Lectures on the symbolic character of the Sacred Scriptures

Front matter

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

LECTURES

Chapter I. Page

Eeasons why the literal sense of the Word of God must symbolize a higher sense. John vi. 63 9

CHAPTER IL

The origin of Language, and the law of the Divine Symbols.

Ps. xix. 3 29

CHAPTER m.

The Scripture Analogy between the material universe and

the himian mind. Zeph. iii. 9 47

CHAPTER IV.

The divine law of life between God, Man and Nature. Ps.

CHAPTER Y.

The correspondence of birds and animals to the thoughts and

affections of man. Ezek. xxxix. 17-20 81

CHAPTER YI.

The symbolic meaning and use of Horses. Rev. xix. 11-14. .. 98

6 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII. PAGE

The correspondence of Trees to the things of the mind.

2 Kings xiv. 9 115

CHAPTER YIII.

The symbolic meaning of the Heavens and the Earth, Sun,

Moon and Stars. Matt. xxiv. 29 131

CHAPTER IX.

The first chapter of Genesis in its spiritual import — the creation of man. Gen. i. 27 149

CHAPTER X.

The first chapter of Genesis, in its practical bearing upon

the regeneration of Man in all ages. Gen. i. 28 166

CHAPTER XL

A glance at the second chapter of Genesis, and at the making

of the woman of the rib of the man. Gen. ii. 18-23 186

CHAPTER XII.

The correspondence of Water, and the divine teachings

thereby. Rev. i. 15 205

CHAPTER XIII.

The nature and character of the Mosaic deluge. Gen. viii. 8,9 221

CHAPTER XIY.

A spiritual view of Cain, Abel and Seth ; of Cain's wife,

and of the building of the city of Enoch. Gen. iv. 17 . , 241

CONTENTS. 7

CHAPTER XY. page

A general glance at tlie whole subject of these Lectures — God, Man and Nature, and their relative connection. Gen. i. 1 257

CHAPTER XYI.

How the Science of Correspondences has been restored, and the Spiritual Sense of the Word and its Doctrines revealed. Rev. xxi. 5 272

CHAPTER I.

REASONS WHY THE LITERAL SENSE OF THE WORD OF GOD MUST SYMBOLIZE A HIGHER SENSE.

" The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.'' (John vi. 63.)

We are now commencing a course of lectures upon the symbolic character of the Sacred Scriptures, or of the Divine Language. But, are we truly sensible of what we are undertaking ? Are we, indeed, conscious that the language we purpose to explain is infinite, that God's words must contain infinite ideas, and that, to fully comprehend them, would require the wisdom of the great Jehovah — a capacity so far beyond the reach of men or angels ? All this we fully believe. And we also believe, that we can learn to appreciate the meaning and force of God's language, only in degrees according to our states ; and that we can do this properly, only as we become acquainted with God's nature and character. For if we would enter into the real life and spirit or any book, we must know the qualities and character of the author ; for the real author lives in his words and his works. And, as from the language of men, we are introduced to a knowledge of their minds ; so, from the language of God, we may become somewhat acquainted with the will and wisdom of our heavenly Father. For God lives in his language. The words which He speaks, ^^ They are spirit and they are life.'' And that spirit and life are God Himself in His wisdom and love.

But what is the divine language ? In its broadest sense it is everything that manifests the Lord's qualities. He is the author of everything ; he lives in everything, and speaks in everything, either directly or indirectly. But His speech is understood according to the state and ability of the reader. Some see it in the light of divine wisdom, and understand it aright to the extent of their capacity. Others see it in the light of their own self-derived intelligence, and understand it not as it really is, but only as it appears to them to be.

