6637. Deze zijn de namen van de zonen Israëls, dat dit het hoedanige van de Kerk betekent, staat vast uit de betekenis van de naam, namelijk het hoedanige, waarover de nrs. 144, 145, 1754, 1869, 2009, 2628, 2724, 3006, 3421; uit de uitbeelding van de zonen Israëls, namelijk de geestelijke ware dingen, waarover de nrs. 5414, 5879, 5951; en uit de uitbeelding van Israël, te weten het goede van het ware ofwel het geestelijk goede, waarover de nrs. 3654, 4598, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833.

Omdat Israël het goede van het ware of het geestelijk goede uitbeeldt en zonen de geestelijke ware dingen in het natuurlijke, beelden daarom de zonen Israëls de Kerk uit, want de Kerk is Kerk krachtens het geestelijk goede en het ware daaruit.

Wie niet in het geestelijk goede is, dat wil zeggen, in het goede van de naastenliefde en in de geestelijke waarheden, dat wil zeggen, in de ware dingen van het geloof, is niet van de Kerk, ook al is hij binnen de Kerk geboren; het gehele hemelse rijk van de Heer is immers in het goede van de liefde en het geloof; indien de Kerk niet in een eender goede is, kan zij de Kerk niet zijn, omdat zij niet verbonden is met de hemel, want de Kerk is het rijk van de Heer op aarde.

Dat zij Kerk wordt genoemd, is niet uit hoofde hiervan dat het Woord daar is en dat de leerstellingen daaruit zijn, noch uit hoofde hiervan dat de Heer daar bekend is en dat de sacramenten daar zijn, maar zij is Kerk uit hoofde hiervan dat men leeft volgens het Woord of volgens de leer uit het Woord en dat de leer het richtsnoer van het leven is; zij die niet zodanig zijn, zijn niet van de Kerk, maar zijn buiten haar; en zij die in het boze leven, dus die tegen de leer leven, zijn verder buiten de Kerk dan de heidenen die in het geheel niets weten ten aanzien van het Woord, ten aanzien van de Heer en ten aanzien van de sacramenten; want de eerstgenoemden blussen bij zich de Kerk uit, omdat zij de goede en ware dingen van de Kerk weten, wat de heidenen niet kunnen doen, omdat zij van die zaken onwetend zijn.

Men moet eveneens weten dat eenieder die in het goede van de naastenliefde en het geloof leeft, een Kerk is en dat hij een koninkrijk van de Heer is; vandaar wordt hij ook een tempel genoemd en ook een huis Gods.

Uit degenen die Kerken zijn in het bijzonder, wordt, hoezeer zij ook van elkaar verwijderd zijn, de Kerk in het algemeen gesticht.

Dit nu is de Kerk die onder de zonen Israëls hier en in wat volgt wordt verstaan.

6638. 'Who came to Egypt with Jacob' means after truths have been introduced into factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'Egypt' as factual knowledge, dealt with in 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966, 5700, 5702, 6004, 6015, 6125; from the representation of 'Jacob' as truth, and also good, in the natural, or the natural as regards truth and good, dealt with in 3305, 3509, 3525, 3546, 3576, 3599, 3659, 3669, 3677, 3775, 3829, 4009, 4134, 4286, 4337, 4538, 5506, 5533, 5535, 6001, 6236. The fact that 'coming to Egypt' means being introduced into factual knowledge may be recognized from the explanations of the contents in those chapters where the journeying of the sons of Jacob to Egypt to buy grain is dealt with, and after that their arrival there together with Jacob. For what the situation is when truths known to the Church are introduced into factual knowledge, see 6004, 6023, 6052, 6071, 6077. From all this it is evident that by 'the sons of Israel who came to Egypt' are meant truths that have been introduced into factual knowledge.

6015. 'In the carts which Pharaoh sent to carry him' means the matters of doctrine obtained from the Church's factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'the carts' as matters of doctrine, dealt with in 5945; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the Church's factual knowledge in general. For 'Egypt' means the Church's factual knowledge, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966, and therefore the king of that land means such knowledge in general, as he does elsewhere in the Word, though in the majority of places perverted factual knowledge is meant by Egypt and so also by Pharaoh. The representation of 'Pharaoh' as factual knowledge in general is evident in Isaiah,

The princes of Zoan are foolish, the wise counsellors of Pharaoh; counsel has become brutish. How do you say to Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of the kings of old? Isaiah 19:11.

Here 'Pharaoh' stands for the Church's factual knowledge in general, which was why he was called 'a son of the wise' and 'a son of the kings of old'. 'The wise' and 'the kings of old' stand for the truths that the Ancient Church possessed. But that factual knowledge made nonsensical is meant, for it says 'The princes of Zoan have become foolish; counsel has become brutish'.

[2] In the same prophet,

They depart to go down to Egypt but have not asked at My mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will become shame for you, and trust in the shadow of Egypt ignominy. Isaiah 30:2-3.

'Strengthening themselves in the strength of Egypt, and trusting in the shadow of Egypt' stands for relying in matters of faith on factual knowledge and having no belief in any spiritual truth unless it is what factual knowledge and sensory evidence so declare. But that is a perversion of order. The truths of faith must occupy first place, and supporting factual knowledge must take second place; for if the latter occupy first place, no belief in any truth whatever exists.

