Arcana Coelestia#8018
8018. 'That Jehovah brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt' means that the Lord delivered those governed by the good of truth and guided by the truth of good from damnation. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing out' as delivering; from the representation of 'the children of Israel' as those belonging to the spiritual Church, or what amounts to the same thing, those governed by the good of truth and guided by the truth of good, dealt with above in 7957, 8006; and from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as damnation. 'The land of Egypt' at this point means damnation because damnation is meant by the Egyptians' state at this time, 7766, 7778. The fact that the Lord delivered from damnation those belonging to the spiritual Church, that is, those governed by the good of truth and guided by the truth of good, see 6854, 6914, 7091 (end), 7828, 7932.
[2] Their deliverance by the Lord when He rose again is meant by the Lord's descent to the lower regions (ad inferos); 1 and it was made plain by the raising of the dead from their tombs, described in Matthew,
And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of sleeping saints were raised; and coming out of their tombs after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Matthew 27:52-53.
Their coming out of tombs, their going into the holy city, and also their appearing to many took place to bear witness to the deliverance by the Lord of those who until then had been held back in spiritual captivity, and to the introduction of them into heaven, heaven being meant in the internal sense by 'the holy city'. This is why the expression 'the holy city' is used when in actual fact it was not a holy but a profane city, since the Lord Himself - who was represented in all the ritual observances of their Church and described in the Word existing among them, and so was the God of their Church - was treated by them in so cruel a manner.
[3] Much the same is meant by this in Daniel,
At that time Your people will be rescued, every one who is found written in the book. Finally, many of those sleeping in the dust of the earth will awake - these to eternal life, but the rest to reproaches and to eternal disgrace. Daniel 12:1-2.
And also by this in Ezekiel,
Prophesy and say, Thus said the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people, and I will bring you onto the land of Israel, in order that you may know that I am Jehovah when I open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people. And I will put My spirit in you, in order that you may live, and I will place you on your own land, in order that you may know that I Jehovah have spoken it and done it, said Jehovah. Ezekiel 37:11-14.
'The land of Israel', which is the land of Canaan, is used to mean heaven, 8011. The words quoted here from the prophet describe the new creation or birth of a person, and also the vivifying by the Lord of those belonging to the spiritual Church.
脚注:
1. The Latin here is per descensum Domini ad inferos. This appears to be a reference to the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed, which, in their traditional Latin versions, contain the phrase descendit ad inferos (He descended to the lower regions). The traditional English version says He descended into hell.
Arcana Coelestia#7930
7930. 'To inflict the plague' means damnation which they bring on themselves. This is clear from the meaning of 'the plague' here as the damnation of those belonging to the spiritual Church who have been governed by faith separated from charity, dealt with in 7879, 7926. Regarding damnation, that the ones to inflict it on the evil are the evil themselves, see just above in 7926.
'And you shall keep this custom as a statute for yourself and your children for evermore' means that all this will be in keeping with Divine order as it will apply from now on to those belonging to the spiritual Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'keeping this custom for evermore' as that all this is to be observed from now on; from the meaning of 'as a statute' as in keeping with order, dealt with in 7884; and from the representation of the children of Israel, [to whom 'yourself and your children' refers here,] 1 as those who belong to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 4286, 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223.
The order meant here is that which has existed in heaven since the time that the Lord, from His Divine Human, began to bring order to all things in heaven and on earth, which was immediately after the Resurrection, Matthew 28:18. In keeping with this new order those belonging to the spiritual Church could now be raised to heaven and enjoy eternal blessedness; it could not be done in keeping with the old order. Formerly the Lord brought things into order by means of heaven; but latterly He did so by means of His Human which He glorified and made Divine in the world. The glorification of His Human brought so great an increase of might that those were raised to heaven who could not be raised previously, and also so great an increase that the evil departed from all around and were shut away in their hells. This order is what is meant here. 2
脚注:
1. This clause translates what Swedenborg has in his rough draft.
2. [NCBS editor's note] From sections 7930 to 7932, there are some differences between the first and third Latin editions, regarding where the text should be divided into its sections. These differences have been carried over into the translations into English and other modern languages; different translators have made different decisions about it. The text is all there in each translation, but you may find what you are looking for in 7930, 7931, or 7932.
