posterity (Deut. viii. 2, 6). Inasmuch as by forty were signified temptations and their durations, and by the wilderness the state of those who undergo them, therefore also the Lord, when He was tempted, went out into the wilderness, and was there forty days (Matt. iv. 1, 2 and following verses: Luke iv. 1, 2 and following verses: Mark i. 12, 13).

8099. By the Red Sea. That this signifies damnation which they were first to pass through, is evident from the signification of the Red Sea, as the hell where they are who are in faith separate from charity, and in the life of evil; and inasmuch as the Red Sea means hell, it means also damnation. In regard to their having first to pass through damnation, the case is this. They who were of the spiritual church, and until the coming of the Lord were detained in the lower earth and there infested by those who were in faith separate from charity—who have been treated of in the preceding chapters when they were liberated thence, were not immediately taken up into heaven, but were first brought into another state of purification, which is that of temptations; for the truths and goods of faith can neither be confirmed nor conjoined without temptations, and before these were confirmed and conjoined, they could not be elevated into heaven. These things were represented by the sons of Israel not being immediately introduced into the land of Canaan, but first led into the wilderness, where they remained for forty years, and in the meantime underwent various temptations described in the books of Moses. As to this, that they first passed 2 through the Red Sea, by which is signified the hell of those who are in faith separate and in the life of evil, thus through the midst of damnation, it is to be known that this hell is in front at a depth beneath the hells of adulterers and extends itself rather widely toward the left, being separated from the hells of adulterers by waters as of a sea. To the right there, but at a greater depth, is where those are gathered together who are in the truth of faith, but not

see.

in the good of faith, who are signified by the Philistines - of whom just above (n. 8096); but the lower earth, where those are who are infested, is beneath the sole of the foot, a little in front. They who are liberated from infestations are not led toward the right, for in that quarter are those who are signified by the Philistines, but they are led to the left, through the midst of the hell above spoken of, and emerge to the left, where there is as it were a wilderness. That they who are delivered from infestations pass through by this way, it has been twice given me to When they pass through, they are so protected by the Lord that not the slightest evil can touch them, still less any thing of damnation, for they are encompassed with a column of angels, with whom the Lord is present: this was represented by the passage of the sons of Israel through 3 the Red Sea. This also was meant by these words in Isaiah - Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah! Art thou not it that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; and maketh the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? (li. 9, 10) — where the arm of Jehovah is the Lord as to the Divine Human; the waters of the great deep and the depths of the sea are the hell where are those who are in faith separate from charity and in a life of evil; the waters as of a sea beneath which they are, are falsities, for falsities in the other life are seen as dense and dark clouds, and also as floods of water (n. 739, 4423, 7307); the redeemed who were to pass over are 4 they who are liberated by the Lord. Again in the same prophet Jehovah remembered the days of old, Moses, and His people, saying, Where is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? where is He that put His holy spirit within them? (lxiii. 11.) In this prophetic enunciation by Moses is meant the Lord, Who is also the shepherd of the flock; by the people, whom He brought up out of the sea, they who were liberated from 5 damnation. And in Jeremiah: The earth trembled at the

noise of their fall; there was a cry, the noise whereof was heard in the Red Sea (xlix. 21). The Red Sea stands for hell, for Edom and its damnation are there described, and it is said that the noise thereof was heard from the Red Sea, when yet they were not immersed in that sea, but the Egyptians; for this reason it is plain that the Red Sea signifies hell and damnation. By Edom are here signified those who from the evil of self-love reject the truths of doctrine, and embrace falsities (n. 3322). From these things it may now be evident what is signified by the Red Sea in the internal representative sense, and what by the passage of the sons of Israel, and by the immersion of the Egyptians therein, as described in the following chapter.

8100. And the sons of Israel went up girded out of the land of Egypt. That this signifies that they were delivered from a state of infestations, and thus prepared to sustain temptations, is evident from the signification of going up girded, as being prepared, here for sustaining temptations, because they were led by the way of the Red Sea into the wilderness that the wilderness is a state of undergoing temptations may be seen above (n. 8098); from the representation of the sons of Israel, as those who are of the spiritual church-of which frequently above; and from the signification of the land of Egypt, as a state of infestations (see n. 7278). To go up out of the land of Egypt is to be delivered or liberated. From this it is plain that by the sons of Israel going up girded out of the land of Egypt is meant that they were delivered from a state of infestations, and thus prepared to sustain temptations. What the difference is between temptations and infestations, may be seen above (n. 7474).

8101. Verse 19. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him for taking he had taken an oath of the sons of Israel, saying, Visiting God will visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him" signifies the represent

ative of the church, which there was with them; "for taking he had taken an oath of the sons of Israel, saying” signifies a binding; "Visiting God will visit you" signifies when that last state and first state of the church should come; "and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you" signifies, as above, the representative of the church with them, not the church, which indeed is in what is internal.

8102. It is needless to explain these words further, because they have been before explained at the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth verses of the fiftieth chapter of Genesis, where like words occur (see n. 6590, 6592).

8102. Verses 20-22. And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people. "And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham” signifies a second state after they were liberated; "in the edge of the wilderness" signifies the first state of temptations. "And Jehovah went before them" signifies the continual presence of the Lord; "by day in a pillar of cloud" signifies when there was a state of enlightenment, that it was tempered by obscurity of truth; "to lead them the way" signifies Divine guidance; "and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light" signifies when there was a state of obscurity, that it was tempered by enlightenment from good; "that they might go by day and by night" signifies thus life in each state. "The pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people" signifies the presence of the Lord that it was perpetual.

8103. And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham. That this signifies a second state

after they were liberated, is evident from this, that the journeyings and encampments of the sons of Israel, after they went forth from Egypt, signify the spiritual states of those who were liberated by the Lord - concerning whom see above. The changes of states are signified by the journeys. from one place to another, and the stations there; the second state is here signified by the journeying from Succoth to Etham, because the first state was signified by the journeying from Rameses to Succoth (see n. 7972). And by journeyings are signified in the internal sense of the Word states and institutes of life—as shown above (n. 1293, 3335, 5605), and by encampments the orderly arrangements of truth and good, which are of life (n. 4236).

8104. In the edge of the wilderness. That this signifies the first state of temptations, is evident from the signification of a wilderness, as a state for undergoing temptations

às shown above (n. 8098); and as that state commenced in the edge of the wilderness, therefore by the edge of the wilderness is signified the first state.

8105. And Jehovah went before them. That this signifies the continual presence of the Lord, is evident without explication; that Jehovah is the Lord, may be seen above (n. 8046).

8106. By day in a pillar of cloud. pillar of cloud. That this signifies when there was a state of enlightenment, that it was tempered by obscurity of truth, is evident from the signification of by day, or in the day, as in a state of enlightenment - for the times of day, as morning, midday, evening, and night, correspond to the various degrees of enlightenment which are of intelligence and wisdom in the other life (see n. 5672, 5962, 6110), whence day means a state of enlightenment or of clear perception, and night a state of non-enlightenment, or of obscure perception (n. 7680); and from the signification of cloud, as obscurity of truth, for the reason that a cloud takes away the brightness of light from the sun, and also tempers it. In the Word throughout it is 2