A Sermon by Robert S. Junge

“And it was in the evening that the quail came up, and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a deposit of dew round about the camp. And the deposit of dew went up, and behold upon the faces of the wilderness a small round thing, small as the hoar frost upon the earth. And the sons of Israel saw, and they said a man to his brother, What is this? For they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which Jehovah hath given you to eat.” (Exodus 16:13-15).

From common perception, many of us think of Israel’s journey to the Promised Land as being like our journey to heaven. In the story of the Lord’s miraculously delivering Israel from bondage in Egypt, perhaps we also glimpse the Lord’s answer to our own prayer: “Deliver us from evil.” We sense that in our journey through the confusing wilderness of life, we must somehow cooperate with the Lord if we are to reach our land of promise. Somehow we have to learn how to respond to our spouse, our children, our friends, our country, the Lord’s church, and even the Lord Himself!

We know that the Word teaches us how to live – how to respond. We get the general points: shun evil, love others, do good. But the specific answers elude us. The Writings explain that the specific answers are within the details of the literal stories in the Word. The Word has an internal or spiritual sense, which answers that recurring and nagging question, “What shall I do?” Yet the Writings also say, “He who does not look beyond external things cannot possibly apprehend this; for he knows not what that which is internal is, scarcely that there is anything internal, and still less that this internal can be opened, and that when it is opened, heaven is therein” (Arcana Coelestia 8513).

It's so easy to get caught up in simply coping with daily challenges. We can get enslaved by first one and then another external pressure and anxiety. Yet who and what we love, what we think, and what we will are the real internals of life. If we do not acknowledge and care about these internal things we will never see the internal of the Lord’s Word. We will never see the revealed internal meaning of life.

Today, with the help of what is revealed by the Lord in the Writings, we will try to see some of those details in the story of the Lord’s feeding Israel in the wilderness. Perhaps seeing a few of these things will help us begin to think beyond external things and begin to acknowledge the internal meaning of the Word and the internal reason for why we are here.

The Israelites had seen the miraculous plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians. Their faith, stimulated by those miracles, led them to follow Moses. In these stories, Moses represents the Word. He spoke whatever the Lord told Him, and the Word is the Lord speaking to us. In the beginning of our journey most of us see something different and wonderful about the Word. On the basis of that sense of wonder, and as part of the crowd of believers, we’re willing to follow, but only up to a point - only up to the time when we face difficult decisions, where the answers aren’t clear.

When we find ourselves bewildered in the wilderness of life, doubts creep in. We thirst for answers but, like Israel confronted with bitter water in the wilderness, we find that the few answers we do see in the Word are bitter and hard to take. It’s not so easy to follow some of those simple direct commands. Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery! Yet we must try to live by whatever we do see. If we do the Lord will sweeten those few truths and give us delight in them, even as He showed Moses a piece of wood that would sweeten the water for Israel. The water of truth will not only begin to quench our thirst for answers, but it will also begin to clean up our lives.

But the story regarding manna comes later. This time Israel murmured for food. It is one thing to feel delight in having some of the answers. But life is not all about head stuff. By itself knowing answers won’t solve our relationships with our spouse, our children, or our friends and neighbors. Knowing is one thing, but living by what we know is another. Just as our bodies need food as well as water., we need affection and delight as well as truth to keep our spirits alive. We thirst for truth, but we hunger, even STARVE for delight, affection, and love. Most of us, at one time or another, have known such yearning and hunger. Life is a terrifying wilderness when love for others, and from others seems to be absent or is tested. Only the Lord can feed such internal hunger.

But the Lord cannot give us that delight unless we as if of ourselves live by what we see in His Word. He can provide for us, only as He could provide for Israel, when they were willing to follow Moses, who represents His Word. And following the Word involves a struggle, because the truth confronts not only our hereditary tendencies towards evil, but also the actual evils we have confirmed in our lives. We really enjoy those evils. In that state it looks like much more fun to turn back and pursue our own likes and dislikes. The past, the fleshpots of Egypt, can look mighty attractive in comparison to compelling ourselves to do what is right. We did evil in the past because it seemed delightful and sweet. And it still looks pretty delightful and sweet when we compare it to doing what the Lord asks.

