The new Canaan...

Front matter

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Preface

All the churches which have existed upon the earth are brought to view in the Bible in chronological order, and their several qualities are represented by Abraham and his posterity. Thus the spiritual history of our race is written in the language of symbols, much more accurately than would have been possible to wTite it in any human language. Four distinct churches, apart from various minor branches, have come and gone, and the fifth and last is now in its formative state, and will soon be fully organized and receive the influx of life which is peculiar to a Celestial Church.

The fall of our race was fully consummated at the time of the First Advent, and at once the work of restoration began, and the upward trend of the church with great clearness was represented by the Exodus, and the journey under Moses through the wilderness. In that journey the First Dispensation of the Christian Church is most accurately brought to view. Indeed, practically all Christian people have recognized the representation. That church ran its devious course, and was consummated about the middle of the seventeenth century. Then with the Second Coming of the Lord, the opening of the internal sense of the Word, and the giving of the '^Heavenly Doctrines''

IV PREFACE.

began the formation of the Lord's New and Everlasting Church.

Of the former churches the history is already written, but of this coming church we have prophecy rather than history to guide us. Joshua the divinely commissioned Leader in conducting the hosts of Israel across the Jordan, and in taking possession of the promised land, with all the marvelous incidents connected therewith, brings the heavenly church to view in a light which enraptures the humble disciple of the Lord. So clear and beautiful is this representation of prophecy, that the state brought to view is fairer than that of the literal Canaan '^ flowing with milk and honey. ' ' Truly its contemplation fiUeth the devout heart, in which abideth faith, with the joys of the Celestial realm. This bright and inspiring picture of the coming church, has long cheered the writer on in the study of the internal sense of the book of Joshua, making the tedious labor a feast of joy.

Being convinced that great prophetic enunciations, of infinite importance to the church at the present time, are contained within the literal history of the passage of the Israelites over the Jordan, and into the promised land, the chief purpose of this little book is to make that representative meaning as clear as possible. In accordance with this object, the salient points in the first seven chapters of Joshua are touched upon in a somewhat connected manner, passing over much the larger part of the text. And if the disciple

PREFACE.

of the Lord in his Second Coming, can find a tithe of the sweetness and heavenly joy which the labor has brought into the author's own heart and life, he will be abundantly repaid.

The necessity of quoting from the writings of Swedenborg so frequently, and of using the technical style peculiar to New Church literature, is regretted. But as the author is writing chiefly for New Church people, it seems imperative to show that he is not only in sympathy with those writings, but also that his views are in harmony with them throughout. He would further say that he is wholly indebted to those writings for the key to the spiritual sense of the Word, which key, however, he is conscious of being able to use, only in a clumsy manner.

B. Edmiston,

Pastor of the New Church Society of Riverside, California. January 4, 1903.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Representative Chuech and People, .... 1

III. Joshua and Swedenborg, 22

I. The Representative Church And People

The relation of the Hebrew Race to the written and unwritten history of the human family is unique. Placed in the middle ground between the Golden Age of the past and that of the future, by representation it reaches back to the First Man, and forward till the Grand Man of earth receives the crown of gold which shall never crumble. By inspired history and equally inspired representations, it makes known the qualities of the ancient churches, thus revealing what has been. And by representatives and direct prophecies, it penetrates the future till the curse is lifted, and our race stands in the innocence of childhood, and the wisdom of age.

The falling away of the Primitive Church from its early integrity, broke the chain of orderly human life, and led the race into the valley of the shadow of death. And the Divine plan for restoring the fallen race required that a peculiar people should be placed in the midst of the valley. An external race was needed, from which internal, spiritual life had departed, which could serve the double purpose of representing a church, and of receiving and sacredly guarding such revelations as might be made from time to time. And a further, and most 1 1

THE NEW CANAAN.

sacred use to be served by this representative of a church, was that in its midst, when the race had reached its lowest point, the world's Redeemer might be born, and the upward trend of the race begin.

The representative mission of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the children of Israel as a nation, is wonderful, and the more carefully it is considered, the greater becomes the wonder, and the feelings of awe inspired in the reverent mind. It is seen to unroll as a panorama, all the changing states of the church, and of the world of mankind, past, present, and future. And it reveals the mvsteries of the God-head, of the incarnation, and of the great redemption wrought out for the world, all that men or angels may hope to comprehend.

With a deep consciousness of his own inadequacy for the task, and with an earnest prayer for guidance and help, the author would simply essay to open, as Hght may be given, some of the good news, which has been to him '^as cold water to a thirsty soul," touching the incoming Celestial Church, represented and described with, great clearness in the book of Joshua, particularly in the first seven chapters. He is moved to this undertaking because he sees truths here which he is confident many hungry souls vnll rejoice to know, and will be the better for knowing.