But it is of the nature and character of God's revealed Word, rather than of the book of Nature, that we are to speak this evening ; and more particularly, of the reasons why that Eevelation must possess a symbolic or spiritual sense distinct from the literal sense. But in doing this, and in all our lectures, we shall aim, not so much at the profundity and depth of the divine Wisdom and Word, as at its simplicity and plainness. For everything perfect and divine is in itself deep and obscure ; far deeper than finite minds can fathom. Human wisdom can never reach the starting point, so as to comprehend the full cause of anything ; for Infinity is involved in that. Our efforts, therefore; in these lectures, will be to simplify and bring the real^ spiritual tilings out from their secret enfoldings, into the plain daylight of the reasoning faculties of man's natural mind ; where he can see them in the light of science, take hold of them with the arm of his judgment, turn them over and about, and look at them on all sides, in the relation they bear to one another, to man and to their Creator.

Now the first and perfectly conclusive reason, why the Holy Word contains a spiritual sense within the literal, is seen in the law of analogy, which pervades the entire Word, and which shows the relation between spiritual and natural things ; between the world of mind and the world of matter ; between God and nature ; between the mind of man and the universe of things. But this argument has no weight with a person, who is not acquainted with this law of analogy, or science of correspondences. This argument, therefore, we cannot use in this evening's discourse, as our lectures are designed for persons unacquainted with that science. But it will gradually present itself as the truth and beauty of that science are seen and understood, as the law is applied to the illustrations of the Word, as we proceed with these lectures. For the science of correspondences is the great rational test of the divinity of the Sacred Scriptures. By means of it are clearly understood the history of the Creation, the Garden of Eden, the Fall, the Flood, the Prophecy of Ezekiel, the Second Coming of the Lord, the Descent of the. New Jerusalem, and the wonderful things declared in the Apocalypse. Upon the truth of this science, as an infallible key to the otherwise hidden beauty and glory of the divine Word, the receivers of the doctrines of the New Church are ever ready to rest the entire question of their new religious faith.

Does any one disbelieve or doubt, that the Lord, as the '' Word/' which was in the beginning with God and was God, and which was manifest in the flesh, is now actually making his second coming in the spiritual or internal sense of the Word, for the establishment of a new religious order of things, which will eventually bring all to see eye to eye, do away with all sin and contention among men, and really make all things new ? — I say, does any one disbelieve or doubt this ? — Let him test the ground of his unbelief by the truth or falsehood of the science of correspondences. We court this test of all who candidly desire to understand the Holy Word. For, of the result of such an investigation, we have not the least doubt. We ourselves (with thousands of others) have weighed the ground of our own former unbelief in the same balance, and found it wanting. And all, who have ever sincerely examined into the merits of this science, have come to the same conclusions, and alike understood the doctrines of the sacred Word. The reason of their agreement is, that correspondences are a real science. For, as the science of geometry, by the light of natural truth, brings every close investigator of its principles to the same results in the solution of its problems ; so, also, does the science of correspondences by a higher, and yet, equally philosophical light, bring all its true and faithful investigators to the same conclusions as to the doctrines of the Word. For all truths are eternal verities.

They are ever and unchangeably the same. About them, when seen, men do not differ. It is about falsehoods, and where truths are not seen, that the intellectual world is contending.

The doctrines of the Word, when seen in the light of correspondences, become themselves the indisputable evidence of their own truth. This is the reason why the students of this science agree in divine things. And it is the very reason why the watchmen, at the second coming of the Lord, Ifre to '^ see eye to eye.''

The science of correspondences is a language. It may be denominated the language. For it is the sure language of Jehovah. It is therefore a living language. It is the only language that has spirit and life. It is a universal language : the language in which not only the Holy Word speaks, but the mountains and streams, the winds and the ocean ; yea, earth and skies and universal nature with her ten thousand tongues are speaking to us. Does any one doubt the existence of such a language ? Let him learn to read it. No one who has ever learned it has any such doubts. Does he say no one ever has learned it ? How does he know that ? Thousands of persons, entitled to respect, say they have studied it, and find it to be a most sure and certain language. Where, then, rests the weight of evidence ? Who is the best judge of a book, he that has read it, or he that has not ?

