8478. 'Let no one leave any of it until the morning' means that they must not be anxious to acquire it of themselves. This is clear from the fact that the manna was given every morning and that worms bred in what was left over, meaning that the Lord provides people's requirements every day and that for this reason they ought not to be anxious to acquire them of themselves. The same thing is meant by daily bread in the Lord's Prayer and also by the Lord's words in Matthew,

Do not be anxious for your soul, what you are going to eat or what you are going to drink, nor for your body, what you are going to put on. Why be anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin. Do not therefore be anxious, so that you say, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For all these things the gentiles seek. Does not your heavenly Father know that you have need of all these things? Seek first the kingdom of God ¹ and its righteousness, then all these things will be added to you. Do not therefore be anxious about the morrow; for the morrow will take care of the things that belong to it. Matthew 6:25-end.

Similar words occur in Luke 12:11-12, 22-31.

[2] The present verse and the one that follows refer in the internal sense to concern for the morrow, a concern which was not only forbidden but also condemned. The forbiddance of it is meant by their being told not to leave any of the manna till the morning, and the condemnation of it is meant by worms breeding in any they did leave and its becoming putrid. Anyone who does not view the matter from anywhere beyond the sense of the letter may think that all concern for the morrow is to be avoided, which being so, people should then await their requirements every day from heaven. But a person who views it from a position deeper than the literal meaning, that is, who views it from the internal sense, may recognize what concern for the morrow is used to mean - not concern to obtain food and clothing for oneself, and also resources for the future; for it is not contrary to order to make provision for oneself and one's dependents. But people are concerned about the morrow when they are not content with their lot, do not trust in God but in themselves, and have solely worldly and earthly things in view, not heavenly ones. These people are ruled completely by anxiety over the future, and by the desire to possess all things and exercise control over all other people. That desire is kindled and grows greater and greater, till at length it is beyond all measure. They grieve if they do not realize the objects of their desires, and they are distressed at the loss of them. Nor can they find consolation, for in times of loss they are angry with the Divine. They reject Him together with all belief, and curse themselves. This is what those concerned for the morrow are like.

[3] Those who trust in the Divine are altogether different. Though concerned about the morrow, yet are they unconcerned, in that they are not anxious, let alone worried, when they give thought to the morrow. They remain even-tempered whether or not they realize desires, and they do not grieve over loss; they are content with their lot. If they become wealthy they do not become infatuated with wealth; if they are promoted to important positions they do not consider themselves worthier than others. If they become poor they are not made miserable either; if lowly in status they do not feel downcast. They know that for those who trust in the Divine all things are moving towards an everlasting state of happiness, and that no matter what happens at any time to them, it contributes to that state.

[4] It should be recognized that Divine providence is overall, that is, it is present within the smallest details of all, and that people in the stream of providence are being carried along constantly towards happier things, whatever appearance the means may present. Those in the stream of providence are people who trust in the Divine and ascribe everything to Him. But those not in the stream of providence are people who trust in themselves alone and attribute everything to themselves; theirs is a contrary outlook, for they take providence away from the Divine and claim it as their own. It should be recognized also that to the extent that anyone is in the stream of providence he is in a state of peace; and to the extent that anyone is in a state of peace by virtue of the good of faith, he is in Divine providence. These alone know and believe that the Lord's Divine providence resides within every single thing, indeed within the smallest details of all, as has also been shown in 1919 (end), 4329, 5122 (end), 5894 (end), 6058, 6481-6486, 6490, 7004, 7007, as well as that Divine providence has what is eternal in view, 6491.

[5] Those with the contrary outlook are scarcely willing to allow any mention of providence. Instead they put every single thing down to prudence; and what they do not put down to prudence they put down to fortune or to chance. Some put it down to fate, which they do not ascribe to the Divine but to natural forces. They call those people simple who do not attribute all things to themselves or to natural forces. From all this one may again see what those people are like who are concerned for the morrow, and what those are like who are not concerned for the morrow.

Bilješke:

6481. Spirits entering the next life bring with them the opinion that Divine Providence acts in an overall manner but not in specific ways. The reason they were of this opinion [in the world] was that they saw wicked people being promoted to important positions and made rich, and meeting with success, which they attributed to such people's own prudence. Those spirits did not know that Divine Providence has as its end in view a person's eternal salvation, thus not his great happiness in the world, not - that is to say - wealthiness and eminence which people during their lifetime think real happiness consists in. But such thinking is not correct, for eminence gives rise for the most part to self-love, and wealthiness to love of the world, thus to what are the opposites of love to God and charity towards the neighbour. Thus it is that things such as eminence and wealthiness are granted to the wicked, and to the good too provided that those things are not disadvantageous to them and lead them away from heaven.