As a preparation for understanding the representative meaning of the book of Joshua, it seems necessary to give a brief synopsis of the general representation of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as of the children of Israel. Swedenborg tells us that by these three patri-

THE REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH AND PEOPLE. S

archs, in the supreme sense, the Lord is represented. (A. C. 6497.) From the same source, in various places we learn that they also represent the church. In A. C. 1965, it is said: "Abraham represented the celestial church, the celestial man, and likewise the celestial principle itself." And it is clear that while representing the universal celestial church, which is everywhere essentially the same, he particularly represents the Most Ancient Church. At the beginning of the fiftieth chapter of Genesis, Swedenborg says, in the contents, that after the celestial church perished, "a Spiritual Church was established by the Lord (clearly the Ancient or Noachic Church), and that in its place, only the representative of a church was established among the posterity of Jacob." In short, the Most Ancient Church perished, and in its place the Ancient Church was raised up, which in the course of time, also perished, and then the representative of a church, which means the Israelites, was raised up, and led out of Egypt by Moses, and wandered in the wilderness forty years, when Joshua was made leader, and conducted them into Canaan.

Then it is with this representative of a church, the children of Israel, that we are chiefly concerned in this work. The great lesson is in the spiritual and heavenly things which were represented by the journey from Egypt to Canaan, particularly by the incidents connected with the passage from the wilderness into the promised land under the leadership of Joshua. Getting ready to cross the Jordan, bringing the host into marching order, the dividing of the waters that they might

THE NEW CANAAN.

pass over dry shod — all these movements have an important and most interesting meaning. The encampment at Gilgal, the renewal of the rite of circumcision, the celebration of the Passover, the manna ceasing to fall, and the fruit of the land becoming their allsufficient food supply, finally the taking of Jericho, and the occupancy of the land, the destruction of the people and all their effects, representing the subjugation of all the rebellious provinces of the world, under the great redemption wrought out by the Incarnate Lord, and the full restoration of the fallen race to its primitive state, as in the days of old, before sin entered into the world.

But the Israelites, of whom this representative of a church was constituted, were external and natural men above any other nation, and could only represent a true and internal church by external rites and natural things, that is their rites and ceremonies had nothing spiritual in them, merely signifying and representing internal and spiritual things « Illustrative of this, it may be stated, as we are informed in the Writings, that the bones of Joseph which were carried up to Canaan by the Israelites, represented the spiritually dead state of this people. They represented their religion. There was the cold and dry form, but no vitality. As the mummy of Joseph was to the living Joseph, in the prime of manhood, so were the externals of the Israelitish church to a true and living church.

But as guided by the inspired Moses the Israelites could represent and personify a true church by their

THE REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH AND PEOPLE. 5

wilderness journey, and as led across the Jordan by Joshua, and into the promised land, they most accurately represented the raising up of the incoming Celestial Church which is to be the crown of all the churches, and to continue forever. In the providence of the Lord, it was so ordered that their external condition exactly served the representative purpose. Their state of bondage while in Egypt, accurately represented the conditions of the natural man while in bondage to his evil nature. Escaping from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, by being led through the Red Sea, brings to view the transition from a natural to a spiritual state, that is to the beginning of true spiritual life. Then the journey through the wilderness, signifies the progress of spiritual regeneration, and particularly represents the first dispensation of the Christian Church. And in like manner, the completion of that journey under Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan and taking possession of the land represent the incoming Celestial Church, and the representation is marvelous, as we shall see.

This representative mission, was the special use the Israelites were to perform, in the Divine plan for restoring the fallen race to primitive conditions.

We have a clear statement in the Writings, explaining why the Israelites, who had no internal spiritual life, were chosen to represent the churches. In A. C. 6692 it is said : ' ^ Lest therefore the representatives and significatives should be any longer turned into things magical the Israelitish people were selected, that the representatives and significatives of the church might be restored

THE NEW CANAAN.

amongst them ; which people were such that they could not thence fabricate anything magical, inasmuch as they were altogether in externals, and had no belief in the existence of any internal principle, still less any spiritual principle. With people of such a character, magic cannot exist, as it existed among the Egyptians. ' ^

Now as we have seen, the Ancient Spiritual Church came to its end, and the representation of it ceased about the time of Joseph's death, and the Israelitish representative of a church was raised up to take its place. But although the Ancient Church no longer had a place in the natural world, a general or final judgment could not be executed upon its people, in the world of spirits, till after the coming of the Lord into the w^orld. Hence teeming myriads of them were collected in what is called the lower earth, remaining in essentially the same spiritual state as while they were in the world, for the removal from them of that which was false and evil could not be effected till the work of redemption was actually accomplished by the Lord. In the Writings, in many places it is stated that the Lord came to redeem those of the Spiritual Church. This redemption included those who were bound at the time the Lord was in the world, and also those of the New Spiritual Church which He was about to establish. The redemption of those of the latter church from the bondage of sin, became actual with individuals, as they sought it, by complying with the necessary conditions.

