8556. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verses 1-3 And all the assembly of the children of Israel travelled on from the wilderness of Sin, according to their travels, at the mouth of Jehovah, and encamped in Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink. And the people wrangled with Moses, and said, Give us water and let us drink. And Moses said to them, Why do you wrangle with me? Why do you tempt Jehovah? And the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses, and said, Why have you caused us to come up out of Egypt, to cause me, and my children, and my livestock to die of thirst? ¹

'And all the assembly of the children of Israel travelled on' means a further development of spiritual life. 'From the wilderness of Sin' means away from a state of temptation having to do with good. 'According to their travels' means according to the order of life for receiving the life of heaven. 'At the mouth of Jehovah' means in the Lord's providence. 'And encamped in Rephidim' means arranging interior things for undergoing a temptation having to do with truth, the essential nature of that temptation being meant by 'Rephidim'. 'And there was no water for the people to drink' means a lack of truth and consequently of refreshment.

'And the people wrangled with Moses' means bitter complaining against God's truth. 'And said, Give us water and let us drink' means a burning desire for truth. 'And Moses said to them' means the reply, made through influx into thought. 'Why do you wrangle with me?' means that they should be more restrained in their complaining. 'Why do you tempt Jehovah?' means that their complaining is against the Divine, from whom they despair of receiving aid. 'And the people thirsted there for water' means an increase in the desire for truth. 'And the people grumbled against Moses' means a greater degree of grief. 'Why have you caused us to come up out of Egypt' means Why have we been delivered from molestations ... 'To cause me, and my children, and my livestock to die of thirst?' means, in order for everything constituting spiritual life to perish, owing to the lack of truth?

Poznámky pod čarou:

In a general sense, "rod" and "staff" both represent power -- in particular, the power of true ideas coming from the Lord. There are a number of reasons for this. For one thing, rods and staves were typically branches of trees, and trees represent thoughts and ideas coming from the Lord. For another, they are held in the hand, which also represents power. Finally, it's not hard to see how sticks gave people power in primitive times. To some extent "rod" and "staff" are interchangeable, but there are subtle differences in meaning; "staff" in the original language meant more of a stick to lean on, and "rod" meant more of a stick to hit things with. When they're used together, then, "rod" represents power from a higher level of truth and "staff" the power of a lower, more external truth.

In Exodus 4:2, this signifies the power of the Lord's Divine Human -- the hand, that power from His Divine Rational, and the rod, power from His Divine Natural. (Arcana Coelestia 6947, Apocalypse Explained 518[30]) In Ezekiel 29:6, a rod signifies a weakened form of this power. (Arcana Coelestia 1085[2])

In Hosea 4:12, a rod signifies the imaginary power of their own understanding. (Arcana Coelestia 2466[10])

In Isaiah 11:4, this signifies the divine truth from which judgment comes. (Arcana Coelestia 6119[2])