9341. And from the wilderness even unto the river. That this signifies from the delight of what is sensuous even to the good and truth of the rational, is evident from the signification of “setting a border,” as being extension (as just above, n. 9340); from the signification of “a wilderness,” as being a place uninhabited and not cultivated; thus in application to the spiritual things of faith and to the celestial things of love, “a wilderness” denotes where there is no good and no truth, as is the case with what is sensuous (that the sensuous of man is of this character, see n. 9331). As the sensuous has no celestial good and no spiritual truth, but has delight and pleasure from the body and the world, therefore by “a wilderness” is signified this outermost in the man of the church. And from the signification of “the Euphrates,” which is here “the river,” as being the good and truth of the rational. That “the Euphrates” has this signification is because Assyria was there, and by “Assyria,” or “Asshur,” is signified the rational (n. 119, 1186).

[2] This is meant by “the Euphrates” where it is said, “from the wilderness to the Euphrates,” and “from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates;” as in Joshua:

From the wilderness, and Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, and even unto the great sea toward the setting of the sun, shall be your border (Josh. 1:4).

To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Genesis 15:18).

Thou madest a vine to journey out of Egypt. Thou hast sent out its shoots even unto the sea, and its twigs unto the river (Psalms 80:8, 11);

“a vine out of Egypt” denotes the spiritual church represented by the sons of Israel; “unto the sea,” and “unto the river,” denote to interior truths and goods. In like manner in Micah:

They shall come unto thee from Assyria and from the cities of Egypt, and thence from Egypt even unto the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain (Micah 7:12).

[3] But something else is signified by “the Euphrates” when it is looked at from the middle of the land of Canaan as its extreme limit on one side, or as what closes it in on one side; in this case by that river is signified that which is the ultimate of the Lord’s kingdom, that is, which is the ultimate of heaven and the church, in respect to rational good and truth. (That the borders of the land of Canaan, which were rivers and seas, signified the ultimates in the Lord’s kingdom, see n. 1585, 1866, 4116, 4240, 6516.) “The Euphrates” therefore signified such truths and such goods as belong to the sensuous mind, and correspond to the truths and goods of the rational. But as the sensuous of man stands forth nearest to the world and the earth, and receives its objects therefrom (n. 9331), it therefore acknowledges nothing else as good than that which delights the body; and nothing else as truth than that which favors this delight. By “the river Euphrates” therefore in this sense is signified the pleasure arising from the loves of self and of the world; and the falsity which confirms it by reasonings from the fallacies of the senses.

[4] This is what is meant by “the river Euphrates” in Revelation:

A voice said to the sixth angel, Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates. They were loosed, and they killed the third part of men (Revelation 9:14-15);

“the angels bound at the Euphrates” denote the falsities originating through reasonings from the fallacies of the senses, which falsities favor the delights of the loves of self and of the world. Again:

The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings who are from the sun rising might be prepared (Revelation 16:12);

“the Euphrates” here denotes falsities from a like origin; “the water dried up” denotes these falsities removed by the Lord; “the way of the kings from the east” denotes that then the truths of faith are seen by and revealed to those who are in love to the Lord. (That “waters” denote truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, see n. 705, 739, 756, 790, 839, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 7307, 8137, 8138, 8568, 9323; that “a way” denotes truth seen and revealed, n. 627, 2333, 3477; that “kings” denote those who are in truths, n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148; that “the east” denotes the Lord, and also love from Him and to Him, n. 101, 1250, 3708; and in like manner “the sun,” n. 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696, 5377, 7078, 7083, 7171, 7173, 8644, 8812)

[5] In Jeremiah:

Thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, when He led thee into the way. And now what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? Or what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? (Jeremiah 2:17-18);

“to lead into the way” denotes to teach truth; “what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor?” denotes what hast thou to do with falsities which have been occasioned by memory-knowledges wrongly applied? “What hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?” denotes what hast thou to do with the falsities which have arisen through reasonings from the fallacies of the senses in favor of the delights of the loves of self and of the world?