But it is not necessary to our present purpose to discuss further the liberation of those of the Spiritual

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Church. Any one who so desires, may find the subject set forth in clear hght, in A. C. 6854, and various other places. The statements made in regard to the Ancient Spiritual Church are simply designed to prepare the way for seeing that the Israelites in Eg5^pt, after the death of Joseph, and the Pharaoh who knew him, in all the afflictions they suffered, represented the state of those in the lower earth, as it is termed in the spiritual world. And in dehvering the children of Israel from the cruel power of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and in Moses leading them out through the Red Sea, the redemption by the Lord of the great multitude of suffering spirits, who had long been crying, ''How long, Lord, how long?" is impressively represented. And it is well to remember that this representation on the part of the Israelites, guided as it was by the Lord, was also in the character of a distinct prophecy, which was literally fulfilled when the Lord was in the world, about fifteen hundred years later. After His resurrection, it is said by an Apostle, He went and preached unto the spirits in prison, liberating them, and lifting them up, and of them He formed a New Spiritual heaven which was to be their home, and which was to constitute the internal of the First Christian Church. With this thought distinctly in the mind, it will be easy for those who long for the coming of the New Church in its full state of life, to see that other representations, made under the Divine guidance, by this representative people, either have been or in due course of time will be fulfilled in every particular, leaving no rational ground for doubt, as they are definite prophecies, as well as

8 TEE NEW CANAAN.

representatives. Indeed almost every prophecy in the Word is expressed by representatives. And all these representatives which describe future states of the church will with unfailing certainty be fulfilled.

About the time of the exodus, the representation of the children of Israel was changed. They ceased to represent those of the Ancient Church in the lower earth, and began to represent a New Spiritual Church which had not yet been raised up, and could not take its place in the world, till after the advent of the Lord. But this change in the representation was not abrupt, but came in gradually, as the real change from one dispensation to another always comes. For in the consummation of one church, and the raising up of a new one to take its place, there is always an intermediate state, ' ' the time of the end, ' ' partaking of the characteristics of both, the consummated church, and the one just springing into life. In this particular case, the beginning of this intermediate state, w^as when Moses was called to make preparation to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. And its end came, when having crossed the Red Sea, and from the eastern shore witnessed the overthrow of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, Moses brought the Israelites from the sea, and led them out into the wilderness of Shur.

But during this time of the end, the representation of the old, and of the new, intermingled, or overlapped, just as the dispensations did. The former continued till after the escape of the Israelites, and the latter, representing the beginning of the New Spiritual Church, began when Moses first appeared on the scene, that

THE REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH AND PEOPLE. 9 is after he was called by the Lord. Hence during this intermediate period, the representation was in part, double, though the things represented were easily distinguished. The oppression endured by the imprisoned spirits, in the lower earth, still continued, and was represented by the cruel oppression of the Israelites by their Egyptian task masters. And by the same oppression inflicted upon the Israelites, is represented the suffering endured by the awakened natural man, when he sets out in the regenerate life, as represented by the journey through the wilderness. Thus the afflictions of those who were detained in the lower earth, and of those still in the flesh who are seeking deliverance from the bondage to sin, are represented. And while leading out those imprisoned spirits, through the hells, represented by the Red Sea, was a most real transaction, it is just as real an occurrence when the repentant sinner in the natural world, is set free from the thralldom of sin.

It has seemed necessary to make these particular statements in regard to the Exodus, that confusion may be avoided, in forming an opinion in regard to the representation of the Israelites in the wilderness journey. After crossing the Red Sea, they represented a Spiritual Church which was to be formed by the Lord after His coming into the world, known as the Church of the First Advent, or the Apostolic Church.

The Lord's redemptive work while in the world, in opening the way for the salvation of the people of the Spiritual Church, was intimately connected with the people of the Ancient or Noachic Church. These, as we have seen, could not be liberated till the incarnation and glorification of the Lord were accomplished ; and men in the natm-al world could not be redeemed, that is, broi^ght into states of actual liberty, till those imprisoned spirits were set free and organized by the Lord into a new spiritual heaA^en, through which the Christian Church might have free and orderly influx. These two churches, as we are informed in the Writings, as to their internals ''were precisely similar," though differing widely as to externals. (A. C. 1083.)

Fifty days after the crucifixion, when all things in the spiritual world were fully ordinated, and when the disciples in the natural world, were brought into a receptive and expectant state, the flood gates of the new spiritual heaven were, if I may so speak, lifted, and the full and mighty influx came, filhng the house where they were sitting, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.

This was the inauguration of the Apostolic Church, in its appointed station, w^hen for the first time it manifested the true powder of an internal church, expressing itself through its externals, which alone constitutes a living church.

And, kind reader, a similar inauguration, and orderly influx from the Lord, through the New Heavens, organized after the Last Judgment, awaits the New and incoming church, w^hen all things are ready. And the Bridegroom will come just w^hen the Bride, the Church of the New Jerusalem, has made herself ready.