Spiritual Meaning of EXODUS 15:17-19
previous  -  next  -  text  -  summary  -  Exodus  -  BM Home  -  Full Page

AC 8324. Verses 17-19. Thou shalt bring them in, Thou shalt plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, in the place Thou hast wrought for Thee to dwell, O Jehovah, the sanctuary, O Lord, Thy hands have prepared. Jehovah shall reign forever and to eternity. Because Pharaoh came with his chariot and with his horsemen into the sea, and Jehovah brought back the waters of the sea upon them; and the sons of Israel went on the dry through the midst of the sea. "Thou shalt bring them in," signifies elevation; "and plant them," signifies regeneration continually; "in the mountain of Thine inheritance" signifies heaven where is the good of charity; "the place for Thee to dwell in" signifies where the Lord is; "which Thou hast wrought, O Jehovah" signifies that it was from the Lord alone; "the sanctuary, O Lord, Thy hands have prepared,"signifies heaven where are they who are in the truth of faith from the Lord; "Jehovah shall reign forever and to eternity," signifies that the Lord alone is Lord of heaven and earth; "because the horse of Pharaoh came with his chariot and with his horsemen," signifies all falsities from a perverted intellectual with those who had been in faith separate and in a life of evil; "into the sea," signifies damnation; "and Jehovah brought back the waters of the sea upon them," signifies that the falsities from evils, which they intended for the good, returned upon themselves, by reason of the presence of the Lord with those who were in good; "and the sons of Israel went on the dry through the midst of the sea," signifies that they who were in the good of truth and in the truth of good passed safely through the region of that hell.

AC 8325. Thou shalt bring them in. That this signifies elevation, is evident from the signification of "bringing in," when to heaven, as being elevation. It is said "elevation," because before the outward sight of spirits heaven is on high, and before the inner sight, such as is that of the angels, heaven is within; for everything internal in the other life is presented representatively as above, and everything external as beneath, consequently heaven appears above, and hell beneath (n. 2148, 3084, 4599, 5146); for it is states of truth and of good, and in the opposite sense, states of falsity and of evil, which are represented in the other life by means of heights and depths; in a word, which are represented by means of distances and places (n. 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882, 5605, 7381).

[2] From this experience alone it can be concluded with what difficulty the natural man apprehends spiritual things, consequently those things which are of heaven. What natural man can comprehend that there are no spaces and times in heaven; but instead thereof states; namely, states of good, or states of being, instead of spaces; and states of truth, or states of coming-forth, instead of times? Will not the merely natural man believe that there is absolute emptiness and nothingness where there are no time and space? From this it is evident that if the natural man concludes in himself that nothing is to be believed except what he apprehends, he then casts himself into enormous errors. As the case is with spaces and times, so also it is with many other things; as for example, the natural man must needs fall into phantasy about the Divine, when he thinks from time about what the Divine was doing before the creation of the world, that is, what It had done from eternity till then; nor can he be extricated from this knot until the ideas of time and of space are removed. When the angels think about this eternity, they never think about it from time, but from state.

[3] In the other life there appear two statues, partly of flesh and partly of stone, placed at the boundary of the created universe, in front toward the left; and it is said of them that they swallow those who think about what the Divine was doing from eternity until It created the world. This swallowing represents that as the man cannot think except from space and time, he cannot from himself extricate himself therefrom; but he can do so from the Divine, which is effected either by the dispersal of this thought, or by the removal of the ideas of time.

AC 8326. And plant them. That this signifies regeneration continually, is evident from the signification of "planting," as being to regenerate, for regeneration is circumstanced like planting. For when a tree is planted, it grows into branches, leaves, and fruits, and from the seeds of the fruits it grows into new trees; and so on. Similar is the case with regeneration in man, and therefore in the Word a man is also compared to a tree, and a regenerate man to a garden or paradise; the truths of faith with him are compared to the leaves, and the goods of charity to the fruits, the seeds from which come new trees to the truths which are from good, or what is the same, to the faith which is from charity. It is said "regeneration continually," because regeneration begins in a man, but never ceases, being continually perfected, not only while he lives in the world, but also in the other life to eternity; and yet it can never arrive at any such perfection that it can be compared to the Divine.

