5147. There was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh' means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'food' as celestial good, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the interior natural, dealt with in 5080, 5095, and also the natural in general, since the interior natural and the exterior natural make one when they correspond. And because food exists to provide nourishment, 'every kind of food for Pharaoh' means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. It is said that this food was in the highest basket, meaning that the inmost degree of the will was full of celestial good. For good from the Lord flows in by way of the inmost degree in a person; and from there it passes degree by degree, so to speak down a flight of steps, to what is more exterior. For in relation to other degrees the inmost one exists in the most perfect state, and can therefore receive good from the Lord directly, in a way the lower ones cannot. If these were to receive good from the Lord directly, they would either obscure it or pervert it, since they are less perfect in comparison with the inmost degree.

[2] As regards the influx of celestial good from the Lord and the reception of it, it should be recognized that the will part of the human mind is the receiver of good and the understanding part is the receiver of truth. The understanding part cannot possibly receive truth so as to make this its own unless at the same time the will part receives good; and vice versa. For one flows as a result into the other and disposes that other to be receptive. All that constitutes the understanding may be compared to forms which are constantly varying, and all that constitutes the will may be compared to the harmonies resulting from those variations. Consequently truths may be compared to variations, and forms of good may be compared to the delights which those variations bring. And this being pre-eminently the case with truths and forms of good it is evident that one cannot exist without the other, as well as that one cannot be brought forth except by means of the other.

[3] The reason 'food' means celestial good is that angels' food consists in nothing else than forms of the good of love and charity, and that these serve to enliven angels and to rejuvenate them. Especially when they are expressed in action or practice do those forms of good cause angels to feel rejuvenated, for they are the desires they have; for it is a well known fact that when a person's desires are expressed in action he feels rejuvenated and enlivened. Those desires also nourish a person's spirit when material food supplies nourishment to his body, as may be recognized from the fact that when no delight is taken in food it is not very nutritious, but when delight is taken in it, it is nutritious. The delight taken in food is what opens the meatus or channels which serve to convey it into the blood, whereas the opposite closes them. Among angels those delights are forms of the good of love and charity, and from this one may deduce that these are spiritual kinds of food which correspond to earthly ones. Also, just as forms of good are meant by different kinds of food, so truths are meant by 'drink'.

[4] In the Word 'food' is mentioned in many places, yet someone unacquainted with the internal sense will inevitably suppose that in those places ordinary food is meant. In fact spiritual food is meant, as in Jeremiah,

All the people groan as they search for bread. They have given their desirable things for food to restore the soul. Lamentations 1:11.

In Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1.

In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction from the thunderbolt-hurler will it come. [s not the food cut off before our eyes, gladness and joy from the house of our God? The grains have rotted under their clods, the storehouses have been laid waste, the granaries have been destroyed, because the grain has failed. Joel 1:15-17.

In David,

Our storehouses are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks are thousands, and ten thousands in our streets. There is no outcry in our streets. Blessed are the people for whom it is thus. Psalms 144:13-15.

In the same author,

They all look to You, that You may give them their food in due season. You give to them - they gather it up; You open Your hand - they are satisfied with good. Psalms 104:27-28.

[5] In these places celestial and spiritual food is meant in the internal sense when material food is referred to in the sense of the letter. From this one may see how the interior features of the Word and its exterior features correspond to one another, that is, how what belongs inwardly to its spirit and what belongs to its letter do so; so that while man understands those things according to the sense of the letter, the angels present with him understand the same things according to the spiritual sense. The Word has been written in such a way that it may serve not only the human race but heaven also, and for this reason all expressions are used to mean heavenly realities, and every matter described there is representative of these realities. This is so with the Word even to the tiniest jot.

[6] Furthermore the Lord Himself explicitly teaches that good is meant in the spiritual sense by 'food': 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,

My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. John 6:55.

'Flesh' means Divine Good, 3813, and 'blood' Divine Truth, 4735. And in the same gospel,

Jesus said to the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. The disciples said to one another, Has anyone brought Him [anything] to eat? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:33-34.

'Doing the will of the Father and finishing His work' means Divine Good when expressed in actions or practice, which in the genuine sense is 'food', as stated above.

6348. 'because you went up to your father's bed' means because when separated from the good of charity faith is involved in a foul liaison. This is clear from the meaning of 'going up to his father's bed' as being involved in a foul liaison; that is to say, faith separated from charity is involved in it. For if faith in doctrine or the understanding, which 'Reuben' represents here, is not introduced to good and joined to it, it is either dissipated or ceases to be anything, or else it is introduced to evil and falsity and joined to them, which is the foul liaison that is meant. For then profanity comes about. The truth of this may be recognized from the fact that faith cannot have a dwelling-place anywhere else than within good; and if it does not have a dwelling-place there, then inevitably it ceases to be anything or is joined to evil. This is plainly evident from those people in the next life who have adhered to faith alone and not at all to charity. Their faith is dissipated in that life; or if it has been joined to evil, a lot among profaners awaits them.

[2] In the internal sense of the Word instances of adultery mean adulterations of good, while instances of whoredom mean falsifications of truth, 2466, 3399. But foul liaisons - which are called the forbidden degrees [of sexual relations], dealt with in Leviticus 18:6-24 - mean various kinds of profanation. Profanation is obviously meant here also since the words used are, 'You went up to your father's bed; at that time you profaned [it] - he went up to my couch'. Regarding the meaning of these words as the profanation of good by separated faith, see 4601, where that unspeakable deed performed by Reuben is dealt with.

[3] The nature of faith alone or faith separated from charity is such that if it is joined to evil - as happens when a person first believes the truth of faith, and especially when initially he leads a life in accordance with it but after that renounces it and leads a life contrary to it - profanity takes place. For the truth of faith and the good of charity first become rooted through doctrine and life in the person's interiors, after which they are called forth from there and are joined to evil. The lot that awaits the person in whom this happens is the worst of all in the next life; for with someone like that, good is incapable of being separated from evil, though they are nevertheless separated in the next life. Nor does someone like that have any remnants of good stored away in him interiorly because they have perished altogether in evil. Their hell is located on the left out in front, a considerable distance away; and those who are there look to the angels like skeletons, possessing scarcely any life. Therefore to avoid the occurrence of the profanation of goodness and truth, the person who - the Lord foresees - is the kind that will not allow himself to be regenerated is held back from faith and charity and is allowed to immerse himself in evil and consequently in falsity. For in this condition he cannot profane anything. See what has been stated and shown already about profanation in 301-303, 571, 582, 593, 1001, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 2426, 3398, 3399, 3402, 3489, 3898, 4289, 4601.