58. Verse 30 And to every wild animal of the earth and to every bird of the air, ¹ and to everything creeping over the earth in which there is a living soul [I give] every plant for food; and it was so.

The natural food of this same [spiritual man] is being described here. His natural level is here meant by 'wild animal of the earth' and by 'bird of the air, to which 'the edible and green plant ² has been given for food'. Both kinds of food, natural and spiritual, are referred to in David as follows,

Jehovah causes the grass to grow for the beast, and the plant for man's service, that he may bring forth bread from the earth. Psalms 104:14.

Here 'beast' stands for both wild animals of the earth and birds of the air, ¹ both being mentioned in verses 11-12 of that Psalm.

Notes de bas de page:

1076. That 'Ham' means the corrupted Church is clear from what has been stated already about 'Ham'. A Church is called corrupted which acknowledges the Word and has a certain worship similar to that of the true Church but nevertheless separates faith from charity, and so separates it from its essential element and very life. As a consequence faith becomes a thing that is dead, with the result that the Church is inevitably corrupted. What kind of people its members become is made clear by the fact that they cannot possibly have any conscience; for conscience that is truly conscience never exists unless it derives from charity. Charity is what makes conscience, that is, the Lord does so by means of charity. What is conscience but not doing wrong to anyone in any way at all, or doing well to everybody in every possible way? So conscience is an attribute of charity and never of faith separated from charity. If such persons do have any conscience it is a false conscience, about which see what has appeared already. And because they are devoid of conscience they rush into everything unspeakable, so far as external restraints are removed.

[2] Nor indeed do these people know what charity is, but only that it is a word having some meaning. And being devoid of charity they do not know what faith is. When questioned they can only reply that it is a sort of thought Some reply that it is trust, others that it is cognitions of faith. A few say that it is living according to those cognitions, while scarcely any say that it is the life of charity, that is, of mutual love. And if they are told this and are given the opportunity to reflect, their only reply is that all love begins from self, and that anyone who does not consider his own interests and his family's is worse than a heathen. Consequently they are concerned about nothing but themselves and the world. This leads to their living in the proprium, the nature of which has been described frequently already. These are the people who are called 'Ham'.