Apocalypse Explained #146
146. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the hidden manna, signifies that those who conquer in temptations will have the delight of heavenly love from the Lord's Divine Human. This is evident from the signification of "overcoming," as being those who conquer in temptations (for it is these that are treated of in what is written to the angel of this church, see above, n. 130; from the signification of "giving to eat," as being to be appropriated and to be conjoined by love and charity (See Arcana Coelestia 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513, 5643) and as it is said "of the hidden manna," which means the Lord in respect to His Divine Human, the "eating" of this here signifies the delight of heavenly love, for this is appropriated by the Lord's Divine Human to those who receive Him in love and faith; also from the signification of the "hidden manna," as being the Lord in respect to His Divine Human. That this is "manna" is manifest from the Lord's own words in John:
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. The bread of God is He who cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, and they are dead. This is the bread which cometh down out of heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever. The bread that I will give is My flesh (John 6:31-58).
That it is the Lord Himself who is meant by "manna" and by "bread," He plainly teaches, for He says, "I am the bread of life which came down out of heaven." That it is the Lord in respect to the Divine Human, He also teaches when He says, "The bread that I will give is My flesh."
[2] The Lord taught the same when He instituted the Holy Supper:
Jesus took bread and blessed it, and gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is My body (Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19).
"To eat of this bread" is to be conjoined to the Lord by love, for "to eat" signifies to be appropriated and to be conjoined (as above), and love is spiritual conjunction. The same is signified by "eating in the kingdom of God," in Luke:
Blessed is he that eateth bread in the kingdom of God (Luke 14:15).
Ye shall eat and drink at My table in My kingdom (Luke 22:30).
In Matthew:
Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline to eat with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God (Matthew 8:11).
(That by "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," the Lord is meant, see Arcana Coelestia 1893, 4615, 6098, 6185, 6276, 6804, 6847) In John:
Work not for the food which perisheth; but for the food which abideth, which the Son of man shall give unto you (John 6:27).
That the "Son of man" is the Lord in respect to the Divine Human, see above, n. 63.
[3] It is called "hidden manna," because the delight of heavenly love, which those receive who are conjoined to the Lord through love, is wholly unknown to those that are in a love not heavenly; and this delight no one is able to receive except he that acknowledges the Lord's Divine Human; for from this the delight proceeds. Because this delight was unknown to the children of Israel in the wilderness, they called it "manna," as appears in Moses:
Jehovah said unto Moses, Behold, I will cause bread to rain from heaven itself for you. And in the morning the dew lay round about the camp. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold upon the face of the wilderness a small round thing; and when they saw it, they said, This is manna? (what is this)? Moses said unto them, this is the bread which Jehovah giveth you to eat. And the house of Israel called the name thereof manna (Exodus 16:3-36).
In the same:
Jehovah fed thee with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by all that is uttered by the mouth of Jehovah doth man live (Deuteronomy 8:3).
This delight, which is meant by "manna," was unknown to the sons of Israel, because they were in corporeal delight more than other nations, and those who are in that delight are altogether incapable of knowing anything of heavenly delight. (That the sons of Israel were such, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248.) The term "delight" is used, and the delight of love is meant, for every delight of life is of love.
[4] As it is the delight of heavenly love that is signified by "eating of the hidden manna," therefore it is called "the bread of the heavens" in David:
Jehovah commanded the skies from above, and opened the doors of the heavens; and He rained down upon them manna for food, and gave them corn of the heavens (Psalms 78:23, 24).
In another place:
Jehovah satisfied them with the bread of the heavens (Psalms 105:40).
It is called the "bread of the heavens," because it rained down from heaven with the dew, but in the spiritual sense it is called the "bread of the heavens" because it flows down from the Lord through the angelic heaven. In that case no other heaven is meant, and no other bread than that which nourishes the soul of man. That it is in this sense that "bread" is to be understood here is evident from the words of the Lord Himself in John:
That He is the manna, or bread, that came down out of heaven (John 6:31-58).
And in Moses:
That Jehovah fed them with manna, that He might make them to know that man doth not live by bread only, but by all that is uttered by the mouth of Jehovah (Deuteronomy 8:3).
"What is uttered by the mouth of Jehovah" is everything that proceeds from the Lord, and this, in a special sense, is Divine truth united with Divine good (See the work on Heaven and Hell 13, 133, 139, 140, 284-290).
[5] This delight is also described by the correspondences in Moses:
The manna appeared like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like cakes made with honey (Exodus 16:31).
And in another place in the same:
They made cakes of it; and the taste of it was as the taste of the juice of oil (Numbers 11:7, 8).
The appearance and taste of the manna was such because "coriander seed, white," signifies truth from a heavenly origin; "cake," the good of heavenly love; "honey" its external delight; "oil" that love itself; and its "juice," from which was the taste, its internal delight: and the "rain with dew," in which the manna was, the influx of Divine truth in which that delight is. (That "seed" signifies truth from a heavenly origin, seeArcana Coelestia 3038, 3373, 10248, 10249; that "white" is predicated of that truth, n. 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319; that "cake" signifies the good of heavenly love, n. 7978, 9992, 9993; that "oil" signifies that love itself, n. 886, 3728, 9780, 9954, 10261, 10269; its "juice," therefore, signifies the delight of that love, because the taste is therefrom, and the taste is the delight and pleasantness, see n. 3502, 4791-4805. But more about these matters may be seen in the explanation of chapter 16 of Exodus in The Arcana Coelestia.)
[6] The delight of heavenly love is signified by "eating of the hidden manna," when yet by "the hidden manna" the Lord in respect to the Divine Human is signified, because it is the same whether you say the Lord's Divine Human, or the Divine Love, for the Lord is Divine Love itself, and what proceeds from Him is Divine good united to Divine truth; both are of love, and are also the Lord in heaven; consequently "to eat of Him" is to be conjoined to Him, and this by love from Him. (But these things may be better understood from what is said and shown in the work on Heaven and Hell 13-19, 116-125, 126-140; also in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 210-222, 307)
Joshua 13
1
Now Joshua was old and well advanced in years. Yahweh said to him, "You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed.
2
"This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all the Geshurites;
3
from the Shihor, which is before Egypt, even to the border of Ekron northward, which is counted as Canaanite; the five lords of the Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avvim,
4
on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the border of the Amorites;
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and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath;
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all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, even all the Sidonians; them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only allocate it to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.
7
Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh."
8
With him the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them:
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from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba to Dibon;
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and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon;
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and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah;
12
all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (the same was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for Moses attacked these, and drove them out.
13
Nevertheless the children of Israel didn't drive out the Geshurites, nor the Maacathites: but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.
14
Only he gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The offerings of Yahweh, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spoke to him.
15
Moses gave to the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their families.
16
Their border was from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain by Medeba;
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Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the plain; Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon,
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Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar in the mount of the valley,
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Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, Beth Jeshimoth,
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all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.
22
The children of Israel alse killed Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, with the sword, among the rest of their slain.
23
The border of the children of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and its villages.
24
Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad, according to their families.
25
Their border was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer that is before Rabbah;
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and from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir;
27
and in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan's bank, to the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward.
28
This is the inheritance of the children of Gad according to their families, the cities and its villages.
29
Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was for the half-tribe of the children of Manasseh according to their families.
30
Their border was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities.
31
Half Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even for the half of the children of Machir according to their families.
32
These are the inheritances which Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho, eastward.
33
But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance. Yahweh, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he spoke to them.
