Psalms about the Vastation of the Church
The vastation of the Israelitish Church
Psalm 78, part 1
verses | topic | Summary of the Spiritual Sense |
---|---|---|
title, 1-7 | 2 | The Word was given to the children of Jacob, and they were confirmed in it by means of miracles; |
And He raised up a testimony in Jacob,
And set a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
To make them known to their sons.
verses | topic | Summary of the Spiritual Sense |
---|---|---|
8-10 | 2 | but their fathers and the children had gone back, and had not lived according to it, |
And it will not be as with their fathers,
A defiant and rebellious generation,
A generation that prepared not its heart,
And whose spirit was not faithful with God.
11-31 | 2 | the miracles in the desert even having no effect, all of which involved how the Lord teaches and leads those whom He calls to His church. All these [miracles] recited. |
He split open the sea, and caused them to cross through;
And He made the waters to stand up as a heap...
17But they added still to sin against Him,
To rebel against the Most High in the arid place.
19And they spoke against God;
They said, Is God able to arrange a table in the wilderness?
20Behold, He smote the rock, and waters flowed and brooks overflowed.
Is He also able to give bread? Can He prepare meat for His people?
22For they did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
23And He commanded the ethers from above,
And He opened the doors of the heavens.
24And He rained down upon them manna to eat,
And grain of the heavens He gave to them.
25A man◦ did eat the bread of the powerful ones8;
He sent to them provisions to their satisfaction.
26He caused the east wind to journey in the heavens,
And by His strength He drove the south wind,
27And He rained meat upon them as the dust,
And winged fowl as the sand of the seas;
28And He let it fall in the midst of their camp,
All around their habitations.
29And they ate, and were very satisfied;
And that for which they lusted, He brought to them.
30They were not estranged from their lusting,
Their food was still in their mouth,
31And the anger of God went up among them,
And killed among their fat ones, and made the young men of Israel stoop down.
32-37 | 2 | On account of the miracles they returned, indeed, but only with the mouth, not with the heart. |
And they remembered that God was their Rock,
And God Most High was their Redeemer.
36But they enticed Him with their mouth,
And with their tongue they lied to Him.
37And their heart was not right with Him,
Neither were they faithful in His covenant.
He rained down upon them manna to eat, And grain of the heavens He gave to them.
AE 146:4. The delight of heavenly love is signified by “eating of the hidden manna” ...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 sense... no other bread is meant than that which nourishes the soul of man. That “bread” is to be understood here in this sense 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).
8I.e., the bread of angels
Questions and Comments
- In verse 2, the psalm says, “I will open my mouth in a prophetic enunciation; I will utter enigmas from ancient times.” Then it reviews the story of Israel in the wilderness and in Egypt. This illustrates that the whole of the Old Testament story is a prophecy of the Lord and a parable about regeneration.
- The Lord is always seeking to “rain down manna” upon us, that is, to give us the delight of heavenly love, the delight of a useful life and of conjugial love. We receive it from Him so far as we trust in His salvation, and “estrange” ourselves from lusting after merely worldly pleasures.
- We can enjoy the spiritual sense of the Word and the knowledge of the Lord and the life after death, which are even more wonderful than the literal miracles described in the Word. But will our hearts be “right with Him”? Will we be faithful in His covenant?
previous | next |
---|