Arcana Coelestia # 9323
9323. 'And He will bless your bread and your water' means the increase of the good of love and of the truth of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'being blessed by Jehovah' as being made fruitful in forms of good and being multiplied in truths, dealt with in 2846, 3406, 4981, 6091, 6099, 8939, thus an increase in the kinds of things that belong to love and faith; from the meaning of 'bread' as the good of love, dealt with in 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 6118, 8410; and from the meaning of 'water' as the truth of faith, dealt with in 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 6346, 7307, 8568. Since 'bread' meant all the good of love and 'water' all the truth of faith in their entirety, and since 'being blessed by Jehovah' means every increase in them, people in the ancient Churches were accustomed to express the wish, May Jehovah bless [your] bread and water. It was also common to speak of 'bread and water' when all natural food and drink were to be expressed and all spiritual goodness and truth to be understood; for the latter are what nourish spiritual life, just as the former nourish natural life, 4976.
[2] Such goodness and truth are meant by 'bread and water' in the following places: In Isaiah,
Behold, Jehovah Zebaoth is taking away from Jerusalem and Judah the whole staff of bread, and the whole staff of water. Isaiah 3:1.
'The staff of bread' stands for power and life provided by good, 'the staff of water' for power and life provided by truth. In Ezekiel,
Behold, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, so that they may eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and with dismay; that they may be in want of bread and water, and will be dismayed with one another, 1 and waste away on account of their iniquity. Ezekiel 4:16-17.
'Being in want of bread and water' means being deprived of the good of love and of the truth of faith, as is plainly evident since it says 'that they will be dismayed with one with another, and waste away on account of iniquity'.
[3] The like occurs again in the same prophet,
They will eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with dismay, so that her land may be devastated of its fullness, on account of the violence of all who dwell in it. Ezekiel 12:19.
In Amos,
Behold, the days are going to come, in which I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah. Amos 8:11.
In the first Book of Kings,
The man of God said to Jeroboam, If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For Jehovah had so commanded, saying, You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way you came. But a prophet from Bethel said to him that he had been told by Jehovah that he was to eat bread and drink water with him (he was lying). 2 And he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. For that reason he was torn to pieces by a lion. 1 Kings 13:8-9, 16-19, 24.
His refusal to eat bread or drink water with Jeroboam was a sign of his abhorrence of the good there and also of the truth, because they had been rendered profane. For Jeroboam had profaned the altar and all the holy things of worship, as is evident from the historical descriptions at this point in the Word.
[4] A lack of spiritual goodness and truth was meant by the absence of rain for three and a half years when Ahab was king, resulting in a lack of bread and of water, during which time Elijah went to a widow in Zarephath and asked her for a little water in a vessel so that he might drink, and a piece of bread so that he might eat, 1 Kings 17, 18. For 'bread' meant all the good of the Church, and 'water' all the truth of the Church, as stated above. Since such things in those times were representative for the reason that only something representative of the Church existed among those people, and since things of a representative nature were used therefore in the composition of the Word, including the historical section, goodness and truth laid waste was accordingly represented by the lack of bread and water. And because 'bread' meant all the good of love in its entirety, therefore also the sacrifices were referred to as 'bread', 2165, and therefore also the Lord calls Himself 'the bread which comes down from heaven', John 6:48, 50-51; for the Lord is the Good itself of Love.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. literally, will be desolated a man and his brother
2. i.e. the prophet from Bethel was lying when he told the man of God that God had commanded him (that prophet) to bring the man of God to his house
Deuteronomy 2
1
`And we turn, and journey into the wilderness, the way of the Red Sea, as Jehovah hath spoken unto me, and we go round the mount of Seir many days.
2
`And Jehovah speaketh unto me, saying,
3
Enough to you -- is the going round of this mount; turn for yourselves northward.
4
`And the people command thou, saying, Ye are passing over into the border of your brethren, sons of Esau, who are dwelling in Seir, and they are afraid of you; and ye have been very watchful,
5
ye do not strive with them, for I do not give to you of their land even the treading of the sole of a foot; for a possession to Esau I have given mount Seir.
