8510. 'That some of the people went out to gather, and did not find' means that they wished to acquire it, but none was given. This is clear from the explanation above in 8505. The explanation there shows what actions springing from the truth of faith are and what those springing from the good of charity are. That is to say, it shows that a person whose actions spring from the truth of faith does not as yet have the order of heaven present in himself, whereas one whose actions spring from the good of charity does have it. For, according to order, when the Lord leads a person He does so through his will, consequently through good since this belongs properly to the will. In that case his understanding is subservient, and so is truth since this belongs properly to the understanding. When this state exists it is the sabbath, for then there is rest for the Lord; and the state comes into being once good has been joined to truth. That this state is the Lord's rest may be recognized from the statement that after six days of creation and labour Jehovah or the Lord rested on the seventh day from all His work, Genesis 2:2. This state is heaven's state, which explains why heaven itself is called the sabbath, and that in heaven the sabbath is perpetual. For the creation story in Genesis 1 serves to mean the new creation, which is regeneration, and the six days in the story serves to mean temptations and conflicts, see the explanations at Genesis 1, 2.

2473. The interior memory is immensely superior to the exterior, as several myriads are to one, or as light is to darkness; for myriads of ideas belonging to the interior memory flow into just one belonging to the exterior memory where they manifest something general and obscure. Consequently all the capabilities which spirits possess, more so which angels possess, are present with them to a more perfect degree, that is to say, both their feelings and also their thoughts and perceptions. Just how superior the character of the interior memory is to the exterior may become clear from examples: When any individual calls somebody else to mind, friend or foe, whose character he has come to know from associating with him over the years, his thought of that person presents itself as one obscure image, the reason being that this is formed from the exterior memory. But when the same individual has become a spirit and calls that person to mind his thought of him presents itself as to all the ideas he has ever gained concerning him, the reason being that this image is formed from the interior memory. So it is with everything else; the thing itself about which someone knows much presents itself in the exterior memory as one general whole, but in the interior memory as to the individual details of which he has ever gained some idea concerning that thing, and these present themselves in wonderful array.