By this science, the Sacred Scripture is convincingly proved to be the Word of the Infinite Jehovah. All its parts thereby blend into harmony. The darkest and most obscure passages are opened and explained ;

and the simplest portions are filled with profound wisdom. Every passage is^ indeed, seen to be ^^ Profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness'^ (2 Timothy iii. 16), according to the apostle's declaration. But without this science, has any one found it to be so ? If the Bible was given by God to man to teach him something, was it not intended to be understood ? Has God endowed man with reason, addressed him as a reasonable beino- said to him, ^^ Come now, and let us reason together'' (Isaiah i. 18), given him His Word as a rule of life, to show him what he must do and what he must not, and, at the same time, interspersed throughout the Word thousands of things which he can never understand, and which are of no use to him ? Not so. Infinite Wisdom has not so indefinitely expressed Himself that He cannot be understood

The difficulty is with man. He, by a false and evil life, has lost the pure language of analogy in which God speaks. But, by the divine mercy of the Lord, that language is again restored. That sublime key to the inexhaustible treasury of intellectual wealth contained in the Word and Works of God is now mercifully made known. The great seminary of scientific wisdom has become accessible to man. For this divine key not only unlocks God's book of Eevelation, but also, at the same time. His book of Nature. And as we are thereby conducted within the veil of the letter of the Word, and permitted to feast upon the pure bread and water of life, and to admire the glory and beauty of that divine sanctuary ; so we have, also, a passport within the veil of universal nature, where we find, enthroned, pure spiritual philosophy, expounding the invisible ligaments which unite heaven and earth ; elucidating those otherwise incomprehensible affinities which exist between life and matter, God and nature, the mind and the brain, the soul and the body. In passing this veil, we enter the School of all schools, look up to the Teacher of all teachers, and study the Science of all sciences. The books we read are the Books of all books — the book of Nature and the book of Eevelation. They are books published by the same Author, they illustrate the same principles, and lead to the same conclusions. Both books are necessary to the proper study of either. All the objects in nature, are so many indices, pointing to the history of their creation, and the cause of their existence ; and refer us for information to the written Word, to which they are the grand concordance. At such a seminary, with such books, and such a Teacher, we may obtain heavenly wisdom and feast on angels' food.

But, to a mind unimbued with the science of correspondences, what we have said are mere assertions rather than reasons. Let us, then, assign some reasons why the Holy Word has a spiritual sense within the letter. And, first, it is because it contains divine thoughts and feelings, which are infinite in wisdom and love. Now, the literal sense is in man's language. The meaning of the words of that language is limited. Men understand their full import. There must, therefore, be a sense within and above the literal definitions of the terms, or it is the language of men only, and not of Grod. And the Lord Himself declares that there is such a sense^ when He says to us, ^' The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life/' For He made this declaration to teach men, that He does not mean by the words ' flesh and blood,' what they are defined to mean in man's language ; but that He means infinitely more. For spirit and life are infinite and eternal things ; such things as He desires to feed our souls with, that they may live for ever. Now, if we know that ' flesh ' is a symbol of goodness, and ^ blood ' a symbol of truth, we have, at once, a definite though limited understanding of what the Lord there means, and it is highly interesting and instructive. But, otherwise, we cannot distinctly understand what He does mean, by eating His flesh, and drinking His blood. And the correspondences here are exceedingly beautiful. Our physical man is composed, principally, of flesh and blood : our spiritual man, if in order, is composed of goods and truths. Thus ; there is a perfect correspondence between the mind and the body. Now, it is because the natural substances, of which the body is composed, correspond to the spiritual substances of which the mind is composed, that the mind and body can be united and exist together.

