** Egypt **

AC 4964 [2, 3]

Egypt was one of those countries and kingdoms
where the Ancient Church was;
but as in Egypt it was chiefly memory-knowledges
that were handed down to posterity,
therefore such knowledge in general
is signified by "Egypt;"
and it is for this reason also that Egypt
is so often treated of in the prophetic Word . . ..

As the Lord is represented by Joseph,
its being here said
that Joseph was "brought down to Egypt,"
signifies that when the Lord glorified His internal man,
that is made it Divine,
He was first imbued
with the memory-knowledges of the church,
and from and by them
advanced to things more and more interior,
and at last even to those which are Divine.
For it pleased Him to glorify Himself,
that is, to make Himself Divine,
according to the same order
as that in which He regenerates man,
that is, makes him spiritual,
namely, from external things,
which are memory-knowledges and the truths of faith,
successively to internal things,
which are of charity toward the neighbor
and of love to Him.
From this it is plain what is signified
by the following words in Hosea:

When Israel was a child,
then I loved Him,
and called My son out of Egypt.
(Hosea 11:1);

that these words were spoken of the Lord
can be seen in Matthew 2:14-15:

So he got up,
took the child and His mother during the night
and left for Egypt,
where He stayed until the death of Herod.
And so was fulfilled
what the Lord had said through the prophet:
"Out of Egypt I called My Son."