I will cause your hordes to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most terrible among the nations.  They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt, and all its hordes shall perish.  I will destroy all its livestock from beside abundant waters; and no human foot shall trouble them any more, nor shall the hoofs of cattle trouble them.  Then I will make their waters clear, and cause their streams to run like oil, says the Lord God.  When I make the land of Egypt desolate and when the land is stripped of all that fills it, when I strike down all who live in it, then they shall know that I am the Lord.

“I will cause your hordes to fall by the swords of mighty ones”

The hordes of which are spoken of are the sins which cling to the soul like hungry demons.  This passage speaks of the mystical operations performed on the soul when given over to the pursuit of perfection.  The swords of the mighty ones are those of the angels who carry out the commands of the divine physician.

“They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt”

Egypt represents the old self by which we were enslaved.  And what is brought to ruin is the ego which must not only give way, but indeed die.

“I will destroy all its livestock from beside abundant waters”

The abundant waters represent that wellspring which is the Word: ever-present source of refreshment and life.  The livestock which is destroyed is that vainglory in us and gluttony which would seek ownership or pride in the good works wrought in and through us by the waters of the Word.

“Then I will make their waters clear”

That is, once the corruption of the livestock is removed, and human foot – that is, the corruption we bring to the Word in our old sinful selves by seeking ownership of its works – and the hoofs of cattle which trouble them are those demons which seek to ruin the harvest the Word sows (by stealing the seed, or by sowing weeds in with the crop, as the parables in the gospels show), then the waters shall flow clear.  The full power and glory of the Spirit of Truth and the knowledge of the Word shall shine in and through us.  The Word shall be our only light, then.

But first we must endure the trials which bring this to fruition.  And they are truly interior and exterior trials which are difficult!  Yet we can rejoice in the knowledge that they are being given to us so our faith may be purified, and the small seed of faith may grow into a mighty tree, in which the birds shall rest.