Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 237Jehovah commanded the skies from above, and opened the doorsof the heavens; and he rained down upon them manna for food, andgave them corn of the heavens (Ps. 78:23, 24).Jehovah satisfied them with the bread of the heavens (Ps. 105:40).It is called the “bread of the heavens,” because it rained down fromheaven with the dew, but in the spiritual sense it is called the“bread of the heavens” because it flows down from the Lordthrough 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 isevident 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 toknow that man doth not live by bread only, but by all that is uttered bythe mouth of Jehovah (Deut. 8:3).“What is uttered by the mouth of Jehovah” is everything thatproceeds from the Lord, and this, in a special sense, is Divine truthunited with Divine good (see Heaven and Hell, n. 13, 133, 139,140, 284–290).[5] This delight is also described by the correspondences inMoses:The manna appeared like coriander seed, white, and the taste of itwas like cakes made with honey (Exod. 16:31).They made cakes of it; and the taste of it was as the taste of thejuice of oil (Num. 11:7, 8).The appearance and taste of the manna was such because“coriander seed, white,” signifies truth from a heavenly origin;