Arcana Coelestia #7575
7575. 'And fire ran down to the earth' means evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'fire' as evil desires, dealt with in 1297, 1861, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324; and from the meaning of 'running down to the earth' 1 as taking possession of the natural mind right down to the lowest levels of it, 'the land of Egypt' being the natural mind, see 5276, 5178, 5280, 5188, 5301. Since 'hail' means falsities and 'fire' the evils from which they spring, when 'hail' is mentioned so too is 'fire' in Isaiah 30:30-31; Psalms 18:12-15; 78:47-49; Revelation 8:7, as well as in the verse immediately after this,
And there was hail, and fire at the same time running down in the midst of the hail, extremely heavy.
Footnotes:
1. i.e. in the land of Egypt
Psalms 18:15
15
Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
