8352. 'Saying, What shall we drink?' means that they cannot tolerate truths because, as a result of their lack of affection [for good], they find them unpleasant. This is clear from the meaning of 'drinking' as being taught truths and receiving them, and also as having an affection for them and consequently making them one's own, dealt with in 3069, 3168, 3772, 4017, 4018, but here as not being able to tolerate them because - as a result of the lack of affection for good, meant by 'the waters were bitter', according to the explanation above in 8349 - they are found to be unpleasant. This temptation consists in their complaining and their grief, because the truths which previously they have found pleasant, and which have thus constituted their spiritual life or the life of heaven for them, now seem unpleasant to them, so unpleasant that they can scarcely tolerate them.

[2] A merely natural person cannot believe that anything such as this could be a cause of grief. For he thinks, 'What difference does it make to me whether truths are pleasant or unpleasant? If they are unpleasant, let them be cast aside.' But a spiritual person has an entirely different feeling. Learning truths and being enlightened in the kinds of matters that belong to his soul and so to spiritual life is the delight of his life. Therefore when those truths are lacking, his spiritual life becomes a trial and burden to him; and this gives rise to grief and anguish. The reason is that the affection for good flows in unceasingly from the Lord by way of the internal man, arousing accordant things in the external man which have previously been the cause of delight belonging to an affection for truth; and when these things are under attack from the evils of self-love and love of the world, in which too the person has previously taken delight, a conflict of delights or affections results, which gives rise to anguish, and this in turn to grief and complaint.

[3] A brief statement needs to be made about the situation when temptation arises through lack of truth. Nourishment for spiritual life consists in goodness and truth, just as nourishment for natural life consists in food and drink. If good is lacking it is as if food is lacking; and when truth is lacking it is as if drink is lacking. The grief this causes is like the grief caused by hunger and thirst. This comparison arises from correspondence, for food corresponds to goodness, and drink to truth. This correspondence is also the reason why food and drink nourish the body better and more suitably if, during a dinner or a luncheon, the person has at the same time as he eats the pleasure of discussing with others the kinds of things he loves than if he sits at table alone without company. In the second situation the person's vessels for receiving food are narrowed, but in the first the same vessels are opened. These things are brought about by the correspondence of spiritual food and natural food. The reason for saying the pleasure of discussing with others the kinds of things he loves is that all that pleasure is related to goodness and truth; for there does not exist anything in the world that is unrelated to them both. What the person loves is related to the good present with him, and that which informs about good and so links itself to that good, is related to truth.

1787. 'Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you' means protection against evils and falsities which is able to be trusted. This is clear from the meaning of 'a shield', to be dealt with shortly. These words which declare that Jehovah is 'a shield' and 'an exceedingly great reward' are words of comfort following temptations. Every temptation entails some kind of despair, or else it is not temptation; and for that reason comfort follows. A person who is being tempted is subjected to anxious fears which produce a state of despair over the end in view. The conflict brought about by temptation does not consist in anything else. One who is quite certain of victory does not experience any anxiety, nor thus any temptation.

[2] Since the Lord underwent the most dreadful and the cruelest temptations of all it was inevitable that He too should be driven into feelings of despair which He put to flight and overcame by His own power, as becomes quite clear from His temptation in Gethsemane, which is described in Luke as follows,

When Jesus was at the place He said to the disciples, Pray that you may not enter into temptation. But He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and kneeling down He prayed, saying, Father, if You are willing, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not My will but Yours be done. And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. And when He was in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. Luke 22:40-45.

In Matthew,

He began to be sorrowful and in agony. Then He said to the disciples, My soul is utterly dejected even to death. And He went forward a little and praying fell on His face, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will but as You will. Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cup cannot pass from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done. And He prayed for the third time, saying the same thing. ¹ Matthew 26:36-44.

In Mark,

He began to be terrified and in great agony. He said to the disciples, My soul is wrapped in dejection, even to death. He went forward a little, fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass from Him. He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible to You; remove this cup from Me; yet not as I will but as You will. This happened a second and a third time. Mark 14:33-41.

[3] These quotations show the nature of the Lord's temptations - that they were the most frightful of all; that He suffered agony from the inmost parts of His being, even to the sweating of blood; that He was at the time in a state of despair over the end in view and over the outcome; and that He received comfort repeatedly. The words 'I am Jehovah your shield, your exceedingly great reward' in a similar way embody the comfort received after the conflicts brought about by the temptations which were described in the previous chapter.

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