Spiritual Meaning of EXODUS 16:6-8
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AC 8424. Verses 6-8. And Moses and Aaron said unto all the sons of Israel, In the evening, then ye shall know that Jehovah hath brought you out from the land of Egypt. And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of Jehovah, in that He heareth your murmurings against Jehovah; and what are we, that ye murmur against us? And Moses said, In that Jehovah shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to satiety; in that Jehovah heareth your murmurings with which ye murmur against Him: what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against Jehovah. "And Moses and Aaron said unto all the sons of Israel," signifies information from truth Divine; "In the evening, then ye shall know that Jehovah hath brought you out from the land of Eat," signifies that in the end of the former state there shall be a revelation that they are liberated; "and in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of Jehovah," signifies that in the beginning of a new state there will be the advent of the Lord; "in that He heareth your murmurings," signifies that complaints will cease; "against Jehovah, and what are we, that ye murmur against us?" signifies that the complaints were against the Divine, and not against those who represented it; "and Moses said," signifies information; "In that Jehovah shall give you in the evening flesh to eat," signifies that in the end of the state good will be appropriated by means of delight; "and in the morning bread to satiety," signifies that in the beginning of a new state they shall have as much good as they can receive; in that Jehovah heareth your murmurings," signifies that thus complaints will cease; "with which ye murmur against Him," signifies that these were against the Divine; "what are we? your murmurings are not against us," signifies that they were not against those who represented the Divine; but against Jehovah," signifies that hereafter they must beware.

AC 8425. And Moses and Aaron said unto all the sons of Israel. That this signifies information from truth Divine, is evident from the signification of "saying," when concerning those things which were commanded by Jehovah to those who were of the spiritual church, as being information (n. 7769, 7793, 7825, 8041); from the representation of Moses and Aaron, as being truth Divine, Moses what is internal and Aaron what is external (n. 7009, 7089, 7382); and from the representation of the sons of Israel, as being those who are of the spiritual church (n. 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223).

AC 8426. In the evening, then ye shall know that Jehovah hath brought you out from the land of Egypt. That this signifies that in the end of the former state there shall be a revelation that they are liberated, is evident from the signification of "evening," as being the end of the former state; from the signification of "knowing," as being to be revealed, for that which Jehovah gives to know is called "revelation;" and from the signification of "bringing out," as being to liberate, here from the infestations which are signified by "the land of Egypt" (n. 7278).

[2] That "in the evening" denotes the end of a former state, is because the changes of state in the other life are circumstanced as are the times of day in the world, namely, morning, noon, evening, and night, or twilight, and again morning. Be it known that in the spiritual world there are perpetual changes of state, and that all who are there pass through them. The reason is that they may be continually perfected, for without changes of states or without variations continually succeeding one another in order, they who are in the spiritual world are not perfected. The changes of states which succeed each other in order like the times of the day and the times of the year, never return quite the same, but are varied. The beginning of every state corresponds to morning on the earth, and also in the Word is sometimes meant by "morning;" but the end of every state corresponds to evening, and is likewise sometimes called "evening" in the Word. When it is morning they are in love; when it is noon, they are in light or in truth; but when it is evening they are in obscurity as to truths, and are in the delight of natural love. This delight is what is signified by the quail which they received in the evening, and the good is what is signified by the manna which they received every morning.

[3] From all this it is evident what "the evening" signifies, namely, the end of the state of the thing treated of, consequently also the end of the state of the church. But see what has previously been shown about the signification of "evening:" That in the other life there are alternations of states, as in the world there are alternations of times (n. 5672, 5962, 6110): That "evening" denotes the end of a former church, and "morning" the beginning of a new church (n. 2323, 7844): Consequently that "the evening and the morning" denote the advent of the Lord (n. 7844): That in heaven there are evening and twilight before morning; but not night, which is in hell (n. 6110).

AC 8427. And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of Jehovah. That this signifies that in the beginning of a new state there will be the advent of the Lord, is evident from the signification of "morning," as being the beginning of a new state (n. 8426); and from the signification of "the glory of Jehovah," as being His presence and advent. That "glory" denotes the presence and the advent of the Lord, is because in the supreme sense "glory" denotes the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord, and the Divine truth appears before the eyes of the angels as light and brightness from the Sun which is the Lord. "Glory" denotes the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, (n. 5922, 8267); and it denotes the intelligence and wisdom which are from Divine truth, (n. 4809); and from this it denotes the internal sense of the Word, because this sense is Divine truth in glory, (n. 5922).

[2] It is said that "in the morning they should see the glory of Jehovah," because the rising of the sun and the light from it (which light in heaven enlightens the angelic sight both external and internal), and consequently the presence and the advent of the Lord, who is the Sun in heaven, corresponds to the time of morning on the earth, and is here signified by "morning." Therefore that light from the Sun, which light is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, thus is the Lord, is "glory." From all this it is evident that by "glory" is signified the presence and the advent of the Lord. That these are "glory," is also evident from many passages in the Word; as in Moses:--

it is evident that the presence of Jehovah, that is, of the Lord, appearing like a cloud and like fire upon the mount, is here called "the glory of Jehovah." Again:--

here also the presence of the Lord appearing as a cloud is called "glory."

