6693. Saying, Every son that is born, ye shall cast him forth into the river. That this signifies that they should immerse in falsities all truths which appear, is evident from the signification of “son,” as being truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373); and from the signification of “river,” as being things that belong to intelligence (n. 108, 109, 2702, 3051), here in the opposite sense, things contrary, thus falsities. That “to cast forth” denotes to immerse is manifest.

[2] That the “river of Egypt” denotes what is contrary to intelligence, thus falsity, is evident also in Isaiah:

The rivers shall recede; the rivers of Egypt shall diminish and be dried up; the papyri beside the river, beside the mouth of the river, and all the seed of the river, shall become dry, shall be driven forward; and therefore the fishers shall mourn, and all they that cast a hook into the river shall be sad, and they that spread a net upon the faces of the waters shall languish (Isaiah 19:6-8).

That here by the “river of Egypt” no river is meant, nor by “fishers” fishers, but that other things are meant, which do not appear unless it is known what is meant by “Egypt,” by the “river” there, and by “fishers,” is also evident; if these things are known, the sense is manifest. That by the “river of Egypt” is signified falsity, is plain from the particulars here.

[3] In Jeremiah:

Who is this that riseth up like the river, whose waters are tossed like the rivers? Egypt riseth up like the river, and his waters are tossed as the rivers; for he hath said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city, and them that dwell therein (Jeremiah 46:7-8);

here also the “river of Egypt” denotes falsities; to “go up and cover the earth” denotes to do so to the church; to “destroy the city,” denotes to destroy the doctrine of the church; “and them that dwell therein,” denotes the goods thence derived. (That the “earth” is the church may be seen above, n. 6649; and the “city,” the doctrine of the church, n. 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4493; and “inhabitants,” the goods therein, n. 2268, 2451, 2712)

[4] In Ezekiel:

Behold I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great whale that liest in the midst of his rivers; who hath said, The river is mine, and I have made myself. Therefore I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will make the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will make thee go up out of the midst of thy rivers, and every fish of thy rivers shall stick in thy scales. I will leave thee in the wilderness, and every fish of thy rivers (Ezekiel 29:3-5, 9-10);

what these things signify no one can know without the internal sense (that Egypt is not meant, is evident), thus unless it is known what is meant by “Pharaoh,” and what by a “river,” a “whale,” a “fish,” and “scales.” (That “Pharaoh” is the natural where memory-knowledge is, may be seen above, n. 5160, 5799, 6015; and that “whales” are the generals of memory-knowledges in the natural, n. 42; and “fishes” memory-knowledges under the general, n. 40, 991.) “Scales” denote those things which are manifestly external, thus sensuous, to which memory-knowledges which are falsities adhere. When these things are known, it is evident what is meant in the above passage by the “river of Egypt” namely, falsity.

[5] Again:

In that day when Pharaoh shall go down into hell I will make a mourning; I will cover the abyss over him, and I will curb his rivers, and the great waters shall be dammed up (Ezekiel 31:15).

Shall not the earth be shaken for this, and everyone mourn that dwelleth therein, so that it shall go up all of it like a brook, and be driven out, and overwhelmed as by the river of Egypt? In that day I will make the sun to set at noon, and I will darken the earth in the day of light (Amos 8:8-9; 9:5).

The “earth” which shall be “shaken” denotes the church (n. 6649); “to be overwhelmed as by the river of Egypt” denotes to perish by falsities; and because falsities are signified, it is said that “the sun shall set at noon,” and that “the earth shall be darkened in the day of light.” By “the sun setting at noon” is signified that the good of celestial love would recede, and by “the earth being darkened in the day of light,” that falsities would take possession of the church. (That the “sun” is the good of celestial love, may be seen above, n. 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696; also that “darkness” is falsity, n. 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531; and that the “earth” is the church, n. 82, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1411, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 2355, 4447, 4535, 5577.) Everyone can see that other things are signified here than what appear in the letter, as that “the earth shall be shaken,” and that “everyone that dwelleth therein shall mourn,” that “the sun shall set at noon,” and “the earth be darkened in the day of light.” Unless the church is understood by the “earth,” falsity by the “river,” and celestial love by the “sun,” no sense which can be unfolded is found there.

[6] As the “river of Egypt” signifies falsity, therefore Moses was commanded to smite with his staff upon the waters of that river, and they were consequently turned into blood, and every fish died in the river, and the river stank (Exodus 7:17-21); and Aaron also was commanded to stretch out his hand with the rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, whereupon frogs came up over the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:1-2). That “waters” in the opposite sense signify falsities (see n. 790 d as the waters are those of the river, the “river” relatively denotes falsity in general.

2495. CHAPTER 20

That the Word contains within it an internal sense that is not apparent in the letter has already been stated and shown in many places, and the nature of this internal sense appears from all that has thus far been unfolded, beginning with the first chapter of Genesis. Nevertheless as the few who at this day believe in the Word do not know that there is such a sense, it may be well to confirm it further.

[2] The Lord describes the Consummation of the Age, or the last period of the church, as follows:

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24).

That in this passage the “sun” does not mean the sun, nor the “moon” the moon, nor the “stars” the stars; but that the “sun” signifies love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; the “moon” the faith of love and charity; and the “stars” the knowledges of good and truth, was shown above (n. 31, 32, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2120, 2441); so that by these words of the Lord there is signified that in the consummation of the age (or last period of the church) there will no longer be any love, or charity, nor therefore any faith.

[3] That this is the meaning is evident from similar words of the Lord in the Prophets, as in Isaiah:

Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, to make the earth a solitude; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it; for the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (Isaiah 13:9-10); where also the last period of the church, or what is the same, the consummation of the age, is treated of.

In Joel:

A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity, before Him the earth quaked, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining (Joel 2:2, 10);

with a similar meaning. Again in the same:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes (Joel 2:31).

And again in the same:

The day of Jehovah is near, the sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining (Joel 3:14-15).

In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all the luminaries of light in the heavens will I make dark, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7-8).

So too in John:

I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and behold there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell unto the earth (Revelation 6:12-13).

The fourth angel sounded, so that the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, and the third part of them was darkened (Revelation 8:12).

[4] From these passages it is evident that the Lord’s words in the Evangelists involve much the same as His words in the Prophets, namely, that in the last times there will be neither charity, nor faith; and that this is the internal sense; as also is still further evident in Isaiah:

The moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, for Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem (Isaiah 24:23).

That is to say, faith, which is the “moon,” shall blush; and charity, which is the “sun,” shall be ashamed, because they are such; for it cannot be said of the moon and the sun that they shall blush and be ashamed. And in Daniel:

The goat’s horn grew toward the south, and toward the east, and grew even to the army of the heavens, and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth and trampled upon them (Daniel 8:9-10); where it is plain to everyone that the “army of the heavens” does not signify an “army,” nor the “stars” stars.