7090. 'And said to Pharaoh' means an admonition [from them] to those who are opposed to the Church's truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' - since it came by Divine command from Moses and Aaron - as an admonition, as also in 7033; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as factual knowledge that is opposed to the Church's truths, dealt with in 6651, 6673, 6683, thus people who are opposed to them. Here and in what follows the subject is those belonging to the spiritual Church who were saved through the Lord's Coming into the world but who before His Coming had been held back on the lower earth, where they were harassed by falsities, that is, by those from hell steeped in falsities stemming from evil. That lower earth is situated below the soles of the feet and is surrounded by hells - in front of it those who have falsified truths and adulterated forms of good; to the right those who pervert Divine order and thereby strive to obtain power; to the rear the evil genii who, motivated by self-love, have secretly devised evil against their neighbour; and deep down underneath those who have rejected the Divine with utter contempt and worshipped nature, and in so doing have banished from themselves everything spiritual. Such are the hells surrounding those on the lower earth, where before the Lord's Coming people belonging to the spiritual Church were held in safe keeping. Though they were molested there the Lord protected them, and they were brought into heaven with the Lord when He rose again. See what has been stated and shown already regarding these people in 6854, 6865, 6914, 6945, 7035.

[2] The lower earth where those who belonged to the spiritual Church were held in safe keeping up to the Lord's Coming is mentioned a number of times in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Sing, O heavens, for Jehovah has done [it]! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Be filled, O mountains, with singing, O forest and every tree in it! For Jehovah has redeemed Jacob, and made Himself glorious in Israel. Isaiah 44:23.

This refers to those on the lower earth, to the fact that they were saved by the Lord. 'Jacob' and 'Israel' are the spiritual Church, 'Jacob' being the external Church, 'Israel' the internal Church, 3305, 4286, 6426. In Ezekiel,

I will cause you to go down with those going down to the pit, to the people of old, ¹ and I will cause you to dwell in the land of the lower ones in desolations. Ezekiel 16:20.

In the same prophet,

. . . to the lower earth in the midst of the sons of men, to those going down to the pit. Consequently all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the most excellent of Lebanon, all those drinking water, will comfort themselves on the lower earth. Ezekiel 31:14, 16.

This refers to the lower earth where those who belonged to the spiritual Church were.

[3] At the present day too those belonging to the Church who have filled their minds with worldly and also earthly ideas and have acted in such a way that the truths of faith have become tied up with them are sent down to the lower earth, where they likewise have battles to fight. These battles continue until their worldly and earthly ideas have been separated from the truths of faith and other notions have been introduced, of such a nature that they cannot be linked together any longer. Once this has been accomplished those people are raised from there into heaven; for until such ideas of theirs have been removed they cannot possibly be in the company of angels, since those ideas are full of darkness and defilement that do not accord with the light and purity of heaven. Those worldly and earthly ideas cannot be separated and removed except by means of battles against falsities, battles which take place in the following manner: Those on that lower earth are molested by illusions and by falsities based on them which emanate from inhabitants of the surrounding hells; but the Lord employs heaven to rebut those illusions and falsities and at the same time to introduce truths. These truths seem to reside with those undergoing the conflicts.

[4] All this being so, the spiritual Church ought to be spoken of as a militant Church. But at the present day it is rarely militant with anyone in the world; for while a member of the Church is living in the world he does not experience conflict, because of the wicked crowded around him and because of the weakness of the flesh in which he lives. In the next life a person may be held firmly by the bonds of conscience, but not so in the world, for if in the world he is subjected to any degree of despair, as normally happens to those undergoing conflicts, he instantly breaks those bonds. And if he breaks them he gives in; and if he gives in he is done for so far as his salvation is concerned. This explains why the Lord allows few within the Church at the present day to enter into battles against falsities on behalf of truths; those battles are spiritual temptations. See also what has been shown already regarding the lower earth and vastations that take place there, in 4728, 4940-4951, 6854.

脚注:

4292. In the internal historical sense 'he said, Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel' means that they could not as [the descendants of] Jacob play the representative part, except by virtue of the new nature that was imparted to them. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'Jacob' in the Word as his descendants, dealt with above in 4281, and from the meaning of 'name' as the essential nature, dealt with immediately above in 4291. The new nature itself is meant by 'Israel' in the internal sense, for 'Israel' is the celestial-spiritual man and consequently the internal man, 4286. And since 'Israel' means the celestial-spiritual man, and so the internal man, 'Israel' also means the internal spiritual Church. For whether you use the expression spiritual man or spiritual Church, it amounts to the same thing because any spiritual person in particular is the Church, even as many are in general. If the individual person in particular were not the Church, no Church in general could exist. The expression Church is used in everyday language to describe a congregation in general; but each member of the congregation must be a Church if that greater Church is to exist. Every general whole incorporates parts that are like that whole.

[2] The implications of this particular matter - the inability of [the descendants on Jacob to play the representative part, except by virtue of the new nature imparted to them, meant by 'Israel' - are as follows: It was specifically Jacob's descendants who were to represent the Church but not specifically Isaac's since Isaac's descended not only through Jacob but also through Esau. Still less was it specifically Abraham's, for Abraham's descended not only through Jacob but also through Esau, and likewise through Ishmael, as well as through his sons by his second wife Keturah, who were Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah, and the sons of these, see Genesis 25:1-4. Now because Jacob's descendants insisted that they should be representative, as shown just above in 4290, they could not represent as Jacob, or as Isaac, or as Abraham. The reason why they could not do so as Jacob was that 'Jacob' represented the external aspect of the Church, but not the internal. And they could not do so as Isaac at the same time or as Abraham at the same time for the reason advanced immediately above.

[3] So that they could represent the Church therefore, a new name had inevitably to be given to Jacob, and through that name a new nature, which new nature was to be a sign of the internal spiritual man, or what amounts to the same, of the internal spiritual Church. That new nature is meant by 'Israel'. Every Church of the Lord is internal and external, as has been shown several times already, the internal Church being that which is represented, the external that which represents. The internal Church is also either spiritual or else celestial, the internal spiritual Church being represented by 'Israel', but the internal celestial Church at a later time by 'Judah'. Therefore a division also took place, and the Israelites became a kingdom on their own and the Jews another on their own. But these matters will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on. From this it is evident that 'Jacob', that is, Jacob's descendants, could not represent the Church as Jacob, for that would have been to represent solely the external aspect of the Church. They had to do so as Israel as well because 'Israel' is the internal aspect.

[4] It has been shown in various places already that it is the internal which is represented and the external which represents, as may also be seen in the human being. A person's speech represents his thought, and a person's action represents his will. Speech and action are the external aspects of the person, thought and will the internal. In addition the various looks seen on a person's face represent both, that is to say, both his thought and his will. It is well known to everyone that the looks on a person's face are representative, for the looks on the faces of people who are sincere enable their interior states to be seen. In short, every part of the body represents some facet of a person's inclination (animus) and mind (mens).

[5] It is similar with the external aspects of the Church, for these are like the body, while its internal aspects are like the soul. There were, for example, the altars and the sacrifices on them, which, as is well known, were external things. There was likewise the bread of the presence, also the lampstand with its lamps, as well as the fire that was kept burning all the time. Anyone can recognize that these external things represented internal ones, as likewise did everything else of a ritual nature. The fact that these external things could not represent anything external, only what was internal, becomes clear from the considerations introduced already. So 'Jacob' could not represent as Jacob, because 'Jacob' means the external aspect of the Church, but he could do so as Israel because 'Israel' means its internal aspect. This is what is meant by a new nature being imparted to enable the descendants of Jacob to play the representative part.