Again, all spiritual life is by means of the union of goodness and truth ; and all physical life, by means of the union of flesh and blood. Therefore, if we well understand the science of correspondences, we may know, from the fact that, as the drawing of the blood from the flesh produces physical death ; so, also, the separation of goodness and truth in the mind produces spiritual death. We must love the truth, or die spiritually. And so the natural things which we eat and drink to supply flesh and blood to the physical man and keep it alive^ have their perfect correspondences in the goods and truths which the Lord says the mind must eat and. drink, or have no life in it. Thus, with this scientific light, the mind is illuminated, the soul cheered, and the heart refreshed ; but without it, that beautiful Scripture is involved in clouds of uncertainty, and its richest blessings are unenjoyed. And when we further know, that evils and falsities are goods and truths perverted, and that such substances, when taken into the mind, poison the aft'ections and thoughts, and make the soul diseased, we may also know that the poisonous substances of the earth, to which those evils and falsities correspond, will, when taken into the body, make it also sick and diseased. ^ Flesh and blood,' therefore, when mentioned in the Word, may mean, either things good and true, or things evil and false, according to the sense in which they are used. With this scientific light in the mind, the true use of the words ^ flesh and blood,' wherever expressed throughout the entire Word, may be readily seen ; and thus. Scripture, otherwise dark and obscure, will emit a clear and certain light.

Now, there is much said, in the Word, of ' blood,' and of ' innocent blood ;' of ^ shedding innocent hlood;* of ' taking away innocent hlood;' of ' condemning innocent hlood;^ of ^ putting away the guilt of innocent blood;' of ^betraying innocent blood;' of ^sinning ao-ainst innocent blood.' And yet, there can be no such thing as innocjence^ or guilty in material blood. This, everybody must know. All understand that it is the mind that is innocent, and not the blood. Blood is therefore used because it denotes a living principle of the mind. And it is only because truth filled with love is the very life of an innocent mind, and blood, as the life of the body corresponds to that life, that the blood of such a person is said to be innocent. It is declared in Isaiah that, " The sword of the Lord is filled with blood'' — an expression which strikes terror to many minds ; and yet, its real meaning is beautiful and consoling. The sioord of the Lord always signifies the divine truth of the Word, in its powers to conquer and destroy evils and falsities. Therefore a sword is said to go out of the mouth of the Lord, because he speaks the truth. '^ The sword of the adversary,'' mentioned in the Word, signifies falsehood. For the Devil is " A liar, and the father of it." Then the phrase, ^^The sword of the Lord is filled with blood," would read, by correspondence, ^^The truth of the Word is filled with life." Sivord denoting truth, and blood life.

Another reason why the Word must contain a spiritual sense is, because, without it, that Word seems, in many places, to directly contradict itself, and cannot be reconciled, but by the spiritual sense. But in the light of the spiritual sense, all is made rational and clear, beautiful and instructive. For example, the Lord commands us, saying, ^^Thou shalt not kill;" and yet, he says again, '' Cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood." (Jer. xlviii. 10.) Both

SYMBOL OF THE SPIKITUAL. 19

passages are fuU^ open, and unqualified ; and are applicable to every man. Without the spiritual sense they cannot be reconciled. But by the science of correspondences, we see that, besides the death of the natural body, there are two kinds of death, two kinds of life, and two kinds of killing, treated of in the Word. There is the life of the love of good, and the life of the love of evil : one is heavenly life, and the other is hellish life. If we die unto the love of good, we become alive unto the love of evil : this was the fall of man. And so, if we die unto the love of evil, we become alive unto the love of good : this is regeneration. Therefore, the Lord says, '' He that findeth his life shall lose it : and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.^' (Matt. x. 39.) That is, he that findeth his spiritual life, shall lose his selfish life : and he that loseth his selfish life for the Lord's sake, shall find his true spiritual life. Then, if we refaember that blood, which is the life of the body, and corresponds to the life of the soul, may, when mentioned in the Word, denote either hellish life or heavenly life, according to the sense in which it is used, we shall at once, see the truth and the harmony of the two contradictory passages mentioned above. In the first — ^' Thou shalt not kill,'^ we are commanded not only not to kill the body, but also, not to destroy any principle of goodness or truth in the soul : in the second, ^^ Cursed be he that keepeth back the sword from blood,'' we are taught, that, unless we conquer our evils — unless we shed the blood of our carnal life — our love of self, by the sword of the spirit — the divine truth — we shall be lost, or be curse.

