CHAPTER III.

THE LORD'S WORD MAGNIFIED ABOVE ALL HIS NAME-COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SENSES OF THE Word of God; ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE USE OF CORRESPONDENCE IN EXPLAINING DIFFICULT PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE-ITS USE IN EXPLAINING THE MIRACLES AND PARABLES-CORRESPONDENCE OF THE SUN, MOON AND STARS-THE ISRAELITISH JOURNEY FROM EGYPT TO CANAAN-EXPLANATION OF VARIOUS SCRIPTURE PHRASES-EZEKIEL'S VISION OF HOLY WATERSTWO MIRACLES ILLUSTRATED BY THE LAW OF CORRESPONDENCE, VIZ.: "DEATH IN THE POT," AND THE RESTORATION OF SIGHT TO THE MAN BORN BLIND, BY WASHING IN THE POOL OF SILOAM-THE TRIBUTE MONEY FOUND IN THE FISH'S MOUTH-RELIGION AND SCIENCE CONNECTED-CONCLUSION.

THE Psalmist in addressing the Divine Being, says: “Thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy name" (cxxxviii. 2). Now the Lord's Word is truly magnified, because it treats of infinitely higher subjects than what appears to the natural sight in the sense of the letter. In its literal form and clothing it may appear to the superficial reader to be loose and disconnected; in this appearance it is compared to sand: but the spiritual truths which are stored up within, are called " treasures hid in the sand." (Deut. xxxiii. 19.) With respect to the truth it contains generally and as a whole, which forms the base or foundation upon which every Christian rests his hope, it is called a rock; but in allusion to its spiritual truth with the delights thereof, as applicable to all the states of human life, it is the honey within the rock. To every true Christian who contemplates the Word with a holy reverence, the Lord gives "to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock." (Deut. xxxii. 13.) The Word with respect to its beauty and fertility, even in the letter, is compared to and called a Paradise; and inasmuch as it is God-breathed, a Divine and not a human production, it is the Paradise of God: but with respect to the celestial nature of its interior contents, it is the hidden manna within the Paradise, of which every one who really desires may eat and live forever.

The Literal and Spiritual Senses Compared.

The Word in reference to its literal construction, appears, especially to the careless reader, not only to contain various doctrines, but even such as appear to be opposed to each other; in this sense it is represented by Joseph's coat of many colors: but as to its interior spirit and life, which is one uniform whole, it is the living Joseph himself, who, as the representative of the Lord, though despised and hated by his externally-minded brethren, goes before to provide food for them, and to save nations from famine and death.

The Word, again, as to its letter, appears to be so constructed as to be capable of division and sub-division, and is represented by those outer garments of the Lord which, at his crucifixion and rejection, the soldiers who denote those who contend for the letter but not for the spirit of Revelation, divided amongst them; while the fact of each man looking at, and contending for, the superiority of his own part, without any reference to the others, appears to be the origin of all those opposing sectarian doctrines, whose advocates wrangle and fight about comparative trifles; thus straining out gnats and swallowing camels; while the inward spirit of its contents is alike unknown to and disregarded by all. But the spiritual sense of Revelation, which is one unbroken and uninterrupted system of Divine instruction relating to all the affections, thoughts and states of human life, and to their progressions into higher degrees of perfection, is represented by the Lord's inner garment, the vest without seam woven from the top throughout. This vest, because it was without seam, the soldiers agreed not to rend, but to cast lots for it whose it should be. This fact instructs us that the Divine Providence is ever watchful over the Word of Revelation; that its inward life may not be injured, but that it may be kept whole and entire, they cast lots for it whose it should be. The lot, which excludes all human interference in spiritual matters, has undoubtedly fallen, not upon those who deny but upon those who admit a Divine spirituality to be contained in the Word throughout, and that it is unbroken, that is, without seam. It has fallen upon that church and dispensation of spiritual truth which, in Rev. xxi., is designated the Holy City New Jerusalem which descended from God out of heaven. Here the sacred vest is preserved whole and entire, which will be the means of again bringing together all the Lord's outer garments, or those literal truths which, in connection with the spirit of Revelation, are harmonious and beautiful;

and which, by the law of correspondence, are the legitimate coverings of the Lord as the Word.

Admitting the spirituality of the Word, and applying this immutable law of correspondence as the only true Key of knowledge in the illustration of its contents, how easy are all its truths unfolded, and how grandly do they rise up before us, displaying, in one rich and lovely scene, the providence and wisdom of God. Is the Divine Truth generally, in its literal form, called a rock? a foundation upon which to build our hopes and expectations? then do we see the important instruction figured forth by Moses striking the rock in the wilderness, and the waters gushing out to supply the thirst of the people. To strike is to have communication with; the rock is the Word as a whole; hence the act of striking the rock teaches us to communicate with the Word of God, and that from such striking or communication, an abundance of truths, as the waters of life, will quickly flow for the cleansing of all interior impurities, as well as for the nutritious improvement and health of the soul. This is purely an apostolic interpretation, founded upon that immutable law according to which all Scripture is written, and by which alone it can be explained.

