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Numbers Chapter 15

Summary of the Spiritual Sense

1. Concerning the worship of the Lord outwardly in various states of heaven and the church, namely, that it increases in fullness and intensity according to the degree in which the good of innocence increases, beginning in the inmost, descending also to the interior, and finally occupying the external man, and thus every degree of man's life, vers. 1-16.
2. Concerning the appropriation of good, when it is confirmed and established in the heavenly state, that then it is fully vivified from the Lord both by acknowledgement and perception, vers. 17-21.
3. Concerning errors through ignorance or inadvertence, and amendment in consequence, through the worship of the Lord by consecration to Him, and for the removal of the evil in order that the external man may be fully harmonized with the internal, and the whole man with the Lord, vers. 22-31.
4. Concerning the claiming of merit, even when man is in a prevailing state of good and truth conjoined, and the method of its removal and rejection, vers. 32-36.
5. And concerning the study of the Word in its literal sense in order that its particulars may be known, imbibed and practised; and in order that all merely selfish love and intelligence by which its truths are continually falsified may be removed, vers. 37-41.

1.  This is evident, because by Jehovah is denoted the Divine Being as to His love, 2001; by speaking is denoted influx, 2951; by Moses is represented Divine Truth, or the Word, 7010; and by saying is denoted perception, 1822.

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2.  Speaking to the children of Israel and saying, denotes influx internally, and thought externally, with the man of the Spiritual Church, 2951, 3395; and "when you be come into the land of your habitations which I give to you," denotes when he is confirmed in the life which constitutes the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth, 1853, 3705, 10646, 8899.

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3.  Making an offering by fire to the Lord denotes the worship of the Lord outwardly from pure love, 10055; a burnt offering or sacrifice denotes worship either celestial or spiritual, 923; to accomplish a vow, or as a freewill offering, denotes either as to the external man from a principle of truth, or from a principle of good freely, 388o⁵, 10097; and "in your set feasts, to make a sweet savour to the Lord of the herd or of the flock," denotes, or from good appropriated by the reciprocation of the Lord's love with delight either natural or spiritual, 2187, 9286, 5913, 6126, 10054.

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4.  Offering a meal offering with the burnt offering, denotes worship also internally as well as externally, 4581⁴, 10079 end; a tenth part denotes what is sufficient, 10136; fine flour denotes spiritual good, 2177, 10136; oil denotes celestial good, 2177, 10136; and a fourth part denotes as much as is necessary for conjunction, 10136.

   Considering what is said, respectively, in 2177, 4581, and 10079, concerning the meal offering, it will appear that in this verse it may denote either a superior degree of worship or an inferior degree, and that if it be taken to mean the latter, then the signification will be that wherever there is internal worship, there must also be external. And, indeed, whichever interpretation we adopt, we may see that the great lesson of the verse, and therefore of the first sixteen verses of the chapter, is that there should never be internal worship without its corresponding external, nor, on the other hand, external worship without its corresponding internal. But we have preferred the latter, especially on account of the teaching of 10079, and because, according to the series, external worship leads to internal, and is afterwards the expression of it.

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5.  "Wine for a drink offering the fourth part of an hin." denotes also as to spiritual truth conjoined with good, 10137; "prepared with the burnt offering or sacrifice," denotes if his external worship, either celestial or spiritual, 923; and "for each lamb" denotes shall be from the good of innocence in the inmost degree of his life only, 10137.

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6.  "Or for a ram" denotes if the external worship shall also be from the good of innocence in the middle degree, 10137; and "you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil," denotes that then his internal worship from spiritual or celestial good is in greater proportion as to conjunction and fullness, 10137, 5194, 2788, ver. 4.

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7.  "And for a drink offering you shall offer the third part of an hin of wine of a sweet savour," or an odour of rest, "to the Lord," denotes that so also his worship from spiritual truth conjoined with good is in the same increased proportion, 10137, 2788, 10054.

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8.  Preparing a bullock denotes if worship shall be from the good of innocence in the ultimate degree, 10137; for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, denotes as to celestial or spiritual good, 923; and to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to the Lord, denotes from truth, or from good freely, 3880⁵, 10097.

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9.  Offering with the bullock three tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with half an hin of oil for a meal offering, denotes that then his internal worship from spiritual and celestial good is in the greatest proportion, 10137, 2788, 5291, ver. 4.

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10.  Offering, with the meal offering, a drink offering half an hin of wine for an offering made by fire of a sweet savour to the Lord, denotes that so also is his internal worship from spiritual truth conjoined with good; and that then his worship is altogether from the I0ve of good, and from the delightful perception of truth well pleasing to the Lord, 10137, 5291, 10054, 10055.