[2] What is more, the Lord employs the wicked as much as the good to accomplish His ends; for the Lord spurs the wicked by means of their own actual loves to do good to neighbour, country, and Church. For the wicked wish to be eminent, wish to profit, and therefore wish to be seen as upright and zealous; and more forcefully than the upright they are aroused by that desire, as if by fire, to perform such deeds. The wicked are also allowed to think that everything can be attributed to their own prudence, and that Divine Providence has no existence or else operates only in an overall manner; for they have no wish to perceive anything different from this. And so that they may perform the kinds of deeds that are beneficial to society, successes in the things they think to do are granted them, successes which arouse them all the more since they attribute them to themselves.

1707. That 'Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive' means that the Interior Man perceived the nature of the state of the External Man is clear from the meaning of 'Abram' in the previous verse as the Interior Man to which the Internal or Divine Man was joined; from the meaning of 'Lot' as the External Man, as shown already; and also from the meaning of 'hearing that his brother had been taken captive' as perceiving the nature of its state, namely, as stated in verse 12, that - apparent goods and truths had possession of it.

[2] The situation is this: When the Interior Man meant by 'Abram the Hebrew' perceived that the goods and truths from which the battle was being fought were not in fact goods and truths except in appearance, and that these had possession of the entire External Man meant by 'Lot his brother's son', the Interior Man, or rather the Divine Internal Man by means of the Interior Man, purified them. How this is done nobody can possibly know except one to whom it has been revealed. Indeed the influx of the internal man into the external man by way of the interior man situated between them is an arcanum, especially at the present time when few if any know what the interior man is, still less what the internal man is. As to what the internal man and the interior man are, see just above at verse 13.

[3] But the nature of this influx will be mentioned briefly here. The internal man residing in everyone is the Lord's alone, for the Lord there stores away the goods and truths which He confers on man from earliest childhood. By way of these He flows from the internal man into the interior or rational man, and by way of this into the external man; and in this way man is enabled to think and be man. But the influx from the internal man into the interior man in between, and so into the external man, is twofold, passing either through celestial things or through spiritual, or what amounts to the same, either through goods or through truths. The influx through celestial things, or goods, occurs solely with regenerate persons, who have had either perception or conscience conferred on them, so that such influx is either by way of perception or else by way of conscience. Consequently influx by way of celestial things does not exist except among those with whom love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour are present. By way of spiritual things, or truths, however, the Lord flows into every person; and without that influx no one would have been able to think, nor thus to speak. When a person is such that he perverts goods and truths and does not care at all about celestial and spiritual things, no influx of celestial things, or goods, takes place. But though the road for celestial things and goods is closed, still an influx of spiritual things or truths takes place, that road being kept open all the time. This makes clear the nature of the interior man or man situated between internal man and external, which is the rational man.

[4] Here 'Abram' means the internal man within the interior man situated between internal and external. When celestial things, or goods, flow in from the internal man into the interior man, the internal man takes to itself the interior man and makes it its own; yet the latter remains distinct and separate from the internal man. Similarly when the internal man flows into the external man through the interior man between the two, it takes this man also to itself, and makes it its own; yet that external man remains distinct and separate from the interior. So now, once the Internal Man perceived within the Interior Man that the state of the External Man was such - that is to say, that it 'had been taken captive' meaning that not genuine but apparent goods and truths had taken possession of it, from which goods and truths He fought against so many foes - that Internal Man flowed in, restored all things to order, and released the External Man from the things that infested it. The Internal Man accordingly purified the External Man, that is to say, so that there were present not apparent but genuine goods and truths, which were thus joined to the Internal or Divine Man - that conjunction being effected, as has been stated, through the Interior Man.

[5] In one respect the Lord was not like any other human being, for His Interior Man as regards celestial things, or goods, was Divine, and from birth was joined to the Internal Man. The Internal Man together with this Interior Man was His Father, Jehovah Himself. But in another respect He was like others, in that His Interior Man as regards spiritual things, or truths, was joined to the External Man, and so was Human; but this too was by His own power made Divine, that is, Jehovah, through conflicts constituting temptations and through repeated victories. It is the External Man that is called 'Lot'; but in the previous state the expression 'brother's son' is used, in the present state 'Abram's brother'. It was called 'his brother's son' when apparent truths and goods had possession of it, but 'his brother' when genuine goods and genuine truths did so.