AC 8327. In the mountain of Thine inheritance. That this signifies heaven where is the good of charity, is evident from the signification of "the mountain of Thine inheritance," as being heaven; for by "mountain" is signified the good of love (n. 795, 796, 2722, 4210, 6435), and by "inheritance" the life of another, here of the Lord, thus the life of good and truth which is from the Lord, for they who are in this life are called "heirs of the kingdom" and "sons" (n. 2658, 2851, 3672, 7212). As these things are signified by "the mountain of inheritance," heaven also is signified; for heaven is heaven from the good of love, and is an inheritance to those who are the Lord‘s.

AC 8328. The place for Thee to dwell in. That this signifies where the Lord is, is evident from the signification of "place," as being state (n. 8325), here a state of good from the Divine, because heaven is meant; and from the signification of "the habitation of Jehovah," or "the place for Thee to dwell in," as being where the Lord is. "To dwell" is predicated of good, (n. 2712, 3613); and "the habitation of Jehovah" denotes good, and consequently heaven, (n. 8269, 8309): the Lord is "Jehovah" in the Word, (n. 8261). Frequent mention is made of the Father who is in the heavens, and there is then meant the Divine in heaven, thus the Good from which is heaven. Regarded in Itself the Divine is above the heavens; but the Divine in the heavens is the Good that is in the Truth that proceeds from the Divine. This is meant by "the Father in the heavens," as in Matthew:--

The Divine that is in the heavens is the Good which is in the Divine Truth that proceeds from the Lord; but the Divine above the heavens is the Divine Good Itself. By "a place for Thee to dwell in" is signified heaven where is the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord, for this makes heaven. How the case is with the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord, that it is in heaven good, may be illustrated by comparison with the sun, and with the light that is from the sun. In the sun is fire, but from the sun proceeds light, which light has within itself heat, from which gardens sprout forth, and become like paradises. The very fire of the sun does not pass to the earth (for it would burn up and consume all things), but the light wherein is heat from the fire of the sun. In the spiritual sense this light is the Divine Truth; the heat is the good in the Truth from the Divine Good; and the resultant paradise is heaven.

AC 8329. Which Thou hast wrought, O Jehovah. That this signifies that it was from the Lord alone, is evident from the signification of "working" when said of regeneration and heaven, as being that it is from the Lord alone; for everything of regeneration, and everything of heaven are from the Lord.

AC 8330. The sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have prepared. That this signifies heaven where are they who are in the truth of faith from the Lord, is evident from the signification of "the sanctuary," as being heaven where is the truth of faith; and from the signification of "Thy hands have prepared," as being that which is from the Lord. It is said of the sanctuary that "Thy hands have prepared it," because the "hands" are predicated of truth, and signify power. That the "hands" are predicated of truth, see (n. 3091, 8281); and also that they denote power, (n. 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 6292, 6947, 7011, 7188, 7189, 7518, 7673, 8050, 8069, 8153, 8281); in like manner that "sanctuary" is predicated of truth, n. 8302). But the words which precede, as "the place for Thee to dwell in," and "which Thou hast wrought O Jehovah," are predicated of good, because they relate to "the mountain of inheritance," by which is signified heaven wherein is the good of charity (n. 8327). There are words which in the Word are predicated of good, and words which are predicated of truth, (n. 8314).

[2] What is meant by the heaven in which is the good of charity, which is signified by "the mountain of inheritance," and what by the heaven in which is the truth of faith, which is "the sanctuary," shall be briefly told. The heaven in which is the good of charity is that in which are the interior ones who belong to the Lord’s spiritual kingdom; and the heaven in which is the truth of faith is that in which are the exterior ones who belong to this kingdom. They who are interior are in charity itself and in the derivative faith; but they who are exterior are those who are in faith, but not yet in charity. These latter do good from obedience, but the former from affection. From all this it is evident what is meant by the heaven in which is the good of charity, and what by the heaven in which is the truth of faith.

