6442. 'He will seize in the morning, he will devour the spoil' means that the deliverance takes place when the Lord is present. This is clear from the meaning of 'the morning' in the highest sense as the Lord, dealt with in 2405, 2780 - therefore 'he will seize in the morning' means that the rescue and deliverance of the good takes place when the Lord is present; and from the meaning of 'devouring the spoil' as taking to Himself those He rescued and delivered. For the meaning of 'devouring' as taking and joining to oneself, see 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 5643; and as for the meaning of 'the spoil' as those who have been rescued and delivered, this is self-evident. Because the Lord is spoken of in the Word as One who rescues and delivers the good, the expressions to seize, prey, spoil, and plunder are also used in reference to Him. This is clear from what was stated above in verse 9 about Judah, 'A lion's cub is Judah; from the plunder you have gone up, my son', meaning that from the Lord through the celestial comes deliverance from hell, see 6368. It is also clear from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah's roaring is like that of a lion, He roars like young lions, and growls, and lays hold of the plunder so that no one rescues it. Isaiah 5:29.

In the same prophet,

As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey, so Jehovah Zebaoth will come down to fight on Mount Zion. Isaiah 31:4.

In Jeremiah,

I will rescue you on that day, I will surely rescue you; but let your life ¹ be as spoil to you, for the reason that you have put your trust in Me. Jeremiah 39:17-18.

In Zephaniah,

Wait for Me, said Jehovah, until the day I rise up to the plunder. Zephaniah 3:8.

In Isaiah,

I will divide for Him among many, so that He may divide the spoil with the strong. Isaiah 53:12.

The whole chapter in which this verse appears refers to the Lord.

[2] The meaning of 'devouring the prey (or spoil)' as taking to oneself good things that have been seized by the evil is clear in Balaam's prophetic utterance in Moses,

See, a people will rise up like an old lion, and like a young lion will lift itself up. He will not rest until he has devoured the prey. Numbers 23:24.

From all these quotations it is evident that 'prey', 'spoil', and 'plunder mean the rescue and deliverance of the good by the Lord. The truth that 'Benjamin' represents is said to be what rescues and delivers, because power is an attribute of truth, 3091, 4931, though it derives such power from good, 6344, 6423.

Fusnotat:

6344. 'And the beginning of my strength' means that through that faith comes the initial power which truth possesses. This is clear from the meaning of 'the beginning of strength' as initial power; and since 'strength' is used with reference to truth, the initial power that truth possesses is what is meant. A similar usage occurs in Isaiah,

Jehovah imparts might to the weary, and to him who has no strength He gives greater power. Isaiah 40:29.

Here 'might' is used with reference to good and 'strength' to truth, 'power' with reference to both.

A brief statement will be made about how one should understand the explanation that through faith comes the power which good possesses, and the initial power which truth possesses, meant by 'Reuben my firstborn, you are my might and the beginning of my strength'. In the spiritual world all power comes from good through truth; without good truth has no power at all. For truth is so to speak the body, and good so to speak the soul of that body, and to accomplish anything the soul must act through the body. From this it is evident that truth without good has no power at all, even as the body without the soul has none at all. A body without its soul is a corpse; so too is truth without good.

[2] As soon as good effects the birth of faith that is composed of truth, power reveals itself in truth. This power is what is called the initial power that truth possesses through faith and is what is meant by 'the beginning of strength', as in other places in the Word where the condition of the firstborn is referred to, for example in David,

He smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the beginning of strength in the tents of Ham. Psalms 78:51.

And in another place,

He smote all the firstborn in their land, the beginning of all their strength. Psalms 105:36.

Also in Deuteronomy,

He must acknowledge the firstborn son of her that is hated, to give him two parts of all that will be found for him, in that he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first born is his. Deuteronomy 21:17.

[3] The genuine meaning of 'the firstborn' is the good of charity, though the apparent meaning is the truth of faith, 3325, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930. And because both that good and this truth are the fundamental qualities of the Church, the ancients spoke of the firstborn as his 'father's might and the beginning of his strength'. The fact that those fundamental qualities were meant by 'the firstborn' is quite evident from the considerations that everything which was a firstborn was Jehovah's or the Lord's and that the tribe of Levi was taken instead of all the firstborn and became the priesthood.

[4] Scarcely anyone in the world can know what the power possessed by truth coming from good is; but it is known to those in the next life, and so can be known through revelation from there. People in possession of truth that comes from good, that is, of faith derived from charity, possess power that comes through truth from good. All angels possess that power, which also is why in the Word angels are called 'powers'. For they have the power to restrain evil spirits; even one angel can restrain a thousand together. Their power they use most especially among men; sometimes they protect a person from numerous hells, in thousands of ways.

[5] This power that angels possess comes to them through the truth of faith derived from the good of charity. But because the faith they have comes from the Lord, the Lord alone is the power that resides with them. This power which comes from the Lord through faith is meant by the Lord's words to Peter,

On this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:18-19.

These words were addressed to Peter because he represented faith, see Preface to Genesis 22, as well as 3750, 4738, 6000, 6073 (end). Also wherever 'rock', ¹ as Peter is called here, occurs in the Word, faith is meant in its internal sense, and the Lord in respect of faith in its highest sense.

Fusnotat: