Rev. Dan Calvo
Pittsburgh new Church; April 26, 2026
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There is something striking and even confusing about the story of Elijah. The Lord sent His prophet to confront an evil king. A drought came upon the land because of the people’s wickedness. Elijah was then led away from society and into the wilderness, where the Lord provided for him. So far in the story, all of this follows a pattern that we see again and again in the Word.
But there is one detail that makes this story stand out. It is how the Lord provides sustenance in this story. The Lord sent ravens to feed Elijah.
Ravens were considered unclean birds by the very laws the Lord had given to the people of Israel. And yet here they were, bringing bread and meat to the Lord’s prophet, keeping him alive in the wilderness.
It is such an unusual, almost contradictory image that it makes us wonder: Why would the Lord choose ravens to care for His prophet? What was the Lord trying to teach us in this story?
If we pause to reflect on the spiritual meaning of this story, we are led to an important truth: the Lord can use even what is imperfect, even what is false, to bring good to us, especially when we need it the most.
And to understand why this is so, we need to look more closely at the wilderness where Elijah was sent, and what that wilderness represents in our own spiritual lives.
In the story, the wilderness is a dry and barren place. There was no rain in the land because of the drought. Water was scarce and life was fragile. But in the internal sense of the Word, the wilderness describes a state in our spiritual life when we are going through temptations and spiritual challenges.
In the book Secrets of Heaven we read:
“The wilderness” in the spiritual sense symbolizes a situation in which there is no good or truth. (SH 8098)
This is something we all experience. There are times when truth feels clear and steady, and times when we feel uncertain and struggle with doubt. When we deal with grief, anxiety over the state of the world, or difficulties in our personal relationships, it can feel as though we have nothing to help us survive our challenges—this is the wilderness.
However, Elijah was not sent into the wilderness with nothing. He was sent to a brook—a small source of water where he could drink and be sustained during the drought. Even when it seems that we have no truth to hold onto when we are going through life’s challenges, we must remember that the Lord never leaves us without any truth whatsoever. We always have at least one small truth remaining in our lives. It may be as simple as the Ten Commandments or the Golden Rule. That small source of truth is the brook, and while it does not remove the wilderness or end the drought, it can be enough to keep us alive.
Elijah was not only in need of water to drink, he also needed food. In the internal sense, food represents something essential to our spiritual life: good—the good of love and charity that we need to stay alive.
In fact, Secrets of Heaven says:
In the internal sense “food” means those things which nourish a person's soul. (SH 5293)
So while Elijah had access to water from the brook—that is, some truth—this alone was obviously not enough to sustain him. He still needed food. He still needed good to nourish his soul.
In the story, we might have expected the Lord to send food to Elijah through something beautiful or majestic: a dove, an angel, or some clear sign of heavenly purity and order. After all, this was the Lord’s prophet, and the nourishment that sustained him seems as though it should have come through something that reflected the Lord’s goodness and power.
And yet the Lord did something unexpected. He sent ravens to bring Elijah food. In the literal sense, ravens are unclean animals. They are not what we would expect as instruments of the Lord’s providence. In the spiritual sense, this becomes even more striking. The Heavenly Doctrines teach that birds correspond to ideas, and specifically, unclean birds correspond to falsities.
In this passage from Secrets of Heaven which you can read in the back of your handout, we read that:
“Ravens” symbolize falsities. Birds symbolize intellectual concepts, rational concepts, and facts, and in like manner the opposite of these, which are reasonings and falsities. Both sets of things are described in the Word by various species of birds, things of a true understanding by harmless, beautiful, and clean birds, and those of a false understanding by harmful, ugly, and unclean birds, each depending on the species of truth or falsity under description. Gross and impenetrable falsities are described by “ravens” in the Word. (SH 866)
So here is the picture: Elijah, in a state of temptation and with only a small bit of truth to get him by—symbolized by the brook—was being nourished with good, but that good was being delivered through things that correspond to falsity.
We need to be very clear about this. Falsity cannot be misunderstood as something good. The ravens were still unclean animals. The Lord does not desire falsity, and He does not call falsity good. And yet, in His providence, He can use what is imperfect — even what is false — to serve something good.
We can see the Lord working with our imperfect and false ideas to bring good into our lives in many different ways.
All of us, at different times, hold ideas that are not fully true. We may believe that the opinions of others matter more than the laws of the Lord, that material wealth and status matter more than spiritual life, or even that simply having the “right beliefs” is more important than living a life of charity and doing good for others.
These are forms of falsity that can exist within us, often without us even realizing it. And yet the Lord does not reject us because of them. He works with us as we are, not as we ideally should be.
He can take what is incomplete or flawed and still lead us toward what is good.
