7978. 'And they baked the dough which they brought out of Egypt - unleavened cakes' means that from the truth of good further good was produced that had no falsity at all in it. This is clear from the meaning of 'baking' - when used in reference to the truth of good, meant by 'the dough' - as producing; from the meaning of 'the dough' as the truth of good, dealt with above in 7966; and from the meaning of 'unleavened cakes' as forms of good that have no falsity at all in them, since 'unleavened' means without falsity, see 2342, 7906. This is the second state of truth from good that they passed through when they were delivered, see above in 7966, 7972. The reason why 'cakes' means forms of good is that they are cakes of bread, and 'bread' in the internal sense is the good of love, dealt with in 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915. But bread in the form of cakes is distinguished from bread in general, in that bread in the form of cakes means the good of love towards the neighbour, which is spiritual good, while bread in general means the good of love to the Lord, which is celestial good. Such spiritual good was meant by 'the minchah' which was offered and burned with the sacrifice on the altar; for 'the minchah' was baked into cakes and into wafers, as is made clear in Exodus 29:2-3, 23-24, 32; Leviticus 2:2 and following verses; 6:20-21; Numbers 6:15, 19; 15:18-21.

[2] Something similar was meant by 'the twelve loaves of the presence which too were baked into cakes, described in Moses as follows,

You shall take fine flour and bake it into twelve cakes; two-tenths [of an ephah] shall there be in one cake. And you shall place them in two rows, six in a row, on the clean table before Jehovah. And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, and it shall be loaves of bread serving as a memorial, a fire-offering to Jehovah. Leviticus 24:5-9.

From these instructions it becomes clear that 'the loaves' meant what was holy, for such instructions would never have been issued but for that reason. And since they meant what was holy they were also called in verse 9 of the same chapter 'holiness of holinesses.' ¹ But these loaves meant the good of celestial love, and their being baked into cakes meant forms of the good of spiritual love. From these verses and from those in the references given above it becomes clear that something similar is meant by the bread in the Holy Supper.

Poznámky pod čarou:

3720. 'This is nothing other than the house of God' means the Lord's kingdom as it exists in the ultimate degree of order. This is clear from the meaning of 'the house of God'. In the Word 'the house of God' is referred to in many places, and in the external sense, that is, literally, it means a building where holy worship takes place. But in the internal sense it means the Church, in the more universal sense it means heaven, and in the most universal the Lord's kingdom. In the highest sense however it means the Lord Himself as regards the Divine Human. But in the Word sometimes the expression 'House of God' is used and sometimes 'Temple'. The two are similar in meaning, the difference being that the expression 'House of God' is used when the subject is good but 'temple' when the subject is truth. From this it is evident that 'the House of God' means the Lord's celestial Church, and in the more universal sense the heaven of celestial angels, in the most universal the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord as regards Divine Good; whereas 'the Temple' means the Lord's spiritual Church, and in the more universal sense the heaven of spiritual angels, in the most universal the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and in the highest the Lord as regards Divine Truth, see 2048. The reason why 'the House of God' means that which is celestial and the dwelling-place of good, while 'the Temple' means that which is spiritual and the dwelling-place of truth, is that 'a house' in the Word means good, see 710, 2233, 2559, 3128, 3652, and among the most ancient people used to be built of pieces of wood for the reason that 'wood' meant good, 643, 1110, 2784, 2812, whereas 'the Temple' means truth because it was built of stones - 'stones' meaning truths, see 643, 1296, 1298.

[2] These meanings that 'pieces of wood' and 'stones' possess are clear not only from the Word where they are mentioned but also from representatives in the next life. For people who assume that merit lies in good works seem to themselves to be cutting wood, and those who assume that it lies in truths, that is to say, people who have believed that they knew more truths than anybody else and yet have lived wickedly, seem to themselves to be breaking up stones. I have often seen such people wood-cutting or stone-breaking, from which the meaning of 'wood' and of 'stone' was made clear to me - that good is meant by 'wood' and truth by 'stone'. It has in like manner been made clear to me from the fact that when I have seen a wooden house the concept of good has instantly presented itself, and when I have seen a stone house the concept of truth has done so. And I have also learned from angels about this matter. This is why, when in the Word 'the House of God' is mentioned, the concept of good presents itself to angels, the kind of good depending on the nature of the subject that is being dealt with. And when 'the Temple' is mentioned, the concept of truth presents itself, the kind of truth depending on the subject that is being dealt with. From this one may also deduce how deeply and inwardly concealed the heavenly arcana lie in the Word.

[3] The reason 'the House of God' here means the Lord's kingdom as it exists in the ultimate degree of order is that the subject is Jacob who, as often shown already, represents the Lord's Divine Natural. The natural exists in the ultimate degree of order, for the natural encompasses all interior degrees and includes them all together within itself. And since they are included all together within the natural, and so countless things are beheld as a single whole, obscurity exists there compared with other degrees. This obscurity too has been dealt with frequently.