8407. 'Would that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt' means that it would have been preferable for them to have been forsaken by the Lord when they were in the state involving molestations. This is clear from the meaning of 'would that!' as it would have been better or preferable; from the meaning of 'to have died by the hand of Jehovah' as to have been forsaken by the Lord, for 'to have died' in the spiritual sense means to be immersed in evils and the falsities arising from them, and therefore in damnation, 5407, 6119, 7494, and the expression 'dying by the hand of Jehovah' means being forsaken by the Lord, because those who are forsaken by Him, that is, who forsake Him, plunge into evils and falsities arising from them, and so into damnation (it has been shown many times before that 'Jehovah' in the Word is the Lord); and from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as the state involving molestations, dealt with above in 8401. For what had been happening to those belonging to the spiritual Church, who are represented by 'the children of Israel', before they were delivered by the Lord - that they had been molested by those steeped in falsities arising from evil, who are represented by 'Pharaoh' and 'the Egyptians' - see 6854, 6914, 7474, 7828, 7932, 8018, 8099, 8159, 8321.

7932. 'And it shall be, when you come to the land which Jehovah will give you' means when they reach heaven, given them by the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land', at this point the land of Canaan, which they will 'come to' as the Lord's kingdom, which is heaven, dealt with in 1607, 1866, 3078, 3481, 3705, 4116, 4240, 4447, 5757. The Children of Israel represented those belonging to the spiritual Church who lived in the world before the Lord's Coming, but could not be saved except by the Lord, on account of which they were preserved and held back on the lower earth, where they were in the meantime molested by the hells which were round about them. When therefore the Lord came into the world and made the Human within Him Divine, He then - when He rose again - delivered those who had been preserved and held back there. And after they had undergone temptations He raised them to heaven. These matters are what the internal sense of the second Book of Moses or Exodus contains. By 'the Egyptians' those who molested are meant; by 'being led away from them' deliverance is meant; by 'living forty years in the wilderness' temptations are meant; and by 'being led into the land of Canaan' being raised into heaven is meant. For what has been mentioned already about these meanings, see 6854, 6914, 7091 (end), 7828. From all this it is evident that 'when you come into the land' means when they reach heaven, given them by the Lord. ¹

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