7016. 'And said [to him], I will go, I beg you, and return to my brothers who are in Egypt' means being raised to more internal and more spiritual life in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'going and returning' as a further state of life, and the further state of life here consists in being raised to more internal and more spiritual life, thus life closer to the Divine, for in reference to the Lord, whom 'Moses' represents, 'going and returning' is used to mean being raised to the Divine Being (Esse) or Jehovah, who was within Him and from whom He came; from the representation of the children of Israel, to whom 'brothers' refers here, as the Lord's spiritual kingdom and consequently the spiritual Church, dealt with in 6426, 6637; and from the meaning of 'Egypt' as the natural, dealt with in 6147, 6252. From all this it is evident that 'I will go, I beg you, and return to my brothers who are in Egypt' means being raised to more internal and more spiritual life in the natural. For just as Moses' dwelling in Midian meant life with those who are guided by the truth that goes with simple good, and so are governed by simple good, 7015, so now his dwelling with the children of Israel means life with those who are guided and governed by the truth and good of the spiritual Church, which is more internal and more spiritual than the former life. Regarding the fact that the good and truth of that Church are in the natural, see 4286, 4402.

6425. 'By the hands of the powerful Jacob' means received from the almighty power of the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hands' as power, dealt with immediately above in 6424, and in the highest sense, in which the Lord is the subject, as almighty power, 878, 3387, 4592, 4933 (end); and from the meaning of 'the powerful Jacob' as the Lord's Divine Natural, thus His Divine Human, 1893, 3305, 3576, 3599, 4286, 4538, 6098, 6185, 6276. That the Lord is the One who is meant by 'the powerful Jacob' is also evident in David,

He who swore to Jehovah made a vow to the powerful Jacob, If I enter the tent of my house . . . until I find a place for Jehovah, the dwelling-places of the powerful Jacob. Psalms 132:2-3, 5.

And in Isaiah,

That all flesh may know that I Jehovah am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the powerful Jacob. Isaiah 49:26.

In the same prophet,

Hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. I will pour out My spirit upon your seed, and My blessing upon your sons. This one will say, I am Jehovah's, and that one will call himself by the name of Jacob, and another will write with his hand, Jehovah's, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Isaiah 44:1-3, 5.

In the highest sense 'Israel' too means the Lord, in Hosea,

When Israel was a boy I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Hosea 11:1.

The fact that it is the Lord who is meant here by 'Israel' is clear in Matthew,

Joseph went with the boy into Egypt, so that what had been said by the prophet might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt have I called My son. Matthew 2:14-15.