In this context and thinking a little more deeply about the Word we can relate to the words of the story, “And all the assemblage of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness. And the sons of Israel said unto them, Oh, that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we did eat to satiety! For ye have brought us forth unto this wilderness, to kill this whole congregation with hunger.” (Exodus16:2-3). Sometimes it seems as if the Lord asks too much.

But when we see the contrasts and cry out, the Lord is there, even as He was there for Israel. Then Jehovah told Moses, how He would feed Israel – how He would satisfy their hunger. “And it was in the evening that quail came up, and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a deposit of dew round about the camp. And the deposit of dew went up and behold upon the faces of the wilderness a small round thing, small as the hoar frost upon the earth. And the sons of Israel saw. And they said a man to his brother. What is this? Because they knew not what it was” (Exodus 16:13-14).

We talk about love. We say we love this or that person or thing. Love moves us. It is our very life, for if you were take away our loves what would we be? But we really do not grasp what love is. Love is that hidden manna that feeds us and lifts us up forever. Yet as we ponder it, like Israel, we may well say, “What is this?” When He was on earth the Lord helped us to understand. “Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, Moses gave you not the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the Bread of God is He who comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world. Then said they to Him, Lord always give us this bread. And Jesus said to them, I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:32-35). Our challenge is to learn to say, “Lord always give us this bread.”

The Lord came into the world to restore love to Him and towards each other. He is the Source of all love. His love is there like manna every morning to sustain us. But we have to cooperate. Moses told Israel, “Gather ye of it every man according to the mouth of his eating” (Exodus 16:16). We have to do our part. The Lord’s love is there all the time, but we must as it were gather it, and take it into our lives. We have to do our part.

But love is given every man “according to his eating,” (Exodus 16:17). We will be fed. The Lord will inspire our hearts with love, but in the measure of our spiritual need. No more and no less than we can apply to our lives. And we truly apply His love to our lives, when we acknowledge it as a gift from Him -- when we take it into our hearts – in a sense when we “eat it up.” “Lord, always give us this bread!”

But if we forget the Lord’s care and let our own anxiety and fear control, then we will not truly receive his love. In fact it will repel us. If we turn His love to our own selfish concerns, it will not nurture our spiritual life. We will find no delight in the Lord’s love. Those were not content with the Lord’s measure, neglected the words of Moses, and saved some until the morning, found that the manna bred worms and stank.

So we cooperate with the Lord. We receive His love and make it a part of our life even as we receive Him as He that comes down from heaven and gives life into the world. Gathering, measuring, and eating, all according to His Word, we act as if everything depended upon us. Yet it is not truly so. Love is reciprocal. It is true that we must respond AS IF everything depended upon us – with all our hearts. Yet in doing so we must also acknowledge the Lord as the Source of all human love.

To remind us of His side of the covenant, on the sixth day the Lord provided double the manna. What is left over does not stink and breed worms on the seventh day. Those who cooperate with the Lord and yet truly acknowledge Him as the Source of their love and their life will know the peace of His day of rest – the Sabbath of the Lord. Love and wisdom will be united in their hearts, and they will walk confidently. They will be in the order of life – the Lord’s order.

That order prescribes that we receive love as if it were our own. To achieve this sense we must go through alternating states. Life has its evening and its morning states – its ups and downs. In evening states we know external or natural delights. But in the morning we recognize that there is more to life than pleasure. We have uses to perform for our fellow man – uses towards others that express the love that the Lord provides – uses that will bring us true and internal delight and happiness. Yet “this good cannot arise except through the delights that are of the natural man” (Arcana Coelestia 8522). We need both external and internal delights, but in their proper relation to each other.

