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1 Kaj la Eternulo diris al Moseo:Iru al Faraono, kaj diru al li:Tiel diris la Eternulo, Dio de la Hebreoj:Forliberigu Mian popolon, ke gxi faru al Mi servon.

2 CXar se vi ne volos forliberigi kaj vi plue ilin retenos,

3 jen la mano de la Eternulo estos sur viaj brutoj, kiuj estas sur la kampo, sur la cxevaloj, sur la azenoj, sur la kameloj, sur la bovoj, kaj sur la sxafoj; estos sur ili tre forta pesto.

4 Kaj la Eternulo faros apartigon inter la brutoj de la Izraelidoj kaj la brutoj de la Egiptoj; kaj el cxio, kio apartenas al la Izraelidoj, mortos nenio.

5 Kaj la Eternulo difinis tempon, dirante:Morgaux la Eternulo faros tiun aferon en la lando.

6 Kaj la Eternulo faris tion en la sekvanta tago, kaj mortis cxiuj brutoj de la Egiptoj, sed el la brutoj de la Izraelidoj ne mortis ecx unu.

7 Faraono sendis, kaj oni vidis, ke el la brutoj de la Izraelidoj ne mortis ecx unu. Sed la koro de Faraono estis obstina, kaj li ne forliberigis la popolon.

8 Tiam la Eternulo diris al Moseo kaj al Aaron:Prenu al vi plenmanojn da cindro el la forno, kaj Moseo jxetu gxin al la cxielo antaux la okuloj de Faraono.

9 Kaj gxi farigxos polvo super la tuta lando Egipta, kaj sur la homoj kaj sur la bestoj farigxos el gxi brulumaj abscesoj en la tuta lando Egipta.

10 Kaj ili prenis cindron el la forno kaj starigxis antaux Faraono, kaj Moseo jxetis gxin al la cxielo, kaj aperis brulumaj abscesoj sur la homoj kaj sur la bestoj.

11 Kaj la sorcxistoj ne povis teni sin antaux Moseo pro la abscesoj, cxar la abscesoj estis sur la sorcxistoj kaj sur cxiuj Egiptoj.

12 Sed la Eternulo obstinigis la koron de Faraono, kaj li ne auxskultis ilin, kiel diris la Eternulo al Moseo.

13 Tiam la Eternulo diris al Moseo:Levigxu frue matene kaj starigxu antaux Faraono, kaj diru al li:Tiel diris la Eternulo, Dio de la Hebreoj:Forliberigu Mian popolon, ke gxi faru al Mi servon.

14 CXar cxi tiun fojon Mi sendos cxiujn Miajn frapojn en vian koron kaj sur viajn servantojn kaj sur vian popolon, por ke vi sciu, ke ne ekzistas simila al Mi sur la tuta tero.

15 CXar nun Mi etendus Mian manon kaj batus vin kaj vian popolon per pesto, kaj vi malaperus de la tero;

16 sed nur por tio Mi vin konservis, ke Mi montru sur vi Mian forton, kaj por ke oni rakontu pri Mia nomo sur la tuta tero.

17 Ankoraux vi retenas Mian popolon, kaj ne forliberigas gxin.

18 Jen morgaux en cxi tiu tempo Mi pluvigos tre grandan hajlon, tian, ke simila al gxi ne estis en Egiptujo de post la tago de gxia fondigxo gxis nun.

19 Kaj nun sendu, kolektu viajn brutojn, kaj cxion, kion vi havas sur la kampo; sur cxiun homon kaj bruton, kiuj trovigxos sur la kampo kaj ne kolektigxos en la domon, falos la hajlo, kaj ili mortos.

20 Kiu el la servantoj de Faraono timis la vorton de la Eternulo, tiu rapide envenigis siajn sklavojn kaj brutojn en la domojn;

21 sed kiu ne atentis la vorton de la Eternulo, tiu lasis siajn sklavojn kaj siajn brutojn sur la kampo.

22 Kaj la Eternulo diris al Moseo:Etendu vian manon al la cxielo, kaj venos hajlo en la tuta lando Egipta, sur la homojn kaj sur la brutojn kaj sur cxiujn herbojn de la kampo en la lando Egipta.

