will. This being of man cannot in any wise be changed into another being by thinking about mediation and salvation; but by regeneration anew, which is being effected during a great part of his life; for he must be conceived, born, and grown up anew; and this is not effected by thinking and speaking, but by willing and acting.

[4] These things are said because by the “firstborn of Pharaoh,” and the “firstborn of the Egyptians,” is signified faith separated from charity, which has been shown in what precedes not to be faith, but the memory-knowledge of such things as are of faith. The firstborn of the Egyptians represented this faith because the Egyptians were versed in the knowledge of rituals of the church above the rest who constituted the representative church after the time of the flood (see n. 4749, 4964, 4966, 6004). At that time all rites were representative of the spiritual things which are in heaven. The Egyptians had more knowledge of these things than others, but in process of time they began to love the knowledges alone, and then, in like manner as is done at this day, to make everything of the church consist in the knowledge of such things as are of the church, and no longer in the life of charity. Thus they inverted the whole order of the church, which being inverted, the truths which are called truths of faith could not but be falsified; for the truths which are applied contrary to Divine order (as is the case when they are applied to evils, and among the Egyptians to magic) are no longer truths with them, but become falsities from the evils to which they are applied.

[5] To illustrate this by the worship of a calf among the Egyptians. They knew what a calf represented, namely, the good of charity; so long as they knew this and thought this, when they saw calves, or when they prepared calves in feasts of charity such as the ancients held, and afterward when calves were applied in sacrifices, they then thought sanely and together with the angels in heaven, to whom a calf is the good of charity. But when they began to make calves of gold, and to place them in their temples and worship them, they then thought insanely and together with the infernals; and in this way they inverted a true representative into a false representative.

353. By “fat” is signified the celestial itself, which is also of the Lord. The celestial is all that which is of love. Faith also is celestial when it is from love. Charity is the celestial. All the good of charity is the celestial. All these were represented by the various kinds of fat in the sacrifices, and distinctively by that which covered the liver, or the caul; by the fat upon the kidneys; by the fat covering the intestines, and upon the intestines; which were holy, and were offered up as burnt-offerings upon the altar (Exodus 29:13, 22; Leviticus 3:3-4, 14; 4:8-9, 19, 26, 31, 35; 8:16, 25). They were therefore called the “bread of the offering by fire for a rest unto Jehovah” (Leviticus 3:14, 16). For the same reason the Jewish people were forbidden to eat any of the fat of the beasts by what is called “a perpetual statute throughout your generations” (Leviticus 3:17; 7:23, 25). This was because that church was such that it did not even acknowledge internal, much less celestial things.

[2] That “fat” signifies celestial things, and the goods of charity, is evident in the Prophets; as in Isaiah:

in Isaiah:

Wherefore do ye weigh silver for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Attend ye diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness (Isaiah 55:2).

And in Jeremiah:

I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satiated with My good (Jeremiah 31:14),

where it is very evident that fatness is not meant, but celestial spiritual good. So in David:

They are filled with the fatness of Thy house, and Thou makest them drink of the river of Thy deliciousnesses. For with Thee is the fountain of lives; in Thy light we see light (Psalms 36:8-9).Here “fatness” and the “fountain of lives” signify the celestial, which is of love; and the “river of deliciousnesses” and “light” the spiritual, which is of faith from love. Again in David:

My soul shall be satiated with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise Thee with lips of songs (Psalms 63:5),

where in like manner “fat” denotes the celestial, and “lips of songs” the spiritual. That it is what is celestial is very evident, because it will satiate the soul. For the same reason the first fruits, which were the firstborn of the earth, are called “fat” (Numbers 18:12).

[3] As celestial things are of innumerable genera, and still more innumerable species, they are described in general in the song which Moses recited before the people:

Butter of kine, and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs and of rams, the sons of Bashan, and of goats, with the fat of the kidneys of wheat; and thou shalt drink the blood of the grape, unmixed (Deuteronomy 32:14).

It is impossible for anyone to know the signification of these expressions except from the internal sense. Without the internal sense, such expressions as the “butter of kine” the “milk of sheep” the “fat of lambs” the “fat of rams and goats” the “sons of Bashan” the “fat of the kidneys of wheat” and the “blood of the grape” would be words and nothing more, and yet they all and each signify genera and species of celestial things.