9320. For destroying thou shalt destroy them. That this signifies that evils must be wholly removed, is evident from the signification of “destroying,” when said of the evils and falsities which are signified by the nations of the land of Canaan and by their gods, as being to remove. That “to destroy” denotes to remove, is because those who are in good and truth never destroy those who are in evil and falsity, but only remove them; for the reason that they act from good, and not from evil; and good is from the Lord, who never destroys anyone. But those who are in evil and from it in falsity endeavor to destroy, and as far as they are able do destroy, those who are in good, for the reason that they act from evil. But because they then run counter to the good which is from the Lord, thus counter to the Divine, they destroy themselves, that is, they cast themselves headlong into damnation and into hell. Such is the law of order, as may be seen above (n. 4299, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7926, 7989, 8137, 8146, 8265, 8945, 8946).

[2] That the Israelites and the Jews destroyed the nations of the land of Canaan, was because the former represented spiritual and heavenly things, and the nations infernal and diabolical things, which cannot possibly be together; for they are opposites. The reason why the Israelites were permitted to destroy the nations, was that there was no church among the Israelites, but only the representative of a church, and consequently the Lord was not present with them except representatively (n. 4307); for they were in external things without anything internal; that is, they were in a worship representative of good and truth, but not in good and truth. Such people are permitted to destroy, to kill, to exterminate, and to devote to destruction; but this is not permitted to those who are in external things and at the same time in internal things, because these people must act from good, and good is from the Lord.

[3] That the Jews and Israelites were of such a character is openly declared by Moses:

Speak not thou in thine heart, after that Jehovah thy God hath thrust the nations out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness Jehovah hath brought me in to possess this land. Not for thy righteousness, and for the uprightness of thine heart; for thou art a stiffnecked people (Deuteronomy 9:4-6).

They are a nation ruined in counsels, neither is there any understanding in them. Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall; their clusters of bitterness; their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps. Is not this hidden away with Me, sealed up in My treasuries (Deuteronomy 32:28, 32-34);

in the internal sense “a vine” signifies the church (n. 1069, 5113, 6375, 6376, 9277); “grapes,” and “clusters,” signify the internal and external goods of that church (n. 1071, 5117, 6378); and “wine” signifies the internal truth of that church (n. 1071, 1798, 6377). From this it is plain what is signified by “their vine being of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah,” “their grapes, grapes of gall, and their clusters of bitterness,” and “their wine the poison of dragons and the cruel gall of asps.” That these things are known to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, is signified by its being “hidden away with Him, and sealed up in His treasuries.”

[4] In John:

Jesus said to the Jews, Ye are of your father the devil, and the desire of your father ye will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).

Consequently they are called “a depraved and adulterous generation” (Matthew 12:39); and also “an offspring of vipers” (Matthew 3:7; 12:34; 23:33; Luke 3:7). That such was their nature was also described by the Lord in parables (Matthew 21:33-45; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 14:16-24; 20:9-19). (That that nation was the worst of all; that when in worship they were in external things without any internal; that there was no church among them, but only the representative of a church; and that nevertheless they could represent the internal things of the church, see n. 3398, 3479, 3480, 3732, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288-4290, 4293, 4307, 4314, 4316, 4317, 4429, 4433, 4444, 4500, 4503, 4680, 4815, 4818, 4820, 4825, 4832, 4837, 4844, 4847, 4865, 4868, 4874, 4899, 4903, 4911-4913, 5057, 5998, 6304, 6832, 6877, 7048, 7051, 7248, 7401, 7439, 8301, 8588, 8788, 8806, 8814, 8819, 8871, 8882, 9284)

8137. And I will be glorified. That this signifies that they should see a Divine effect from the Divine Human of the Lord in the dissipation of falsity, is evident from the signification of “to be glorified,” when said of Jehovah or the Lord, as being a Divine effect, here from His Divine Human, because by coming into the world and assuming the Human and making it Divine, the Lord cast into the hells all evils and falsities, and reduced the heavens into order, and also liberated from damnation those who were of the spiritual church (see n. 6854, 6914, 7091, 7828, 7932, 8018). These things are in general signified by “being glorified,” but here there is signified that they who had infested the well-disposed should be cast into hell, and there encompassed about with falsities as with waters of a sea, and this as a Divine effect from the mere presence of the Lord.

[2] To show how the case herein is, it shall be further unfolded. There are as many hells as there are genera and species of evils, each hell being separated from others as it were by rain-storms, clouds, or waters. In the other life evils and falsities appear before the eyes of spirits as rain-storms and clouds, and also as waters; the falsities from evils of those who have been of the spiritual church and have lived evilly, appear as waters; but the falsities from evils of those who have been of the celestial church, appear as rain-storms. They who are in the hells appear to be thus encompassed, with a difference everywhere in respect to amount and kind, density and rarity, thick darkness and dimness, according to the genus and species of the falsity from evil. The hell where they are who have lived in faith separate from charity and in a life of evil, is encompassed as by the waters of a sea; the falsities of evil do not indeed appear as waters to those who are there, but to those who look from without. Above that sea, where these are, are the hells of adulterers; these are above, because in the internal sense adulteries denote adulterations of good and the consequent perversions of truth, thus they denote evils from which come falsities contrary to the truths and goods of faith (n. 2466, 2729, 3399), being such falsities as are with those who are in the hell beneath, and who have lived contrary to the truth of the church, and have made its good of no account, and therefore have also adulterated and perverted everything that is said in the Word about good, that is, about charity toward the neighbor and about love to God.

[3] As regards the “glorification in Pharaoh and in his army,” this here denotes immersion in this hell and being encompassed by waters as of a sea at the mere presence of the Lord, as was said above. For the evil flee from the presence of the Lord, that is, the presence of the good and truth that are from Him, feeling horror and torment at their mere approach; and also by reason of this presence they become encompassed about with their own evils and falsities, for these then burst forth from them; and indeed these evils and falsities encompass and are interposed in order to prevent the Divine from flowing in and tormenting them. This is the Divine effect which is here signified by the “glorification in Pharaoh and in his army.” That this effect is from the Divine Human of the Lord, is because, as before said, by the Lord’s coming into the world and assuming the Human and making it Divine, He cast all falsities and evils into hell, and reduced truths and goods in the heavens into order, and liberated from damnation those who were of the spiritual church.