9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

489. That by “sons and daughters” are signified the truths and goods which they had a perception of, and indeed by “sons” truths, and by “daughters” goods, is evident from many passages in the Prophets; for in the Word, as also in olden time, the conceptions and births of the church are called “sons and daughters” as in Isaiah:

The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising; lift up thine eyes round about and see; all they gather themselves together and come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side; then thou shalt see and flow together, and thy heart shall be amazed, and shall be enlarged (Isaiah 60:3-5),

in which passage “sons” signify truths, and “daughters” goods.

[2] In David:

Deliver me and rescue me from the hand of the sons of the stranger, whose mouth speaketh vanity; that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, that our daughters may be as corner-stones hewn in the form of a temple (Psalms 44:11-12),

where the “sons of the stranger” signify spurious truths, or falsities; “our sons” signify doctrinals of truth; “our daughters” doctrinals of good.

[3] In Isaiah:

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not back; bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; bring forth the blind people, and they shall have eyes; the deaf, and they shall have ears (Isaiah 43:6, 8),

in which passage “sons” signify truths; “daughters” goods; the “blind” those who would see truths; and the “deaf” those who would obey them.

[4] In Jeremiah:

Shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth; their flocks, their herds, their sons, and their daughters (Jeremiah 3:24),

where “sons” and “daughters” signify truths and goods. That “children” and “sons” signify truths, is plain from Isaiah: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale; for when he shall see his children the work of My hands in the midst of him, they shall sanctify My name, and shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel; they also that erred in spirit shall know understanding (Isaiah 29:22-24,

where the “Holy One of Jacob, the God of Israel” signifies the Lord; “children” signify the regenerate, who have the understanding of good and truth, as is indeed explained.

[5] Again:

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, for more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married wife (Isaiah 54:1),

where the “sons of the desolate” signify the truths of the primitive Church, or that of the Gentiles; the “sons of the married wife” the truths of the Jewish Church.

[6] In, Jeremiah:

My tent is laid waste and all My cords are plucked out; My sons are gone forth of Me, and are not (Jeremiah 10:20),

where “sons” signify truths. Again:

His sons shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before Me (Jeremiah 30:20),

where “sons” signify the truths of the Ancient Church.

In Zechariah:

I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, with thy sons, O Javan, and make thee as the sword of a mighty man (Zechariah 9:13),

signifying the truths of the faith of love.

4964. 'Was made to go down to Egypt' means to factual knowledge which the Church possessed. This is clear from the meaning of 'Egypt' as knowledge, or factual knowledge in general, dealt with in 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462. But no explanation of the essential nature of that factual knowledge properly meant by 'Egypt' has been provided as yet. In the Ancient Church there was doctrinal knowledge and there was factual knowledge. Doctrinal knowledge had regard to love to God and charity towards the neighbour, whereas factual knowledge had to do with the correspondences of the natural world with the spiritual world, and with the representations of spiritual and heavenly realities within natural and earthly ones. Such was the factual knowledge of those in the Ancient Church.

[2] Egypt was one of those parts of the world and one of those kingdoms where the Ancient Church also existed, 1138, 1385; but since in that land mainly factual knowledge was handed down from one generation to another, 'Egypt' means factual knowledge in general. This also explains why frequent reference is made to Egypt in the prophetical part of the Word, where that knowledge is meant specifically by 'Egypt'. What is more, the actual magic practised by the Egyptians had its origin in the same knowledge; for they were acquainted with the correspondences of the natural world with the spiritual, and at a later time, after the Church among them had come to an end, they misused these in magical practices. Now because such factual knowledge existed among them - that is to say, knowledge which taught correspondences, and also representatives and meaningful signs - and because this factual knowledge was the servant of the doctrinal teachings of the Church, especially in their understanding of things stated in their Word (for the Word of the Ancient Church was both prophetical and historical, like the Word that exists today, though this is a different Word, see 2686) 'he was made to go down to Egypt' consequently means made to go down to the factual knowledge which the Church possessed.

[3] Because the Lord is represented by 'Joseph' and the words 'Joseph was made to go down to Egypt' are used here, the meaning is that when the Lord was to glorify His Internal Man, that is, make it Divine, He first of all assimilated the factual knowledge possessed by the Church. Then, starting from and using that knowledge He advanced towards things increasingly interior and at length even to those that were Divine. For it pleased Him to glorify or make Himself Divine in conformity with the same kind of order as that by which He regenerates the human being or makes him spiritual, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402. That is to say, there is a gradual advance from external ideas, which are known facts and the truths of faith, towards internal ones, which are ideas of charity towards the neighbour and of love to Him. From this one may see what is meant by the following words in Hosea,

When Israel was a boy I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. Hosea 11:1.

These words refer to the Lord, see Matthew 2:15.