The meaning of “leading” people in the Bible is pretty straightforward, though obviously it is about leading people in spiritual things, not natural ones. When it is the Lord doing the leading, though, the idea of being led opens up the whole concept that the Lord is caring for us every moment, from the most outward aspect of life down to the deepest recesses, and that all hjis care and leading is intended to bring us to heaven. Swedenborg, in fact, includes a whole book on this topic, called “Divine Providence.”
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10507
10507. ‘And now, go! lead the people to what I have spoken of to you’ means bringing this nation to represent the Church, and does not mean that the Church was to exist among them. This is clear from the meaning of ‘leading the people to the land of Canaan’ as causing the Church to exist there; for ‘the land of Canaan’ means the Church, and ‘leading the people to that land’ in the spiritual sense means establishing the Church among that people, for that nation was therefore being led to that land in order that the Church might come into being there. Here however the meaning is that they were being brought merely to represent it, for it says, ‘Leadthe people to what ‘ and not ‘to the land which’.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6865
6865. ‘And lead My people the children of Israel out of Egypt’ means the consequent deliverance of those belonging to the spiritual Church from molesting falsities. This is clear from the meaning of ‘leading out’ as deliverance; from the meaning of ‘the children of Israel’ as those belonging to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 6637; and from the meaning of ‘Egypt’ as false factual knowledge that is opposed to the Church’s truths, thus falsity that molests, dealt with in 6692.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7235
7235. ‘Lead the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt’ means that those who belonged to the Lord’s spiritual kingdom were to be delivered, that is to say, from close proximity to those steeped in falsities. This is clear from the meaning of ‘leading out’ as delivering; from the representation of the ‘children of Israel’ as those who belong to the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, dealt with in 6426, 6637, and also in 6862, 6868, 7075, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223; and from the meaning of ‘the land of Egypt’ as the place where the falsities are which are used to carry out molestations.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8093
8093. ‘That God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines’ means that the Divine saw to it that they should not pass on to the truth of faith that does not spring from good. This is clear from the meaning of ‘God did not lead them by the way’ as the Divine saw to it that they should not pass on to, for ‘leading’, when done by God, means providence, and ‘the way’ means truth, 627, 2333, in this instance passing on to it; and from the representation of ‘the Philistines’ as those who have a knowledge of the cognitions of faith but do not lead a life of charity, dealt with in 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413, thus those who possess the truth of faith that does not spring from good.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8107
8107. ‘To lead them [along] the way’ means Divine guidance. This is clear from the meaning of ‘leading [along] the way’, when said of Jehovah, as providence and Divine guidance, dealt with in 8093, 8098.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 600
600. 13:14 And to lead astray those who dwell on the earth, because of the signs which it was granted to do in the presence of the beast. This symbolically means that through their testifications and assertions the clergy lead people in the church into errors.
To lead astray means, symbolically, to lead into errors.