Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7791

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7791. 'And he went out from Pharaoh in wrath and anger' means a violent breaking off of the presence of God's truth from those who are to be damned. This is clear from the meaning of 'going out' as departing, at this point a violent breaking off since the words 'in wrath and anger' are used (in the end also, once damnation is reached, a violent breaking off takes place, for when people begin to feel a loathing of God's truth, also to fear it, and at length to feel horror at its presence, they break away from it violently); from the representation of 'Moses' as God's truth, dealt with often; from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the ones who molested those who belonged to the spiritual Church, also dealt with often, but at this point those who are to be damned, damnation being meant by the declaration that the firstborn were going to be killed, 7778; and from the meaning of 'wrath and anger' as antagonism and loathing or aversion, dealt with in 3614, 5034, 5798. But when those feelings are attributed to the Divine, as they are here to Divine Truth, represented by 'Moses', it does not mean that the Divine turns away in aversion but that those immersed in evil do so, 5798. 'Wrath' is used in reference to falsity and 'anger' to evil, 3614.


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