AC 8191, 8194 - Crossing the Sea

AC 8191

And the angel of God set out,
marching before the camp of Israel,
and he went behind them;
and the pillar of cloud set out from before them
and stood behind them;
and it came between
the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel;
and it was a cloud and darkness,
and it lighted up the night;
and the one came not near the other all the night.
And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea;
and Jehovah made the sea go away
by a strong east wind all night,
and made the sea dry,
and the waters were cleft asunder.
And the sons of Israel
came into the midst of the sea in the dry;
and the waters were a wall to them
on their right hand, and on their left.
(Exodus 19-22)

"And the angel of God set out,"
signifies a setting in order by Divine truth;
"marching before the camp of Israel,"
signifies that was around the truths and goods of the church;
"and he went behind them,"
signifies protection
lest the falsity of evil should flow into the will;
"and the pillar of cloud set out from before them
and stood behind them,"
signifies the presence of the Lord
protecting the things of the will,
as it had previously protected
those of the understanding;
"and it came between
the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel,"
signifies between the falsities of evil on the one side,
and the truths of good on the other;
"and it was a cloud and darkness,"
signifies the condensation of falsity from evil
on the one side;
"and it lighted up the night,"
signifies the enlightenment of truth from good
on the other;
"and the one came not near the other,"
signifies consequently no communication;
"all the night,"
signifies in the obscure state;
"and Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,"
signifies the rule of the power of truth Divine over hell;
"and Jehovah made the sea go away by a strong east wind,"
signifies the means of the dissipation of falsity;
"all the night,"
signifies in the obscure state;
"and made the sea dry,"
signifies the dissipation of falsity;
"and the waters were cleft asunder,"
signifies separation from truths, and removal;
"and the sons of Israel
came into the midst of the sea in the dry,"
signifies the entrance and passage
of those who were of the spiritual church
through hell in safety,
and without any influx of falsity;
"and the waters were a wall to them
on their right hand, and on their left,"
signifies that they were withheld from falsities on every side.

AC 8194

And he went behind them.
(Exodus 14:19)

That this signifies protection
lest the falsity of evil should flow into the will,
is evident from the signification of
"going behind" the sons of Israel,
as being protection lest the Egyptians should attack;
in the internal sense,
lest the falsities from evil
which are signified by "the Egyptians"
should flow in.
That it denotes lest they should flow into the will,
is because in the Grand Man, or in the spiritual world,
the things of the will are presented at the back, or behind,
and those of the understanding in front, or before.
As regards influx
into the will and into the understanding of a person,
be it known that the Lord takes the utmost care
lest the infernals flow into a person's will;
for if they were to flow into his will
after he had been regenerated or made a church,
it would be all over with him,
because his will is nothing but evil.
So it is that the person of the spiritual church
is regenerated by the Lord in respect to the intellectual part,
and that a new will is formed in this part,
which is completely separated from the
will that the person has by heredity.
From all this it can now be seen from where it is
that by "he went behind them"
is meant protection
lest the falsity of evil should flow into the will.