The apostle Paul, speaking of the various things which happened to the Israelites, says: "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Cor. x. 11); and speaking of the water from the rock, he says, they "did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ" (ver. 4). Christ, then, is the Rock, because He is the Word-the living Truth which follows us in our journey to the heavenly Canaan. We drink of that spiritual Rock, for from “his fulness have all we received and grace for grace." (John i. 16.)

When it is clearly seen that all existences in nature are types and emblems shadowing forth the realities of heaven, and that Scripture mentions these in reference to spiritual realities, so that by visible things the invisible are brought forth, then, indeed, it will be clearly seen that the Lord has magnified his Word. With this knowledge the Book of God becomes unsealed, and its sacred contents presented to view. Now Scripture declares man to have been created in the image and likeness of God. No one can doubt the truth of this statement; if so created, he must, in his very constitution, shadow forth the perfections of his Creator. There is, therefore, a mutual

relationship between all his mental powers and bodily organs; and in Scripture the latter are put to signify the former.

The soul, or living man, receives immediately all his powers from the Lord, while the body receives, mediately, its strength and power of action from the soul. That which gives to the organic structure both its form and power is the immortal man or soul; and this again receives all his power from the Lord. Hence in Scripture, the bodily organs are mentioned to signify the powers, principles and faculties. of the mind. This, when seen and acknowledged, will explain all those parts of the Word where the bodily organs are mentioned. Thus by the head, the supreme part, is signified wisdom and intelligence; by the eye, the understanding; the ear denotes obedience; the nostrils, the grateful perception of what is good and true; the lips, tongue, and organs of speech generally, the acknowledgment and confession of the Lord; the arms and hands, the powers of the mind; and the legs and feet, the external life and general conduct. Again, most of the bodily organs run in pairs; and where this is not outwardly observable, it is so by a more minute inspection. The reason of this is that there is a close correspondence between the two essential properties of Deity, which are love and wisdom, and the forms receptive of these in man.

For the reception of Divine Love and Wisdom, the two mental faculties of will and understanding were created, the corresponding bodily organs of which are: in the head, the two hemispheres of the brain, called the cerebellum and cerebrum; and in the body, the heart and lungs. In respect to the organs being in pairs, we may mention the eyes, ears, nostrils, cheeks, lips, shoulders, arms, hands, legs, and feet. All the organs on the right side of the body possess a greater degree of power than those on the left, and in Scripture are mentioned in reference to the will, and to somewhat of power as to good or evil, while those on the left are named in reference to the understanding, bearing some relation either to truth or falsity. This knowledge will explain all those passages of Scripture where the bodily organs are named.

Correspondence explains difficult Passages of Scripture.

The Lord says: "When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." (Matt. vi. 3.) Literally neither the left hand nor the right hand can know anything about alms-giving. To do alms from the right hand is to exercise power in their distribu

tion from the love of good, and from a pure motive: but to impart that motive to the left hand first, or before the deed is done, is to give alms from truth, in order that they may appear in the light and be known abroad; thus the alms are not done in secret, but for the sake of appearing, and for some selfish gratification. In this case there may be a worldly reward, but none from our Father in the heavens. The deed has been done from a sinister motive, from the left hand; it is utterly barren of all true religion, all spiritual reward.

Again, the Lord says: "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee;" and "if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee." (Matt. v. 29, 30.) Here by the eye is meant the understanding, and by the right eye a knowledge of truth from interior goodness. But as the offence of the right eye is described, it is the understanding of truth perverted by evils of life, whence come offence, spiritual crime and death. To pluck this out, is to cease from such state of perversion, while to cast it from you is to utterly hate and abhor it. Similar observations will apply to the right hand, only with this difference, that the hand is an emblem of power, and the right hand power from goodness of heart: but the offending right hand is the power derived from evil and its degrading pursuits; this, too, must be cut off and cast away, be utterly abhorred and hated, or heaven with its glories can neither be entered nor seen. Another important lesson is taught us in the fact of the Lord sending out his apostles and disciples by two and two, and giving them power over unclean spirits. (Mark vi. 7.) This was done to teach us that the two faculties of will and intellect must be engaged unitedly in the work—that the love and practice of truth, with the knowledge of it, must go together. When these two are united, a power is given over all the unclean affections and perverted principles of the mind; so that true religion grows in the soul, and heaven is formed within; hence we read that the disciples who were thus sent out by two and two, returned and said: "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name." (Luke x. 17.) When the will and intellect are united so as to progress in the regeneration together, everything then prayed for and desired is, that spiritual improvement may increase, which will explain these words of the Lord: "Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. xviii. 19.)

The Lord condescended to wash his disciples' feet, and said: “If I,