[3] In Jeremiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, said, Behold, I am making a visitation upon Amen in No, and upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt, and upon its gods, and upon its kings - especially upon Pharaoh and those trusting in him. Jeremiah 46:25.

Here also 'Pharaoh' stands for factual knowledge in general. 'Those trusting in him' stands for people who rely on factual knowledge but do not rely on the Word, that is, on the Lord in the Word. Such a reliance leads to a complete perversion in the things people are taught to believe, which in turn leads to falsity and also to the refusal to accept that what is Divine and heavenly is anything at all. These people in particular are all too ready to say, Let me see these things with my own eyes; or, Produce the facts to prove the truth of it, and then I will believe it. But even if they did see them or such proof was produced they would not believe, because an unaccepting attitude of mind governs everything.

[4] In the same prophet,

Against Pharaoh. ¹ Behold, waters rising out of the north which will become a deluging stream, and they will deluge the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it, so that men cry out and every inhabitant of the land wails because of the sound of the beat of the hoofs of the horses his mighty ones and the noise of his chariot, the rumble of its wheels. Jeremiah 47:1-3.

It is plain from every detail stated here regarding Pharaoh that 'Pharaoh' is factual knowledge in general, existing in this instance in a perverted state of order, which destroys the truths of faith. 'A deluging stream' is factual knowledge destroying an understanding of truth, and so is knowledge that lays waste. 'They will deluge the land and all that fills it' is the entire Church. 'The city and those who dwell in it' is the truth the Church possesses, and the good this truth leads to. 'The beat of the hoofs of the horses' is the lowest kind of factual knowledge gained directly from sensory impressions. 'The noise of his chariot' is false teaching derived from that knowledge. 'The rumble of its wheels' is sensory impressions and the false notions going with them that advance themselves.

[5] In Ezekiel,

The Lord Jehovih said, Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster who is lying in the midst of his rivers, who has said, The river is mine and I have made myself. Therefore I will put hooks in your jaws, and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales. Ezekiel 29:2-4.

Here also 'Pharaoh' stands for factual knowledge in general, which in a similar way is evident from each detail that is stated regarding him.

[6] In the same prophet,

Raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt. You are like monsters in the seas, and you have come forth with your rivers, and have troubled the waters with your feet; you have stirred up their rivers. When I have blotted you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the bright lights [in the heavens] I will darken over you, and I will put darkness over your land. Ezekiel 32:1, 3, 7-8.

The details of this description, like many more in the Prophets, cannot be understood by anyone, it is evident, without the internal sense. No one can understand what is meant when it says that Pharaoh is like monsters in the seas, has come forth with ² his rivers, and has troubled the waters with his feet. Nor can anyone know what is meant when it says that the heavens will be covered above him, the stars will be darkened, and all the bright lights will be darkened; also that the sun will be covered with a cloud, the moon will not give its light, and darkness will be put over his land. But the internal sense shows what all these details mean; it shows that factual knowledge perverts the truths of the Church if a person uses it to enter the mysteries of faith without believing anything unless factual knowledge, indeed sensory evidence, causes him to see it. This is the internal sense of this description, as the explanation of each separate detail shows.

[7] Pharaoh is called 'king of Egypt' by virtue of the truth factual knowledge holds within it. For factual knowledge is truth as it exists in the natural, and 'king' is truth, see 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044; also, much the same is meant by the king of a people as by the people themselves, 4789, so that much the same is meant by 'Pharaoh' as by 'Egypt', but the same thing in general. ('Egypt' has been shown many times to mean factual knowledge.) Pharaoh is compared to 'monsters in the seas' because 'a monster' or 'a sea monster' means general sources of facts, 42, While 'seas' means gatherings together of them, 28. Then it is said that he has come forth with his rivers because ideas displaying intelligence are meant by 'rivers', 108, 109, 2702, 3051, but here ideas displaying insanity since they flow from sensory impressions and factual knowledge, 5196. After this it is said that he troubled the waters with his feet and stirred up their rivers because 'waters' means spiritual truths, 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, and 'feet' things belonging to the natural, 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, so that 'troubling the waters with one's feet' is defiling and perverting the truths of faith by means of factual knowledge which the natural possesses. And 'stirring up their rivers' is doing the same to intelligence.

[8] Finally it is said that when he is blotted out the heavens will be covered, because 'the heavens' means a person's interiors, since these are his heavens. They are 'closed' when factual knowledge holds sway over the truths of faith, that is, when the natural holds sway over the spiritual. When this is the situation the cognitions or knowledge of truth and good perish, meant by 'I will darken the stars of the heavens, and all the bright lights'; for 'the stars' are those cognitions, see 2495, 2849, 4697, and 'the lights' are forms of good and truth, 30-38. The inability of the good of love to flow in any longer at that time is meant by 'I will cover the sun with a cloud', and the inability of the good of faith to flow in by 'the moon will not give its light' - 'the sun' being the good of love, and 'the moon the good of faith, see 1519, 1530, 2120, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4696. The occupation therefore of the natural mind by falsities alone is meant by 'I will put darkness over your land' - 'darkness' being falsities, 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531, and 'Pharaoh's land' or 'the land of Egypt' being the natural mind, 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5701. From all this one may now see what the meaning is within the details of this prophecy. Since 'Pharaoh' means factual knowledge in general he also means the natural in general, 5799.

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