Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1840

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1840. Verse 13 And He said to Abram, Know for sure that your seed will be strangers in a land not theirs. And they will serve them,a and these will afflict them for four hundred years.

'He said to Abram' means perception. 'Know for sure' means that it is a certainty. 'Your seed will be strangers' means that charity and faith will be scarce. 'In a land that is not theirs' means where there will be a Church which does not so to speak consist of people in whom faith and charity are present. 'And they will serve them'a means oppression. 'And these will afflict them' means their grievous temptations. 'For four hundred years' means the duration and state [of those temptations].

Notes

a i.e. as slaves


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