There is an expression that charity begins at home. We need to take care of food, clothing, shelter, and a host of natural things, in order to go out each day inspired to serve our neighbors. But these needs and their accompanying delights are servants; they are means to the true uses of life. The Lord also provides quail in the evening, which signify these natural delights. For example, we have times when we work with and instruct our children from a deep love to prepare them for heaven, and we also have times when we simply play with them. All human relationships have their internal and external delights. We need both. But if natural delights rule, they turn to lust and they bring spiritual death (Numbers 11).

Life is indeed a journey. We will face many trials in the wilderness. But the Lord has an inheritance prepared for each of us in His promised land. Everything that happens to us looks to this end. No matter how it appears on the dark days, if we are faithful, there will be times when the taste of the manna will be like that of a cake of honey. The Lord will be there, and He will provide as He provided for the sons of Israel. “And the sons of Israel did eat the manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat the manna until they came unto the border of the land of Canaan” (Exodus 16:35).

Additional Reference: Divine Love and Wisdom 1.

2466. It is certainly possible to confirm that in the internal sense such things are meant as have been set forth in the paragraph above, and indeed to confirm them as to each word. But apart from the fact that they have been confirmed already they are also such as shock people's minds and offend their ears. From the summary explanation given above it may become clear that those things are used to describe how such a religion originated as that meant in the Word by 'Moab' and 'the son of Ammon'. The nature of it will be stated later on where Moab and the son of Ammon are the subject. The fact that adulterated good and falsified truth are meant is clear. Adulterations of good and falsifications of truth are commonly described in the Word as acts of adultery and whoredom, and are actually called such. The reason for this is that good and truth belong together like a married couple, 1904, 2173. Indeed, though scarcely anyone may credit it, it is from this marriage of good and truth as its own true source that the holiness of marriages on earth is derived as well as the marriage laws laid down in the Word.

[2] The truth of the matter is that when celestial things together with spiritual come down from heaven into a lower sphere they are in a most perfect way converted there into the likeness of marriages. They do so on account of the correspondence which exists between spiritual things and natural, a correspondence which in the Lord's Divine mercy will be described elsewhere. But when those same things are perverted in the lower sphere, as happens when evil genii and evil spirits are present there, they are in that case converted into the kind of things that go with acts of adultery and whoredom. This is why in the Word defilements of good and perversions of truth are described as acts of adultery and whoredom and are also called such, as becomes quite clear from the following places: In Ezekiel,

You committed whoredom because of your renown, and poured out your acts of whoredom on every passer-by. You took some of your garments and made for yourself high places variously coloured, and on them committed whoredom. For your adornment you took vessels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself figures of the male, and committed whoredom with them. You took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to Me, and sacrificed them to them. Were your acts of whoredom a small matter? You committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, your neighbours, great in flesh, and multiplied your whoredom to provoke Me to anger. You committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, and you committed whoredom with them and were not satisfied. And you multiplied your whoredom, even as far as the trading land of Chaldea; and yet you were not satisfied with this. Ezekiel 16:15-17, 20, 26, 28-29, and following verses.

This refers to Jerusalem, which means in this instance the Church perverted as regards truths. Anyone may see that all the things referred to here have entirely different meanings.