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11.  It being thus done for each bullock, or for each ram, or for each of the he-lambs, or of the kids, denotes that this is true with respect to- every individual who is regenerated, and to every faculty of each individual, fullness of worship being universally in proportion to the reception of the good of innocence in the ultimate, the middle, and the inmost degree of the mind, with the angels of the celestial and spiritual kingdoms respectively, 10136, 10137, vers. 4-9.

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12.  "According to the number that you shall prepare, so shall you do to every one according to their number," denotes that indeed the quality of the whole heaven in respect to the worship of the Lord, and the reception of celestial and spiritual good, is to be measured by the quality of each individual as to the good of innocence, 10217, vers. 4-9.

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13.  All that are homeborn doing these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire of a sweet savour, to the Lord, denotes that this is the law concerning the reception of the good of innocence into the external affections capable of conjunction with the interior and internal man, when worship is performed from love, grateful and well pleasing to the Lord, 1708, 6465, 10137, 10054, 10055.

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14.  "And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whoever be among you throughout your generations," denotes those who are in a state of instruction in every state of the church, 1463, 1041, 683; "and will offer an offering made by fire of a sweet savour to the Lord," denotes the worship of the Lord from love, grateful and well pleasing on that account, 10054, 10055; and "as you do so shall he do," denotes the same law for those under instruction, as for the man of the internal or interior of the church, 6465.

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15.  There being one statute for the assembly, or rather for the congregation, and for the stranger sojourning, denotes that indeed the law is the same for those who are established in spiritual truths and for those who are in a state of instruction, 7843, 1463, 7884; a statute for ever throughout your generations, denotes in every period of the church, 7884, 1041; and "as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord," denotes that the Lord regards with equal care both the man of the internal church and the man of the external, 7843, 1463.

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16.  "One law, and one ordinance being for the Israelites, and for the stranger sojourning," denotes that consequently, also, the natural man as well as the celestial and the spiritual receives the good of innocence through the same process, 5826³, 8357, 7843, 1463, 5081².

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17.  This is evident, because by Jehovah is denoted the Divine Being as to His love, 2001; by speaking is denoted influx, 2951; by Moses is represented Divine Truth, or the Word, 7010; and by saying is denoted perception, 1822.

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18.  Speaking to the children of Israel, and saying to them, denotes by influx internally and thought externally with the man of the Spiritual Church, 2951, 3395; and "when you shall come into the land whither I bring you," denotes that when he is confirmed in the principle of good which makes heaven from the Lord, 1853, 3705, 6115.

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19.  By eating of the bread of the land is denoted the appropriation of good, 2187, 2165, 3705; and offering a heave offering to the Lord denotes vivification by acknowledgement and perception that it is from Him, 10093.

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20.  Of the first of the dough offering up a cake for a heave offering, denotes that all truth derived from good shall be acknowledged, or perceived, to be from the Lord, when that truth is conjoined with good and is vivified, 7966, 2177, 10093, 6537; and "as you do the heave offering of the threshing-floor, so shall you heave it," denotes that as the good of truth must be seen to be from the Lord before regeneration, so also must the truth of good after regeneration, 6537. 10093.

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21.  Of the first of your dough, giving a heave offering to the Lord throughout your generations, denotes that this acknowledgement, namely, that the power of perceiving truth from good is from the Lord, must continue and be perpetual both during regeneration and after it, 1041.

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22.  "And when you shall err, and not observe all these commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses," denotes that in the case in which every man wanders from truth and goodness which are received from the Lord by the Word although he is regenerated, 2679, 5625, 7167, 7010.

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23.  "Even all that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations," denotes even as to all the truth and good received from the Word, and by influx during the course of regeneration," 2001, 5486, 7010, 487, 1041.

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24.  "If it be done unwittingly without the knowledge of the congregation," or, rather, assembly, denotes that if such error arise from ignorance or inadvertence, or both as to the understanding and the will, and thus as to all the powers of the mind, 2679, 5625, 7843; one young bullock for a burnt offering of a sweet savour to the Lord, denotes that reflection shall take place and that acknowledgement shall be made to the Lord that this error sprang from the innocence of ignorance in the natural man, which is now newly sanctified to the Lord, 10021, 10053, 10054; the meal offering and the drink offering denote that such acknowledgement is also internally from spiritual good and truth according to order, 4581, 2177, 3382; and one he-goat for a sin offering denotes the confession of sin and its removal by means of the truth of faith, involving some charity, or by the exterior good of truth, 4169, 3400.