23 Kaj Moseo etendis sian bastonon al la cxielo; kaj la Eternulo aperigis tondrojn kaj hajlon, kaj fajro iris sur la teron, kaj la Eternulo pluvigis hajlon sur la landon Egiptan.

24 Kaj estis hajlo, kaj fajro ekflamadis meze de la hajlo, en tiel forta grado, ke io simila neniam estis en la tuta lando Egipta de post la tempo, kiam en gxi aperis popolo.

25 Kaj la hajlo batdifektis en la tuta lando Egipta cxion, kio estis sur la kampo; homojn kaj brutojn kaj cxiun herbon de la kampo batdifektis la hajlo, kaj cxiujn arbojn de la kampo gxi rompis.

26 Nur en la lando Gosxen, kie estis la Izraelidoj, ne estis hajlo.

27 Tiam Faraono sendis, kaj alvokis Moseon kaj Aaronon, kaj diris al ili:Mi pekis la nunan fojon; la Eternulo estas la pravulo, mi kaj mia popolo estas la malpravuloj.

28 Pregxu al la Eternulo, ke cxesigxu la tondroj de Dio kaj la hajlo; tiam mi forliberigos vin, kaj vi ne plu restos.

29 Kaj Moseo diris al li:Kiam mi eliros el la urbo, mi etendos miajn manojn al la Eternulo; la tondroj cxesigxos kaj la hajlo ne plu estos, por ke vi sciigxu, ke al la Eternulo apartenas la tero.

30 Sed mi scias, ke vi kaj viaj servantoj ankoraux ne timas Dion, la Eternulon.

31 La lino kaj la hordeo estis batdifektitaj, cxar la hordeo havis spikojn kaj la lino havis burgxonojn;

32 sed la tritiko kaj la spelto ne estis batdifektitaj, cxar ili estis malfrusezonaj.

33 Moseo eliris de Faraono el la urbo kaj etendis siajn manojn al la Eternulo; tiam cxesigxis la tondroj kaj la hajlo, kaj pluvo ne plu versxigxis sur la teron.

34 Kiam Faraono vidis, ke cxesigxis la pluvo kaj la hajlo kaj la tondroj, tiam li plue pekis kaj obstinigis sian koron, li kaj liaj servantoj.

35 La koro de Faraono restis obstina, kaj li ne forliberigis la Izraelidojn, kiel diris la Eternulo per Moseo.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed #424

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424. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth. (9:3) This symbolically means that from them issued falsities of the lowest sort, such as are found in the case of people who have become sensual and who view and judge everything in accordance with the senses and their fallacies.

Falsities that we term falsities of the lowest sort are those which occur on the lowest level of a person's life, called sensual, which we will speak of below. These falsities are symbolized in the Word by locusts. It should be known, however, that the locusts here did not look like the locusts found in fields, which hop about and devastate pastures and crops. Instead they looked like pygmies or midgets, as is apparent also from their description, as for instance, that they had crowns on their heads, faces like the faces of men, hair like women's hair, teeth like lions' teeth, breastplates of iron, and the angel of the bottomless pit as king over them.

Ancient peoples, too, called midgets locusts, as we can conclude from these verses:

(Those who spied out the land of Canaan said:) ."..we saw the Nephilim, the descendants of the Anakim..., and we were like locusts... in their sight." (Numbers 13:33)

(Jehovah) who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants like locusts... (Isaiah 40:22)

[2] However, because falsities of the lowest sort, such as existed in the people here, are in the Word symbolized by locusts, therefore in Nahum the people are called locusts, as well as being termed crowned and commanders:

...the fire will devour you..., it will eat you up like a locust's larva. Make yourself many like the locust's larva! Make yourself many like locusts! ...Your crowned ones are like locusts, and your commanders like great locusts... (Nahum 3:15-17)

Because falsities of the lowest sort devour the growing truths and goods of the church in a person, they are symbolized by locusts which devour the grasses in fields and the vegetation on farms, as is clear from the following passages:

You shall carry much seed out to the field, but... the locust shall consume it. (Deuteronomy 28:38)

What the caterpillar left, the locust will eat; what the locust left, the beetle grub will eat; and what the beetle grub left, the locust's larva will eat. (Joel 1:4)

I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the beetle grub, the locust's larva, and the caterpillar... (Joel 2:25)

[3] The locusts in Egypt have the same symbolic meaning, of which we read the following in Exodus:

Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and... the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt...; previously there had been no such locusts...; and they ate every herb... of the field... (Exodus 10:12ff.)