While we may not have a fully accurate understanding of truth, there are still many cases where our understanding—though imperfect—can lead us to live good lives. A person may pray sincerely, try to live honestly, and care for others, even if their understanding of spiritual truth is mistaken or incomplete.
This can be seen clearly in how people understand the Word. Some see the Word only in its literal sense, without awareness of its deeper spiritual meaning. The New Church teaches that the Word has an internal sense beyond the literal, yet those who hold a more literal understanding can still live lives of charity and kindness toward their neighbor.
We are all capable of misunderstanding truth in different ways. And yet the Lord can still work with us, so long as we are willing to be led toward what is better.
In the book Secrets of Heaven, we read:
Falsities as well as truths exist with those ruled by evil, and also falsities as well as truths exist with those who are governed by good. (…) The falsities present with those governed by good are accepted as truths, for those falsities are tempered by the good and put to good and useful purposes, and the truths present with them are the truths of good, which are alive. (SH 10109)
A different passage from Secrets of Heaven goes deeper into this idea, by saying that:
Falsity can exist devoid of evil, as it does with some upright people among nations outside the Church, and even with some among Christians within the Church. (…) Falsity existing with those governed by good has not been defiled by evil; rather it has been purified from it. For this reason also such falsity is accepted by the Lord, almost as truth, and is also easily changed into truth; for those governed by good are eager to receive the truth. (SH 10302)
The Lord always looks first to the good—our intentions and our lives—rather than to perfect understanding. And because of that, He can lead us step by step into a higher, clearer truth.
Another example of how the Lord can bring good out of imperfect or mixed ideas is how we sometimes do what is right for reasons that are not fully honest. At times, we may act honestly and justly in public, even when our internal motivation is more self-centered—such as concern for reputation, or the desire to be seen in a positive light by others. These are not the highest or most noble motives or ideas, but they are not useless either. The Lord can still work with that.
The Heavenly Doctrines explain in Secrets of Heaven that:
Countless causes exist as the origin and the reason for a person’s love of learning what is true and wanting what is good. Very many have a worldly origin and also very many have a bodily origin; and sometimes it is not heaven, still less the Lord, that is the reason. A person is thus introduced by the Lord into truth and good by means of affections, one person in an entirely different way from another, each one according to his innate and acquired disposition. And since he is introduced into truth and good constantly by means of affections, and so constantly by means of the freedom he has, and is at length introduced into affections for spiritual truth and spiritual good, the Lord alone knows those times and those states, and He alone organizes and governs them as is appropriate to the inclination and life of the individual. (SH 2878)
What this teaches is that the Lord does not only work with our highest and purest motives at the beginning. The Lord can use even these early, imperfect motivations as a starting point. And as we continue to live in that good externally, He gradually leads us internally toward better and more selfless and honest motives—until what begins as a concern for reputation becomes a genuine love of doing good for others.
Another example of the Lord using imperfect or incomplete ideas to bring about good in our lives can be seen in the concept of holy fear. Many people—especially children—begin by doing what is right because they are afraid of punishment. They may believe that if they do not follow the Lord’s commandments, they will be punished to eternity. This kind of thinking is not a true understanding of the Lord’s nature. The Lord does not desire to harm or punish anyone, it would go against His very nature as a being of love.
And yet, the Lord can use that fear to help restrain us from doing what is evil. And as we continue to grow, He gradually leads us into a deeper understanding—that the Lord is not seeking to punish us, but to save us, and that the consequences of evil do not come from Him, but from evil itself.
In Secrets of Heaven we read:
All worship of God inevitably has its beginning in holy fear, which holds within it the belief that God rewards good people and punishes the bad. Although to begin with it is out of fear that people do not dare to do evil, love accompanied by good is gradually introduced, and then people start to know and perceive that nothing but good comes from God, and that evil comes from themselves; then at length that all evil comes from hell. (SH 6071)
So even something that begins in fear can be turned, over time, into something much higher—a love for what is good and a genuine understanding of the Lord’s mercy.
In the end, the story of Elijah teaches us that the Lord’s providence is wiser and more patient than we often realize. When Elijah entered the wilderness, the Lord did not abandon him. The Lord gave Elijah water from the brook—small but vital truths—and He fed him through ravens, showing that He can use even imperfect means to bring good.
The same thing happens in our lives. When our understanding is incomplete, our motives are mixed, or we begin in fear rather than love, the Lord still works for our salvation. He does not wait for us to be perfect or have a complete understanding of His truth. Instead, He meets us where we are, using even flawed ideas and selfish motives to lead us toward what is true and good. This is the message of hope in Elijah’s story: the Lord is always working to nourish our souls, gently leading us from falsity into truth, and bringing good into our lives in the most unexpected ways.
Amen.