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25.  By the priest making atonement for all the congregation, or assembly of the children of Israel, and by their being forgiven, is denoted that, in this way, reconciliation between the internal and external man shall be effected by good from the Lord, as to the whole of man's powers, and full remission shall follow, 9946, 10042, 7843, 3654, 863; and by its being an error, and their having brought their burnt offering and their sin offering to the Lord, is denoted that it was through inadvertence, and that acknowledgement has been made from natural good conjoined with that which is spiritual and celestial, and confession and remission have followed, 10055, 3400, 868.

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26.  All the congregation, or rather assembly, of the children of Israel being forgiven, denotes not only remission for all the powers of the mind or for the whole church where a number of persons is concerned, 7843, 3654, 868; the stranger that sojourns among them denotes but also for such faculties or such persons as are being instructed, 1463; and in respect to all the people, it being done unwittingly, denotes that in respect to the whole man, or the whole church, it was a sin of ignorance, 2679, 5625, 7843.

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27.  One person sinning unwittingly denotes error with regard to one faculty only, or error arising from the understanding without the consent of the will, 3986, 1000; and offering a she-goat of the first year for a sin offering, denotes that acknowledgement and confession will then be made from the good of truth, or from the interior good of faith in all fullness, remission from the Lord following, 4169, 7839, 3400.

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28.  The priests making atonement for the soul that erreth, when he sins unwittingly, before the Lord, to make atonement for him, and his being forgiven, denotes that good from the Lord shall reconcile the external to the internal man, where error takes place inadvertently, when the Lord is inwardly acknowledged; and such reconciliation shall be effected through the remission of evil by Him, 9946, 10042, 1000, 2679, 2001, 868.

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29.  One law for him that does aught unwittingly, for the home-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourns among them, denotes that this law concerning a sin of ignorance shall apply equally to one that is confirmed in the good and truth of the church, and to one who is in a state of instruction, 2567⁸, 1708, 1463, 2679.

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30.  The soul doing aught with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a stranger being guilty of blaspheming the Lord, and consequently being cut off from his people, denotes that wilful sin from the pride of selfish love, whether by him whose ruling love is good notwithstanding, or by him who is in a state of truth leading to good, is the profanation of good and truth from the Lord, and is productive of spiritual death, or of separation from the Lord until repentance takes place, 1000, 8153, 8882, 5302.

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31.  "Because he has despised the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandments, that soul shall be utterly cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him," denotes that because such sin is a sin against Divine Truth, or the Word, perverts influx and destroys correspondence, thus making the removal of evil impossible, except through sincere repentance, 9257, 1288, 2951, 2634, 5302.

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32.  The children of Israel, while in the wilderness, finding a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, denotes that it happens to the man of the church, during regeneration, when he is disposed to claim merit for his good deeds,—even though he is in a prevailing state of good conjoined to truth,—and also actually does so, 3654, 2708, 2784, 8495.

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33.  Bringing the man to Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation, denotes that the truths of the church condemn such persons, and this not only because such a state is contrary to the leading principles of truth and good in the church, but also to the general perception of truth with which man is endowed, 7010, 9946, 7843.

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34.  Putting him in ward because it had not been declared what should be done to him, denotes a state of restraint and uncertainty, until the particular truths concerning the evil of claiming merit are revealed and considered, 5037, 2862, 6337.

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35.  The Lord saying to Moses denotes revelation made from the Lord by Divine Truth, 2001, 1822, 7019; "the man shall surely be put to death" denotes that this state is contrary to the life of good and truth from the Lord, 1408; and all the congregation stoning him with stones without the camp, denotes the rejection of the life of claiming merit in order that man may enjoy the heavenly life, and that this is effected by the power of the truth, 7843, 8575, 4236.

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36.  All the congregation bringing him without the camp, and stoning him with stones that he died, as the Lord commanded Moses, denotes that this state of claiming merit is to be separated from the church, and from the heavenly life, and must suffer the punishment of falsity, conjoined with evil, causing spiritual death; for this is according to Divine Truth from Divine Good, 7843, 8575, 4236, 2908, 2001, 5486, 7010.

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37.  This is evident, because by Jehovah is denoted the Divine Being as to His love, 2001; by speaking is denoted influx, 2951; by Moses is represented Divine Truth, or the Word, 7010; and by saying is denoted perception, 1822.

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38.  Speaking to the children of Israel and bidding them, denotes that the man of the church is urged both by an appeal to the understanding and the will, 2619; making fringes in the borders of their garments, denotes to study the Word of the Lord in the literal sense as to the particulars of truth there, 2576¹⁵, 9468⁷; throughout their generations, denotes even through the whole course of regeneration, 1041; and putting upon the fringe of each border a "cord of blue," or a "scarlet thread," denotes doing so from the love of truth conjoined with the love of good, 9468¹.