And afterward Moses stretched out his rod, and the locusts were cast into the Red Sea.

Further, in the book of Psalms:

He gave their produce to the locust's larva, and their labor to the locust. (Psalms 78:46, cf. 105:34-35)

The miracles in Egypt describe the devastation of the church, and this particular miracle, its devastation by falsities of the lowest sort. And when the inner levels of a person's life are closed, on which the lowest levels depend, the lowest levels become hellish. Therefore the locusts were cast into the Red Sea, which symbolizes hell.

[4] Since few people today know what we mean by the sensual level, or what the character of a sensual person is, and since this is what locusts symbolize, therefore we will introduce from our Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven) the following extracts regarding it:

The sensual level is the lowest of a person's mental life, attaching to and uniting with his five physical senses (nos. 5077 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730).

That person is called sensual who judges of everything in accordance with his physical senses, and who believes in nothing but what he can see with his eyes and touch with his hands, saying that if he can, it is real, and rejecting everything else (nos. 5094 7693).

The inner levels of that person's mind, which see in the light of heaven, are closed, so that he sees no truth on those levels which has to do with heaven and the church (nos. 6564, 6844, 6845).

A person like that thinks on the lowest levels, and not interiorly in any spiritual light (nos. 5089 5094, 6564, 7693).

In a word, people like that have a crude natural sight (nos. 6201 6310, 6564, 6844, 6845, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624).

Inwardly they are therefore hostile to matters having to do with heaven and the church, though it is possible for them to speak in favor of them outwardly, even ardently, according to the power they have by virtue of them (nos. 6201, 6316, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949).

The educated and learned who have deeply confirmed themselves in falsities, and still more those who are hostile to the Word's truths, are more sensual than others (no. 6316).

Sensual people reason keenly and skillfully, because their thinking is so near to speech as to almost reside in it, and to be, so to speak, on the lips, and because they place all intelligence in speech from the memory alone; moreover, some of them can cleverly defend falsities, and after they have done so, believe they are true (nos. 195 196, 5700, 10236).

They reason from fallacies of the senses and defend them, which they use to captivate and persuade the populace (nos. 5084 6948, 6949, 7693).

Sensual people are craftier and more malicious than others (nos. 7693, 10236).

Greedy people, adulterers, hedonists, and the deceitful are especially sensual, even though to the world they do not appear so (no. 6310).

The interiors of their minds are foul and filthy (no. 6201).

Through them they are in communication with the hells (no. 6311).

People residing in the hells are sensual, and the more so the deeper the hell (nos. 4623 6311).

The atmosphere of spirits in hell mixes with a person's sensual level from behind (no. 6312).

People who have based their reasoning on the evidence of the senses only, and so are hostile to the genuine truths of the church, were called by ancient peoples serpents of the tree of knowledge (nos. 195, 196, 197, 6398, 6399, 10313).

In addition, a person's sensual level and the sensual person are described (no. 10236), together with the extent of the sensual things in a person (no. 9731).

Sensual things ought to be held in last place, and not in first place, and in a wise and intelligent person they are held in last place, subject to more interior ones, while in a foolish person they are in first place and dominant; the latter are those properly called sensual (nos. 5077 5125, 5128, 7645).

If sensual things are in last place, they are the means by which a path is opened to understanding, and truths are refined by a process of abstraction (no. 5580).

These sensual things are the closest to the world, and they admit things that flow in from the world and, so to speak, sift them (no. 9726).

By these sensual things a person is in communication with the world, and by rational things with heaven (no. 4009).

Sensual things supply materials that are of service to the interior levels of the mind (nos. 5077 5081).

Some sensual things are of service to the intellectual faculty, and some are of service to the volitional faculty (no. 5077).

If a person does not raise his thought from sensual things, he is hardly wise (no. 5089).

A wise person thinks above the level of sensual things (nos. 5089, 5094).

When a person raises his thinking above the level of sensual things, he comes into a clearer sight, and finally into the light of heaven (nos. 6183 6313, 6315, 9407, 9730, 9922).

