1678. That 'they returned and came to An-mishpat, that is, to Kadesh' means a continuation is clear from what comes before and after. The subject at this point is falsities and derivative evils, falsities being meant by 'the Amalekites' and derivative evils by 'the Amorites in Hazezon-tamar'. 'Kadesh' means truths, and also strife over truths. The subject at this point being the falsities and derivative evils which the Lord overcame in the first of His conflicts, the expression 'An-mishpat, that is, Kadesh' is used, for there was strife over truths.

[2] That 'Kadesh' means truths over which there is strife is clear in Ezekiel where the boundaries of the Holy Land are described,

The corner of the south southwards will be from Tamar to the waters of Meriboth (strife) Kadesh. an inheritance towards the Great Sea, and the corner of the south southwards. Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28.

Here 'the south' stands for the light of truth. Its boundary, by which strife over truths is meant, is called 'Kadesh'.

[3] Kadesh was also the place where Moses struck the rock from which water came out, water that was called Meribah on account of the strife there, Numbers 20:1-2, 11, 13. 'A rock', as is well known, means the Lord, and 'water' in the internal sense of the Word means spiritual things, which are truths. They were called 'the waters of Meribah' because there was strife over them The fact that they were also called 'the waters of the strife of Kadesh' is clear in Moses,

You rebelled against My Word ¹ in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, in that you sanctified Me by the waters in their eyes. These are the waters of the strife of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. Numbers 27:14; Deuteronomy 32:51.

It was likewise to Kadesh that the spies returned from the land of Canaan, and it was there that those who were unwilling to enter the land murmured and strove, Numbers 13:26.

[4] From these references it is clear that An-mishpat, or the fountain of judgement or the fountain of Mishpat-Kadesh, means strife over truths, and thus a continuation. Since the details here are historically true and so describe actual events, it may seem as though such things were not represented or meant by the places which Chedorlaomer came to and by the nations that he smote. All historical details in the Word however are representative and carry a spiritual meaning, and this applies both to places and to nations, and to accomplished facts as well, as becomes quite clear from everything that appears both in the historical and the prophetical sections of the Word.

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