Again^ we read in the gospel of Matthew, ^^ They that take the sword, shall perish with the sword/' and also, the Lord says, " He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one/' (Luke xxii. 36.) Now, this, in the letter alone, is strange teaching. Who can know what it means ? We answer. No one, without the spiritual sense. Who can see why the Lord should command us to sell our garment and buy a sword, to perish with ? Men may say it is figurative language. And they will interpret the figures differently, according to their several tastes. But they must rest in uncertainty, till they see the spiritual sense. Then, they will have no doubt of its meaning. For that sense is definite and sure, reasonable and clear. ^' They that take the sword shall perish with the sword,'' therefore, means, that. They that take the sioord of the adversary y or falsity, and use it, will, by continuing their falsewitnessing, destroy everything truthful and good in their souls ; and thus they will perish with the sword. While, on the other hand, he that has not commenced the regenerate life, who has no true sword of the spirit, must sell his garment of self-righteousness, must put away his filthy rags of covetousness and sin, and buy the sword of truth. Garments, which are the clothing of the body, denote the outermost deportment, or clothing of the mind. And the outermost things of the sinful mind, are its most external, selfish, and worldly thoughts and actions. These must be put away before we can fully possess the sword of the spirit in our heart.

Again in Isaiah, the Lord declares of His church that " They shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks ; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more/' But soon after, in Joel, He says, '' Prepare war ; beat your plow-shares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears, and let the weak say, I am strong/' Now, God's Word is universal, reaching to all men. These commands are as applicable to us as they were to the Israelites and the Gentiles. How shall we obey them ? They command us, in the letter, to do two diametrically opposite things. And a command to do one thing forbids us to do the opposite. In the covenant to love our neighbor, we are bound not to hate him. The command, not to lie, includes the behest to tell the truth. We must therefore look beyond the letter to find what God would here teach us. But from what we have already said of the sword, it may readily be seen, that the swords and spears which we are to beat into plow-shares, and pruning-hooks, must be the swords and spears of the adversary, or false principles. But what are the plow-shares and pruning-hooks which we are to have in their stead ? The plow-shares must be those divine truths which will penetrate deep into the heart, and bring on a thorough repentance, and thereby plow, or, as it is <jalled in the Word, '' Break up the faUow-ground of the heart,'' that the seeds of truth may be sown in an humble and contrite soil. And the pruning-hooks are those watchful and corrective truths of the Word with which we may notice, and cut off the dead and unfruitful branches from the tree of our life. But what, then, are the plow-shares and pruning-hooks which we are commanded to beat into swords and spears ? They are, of course, the very opposites of the others. Tiie plow-shares are those false and contentious principles, which plow, or stir up the selfish feelings or soil of the natural heart, engendering strife and ill-will, and thus, preparing the ground to receive new and fresh seeds of falsehood and selfishness. And the pruning-hooks are those principles, opposed to truth and virtue, which are always ready to prune from the tree of spiritual experience, every good shoot it may send forth. The false plow-shares and pruning-hooks of the mind, must be converted into swords of truth, and spears of wisdom, wherewith we may fight against the headstrong evils of humanity and subdue them.

Again, David prays that the Lord will scatter all those that delight in war ; and yet he also says, ^^ Blessed be the Lord my strength, who teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.'' (Ps. cxliv. 1.) These literal contradictions contain within them, spiritual harmonies, which the science of correspondences only can reveal. By that science we see that David desires that the Lord would scatter all the wicked spirits and evil j)rinciples that delight to war against things good and true, and that he blessed the Lord for teaching him, by the truth, how to fight against those evil influences. In all David's prayers to the Lord to destroy his enemies, he never means persons, but the evils which are in them and in himself. There is not a syllable in all the Psalms, when their true light is seen, that contradicts that beautiful precept of our

Lord which says, ^^Love your enemies, bless them which curse you/' But this love has relation to the persons, and not to their evil principles. Evil principles with their falsities are the only things to be hated. Against them our faces should be firmly set, wherever they are.

