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.

8017. 'And so it was on this same day' means a state of the Lord's presence. This is clear from the meaning of 'day' as a period of time and a state, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850, 7680. The reason why a state of the Lord's presence is meant is that it was Passover day, and 'the Passover' means the Lord's presence and the deliverance of those belonging to the spiritual Church from spiritual captivity and from damnation, 7867. Deliverance then is meant by what this verse goes on to say, namely that on that day Jehovah brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. The fact that this was on the day after the Passover is clear in Moses,

They set out from Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the day after the Passover, in the sight ¹ of all the Egyptians, at the time that the Egyptians were burying the firstborn who had been killed. Numbers 33:3-4.

The Lord's presence delivers from damnation those who are governed by good, and brings to damnation those who are ruled by evil, see 7926, 7989.

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