6
`Food ye buy from them with money, and have eaten; and also water ye buy from them with money, and have drunk,
7
for Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hands; He hath known thy walking in this great wilderness these forty years; Jehovah thy God [is] with thee; thou hast not lacked anything.
8
`And we pass by from our brethren, sons of Esau, who are dwelling in Seir, by the way of the plain, by Elath, and by Ezion-Gaber; and we turn, and pass over the way of the wilderness of Moab;
9
and Jehovah saith unto me, Do not distress Moab, nor stir thyself up against them [in] battle, for I do not give to thee of their land [for] a possession; for to the sons of Lot I have given Ar [for] a possession.'
10
`The Emim formerly have dwelt in it, a people great, and numerous, and tall, as the Anakim;
11
Rephaim they are reckoned, they also, as the Anakim; and the Moabites call them Emim.
12
And in Seir have the Horim dwelt formerly; and the sons of Esau dispossess them, and destroy them from before them, and dwell in their stead, as Israel hath done to the land of his possession, which Jehovah hath given to them;
13
now, rise ye, and pass over for yourselves the brook Zered; and we pass over the brook Zered.
14
`And the days which we have walked from Kadesh-Barnea until that we have passed over the brook Zered, [are] thirty and eight years, till the consumption of all the generation of the men of battle from the midst of the camp, as Jehovah hath sworn to them;
15
and also the hand of Jehovah hath been against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, till they are consumed.
16
`And it cometh to pass, when all the men of battle have finished dying from the midst of the people,
17
that Jehovah speaketh unto me, saying,
18
Thou art passing over to-day the border of Moab, even Ar,
19
and thou hast come near over-against the sons of Ammon, thou dost not distress them, nor stir up thyself against them, for I do not give [any] of the land of the sons of Ammon to thee [for] a possession; for to the sons of Lot I have given it [for] a possession.
20
`A land of Rephaim it is reckoned, even it; Rephaim dwelt in it formerly, and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim;
21
a people great, and numerous, and tall, as the Anakim, and Jehovah destroyeth them before them, and they dispossess them, and dwell in their stead,
22
as He hath done for the sons of Esau, who are dwelling in Seir, when He destroyed the Horim from before them, and they dispossess them, and dwell in their stead, unto this day.
23
`As to the Avim who are dwelling in Hazerim unto Azzah, the Caphtorim -- who are coming out from Caphtor -- have destroyed them, and dwell in their stead.
24
`Rise ye, journey and pass over the brook Arnon; see, I have given into thy hand Sihon king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land; begin to possess, and stir up thyself against him [in] battle.
25
This day I begin to put thy dread and thy fear on the face of the peoples under the whole heavens, who hear thy fame, and have trembled and been pained because of thee.
26
`And I send messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth, unto Sihon king of Heshbon, -- words of peace -- saying,
27
Let me pass over through thy land; in the several ways I go; I turn not aside -- right or left --
28
food for money thou dost sell me, and I have eaten; and water for money thou dost give to me, and I have drunk; only, let me pass over on my feet, --
29
as the sons of Esau who are dwelling in Seir, and the Moabites who are dwelling in Ar, have done to me -- till that I pass over the Jordan, unto the land which Jehovah our God is giving to us.
30
`And Sihon king of Heshbon hath not been willing to let us pass over by him, for Jehovah thy God hath hardened his spirit, and strengthened his heart, so as to give him into thy hand as at this day.
31
`And Jehovah saith unto me, See, I have begun to give before thee Sihon and his land; begin to possess -- to possess his land.
32
`And Sihon cometh out to meet us, he and all his people, to battle to Jahaz;
33
and Jehovah our God giveth him before us, and we smite him, and his sons, and all his people;
34
and we capture all his cities at that time, and devote the whole city, men, and the women, and the infants -- we have not left a remnant;
35
only, the cattle we have spoiled for ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we have captured.
36
`From Aroer, which [is] by the edge of the brook Arnon, and the city which [is] by the brook, even unto Gilead there hath not been a city which [is] too high for us; the whole hath Jehovah our God given before us.
37
`Only, unto the land of the sons of Ammon thou hast not drawn near, any part of the brook Jabbok, and cities of the hill-country, and anything which Jehovah our God hath [not] commanded.