[3] As regards the "sanctuary," it denotes in the supreme sense the truth of faith which is from the Lord, and consequently in the representative sense it denotes the Lord‘s spiritual kingdom, also the spiritual church, and from this a regenerated man who is a church, and thus in a sense abstracted from these it denotes the truth of faith, thus faith itself. What "holy" denotes see (n. 8302).

[4] From this then it is that heaven is called "the sanctuary" from the truth of faith which is from the Lord, as in David:--

here "the sanctuary" denotes the heaven where is the truth of faith; "Zion" denotes the heaven where is the good of love. They have seen Thy goings, O God, the goings of my God, of my King, in the sanctuary; to be feared is God, out of Thy sanctuaries the God of Israel (Ps. 68:24, 35); "the sanctuary" denotes the heaven where is the truth of faith, consequently it is said "God," and not "Jehovah," and also "King;" because "God" is said where truth is treated of, and "Jehovah" where good is treated of (n. 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4402, 7010, 7268), and because "King" denotes truth (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148).

[5] In the same:--

here also "sanctuary" denotes heaven as to the truth of faith. In the same:--

"to praise in the sanctuary" denotes to do so from the truth of faith which is from the Lord; and "to praise in the expanse of His strength," denotes by virtue of the good of charity which is from the Lord.

AC 8331. Jehovah shall reign forever and to eternity. That this signifies that the Lord alone is the Lord of heaven and earth, is evident from the fact that of Jehovah, that is, of the Lord, it can be said that "He shall reign forever and to eternity;" and of the angels, that they shall indeed reign, but from the Lord; thus it is still the Lord alone who reigns through them. It was customary with the ancients who were of the church to say, "God reigns," also "God shall reign eternally," by which was signified that it is well with the church, because then good and truth from the Divine are there; in general by this was signified that Jehovah is the only God; and they who were Instructed about the advent of the Lord, signified by it that the Lord is the only Lord of heaven and earth. As in the church among the ancients it was customary to say "God shall reign," therefore in David some Psalms are inscribed with the words "Jehovah shall reign" (Ps. 93:1; Ps. 97:1; Ps. 99:1). And in these passages:--

AC 8332. Because the horse of Pharaoh came with his chariot and with his horsemen. That this signifies all falsities from a perverted intellectual with those who had been in faith separate and in a life of evil, is evident from the signification of "the horse of Pharaoh," and also of "his chariot," and of "his horsemen," as being all falsities from a perverted intellectual (n. 8146, 8148); and from the representation of Pharaoh and of the Egyptians, as being those who are in faith separate from charity and in a life of evil (n. 7926, 8148).

AC 8333. Into the sea. That this signifies damnation, is evident from the signification of "the sea Suph," as being hell (n. 8099, 8137, 8138); here damnation, because it is said that they "came into the sea," and afterward that "Jehovah brought back the waters of the sea upon them," by which is signified that they sank down into hell, for they come into damnation before they come into hell.

AC 8334. And Jehovah brought back the waters of the sea upon them. That this signifies that the falsities from evils which they intended for the good returned upon themselves, by reason of the presence of the Lord with those who were in good, is evident from the signification of "Jehovah brought back the waters of the sea upon them, as being that the falsities of evil which they intended for the good returned upon themselves. Falsities from evil are gathered together into a one, and are poured into those who are in evil, and they are surrounded by them, (n. 8146): The falsities from evil which the evil intend for others, by virtue of a law of order return upon themselves, (n. 8214, 8223, 8226): That environment by the falsities of evil is casting into hell, (n. 8210, 8232): And that this is effected by the mere presence of the Lord with the good, when He is protecting them and is bestowing on them heaven and the joy of heaven, (n. 8137, 8265).

AC 8335. And the sons of Israel went on the dry through the midst of the sea. That this signifies that they who were in the good of truth and in the truth of good passed safely through the region of that hell, is evident from what has been unfolded above (n. 8099, 8185).

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

www.BibleMeanings.info