Again, we are expressly commanded in the Word to Honor our father and mother ; and yet the Lord as expressly says, that if we do not hate them we cannot be His disciples. Now, without the spiritual sense, these statements are perfectly inexplicable ; no light has ever been thrown upon them, or evolved from them ; nor can there be any without the science of correspondences. We must see that the Bible, in its most essential meaning, treats of mental and spiritual things, and that pure, virtuous minds, or such principles of the mind, must have the divine Love and Wisdom for their Father and Mother. God, in the unity of his love and wisdom begets them ; and therefore, they are called children of God,: while on the other hand, corrupt and depraved minds, or such principles of the mind, must have evil and falsity for their father and mother. The Devil, or the love of evil aiad falsity in the complex, in the union of their ill-will and deceptiveness, begets or perverts them ; and therefore they are called children of the Devil, Thus heavenly Love and Wisdom are the Father and Mother we must honor ; and hellish eviland falsity are the father and mother Ve must hate and forsake ; while our own natural parents, and all human beings, we must love and try to do them good.

Again, the joyous song of the angels at the birth of our Lord was, '^ On earth peace, good will toward men ;" and yet, the Lord says, '^ Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth : I came not to send peace, but a sword/' In the spiritual light, these angels and the Lord are both seen to be in harmony. The Lord is indeed the Prince of Peace ; and yet He is a God of war and of vengeance. But his warfares and vengeance are not against men, but against their evils. * Thus He comes to send the sword of truth that we may have peace through victory over our evils. For without the truth we can never know peace.

Again, it is written in the Holy Word that, '' It repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and'' that ^^it grieved Him at His heart." It is also written, that '' God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent." Now, how could Infinite Wisdom, Goodness and Perfection grieve ? How could He who knew all things from the beginning, and does all things right, do anything to repent of ? How could Infinity and Immutability — He who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever — how could He repent ? His ways are not as our ways, nor are His thoughts as our thoughts. It is an apparent truth that God repents apd grieves ; those emotions can be felt only by man ; and when mentioned in reference to God they mean His mercy. The very essence of true repentance and grief are mercy and compassion. These heavenly emotions belong to the Lord.

In order to bring the letter of the Word down to the states of wicked men, God is often represented as being not what He really is, but rather, what He appears to them to be. For this purpose He is represented as possessing the depraved passions of men ; is said to be angry^ wrathful and revengeful. And it is often asked by persons who begin to see that those qualities cannot belong to a Being who is Love, why the Word was so written. And we answer, It was for the wisest and best of purposes. It was so written that it might be capable of teaching poor, natural, fallen, wrathful, revengeful man the way of life and salvation. To teach another we must come to his state, to the sphere of his understanding, to his language and mode of expression. Now, an angry man will believe those angry with him, who oppose him. He who will get angry at his children for disobeying him, or seek persecution and revenge upon those he thinks his enemies, would suppose that his God would do the same : and he would think it right that God should be angry and punish his enemies. This man, God comes to, in his Holy Word, according to his state. He warns him to ^^ Flee from the wrath to come,^^ and threatens him with damnation in hell. At the saine time He kindly tells him how to avoid these evils. He commands him not to steal, covet, and so forth. Now, the natural, wicked man knows it is wrong to steal, or deceive. He would punish any one that would steal from him. And in seasons of mourning, sickness, or other afflictions, he hears the Holy Word preached, and his own character comes up before him in a light which makes him shudder. He is afraid of the wrath to come, because he feels guilty and thinks he deserves it, and in a spirit of repentance, he begins to amend his hfe and plead for mercy. Here, ^^ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." But as he progresses, he gets the love of God which casteth out fear, and he now finds that God was not angry, but loved him all the while ; that it was Ms oioTi opposition to God which made it appear as though God were opposed to him, and which is the reason why the Word was so written.