[6] In the same:

Jehovah said unto the prophet, Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. So I went and hid it at the Euphrates. Afterward it came to pass at the end of many days, that Jehovah said, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence. Wherefore he went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where he had hidden it; but behold the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing (Jeremiah 13:3-7);

“the girdle of the loins” denotes the external bond containing all things of love and thence of faith; “to be hidden in a hole of the rock by the Euphrates” denotes where faith is in obscurity and has become no faith, through falsities from reasonings; “the girdle marred so that it was profitable for nothing” denotes that all things of love and of faith are then dissolved and dispersed.

[7] That Jeremiah was to tie a stone to the book written by him, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates (Jeremiah 51:63); signified that the prophetic Word would perish through like things. In the same:

Let not the swift flee away, nor the strong one escape; toward the north near the shore of the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen. But Jehovah Zebaoth taketh vengeance on His adversaries. The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth hath a sacrifice in the land of the north by the river Euphrates (Jeremiah 46:6, 10); where also “the river Euphrates” denotes truths falsified, and goods adulterated, through reasonings from fallacies and the derivative memory-knowledges which favor the loves of self and of the world.

8137. And I will be glorified. That this signifies that they should see a Divine effect from the Divine Human of the Lord in the dissipation of falsity, is evident from the signification of “to be glorified,” when said of Jehovah or the Lord, as being a Divine effect, here from His Divine Human, because by coming into the world and assuming the Human and making it Divine, the Lord cast into the hells all evils and falsities, and reduced the heavens into order, and also liberated from damnation those who were of the spiritual church (see n. 6854, 6914, 7091, 7828, 7932, 8018). These things are in general signified by “being glorified,” but here there is signified that they who had infested the well-disposed should be cast into hell, and there encompassed about with falsities as with waters of a sea, and this as a Divine effect from the mere presence of the Lord.

[2] To show how the case herein is, it shall be further unfolded. There are as many hells as there are genera and species of evils, each hell being separated from others as it were by rain-storms, clouds, or waters. In the other life evils and falsities appear before the eyes of spirits as rain-storms and clouds, and also as waters; the falsities from evils of those who have been of the spiritual church and have lived evilly, appear as waters; but the falsities from evils of those who have been of the celestial church, appear as rain-storms. They who are in the hells appear to be thus encompassed, with a difference everywhere in respect to amount and kind, density and rarity, thick darkness and dimness, according to the genus and species of the falsity from evil. The hell where they are who have lived in faith separate from charity and in a life of evil, is encompassed as by the waters of a sea; the falsities of evil do not indeed appear as waters to those who are there, but to those who look from without. Above that sea, where these are, are the hells of adulterers; these are above, because in the internal sense adulteries denote adulterations of good and the consequent perversions of truth, thus they denote evils from which come falsities contrary to the truths and goods of faith (n. 2466, 2729, 3399), being such falsities as are with those who are in the hell beneath, and who have lived contrary to the truth of the church, and have made its good of no account, and therefore have also adulterated and perverted everything that is said in the Word about good, that is, about charity toward the neighbor and about love to God.

[3] As regards the “glorification in Pharaoh and in his army,” this here denotes immersion in this hell and being encompassed by waters as of a sea at the mere presence of the Lord, as was said above. For the evil flee from the presence of the Lord, that is, the presence of the good and truth that are from Him, feeling horror and torment at their mere approach; and also by reason of this presence they become encompassed about with their own evils and falsities, for these then burst forth from them; and indeed these evils and falsities encompass and are interposed in order to prevent the Divine from flowing in and tormenting them. This is the Divine effect which is here signified by the “glorification in Pharaoh and in his army.” That this effect is from the Divine Human of the Lord, is because, as before said, by the Lord’s coming into the world and assuming the Human and making it Divine, He cast all falsities and evils into hell, and reduced truths and goods in the heavens into order, and liberated from damnation those who were of the spiritual church.