[3] That the perversion of some aspect of the Church is called whoredom is quite evident. 'The garments' referred to are truths that are being perverted. Consequent falsities which are worshipped are meant by 'the variously coloured high places' on which whoredom took place - 'garments' meaning truths, see 1073, and 'high places' worship, 796. 'The vessels for adornment made of the gold and the silver which I had given' are cognitions of good and truth drawn from the Word which they use to confirm falsities. And when such falsities are seen as truths they are called 'figures of the male with whom whoredom was committed'. For 'vessels for adornment made of gold and silver' means cognitions of good and truth, as is evident from the meaning of 'gold' as good, 113, 1551, 1552, and of 'silver' as truth, 1551, 2048; 'figures of the mare' means falsities which are seen as truths, 2046. 'The sons and daughters whom they had borne and sacrificed to them' means the goods and truths which they perverted, as is evident from the meaning of 'sons and daughters', 489-491, 533, 2362; 'committing whoredom with the sons of Egypt' means perverting those goods and truths by means of facts, as is evident from the meaning of 'Egypt' as factual knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462. 'Committing whoredom with the sons of Asshur' means perverting by means of reasonings, as is evident from the meaning of 'Asshur' as reasoning, 119, 1186; 'multiplying whoredom even as far as the land of Chaldea' means even to the profanation of truth, which is Chaldea, 1368. All this makes plain the nature of the internal sense of the Word within the sense of the letter.

[4] A similar passage occurs elsewhere in the same prophet,

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt. In their youth they committed whoredom. Oholah is Samaria, Oholibah is Jerusalem. Oholah committed whoredom under Me and doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours. She bestowed her acts of whoredom on them, the choicest of all the sons of Asshur. Her acts of whoredom brought from Egypt she did not give up, for they had lain with her in her youth. Oholibah corrupted her love more than she, and her acts of whoredom more than her sister's acts of whoredom; she doted on the sons of Asshur. She added to her acts of whoredom and saw the images of the Chaldeans. As soon as her eyes saw them she desired them. The sons of Babel came to her, into her love-bed. Ezekiel 23:2-5, 7-8, 11-12, 14, 16-17.

'Samaria' is a Church with the affection for truth, 'Jerusalem' a Church with the affection for good. By 'the acts of whoredom' committed by such affections with 'the Egyptians' and with 'the sons of Asshur' are meant the perversions of good and truth by means of facts and reasonings used to confirm falsities, as is evident from the meaning of 'Egypt', 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, and of 'Asshur', 119, 1186. These perversions extended even to profane worship which in respect of truth is 'Chaldea', 1368, and in respect of good is 'the sons of Babel', 1182, 1326.

[5] In Isaiah,

And it will be at the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she will return to hiring herself out as a harlot, and will commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth. Isaiah 23:17.

It is the flaunting of falsity that is meant by Tyre's 'hiring herself out as a harlot and committing whoredom'. 'Tyre' means cognitions of truth, see 1201, 'kingdoms' truths with which whoredom took place, 1672.

[6] In Jeremiah,

You have committed whoredom with many partners; but return to Me. Lift up your eyes to the hills and see - where have you not been ravished? By the waysides you have sat waiting for them, like an Arab in the wilderness, and you have profaned the land with your acts of whoredom and with your wickedness. Jeremiah 3:1-2.

'Committing whoredom' and 'profaning the land with acts of whoredom' is perverting and falsifying the truths of the Church. 'The land' is the Church, see 662, 1066, 1067.

[7] In the same prophet,

With the voice of her whoredom she profaned the land, she committed adultery with stone and wood. Jeremiah 3:9.

'Committing adultery with stone and wood' means perverting truths and goods that are part of external worship - 'stone' meaning that kind of truth, see 643, 1298, 'wood' that kind of good, 643.

[8] In the same prophet,

Because they have committed folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their companions' wives, and have in My name spoken a false word which I did not command. Jeremiah 29:23.

'Committing adultery with companions' wives' is teaching falsity as from them.

[9] In the same prophet,

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: in their committing adultery and walking in falsity. Jeremiah 23:14.

Here 'committing adultery' has regard to good which is being defiled, 'walking in falsity' to truth which is being perverted. In the same prophet,

Your adulterous acts and your neighings, the filth of your whoredom committed on the hills, in the field - I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem; you will not be made clean after this; how long yet? Jeremiah 13:27.

