Arcana Coelestia (Elliott): AC 6824

6824. Such are the degrees of the neighbour, and it is in accordance with them that charity ought to increase in scale. But these degrees are those of consecutive order, in which a prior or higher degree always takes precedence over a posterior or lower one; and since the Lord occupies the highest degree and one should look to him in each specific degree as the End to which they all rise, He must be loved above all people and all things.

EXODUS 3

And Moses was feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.

And the angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire from the middle of a bramble bush; and he saw, and behold, the bramble bush was burning with fire, and the bramble bush was not at all being consumed.

And Moses said, I will turn aside therefore, and see this great sight, why the bramble bush is not burnt.

And Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, and God called to him from the middle of the bramble bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I am.

And He said, Do not draw near here; take off your shoes from upon Your feet, for the place which you are standing on is holy ground.

And He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

And Jehovah said, I have indeed seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry from before their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows.

And I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians, and to cause them to come up out of that land to a land good and broad, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite, and the Amorite and the Perizzite, and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me; and also I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

And now, go, and I will send you to Pharaoh; and lead My people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

And Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?

And He said, Because I will be with you; and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you lead the people out of Egypt you shall worship God beside this mountain.

And Moses said to God, Behold, I am coming to the children of Israel and saying to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they may say to me, What is His name? What am I to say to them?

And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.

And God said further still to Moses, Thus you are to say to the children of Israel Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you; this is My name forever,^a and this is My memorial from one generation to another.^b

Go and gather the elders of Israel, and you are to say to them, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, has appeared to me - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - saying, I have certainly visited you and [seen] what has been done to you in Egypt.

And I say, I will cause you to come up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite, and the Amorite and the Perizzite, and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.

And they will hear your voice, and you and the elders of Israel are to go in to the king of Egypt, and you are to say to him, Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has come to meet us; and now let us go, we beg you, a way of three days ^c into the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to Jehovah our God.

And I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, not even ^d by a strong hand.

And I will stretch out ^e My hand, and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in the midst of it; and after that he will send you away.

And I will give this people favour ^f in the eyes of the Egyptians; and so it will be when you go, that you will not go empty-handed.

And let a woman ask of her female neighbour, and of the female guest in her house, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothes; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. And you shall plunder the Egyptians.

Notes

^a lit. into eternity
^b lit. into a generation, a generation
^c i.e. a three days' journey
^d lit. and not
^e lit. send
^f lit. grace

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