Arcana Coelestia#7871
7871. 'And will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt' means the damnation of those governed by faith separated from charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'striking' as damnation, for striking is killing or putting to death, and 'death' in the spiritual sense means damnation, see 6119; from the meaning of 'the firstborn' - when used in reference to the Egyptians, who represent those steeped in falsities arising from evil - as faith separated from charity, 3325, 7039, 7766, 7778, 7779. In the genuine sense the expression 'the firstborn', when it describes a feature of the spiritual Church, means faith that is wedded to charity, see 367, 2435, 3325, 3494, 6344, 7035; therefore in the contrary sense 'the firstborn' is faith devoid of charity.
Arcana Coelestia#352
352. 'The firstborn of the flock' means the holy which is the Lord's alone. This becomes clear from the firstborn in the representative Church, where everything was holy because it had regard to the Lord, who alone is 'the Firstborn'. Love and faith deriving from it are the firstborn. All love is the Lord's and not a trace of it man's, and this is why the Lord alone is 'the Firstborn'. This was represented in the Churches of the ancient era by the requirement to consecrate the firstborn of man and of beast to Jehovah, Exodus 13:2, 12, 15. It was also represented by the tribe of Levi, which in the internal sense means love - though Levi was born later than Reuben and Simeon, who in the internal sense mean faith - being taken instead of all the firstborn and becoming the priesthood, Numbers 3:40-46; 8:14-20. That the Lord as regards His Human Essence is the Firstborn of all is clear from the following statement in David,
He will cry to Me, You are My Father, My God, and the Rock of My Salvation; I will also make Him as the Firstborn, supreme over the kings of the earth. Psalms 89:26-27.
And in John,
Jesus Christ, the Firstborn from the dead, and Prince of the kings of the earth. Revelation 1:5.
Please note that the firstborn of worship mean the Lord, while the firstborn of the Church mean faith.