[10] In Hosea,

Whoredom, and wine, and new wine have taken possession of the heart. My people inquire of a piece of wood and their staff makes declaration to them, for the spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have committed whoredom beneath their god. They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn incense on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth. Therefore your daughters commit whoredom and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. Shall I not punish ¹ your daughters because they commit whoredom and your daughters-in-law because they commit adultery, for the men themselves divide with harlots and sacrifice with cult-prostitutes? Hosea 4:11-14.

What each of these things means in the internal sense becomes clear from the meaning of 'wine' as falsity, of 'new wine' as evil deriving from this, of 'the piece of wood which they inquire of' as the good belonging to the delight that goes with some evil desire, 'the staff which makes a declaration' as the imaginary power of their own understanding, also of 'mountains and hills' as self-love and love of the world, of 'oak, poplar, and terebinth' as so many dull-witted perceptions in which they trust, of 'daughters and daughters-in-law' as affections that are such. From this it is evident what acts of 'whoredom', 'adultery', and 'cult-prostitution' mean here.

[11] In the same prophet,

O Israel, you have committed whoredom beneath ² your god; you have taken delight in hiring yourself out as a harlot on every threshing-floor. Hosea 9:1.

'Hiring oneself out as a harlot' stands for a flaunting of falsity. In Moses,

Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go whoring after their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone calls you and you eat of his sacrifices, and you take his daughters for your sons, and his daughters go whoring after their gods, and they cause your sons to go whoring after their gods. Exodus 34:15-16.

In the same author,

I will cut off from the midst of their people all who go whoring after him, for whoring after Molech. And anyone who looks to those who have familiar spirits and to wizards, and goes whoring after them, I will set My face against that person and will cut him off from the midst of his people. Leviticus 20:5-6.

In the same author,

Your sons will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and will bear your acts of whoredom until your bodies are consumed in the wilderness. Numbers 14:33.

In the same author,

May you remember all the commandments of Jehovah and do them, and may you not seek after your own heart and after your own eyes, which you go whoring after. Numbers 15:39.

[12] An even plainer usage occurs in John,

One angel said, Come, I will show you the judgement of the great harlot who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, and with the wine of whose whoredom the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk. Revelation 17:1-2.

'The great harlot' stands for people whose worship is profane. 'The many waters on which she is seated' are cognitions, 28, 739, 'the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with her' are the truths of the Church, 1672, 2015, 2069. 'The wine with which the people became drunk' is falsity, 1071, 1072. It is because wine' and 'drunkenness' have this meaning that Lot's daughters are said to have made their father drink wine, verses 32-33, 35.

[13] In the same book,

Babylon has given all nations drink from the wine of the fury of her whoredom; and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her. Revelation 18:3.

'Babylon' or Babel stands for worship whose external features appear holy but whose interiors are unholy, 1182, 1295, 1326. 'The nations to whom she gives drink' means goods which are rendered profane, 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849, 'the kings who commit whoredom with her' means truths, 1672, 2015, 2069. In the same book,

The judgements of the Lord God are true and right, for He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her whoredom. Revelation 19:2.

'The earth' stands for the Church, 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 2117, 2118.

[14] It was because 'acts of whoredom' had such a meaning, and 'daughters' meant affections, that a priest's daughter was so strictly forbidden to commit whoredom, concerning which the following is said in Moses,

Any priest's daughter, in that she has begun to commit whoredom, is profaning her father; she shall be burnt with fire. Leviticus 21:9.

Also they were forbidden to bring the earnings of a harlot into the house of Jehovah because it was an abomination, Deuteronomy 23:18. And for the same reason a certain procedure had to be followed - given in Numbers 5:12-31 - for investigating the behaviour of a wife whom the husband suspected of adultery; every single detail of that procedure has reference to the adulteration of good. Besides these many more genera and still more species of adultery and whoredom are referred to in the Word. The genus described by means of Lot's daughters lying with their father and called 'Moab' and 'the son of Ammon' is dealt with immediately below.

Footnotes: