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Arcana Coelestia # 8478

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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.

Фусноте:

1. The Latin means the heavens but the Greek means God, which Swedenborg has in most other places where he quotes this verse.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Exodus 16:9

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9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.

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Arcana Coelestia # 6057

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6057. Before anything can be said about the influx and operation of the soul into the body, a proper knowledge is required of the truth that the internal man has been created so as to conform to an image of heaven, and the external man to an image of the world, so much so that the internal man is the smallest form heaven can take, and the external man is the smallest the world can take and is thus the microcosm. The fact that the external man is an image of the world can be seen from his external or physical senses. The ear has been made to conform to the whole nature of the modification of air, and the lungs to the whole nature of air-pressure. So too with the surface-areas of the body, which are held in shape by the pressure of air all around them. The eye has been made to conform to the whole nature of the ether and light; the tongue to the perception of particles dissolved and suspended in fluids, and at the same time along with the lungs, trachea, larynx, glottis, jaws, and lips to conform to the power of using air in varying ways to produce articulated sounds or words, and musical sounds too. The nostrils have been made to conform to the perception of particles suspended in the atmosphere, and touch, a sense which is distributed over the whole of the body, to the perception of changes in the condition of the air, that is to say, whether it is cold or hot, as well as the perception of the nature of fluids and the weights of objects. (The internal organs, which the air surrounding the body cannot enter, are held together and kept in shape by a purer kind of air, called ether.) This is not to mention all the deeply hidden aspects of the natural world that have been inscribed on and apply themselves to the body, such as all the secrets of mechanics, physics, chemistry, and optics. All this goes to prove that the entire natural order was drawn on so that the external side of the human being might be created in conformity with it, which was why the ancients named the human being the microcosm.

[2] Now just as the external man has been created so as to conform to an image of everything in the world, so the internal man has been created so as to conform to an image of everything in heaven, that is, an image of the celestial and spiritual qualities that come from the Lord, from which heaven is formed and in which it consists. The celestial qualities there are all the aspects of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, and the spiritual qualities are all the aspects of faith. They are intrinsically so great and of such a nature that no tongue can possibly declare even a millionth of them. The truth that the internal man has been made so as to conform to an image of all those qualities is plain to see in the angels. When they appear before a person's internal sight, as they have appeared before mine, their presence alone stirs feelings to the depths of his being. For love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour pour out of them and into the onlooker; and what is radiated by that love and charity, namely rays of faith, shines out of them and stirs one's affections. This has served to show, as well as other proofs, that because the internal man has been created to be an angel, the internal man is the smallest form heaven can take.

[3] From all this it now becomes clear that within the human being the spiritual world has been joined to the natural world. As a result, in the case of the human being, the spiritual world flows into the natural world in so vital a way that a person can discern it if he merely stops to pay attention to it. This also shows what the interaction of the soul with the body is, that strictly speaking it is a communication of the spiritual realities of heaven with the natural things of the world, a communication which is effected by one flowing into the other, yet depends on the way the two have been joined together. This communication effected through an inflowing which depends on the way the two have been joined together is unknown at the present day, for the reason that every single thing is attributed to natural forces and there is no knowledge of what is spiritual, which at the present day is so remote that when people give it any thought it seems to be non-existent.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.