10156. 'Who brought them out of the land of Egypt' means salvation from hell by the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'being brought out of the land of Egypt' as being delivered from hell, dealt with in 8866, 9197, thus being saved. 'The land of Egypt' means hell because that land in its true and proper sense means the natural level and the factual knowledge there; and 'being brought out of' the natural man and the factual knowledge there and being raised to the level of the spiritual man, to intelligence and wisdom there, also constitutes being brought out of hell. For a person is born natural, but becomes spiritual through regeneration; and if he does not become spiritual he is in hell. The knowledge which the natural man, that is, a person who has not been regenerated, possesses dwells in the light of the world, whereas the intelligence which the spiritual man, that is, a person who has been regenerated, possesses dwells in the light of heaven. And as long as a person sees things solely in the light of the world he is in hell; but when he sees them at the same time in the light of heaven he is in heaven.

[2] But people who possess no more than natural knowledge and as a consequence do not see things in any light other than the light of the world can have no belief at all in the things that belong to heaven. Furthermore if they wish to investigate these things with the light they see by, called natural illumination, they encounter a kind of thick darkness which blinds them and blots out everything heavenly. For that in the mind which appears to be thick darkness is in reality such. This explains why a merely natural man, however much he thinks himself to be more enlightened than others, at heart rejects Divine and heavenly realities. It is also the reason why so many learned people are made brainless by their knowledge; for more of them than of simple people refuse to accept the things that constitute the faith of the Church and of heaven. It is different with those who allow themselves to be raised by the Lord to the light of heaven. These are first raised above the factual knowledge which the natural man possesses, and then in the light of heaven they behold the things within their natural man, which are called known facts, and clearly distinguish them, choosing those that make sense and are consistent, and rejecting or setting aside those that make no sense and are inconsistent.

[3] In short, the situation is that as long as a person is merely natural his interiors, which behold things in the light of heaven, are closed, and his exteriors, which behold things in the light of the world, are open. At this time the person looks downwards, that is, to the world and towards self; for everything composing his will and thought inclines in that direction. And the direction in which a person looks is also that in which his heart, that is, his will and his love, is turned. But when a person becomes spiritual his interiors, which behold things in the light of heaven, are opened, and then the person looks upwards, which is brought about through his being raised up by the Lord, so that he looks to heaven and towards the Lord. In this direction also everything that composes his will and his thought - thus his heart, that is, his love - is raised.

[4] For the human being has been created in such a way that his internal man should conform to an image of heaven, and his external man to an image of the world, 6057, 9279, to the end that heaven and the world might be brought together in the human being. Thus through him the Lord would flow from heaven into the world and govern it, with each individual person in particular and with all in general, and in this way would join the two together and thereby cause the likeness of heaven to exist in the world as well. When however a person is interested only in the world heaven with him has been closed; but when he allows himself to be raised by the Lord heaven with him is opened and the world becomes subordinate to it. And when this happens hell is separated and removed from him, at which point the person knows what good is and what evil is, but not before. This is what is called 'the image of God' with a person, Genesis 1:26-27.

[5] These matters have been stated in order that people may know what the spiritual man is and what the natural man is, and that the merely natural man, if he is not made spiritual by the Lord, is an embodiment of hell, consequently that they may know why hell is meant by 'Egypt', when yet the natural level and the factual knowledge there are meant by it.

'Egypt' means factual knowledge, see the places referred to in 9340.

It therefore means the natural level, see those referred to in 9391.

It also means hell, 8866, 9197.

553. And on their heads as it were crowns like gold.- That this signifies, that they appear to themselves, when they reason, to be wise and conquerors, is evident from the signification of head, which denotes wisdom and intelligence, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of a crown of gold, as denoting a reward of victory (see above, n. 358). A crown like gold signifies the reward of victory, because kings, in ancient times, when in combats with their enemies, wore crowns of gold upon their heads, besides various other insignia which were then the mark of kings. The reason was, that kings represented the Lord as to Divine Truth, and Divine Truth fights from Divine Good; this therefore was represented by a crown of gold, while wisdom itself and intelligence were represented by the head upon which the crown was. Hence crowns were assigned to martyrs, for they fought from Divine Truth against falsities from evil, which are from hell, and came off conquerors, because they maintained the combat even unto death which they feared not. From these things it is evident, that by [the locusts] having upon their heads as it were crowns like gold, is signified, that those who are sensual men, from the persuasion of falsity in which they are, appear to themselves to be wise and conquerors.

[2] Since the locusts are described as to their heads, their faces, and their breasts, upon which were breast-plates, and as to their tails, their hair and teeth, it is important that the signification of their heads and the rest should be known.

The head, in the Word, signifies wisdom and intelligence, because these reside in it; but when those are treated of who are not in any wisdom and intelligence, because in falsities from evil, then the head signifies folly and insanity, because falsities and evils are therein and therefrom. In the present case, however, as those who are sensual and in the persuasion of falsity are treated of, the head properly signifies folly and insanity, for they see falsities as truths, and evils as goods, being perpetually in visions from fallacies. It is therefore said of them, that "on their heads as it were crowns like gold, and their faces as the faces of men," and many things that follow, all of which were appearances originating in their fantasy, wherefore, it is said, "as it were crowns," and "like gold." It is evident, from this that those appearances were not real, but fallacious appearances. For all the appearances which exist in the heavens are real, because they are correspondences. For the interior things pertaining to the affections and thence thoughts of the angels, when they pass to the sight of their eyes, are clothed in forms such as appear in the heavens, and because they are visible, they are called appearances, and are said to be correspondences, and they are real because from creation. But the case is otherwise in regard to the appearances in some of the hells, where are those who are in persuasions of falsity from evil; from these persuasions fantastic visions exist, in which there is inwardly nothing real, therefore they also vanish away upon the influx of only a single ray from the light of heaven. Of such a nature are the appearances here related concerning the locusts. But concerning appearances in the spiritual world, as well real as not real, see Heaven and Hell 170-176); as also above in the explanation (n. 369, 395).