CLICK TO PRINT READING 7287. Verses 8-13. And Jehovah said unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall say unto you, saying, Give you a wonder, then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh; it shall become a water-serpent. And Moses and Aaron came unto Pharaoh; and they did so as Jehovah had commanded; and Aaron cast his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a water-serpent. And Pharaoh called also the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did so with their enchantments. And they cast forth every man his rod, and they became water-serpents; and Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. And Pharaoh's heart was made firm, and he heard them not; as Jehovah had spoken. "And Jehovah said unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying," signifies instruction; "When Pharaoh shall say unto you," signifies if they have doubt concerning the Divine; "saying, give you a wonder," signifies and they therefore desire to be confirmed; "then thou shalt say unto Aaron," signifies influx and communication; "Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh," signifies the power which is shown; "it shall become a water-serpent," signifies that thereby mere fallacies and the derivative falsities will reign among them; "and Moses and Aaron came unto Pharaoh, and they did so as Jehovah had commanded," signifies the effect; "and Aaron cast his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a water-serpent," signifies that mere fallacies and the derivative falsities would reign among them; "and Pharaoh called also the wise men and the sorcerers," signifies abuse of Divine order; "and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did so with their enchantments," signifies thus to appearance the same by perverting the ends of order; "and they cast forth every man his rod, and they became water-serpents," signifies power from order that they became dull in respect to the noticing of truth; "and Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods," signifies that this power was taken away from them; "and Pharaoh's heart was made firm," signifies obstinacy; "and he heard them not," signifies that they who were in evils from falsities did not receive; "as Jehovah had spoken," signifies prediction. 7288. And Jehovah said unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying. That this signifies instruction, is evident from the signification of "Jehovah said," as being instruction (n. 6879, 6881, 6883, 6891). 7289. When Pharaoh shall say unto you. That this signifies if they have doubt concerning the Divine, is evident from what now follows, namely, "if Pharaoh shall say, Give you a wonder," which words plainly imply doubt concerning the Divine; for to desire a wonder is to doubt until it is confirmed to the senses. 7290. Saying, Give you a wonder. That this signifies, and they therefore desire to be confirmed, is evident from the signification of "wonders and signs," as being confirmations of truths (see n. 3900, 6870). As regards the wonders and signs treated of in what follows, be it known that they were done among such as were in external worship, and did not desire to know anything about internal worship, for they who were in such worship had to be driven by external means. This is the reason why miracles were done among the Israelitish and Jewish people, for they were in external worship only. In the absence of their desire for internal worship they had to be in external, in order that they might represent holy things in outward ones, and that in this way there might be communication with heaven as by something of a church, for correspondences, representatives, and significatives conjoin the natural world with the spiritual. This is the reason why so many miracles were done in that nation. [2] But miracles are not done among those who are in internal worship, that is, in charity and faith, because to these they are hurtful, for miracles compel belief, and what is compelled does not remain, but is dissipated.
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Nov 21 202413 mins
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