7147. 'And your people have sinned' means that for this reason they are guilty of having done what is evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'sinning' as becoming guilty of evil; and, if guilty, as receiving deserved punishment. What the situation is in general regarding the matters contained in this verse and in those that come before it must be stated. Those who are on the lower earth are molested by the falsities and evils introduced by the surrounding hells. Such molestation takes place in order that evils and falsities may be removed and truths and forms of good may be instilled, as a result of which they are brought into a state in which they can be raised to heaven, see 7090, 7122. But near the end they are molested more harshly than ever before, for at that stage truths are taken away from them and utter falsities are allowed to molest them, even until they are made to despair. For it is in accordance with Divine order that despair should be the final stage of molestation and temptation, see 1787, 2694, 5279, 5280. In order that this state experienced by those belonging to the spiritual Church might be represented by the children of Israel, Pharaoh acted as the narrative describes here. He did what he did when the molestations were near the end, that is to say, when the children of Israel were about to be set free and led to the land of Canaan.

[2] It should be recognized that molestations take place in the following way: Falsities and evils are introduced into a person's thoughts by the hells, and truths and forms of good by heaven, that is, by the Lord through heaven; and that introduction takes place in him because no man or spirit has any thought that originates in himself. Rather, everything flows in from without. Although this is entirely contrary to anyone's perception of what is going on inside him and for that reason seems impossible to believe, it is nevertheless absolutely true. See what has already been brought forward and shown from experience on the matter in 2886, 4151, 4249, 5846, 5854, 6189-6215, 6307-6327, 6466-6495, 6598-6626. From these places one may know how to understand the idea that molestations are effected by the introduction of falsities, and are increased until a person is made to despair.

4250. 'And he split up the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps' means the preparation and arrangement of truths and goods within the natural so as to receive the good represented by 'Esau'. This is clear from the meaning of 'the people' as truths, and also as falsities, dealt with in 1259, 1260, 3581; from the meaning of 'flocks' as interior goods, and also interior things that are not good; from the meaning of 'herds' as exterior goods, and also exterior things that are not good, dealt with in 2566, 4244; from the meaning of 'camels' as exterior or general truths, and so also as things that are not true, dealt with in 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145; and from the meaning of 'a camp' as order - in the good sense genuine order and in the contrary sense order that is not genuine, dealt with in 4236. The fact that 'splitting up into two' means dividing in two and in so doing arranging oneself to receive is self-evident.

[2] The implications of all this may be seen from what has been stated just above. That is to say, when good flows in, as happens when order is turned around and good takes up the first position, the natural receives light, and within the natural a person can see what genuine truth or good is and what that which is not genuine is. In this case genuine and non-genuine are so distinguished one from the other, that some things are retained while others are removed, as a consequence of which an altogether different order emerges from that which had existed previously. That is what happens when good has dominion over truth, for truths are then nothing else than ministers and servants, and they are arranged in ever closer conformity to heavenly order, to the reception of good by truths, and also to the character of the good, for good gets its specific character from truths.