10400. 'For this Moses, that man who caused us to come up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him' means a total unawareness of what other Divine Truth exists in the Word that raises a person from an external to an internal level and makes him an embodiment of the Church. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, thus Divine Truth, dealt with in the places referred to in 9372, so that an attitude of mind that doubts and denies the existence of any Divine Truth other than that which presents itself in the sense of the letter is meant by 'this Moses, that man, we do not know what has become of him' (the word 'man' is used here because in the Word 'man' means truth, see 3134, 3309, 3459, 7716, 9007); and from the meaning of 'causing the children of Israel to go up out of the land of Egypt' as a raising from the natural or external man to the internal or spiritual man, so that the person may be made an embodiment of the Church. For 'the land of Egypt' means the natural or external level of the Church, 'causing to come up' raising, and 'the children of Israel' the Church.

'The land of Egypt' means the natural or external level of the Church, see in the places referred to in 9391.

'Causing to come up' means raising from an external to an internal level, 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007, and so from the natural man to the spiritual man.

'The children of Israel' means the Church, see in the places referred to in 9340.

[2] From all this it is evident that 'this Moses, that man who caused us to come up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him' means a total unawareness of what Divine Truth exists in the Word to raise a person from an external to an internal level and to make him an embodiment of the Church other than that which presents itself in the sense of the letter. This also is what all who are restricted to external things devoid of anything internal think and say; and all are restricted to external things devoid of anything internal who are ruled by self-love and love of the world. With these people the internal man is closed and only the external man lies open; and what is seen by the external man without the internal when they read the Word is seen in thick darkness. This is so because in spiritual things natural illumination without light from heaven is complete darkness; and the light from heaven enters and illuminates the external man by way of the internal. This explains why so many heresies have arisen, why some call the Word a book of heresies, why people do not know at all that something internal is present within the Word, and why those who think that something is present there do not know exactly where. Such people are meant in Revelation 12 by the dragon which used its tail to draw from heaven a third part of the stars and cast them down to the earth, as will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown elsewhere ¹ .

[3] Let those who wish contemplate whether anyone at the present day has any other idea than that the actual Divine Truth of the Word resides in its literal sense. But let them also consider whether anyone can know the Divine Truths of the Word contained in that sense except with the aid of teachings drawn from that sense, and that if a person does not possess such teachings to serve as a lamp he is carried off into errors, in whatever direction the obscurity of his understanding and the delight of his will lead and take him. The teachings that must serve as a lamp are those that the internal sense provides, so that they constitute the actual internal sense. This sense is to some extent open to every person who, though he may not know what the internal sense is, has his external subject to his internal, that is, has his internal man lying open. For heaven, which is in possession of the internal sense of the Word, flows into that person when he reads the Word, brings him light, gives him discernment, and in this way teaches him. Indeed, if you are willing to believe it, a person's internal man is of itself in possession of the internal sense of the Word since the internal man constitutes heaven in the smallest form it takes, and when that internal man lies open the person is consequently present with angels in heaven, and therefore also possesses discernment similar to theirs. This becomes additionally clear from the consideration that the interior concepts within a person's understanding are not like his natural ones, though they are in agreement with these. What they are like however a person does not know as long as he lives in the body; but when he enters the next life he knows them automatically because they have been implanted within him, and by means of them he lives instantly in company with angels. From this it is evident that the person in whom the internal level lies open is in possession of the internal sense of the Word, though he does not know he is, and as a consequence has enlightenment when he reads the Word. But this depends on how much light he can receive by means of the cognitions or knowledge residing with him. Who exactly those people are however, see 9025, 9382, 9409, 9410, 9424, 9430, 10105, 10324.

脚注:

6750. 'And she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter' means an affection for factual knowledge. This is clear from the representation of 'Pharaoh's daughter' as a kind of religion, dealt with in 6729, but here as an affection for factual knowledge. For a third state is what this verse describes, and at this point 'daughter' means an affection, 2362, 3963, while 'Pharaoh' means factual knowledge in general, 6015, so that 'Pharaoh's daughter' means an affection for factual knowledge. This is also evident from the train of thought in the internal sense, for since Moses represents the Lord in respect of the law of God, he could not have been brought to Pharaoh's daughter and been a son to her if she meant the kind of religion that was practised, as she had done previously. Furthermore factual knowledge is what those who are being regenerated must learn first, for that knowledge is the groundwork for things that compose the understanding, and the understanding is what receives the truth of faith, 6125, and the truth of faith what receives the good of charity. From this it may be seen that factual knowledge constitutes the first level to be laid down when a person is being regenerated.

[2] Factual knowledge also constituted the first level to be laid down in the Lord when He made His Human Divine Truth or the Divine Law. This is what is meant by the Lord's being taken to Egypt when He was a young child, Matthew 2:13-14, and so by the prophecy in Hosea,

Out of Egypt have I called My Son. Hosea 11:1; Matthew 1:15.

It has been shown quite a number of times that 'Egypt' means factual knowledge. By factual knowledge however one should understand not secular knowledge but knowledge that the Church possesses, regarding which see 4749, 4964-4966, 6004. The latter kind of knowledge is also what is meant by 'Egypt' in the genuine sense. As regards its providing the level to be laid down first, see 5901.