7977. 'And flocks and herds, an extremely large acquisition of them' means good acquired through truth, interior and exterior, a great abundance of it. This is clear from the meaning of 'flock' as interior good, and from the meaning of 'herd' as exterior good, both of which are dealt with in 2566, 5913, 6048, 7960, their having been acquired being meant by 'an acquisition'. All the good present with those belonging to the spiritual Church has been acquired through truth; for without the truth of faith they do not know what spiritual truth is or what spiritual good is. They may certainly be acquainted with civic truth, and with the good that accompanies civic truth and moral truth, since all these are compatible with worldly interests, interests that give them their perception of such truth and good. But spiritual truth and the good that accompanies it are not compatible with worldly interests; indeed in a large number of instances they are completely divergent from them, which is why those people have to receive instruction about them. These matters have been stated to make it known that all good with those belonging to the spiritual Church has to be acquired through truth. The fact that 'extremely large' means a great abundance is self-evident.

5915. 'And I will sustain you there' means a constant influx of spiritual life from the internal celestial. This is clear from the meaning of 'sustaining', when spoken by Joseph, who represents the internal celestial, as an influx of spiritual life from the internal celestial. In the internal sense 'sustainment' is nothing else than the influx of goodness and truth from the Lord by way of heaven. This is how angels are sustained, and it is how a person's soul, that is, his internal man, is sustained. This sustainment is what the sustaining of the external man by means of food and drink corresponds to; and for this reason good is meant by 'food' and truth by 'drink'. The nature of this correspondence is also such that when a person is eating food the angels present with him think of goodness and truth; and, what is amazing, their ideas vary according to the different kinds of food that he eats. When therefore in the Holy Supper a person receives bread and wine the angels present with him think about the good of love and the good of faith, 3464, 3735, for the reason that 'bread' corresponds to the good of love and 'wine' to the good of faith. And because they correspond to them they also carry the same meanings in the Word.

[2] The fact that a person's soul, that is, his internal man, is sustained by spiritual food and drink, which are goodness and truth, is clear from the Lord's words in Moses,

Man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every utterance of the mouth of Jehovah. Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4.

'Utterance of the mouth of Jehovah' is goodness and truth that go forth from Him. In John,

Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:27.

In the same gospel,

The disciples asked Jesus, saying, Master, eat. He said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. John 4:31-32.

And regarding drink, in the same gospel,

Jesus said, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow out from within him. ¹ John 7:37-38.

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