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.

Footnotes:

5122. 'The three shoots are three days' means continuous derivatives even to the final one. This is clear from the meaning of 'three' as a single period and the continuity of it from start to finish, dealt with in 2788, 4495; from the meaning of 'shoots' as derivatives, dealt with in 5114; and from the meaning of 'days' as states, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850. From all this it follows that 'the three shoots are three days' means the state in which the sensory power represented by 'the cupbearer' undergoes rebirth, from the first to the final degrees of it, its consecutive derivatives being meant by 'shoots'.

[2] The states of rebirth which each sensory power and every aspect of the natural, as well as every aspect of the rational, pass through have from beginning to end their own progressive stages. When they attain any end they also begin at that point something else that is new; that is to say, they pass on from the end they had been striving to attain in a prior state to the realization of some further end, and so on after that. Eventually order is turned around, so that what has been last becomes first. This is what happens when a person is being regenerated, both in the case of his rational and in that of his natural. While his regeneration is taking place the phases that make up the first state are the stages of a movement from the truths of faith towards forms of the good of charity, when the truths of faith seemingly play the leading role while forms of the good of charity play a secondary one; for the truths of faith have the good of charity as their end in view. Phases like these continue until the person's regeneration is completed. Once this is completed charity then moves from the final place to the first in the line, and so becomes the point from which new states begin. These states develop in two directions - in an increasingly inward direction and also in a more outward one. Inwardly they move closer to love to the Lord, while outwardly they move closer first to the truths of faith, then to natural truths, and after that to truths as these are perceived by the senses. Then these three degrees of truths are brought into agreement one after another with forms of the good of charity and love present within the rational and so are brought into heavenly order.

[3] These are the matters that are meant by progressive stages of development and by continuous derivatives even to the final one. Such stages and derivatives are unending in the case of a person who is being regenerated. They begin when he is a young child and continue through to the final phase of his life in the world; indeed they continue for ever after that, though his regeneration can never reach the point when he can by any means be called perfect. For there are countless, indeed a limitless number of things to be regenerated, both within his rational and within his natural. Everything there has limitless shoots, that is, stages of development and derivatives that progress in both inward and outward directions. A person has no immediate awareness at all of this, but the Lord is aware of every particular detail and is making provision for it moment by moment. If He were to stop doing this for a single instant every stage of development would be thrown into confusion. For one stage looks to the next in an unending sequence and produces chains of sequences which never cease. From this it is evident that Divine Foresight and Providence exist in every particular detail, and that if they did not, or did so in a merely overall way, the human race would perish.

9174. 'And when a man borrows something from his companion' means truth from a different stock. This is clear from the meaning of 'borrowing' as receiving truth from a source other than self, thus from a different stock. The reason why 'borrowing' or 'asking of another' has this meaning is that in the spiritual world the only forms of good asked of others or imparted by others are ones that belong to intelligence and wisdom. Many other forms, it is true, are presented to view, indeed countless others; but these are appearances arising from those that belong to intelligence and wisdom. From this it is evident that 'borrowing' means being taught by another and so receiving truths or knowledge of truth and good from a source other than self. But this matter needs further explanation. A person is said to receive truths from self when he deduces them from the truths already present with him, at which time he combines these already present with those he deduces. But when he does this he entertains no other truths than those which are subject to and accord with the same good; for good is what arranges truths into order and links them together. Good is like the soul in a person, and truths are like those things with which the soul clothes itself and through which it acts. Just as every single thing in a person derives its life from his soul, as is well known, so the truths of faith receive theirs from the good of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour. If that good does not compose a person's soul but the good of self-love or of love of the world, the person is not a human being but a wild animal. Furthermore in the next life he looks in the light of heaven like a wild animal, though in his own light, which becomes thick darkness when the light of heaven enters in, he looks like a human being. It should be borne in mind however that it is the Lord who arranges truths to accord with the good of a person's life.

[2] But a person is said to receive truths from another source when he is taught by another. If they are not subject to and do not accord with the good that governs him they are, it is true, stored in his memory among factual knowledge, yet they do not become his, that is, part of his belief, because they spring from a different stock. These truths are the subject in the present verse and the one that follows it.

[3] When 'borrowing' and 'lending' are mentioned in the Word, receiving instruction and giving it in a spirit of charity and affection are meant, as in Matthew,

Give to everyone asking from you, and from him desiring to receive a loan from you, do not turn away. Matthew 5:42.

Here it is evident that 'asking' was not used to mean asking, for the words are 'give to everyone asking'; neither were 'desiring a loan' and 'receiving it' so used. For if a person gave to everyone who asked, and also to everyone desiring to receive a loan, he would be deprived of all his goods. But since the Lord spoke from the Divine, 'asking' and 'desiring a loan', and 'giving' and 'receiving a loan', were used to mean the communicating of heavenly goods, that is, of cognitions or knowledge of good and truth. The nature of this communication is such that the more an angel stirred by charity and affection imparts them to another, the more the general good flows into him from heaven, that is, from the Lord, 6478. Thus an angel who gives to him who asks is not deprived of goods but enriched with them. The like applies when a person stirred by charity and affection does good to another. But real charity consists in giving to good people, and mistaken charity consists in giving to bad people the things they ask for and desire, 8120, as accords with these words in David,

The wicked borrows and does not repay, whereas the righteous shows mercy and gives. Psalms 37:21.

In Luke,

If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks do you have? Rather, love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing from it; then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Highest. Luke 6:34-35.

[4] Here also 'lending' is used to mean being stirred by charity and affection to do good, thus to communicate the good things of heaven, and also to impart the good things of the world, yet to impart them with the good things of heaven in view. Charity and affection are present when good things are communicated without thought of reward, but charity and affection are absent when they are communicated with reward as the end in view, see 2373, 2400, 3816, 3956, 4943, 6388-6390, 6392, 6393, 6478, 8002. 'Loving enemies' and 'doing good' to bad people are aspects of charity and affection; but enemies are loved and good is done to them when they are given instruction and also when by suitable means they are corrected by them, 8121.

[5] The exercise of charity is also meant by 'lending' in Moses,

If you obey the voice of Jehovah and take care to do His commandments, you shall lend to many peoples, but you shall not borrow. Deuteronomy 28:1, 12.

'Lending to many peoples' means abounding in forms of good that belong to intelligence and wisdom and communicating them from that abundance, while 'not borrowing' means having no need of them from others, since all things are imparted to a person by the Lord. In David,

A good man who has mercy and lends will maintain his cause ¹ in judgement; for he will never be moved. Psalms 112:5-6.

'Having mercy and lending' is used to describe the state of those governed by real charity. A similar description occurs in Psalms 37:21, in addition to other places.

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