An elevation above the level of sensual things and withdrawal from them was something known to ancient peoples (no. 6313).

A person can be conscious in his spirit of things that occur in the spiritual world, if he can be withdrawn from sensual things by the Lord and elevated into the light of heaven (no. 4622). That is because it is not the body that thinks, but a person's spirit in the body, and to the extent that it dwells in the body, it thinks dimly and in a state of darkness; however, to the extent that it does not dwell in the body, it thinks clearly and in a state of light - but only as regards spiritual matters (nos. 4622, 6614, 6622).

The lowest level of the intellect is sensual knowledge, and the lowest level of the will is sensual delight (no. 9996).

The difference between sensual characteristics possessed in common with animals, and those not possessed in common with them (no. 10236).

Some sensual people are not evil, because their interior levels have not been closed: their state in the other life (no. 6311).

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia #9212

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9212. 'If you ever take your companion's clothing as a pledge' means if factual knowledge of truths is dispersed by illusions that are a product of sensory impressions. This is clear from the meaning of 'taking as a pledge' as receiving a token for goods that are supplied, for 'a pledge' is a token for goods that are being lent. When spiritual things are understood instead of these, supplying goods means giving instruction in truths, and the token or pledge in this instance means truth on the level of the senses. For 'the clothing' here which is given as a pledge means the lowest level of the natural, which is that of the senses. Since illusions abound on this level and illusions wipe out truths, 'taking your companion's clothing as a pledge' means the dispersing of truths by illusions that are a product of sensory impressions. The fact that these things are meant is clear from the whole train of thought in the internal sense.

[2] In general 'clothing' means everything that clothes another, and so whatever is relatively more external. Consequently the external or natural man is called the clothing in relation to the internal or spiritual man. In a similar way truth is called the clothing in relation to good, because truth clothes good; likewise factual knowledge of truth in relation to the truth of faith which belongs to the internal man. Sensory perception, which constitutes the lowest level of life with a person, is the clothing in relation to factual knowledge of truth.

'Clothes' are lower things that cover higher ones, or what amounts to the same thing, exterior things that cover interior ones, see 2576, 5248. In general they are truths, 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6917, 9093, factual knowledge of truths, 6918, or truths on the level of the senses, 9158. Sensory perception constitutes the lowest level of life with a person, 4009, 5077, 5125, 5128, 5767, 5774, 6201, 6313, 7442, 7693, and sensory perception is subject to illusions, 5084, 5089, 6201, 6948, 6949, 7442.

[3] The meaning of 'clothes' as truths owes its origin to representatives in the next life. There angels and spirits appear dressed in clothes in keeping with the state of faith or truth that is theirs, and their clothes are varied in keeping with the changes which that state undergoes. Those governed by authentic truth appear dressed in white garments, and those governed by truths springing from good in shining ones. But those governed purely by good, as angels of the inmost heaven are, called celestial angels, appear naked. So it is then that clothes are truths, and that truths are meant in the Word by 'clothes', as may be seen from places referred to above. To these places let the following in the Gospels be added:

[4] In Matthew,

When Jesus was transfigured His face shone like the sun, and His garments became [white] as the light. Matthew 17:2.

'Face' in the Word means the interiors, in particular the affections, 358, 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066, 4796, 4797, 5102, 5695, 6604, 6848, 6849, and 'God's face' Goodness itself, 222, 223, 5585. 'The sun' means God's love, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321 (end), 4696, 7083, 8644. From this it is evident what the meaning is when it says that the Lord's face shone like the Sun, namely that His interiors were the Good of Divine Love. 'His garments became [white] as the light' means Divine Truth radiating from Him, which also appears in heaven as the light, 1521, 1619-1632, 3195, 3222, 3485, 3636, 3643, 4415, 5400, 8644.

[5] In the same gospel,

When Jesus drew near to Jerusalem they brought the she-ass and the colt and laid their garments on them and set Him on them. But a very great crowd spread their garments on the road, while others were breaking off branches from trees and spreading them on the road. Matthew 21:1, 7-8.

Riding on a she-ass and her colt was a representative sign of the Supreme Judge and King, see 2781, as also is evident from what comes before in verse 5,

Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, meek, seated on a she-ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.

It is also evident in Mark 11:1-12; in Luke 19:28-41; in John 12:12-16; and in Zechariah 9:9-10, where it says of the Lord that He would ride on an ass, and on a young ass, a son of she-asses. There He is called a King, and in addition it says that His dominion will be from sea even to sea, and from the River even to the ends of the earth. The fact that the supreme judge rode on a she-ass, and his sons on young asses, see Judges 5:9-10; 10:3-4; 12:14; and that the king rode on a she-mule, and the king's sons on mules, 1 Kings 1:33, 38, 44-45; 2 Samuel 13:29.

[6] When the disciples laid their garments on the she-ass and her colt, it represented the recognition that truths in their entirety were the foundation on which the Lord as supreme Judge and King rested; for the disciples represented the Lord's Church in respect of truths and forms of good, see 2129, 3488, 3858 (end), 6397, and their garments truths themselves, 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6917, 9093. This same recognition was likewise represented when the crowd spread their garments, also the branches of trees, on the road. Another reason why they spread them on the road was that 'the road' means the truth by means of which a member of the Church is led, see 627, 2333, 3477. And the reason why they also spread the branches of trees was that 'trees' meant perceptions and also cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, 2682, 2722, 2972, 4552, 7692, so that their branches are the truths themselves. Those actions were also performed then because it was customary for the chief persons among the people to lay their garments on supreme judges and kings' she-asses and mules when they rode in pomp on them, and for the people themselves to spread their garments on the road, or the branches of trees instead. For in heaven judgeship consists in Divine Truth derived from Good, and kingship in Divine Truth, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.

[7] In Luke,

No one adds a piece of a new garment onto an old garment; in doing so he splits the new, and the binding from the new is unsuitable for the old.

Luke 5:36.

The Lord used this comparison to describe the truth of the new Church and the truth of the old Church; for 'garment' means truth. Sewing on one or binding it to the other means destroying both; for the truth of the new Church is interior truth, thus truth for the internal man, whereas the truth of the old Church is exterior truth, thus truth for the external man. The latter kind of truth prevailed in the Jewish Church, for by means of external things this Church represented internal ones, whereas the Church of today has knowledge of the internal truths that were represented then, because the Lord has revealed them. The fact that these truths are not suited to external ones in such a way that they can exist together is what the words used by the Lord serve to mean. From all this also it is evident that 'garment' means the Church's truth.

[8] In John,

Jesus said to Peter, Truly, truly I say to you, When you were a boy you girded your loins and walked where you wished. But when you are old you will stretch out your hands, [and] another will gird your loins and lead you where you do not wish. John 21:18.

No one without knowledge of the internal sense can see what these words imply; plainly, they contain arcana. In the internal sense 'Peter' means the Church's faith, see the Prefaces to Genesis 18, 22, and 3750, 6000, 6073 (end), 6344 (end). Consequently Peter when he was a boy means the nature of the Church's faith as it is initially, and Peter when he would be old means the nature of the Church's faith as it is finally. From this it is evident what 'when you were a boy you girded your loins and walked where you wished' means, namely that the Church's faith as it is initially is faith composed of truth derived from good, thus faith composed of charity towards the neighbour and of love to the Lord. And at this time a member of the Church in doing what is good acts freely, because his actions spring from the Lord. For aspects of the good of love are meant by 'the loins', 3021, 3294, 4280, 4575, 5050-5062, so that 'girding the loins' means clothing good with truths; and living is meant by 'walking', 519, 1794, 8417, 8420, so that 'walking where one wishes' means leading a life that is free. Those people lead a life that is free, or act freely, whose faith springs from love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour; for they are led by the Lord, 892, 905, 2870-2893, 6325, 9096. 'When you are old you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird your loins and lead you where you do not wish' means that the Church's faith as it is finally will be none at all, at which time falsities that arise from evil springing from self-love and love of the world will take the place of faith and enslave it. This is the arcanum which these words spoken by Lord contain and which can be seen only from their internal sense. All this shows once again the kind of way in which the Lord spoke, namely in such a way that an inner meaning might be present within every detail, to the end that heaven might be joined to the world by means of the Word. For without the Word, that is, without Divine Truth that has been revealed, they are not joined together; and if they are not so joined the human race perishes.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.