[3] And in the following:--

here "the glory of God" manifestly denotes light from the Lord, which is the Divine truth proceeding from Him, thus the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is present in the truth which is from Him.

[4] That "the glory of Jehovah" denotes His presence, is further evident in Moses:--

Here also "the glory of Jehovah" manifestly denotes His presence. In Matthew:--

the last time of the former church and the first time of the new church is here treated of; "the Son of man" denotes truth Divine proceeding from the Lord; "the clouds of heaven" denote the Word in the sense of the letter; "power and glory" denote the internal sense, thus the Divine truth which shall then appear; "the coming of the Lord" denotes the acknowledgment of truth Divine by those who are of the new church, and the denial of it by those who are of the old church (n. 4060).

[5] That the Lord as to Divine truth is "glory," is evident in Isaiah:--

speaking of the Lord, who is "the glory." In John:--

here "glory" denotes the Lord. In like manner in Moses:--

here "the glory of Jehovah" denotes the advent of the Lord, and enlightenment by the Divine truth which is from Him.

[6] "Glory" denotes the Divine of the Lord in these passages:--

As by "the glory of Jehovah" is signified the Lord as to Divine truth, so also by "glory" are signified the Divine wisdom and intelligence, which are of the Divine truth from the Lord. Wisdom and intelligence from the Divine are meant by "glory" in (Ezekiel 1:28; 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18, 19; 11:22, 23), which was represented there by a rainbow such as is seen in a cloud.

AC 8428. In that He heareth your murmurings. That this signifies that complaints will cease, is evident from the signification of "hearing," when said of Jehovah, as being to be merciful and to bring aid, thus that complaints will cease; and from the signification of "murmurings," as being sufferings from the bitterness of temptation, and the consequent complaints (n. 8351).

AC 8429. Against Jehovah, and what are we that ye murmur against us? That this signifies that the complaints were against the Divine, and not against those who represented it, is evident from the fact that "Jehovah" denotes the Divine, here the Divine truth which Moses and Aaron represented; and from the signification of "murmuring," as being complaint (n. 8428). And as it is said that "they murmured against Jehovah and not against Moses and Aaron," Mere is signified that they murmured against Divine truth, which is represented by Moses and Aaron (n. 8425), and not against those who represent it; and therefore it is also said in the following verse, "What are we? your murmurings are not against us;" for the person who represents the Divine is relatively not anything. Moreover they who murmur against the person who represents, when he speaks from the Divine, do not murmur against the person, but against the Divine.

AC 8430. And Moses said, signifies information (n. 8425).

AC 8431. In that Jehovah shall give you in the evening flesh to eat. That this signifies that in the end of the state good will be appropriated by means of delight, is evident from the signification of "evening," as being the end of a state (n. 8426); and from the signification of "flesh," as being one‘s own made alive, or one’s heavenly own which a man has from the Lord, thus the good of love (n. 148, 149, 780, 3813, 7850, 8409); but here the good of faith, because it was the flesh of a bird or flying thing called "quail." For by a flying thing is signified what is spiritual, or what is of faith; consequently by its "flesh" is signified good of that quality, here the good of the natural man, or delight. Be it known that by "the manna" is signified the good of the internal or spiritual man, but by "the quail" the good of the external or natural man, which is called delight; and that such is their signification is evident from the fact that the manna was given in the morning time, but the quail in the evening time; and by that which is given in the morning time is signified spiritual good, and by that which is given in the evening time is signified natural good or delight. For in the other life the state of morning is when spiritual good, or the good of the internal man, is in clearness; and natural good, or the good of the external man, is in obscurity: but the state of evening is when natural good, or the good of the external man, is in clearness and spiritual good, or the good of the internal man, is in obscurity. These alternations thus succeed each other also to the intent that the man may be perfected, especially that good may be appropriated to him, which in the state of evening is effected by means of delight.

AC 8432. And in the morning bread to satiety. That this signifies that in the beginning of a new state they shall have as much good as they can receive, is evident from the signification of "bread," as being the good of love (n. 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915, 8410), but here the good of truth, which is the good of the spiritual church, because by "bread" is meant the manna; from the signification of "the morning," as being the beginning of a new state (n. 8427); and from the signification of "to satiety," which means as much as they desired (n. 8410), here as much as they could receive; for the good which flows in from the Lord is not given as much as men desire, but as much as they can receive; whereas evil is allowed as much as they desire.

AC 8433. In that Jehovah heareth your murmurings. That this signifies that thus the complaints will cease, is evident from what was said above (n. 8428), where like words occur.

AC 8434. Which ye murmur against Him. That this signifies that the complaints were against the Divine; and that what are we? your murmurings are not against us, signifies that they were not against those who represented the Divine, is evident also from what was said above (n. 8429), where like words occur.

AC 8435. But against Jehovah. That this signifies that hereafter they must beware, is evident from the fact that it is repeated that their murmurings are against Jehovah, that is, against the Divine. Consequently by these words is now meant that hereafter they must beware of such complaints in temptations.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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