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.

276. That 'eating bread with sweat on the brow' means strong dislike of what is celestial becomes clear from the meaning of 'bread'. Bread is used to mean everything spiritual and celestial, which is the food of angels, and if they were deprived of it they would cease to live, as a person deprived of bread or food ceases to do. That which is celestial and spiritual in heaven also corresponds to bread on earth, and is also represented by bread, as is clear from many places [in the Word]. That the Lord is Bread, because He is the source of everything celestial and spiritual, He Himself teaches in John,

This is the Bread which came down from heaven; anyone who eats this Bread will live forever John 6:58.

This also is why bread and wine are the symbols used in the Holy Supper. This same celestial [or spiritual) was also represented by the manna. That what is celestial and spiritual is the food of angels is clear also from the Lord's own words,

Man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4, that is, from the life of the Lord, who is the source of everything celestial and spiritual.

[2] The final generation of the Most Ancient Church which came immediately before the Flood and which is the subject here was so perverse and immersed in sensory and bodily interests that they did not wish to hear what the truth of faith was, nor what the Lord's coming to save them would be. And if these matters were ever mentioned they did not like it at all. This strong dislike is described as 'eating bread with sweat on the brow'. It was similar with the Jews; being people who did not acknowledge heavenly things, and who wished for a purely earthly Messiah, they inevitably found the manna distasteful, since it was a ration of the Lord; and they called it worthless bread. This was why serpents were sent among them, Numbers 21:5-6. Furthermore the heavenly things, which they obtained in adversity, in affliction, and with tears, were called by them the bread of adversity, the bread of affliction, and the bread of tears. ¹ Those things which men obtained but strongly disliked are described in the present verse as 'the bread of the sweat on his brow'.

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