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39.  "And it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them," denotes that the reason why the Word of the Lord is thus to be studied in its literal sense, is that it may not only be understood but also that it may be imbibed and practised, as to its particulars, 9468^s; and "that you go not about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to go a whoring," denotes that thus the love of good and truth may overcome all merely selfish love and intelligence, by which the truths of the Word are continually falsified, 2466¹¹, 3335, 7272, 9051.

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40.  "That you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God," denotes that the love of good conjoined with the love of truth causes particular truths to be more easily remembered, and applied to life, thus producing the sanctification of the external man, as well as the internal, 5229, 9468¹, 2634, 4727², 5069, 2001.

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41.  "I am the Lord your God which brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God," denotes that from the Lord proceed both Divine Good and Divine Truth in conjunction, and that by Him alone is man delivered from the bondage of the "merely natural life, in order that he may first be led by truths, and may afterwards realize in himself the full conjunction of good and truth, 2001, 8866.

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Discussion

The subject of the first section, in what is now before us, is the worship of the Lord in the regenerated state, and the increase of the good of innocence which is said, in 10137, to be in the least proportion when it is the inmost good of innocence, in greater proportion when it is the middle degree of innocence, and in the greatest proportion when it is the ultimate degree of innocence, corresponding respectively to the three heavens; and it may appear to some persons a very strange thing that the innocence of those in the inmost heaven should be in the least proportion, while the innocence of the ultimate heaven is in the greatest; and that surely the innocence of the celestial angels is in very much greater proportion than that of those in the ultimate heaven. And indeed this is true, for it is said that the celestial angels are more than others in a state of peace and innocence, 3887; that a ram denotes the internal good of innocence, 10132, or such as appertains to the spiritual angels; and that a bullock signifies the external good of innocence, 9391, or such as belongs to the angels of the ultimate heaven. We have to consider, therefore, in what sense the inmost good of innocence is in the least proportion; the middle good of innocence in greater proportion, and the ultimate good of innocence in the greatest proportion; or rather how it increases in proportion from what is inmost to what is ultimate.

Now, it is here to be remembered that man advances in regeneration by degrees from external to internal states, according to the teaching that the natural life comes first and the spiritual and celestial life afterwards (1 Cor 15:46-49), and according to the order of regeneration described in the internal sense of Gen. i. throughout; and also that the Divine operation in regeneration is from or through Internals to Externals at the same time. For unless the Lord operated inwardly at the same time that man received instruction outwardly (John 3:5), there could be no regeneration. And from this it will be seen that when a person first becomes conscious externally that he is being born again, it is because he is internally affected by the Lord's life, that is, he then first comes inmostly into a state of good; and thus into a state of innocence, because innocence is the very essence of good, 2526. But it must be evident that, to the person's consciousness at this time, this good of innocence is in the least proportion with him, notwithstanding it is really his inmost good of innocence properly denoted by a lamb. And this is the reason why it is said that worship at the beginning of regeneration, which is here described in the internal sense, is from the inmost good of innocence only; for as to the spiritual and natural degrees there is not yet a state of innocence. But now, as the person advances from this state of conscious external good to a more internal state, or from a natural to a spiritual state, and worships the Lord, it is because the good of innocence descends from Him, and becomes, also, the middle good of innocence, signified by a ram, in addition to the inmost good of innocence denoted by a lamb, and thus the good of innocence is intensified, and is therefore in greater proportion when man is in spiritual good consciously as well as in natural good. But, again, the person passing through regeneration will also advance beyond the spiritual degree of his life, even to its celestial or inmost degree; for his progress is from a state of simple obedience to a state of the love of the truth, and thence to a state of the love of good, which is his celestial state; and when this happens, then the good of innocence becomes consciously present in the ultimate degree of his life, and he worships the Lord most intensely and fully, such worship being signified by a bullock, and being in the greatest proportion, because it is, again, in addition to the middle good of innocence and the inmost good of innocence.

And now, therefore, it is to be observed that, to whichever of the three heavens the fully regenerated person belongs, he has his good of innocence in the greatest proportion, because he has realized his inmost life in his natural degree; or, in other words, his external man is in perfect harmony with his internal. And yet it remains true that the angels of the superior heavens are more in the good of innocence than those of the inferior heavens. For to compare the good of innocence prevailing in the three heavens is one thing, and to compare the increase of that good in the course of regeneration is quite another.

In order properly to understand the internal sense of the next section, it must be taken into consideration that by coming into the land is signified not only the realization of the heavenly life in heaven by regeneration completed, but also the realization of the state of being regenerated; for when a man is in the course of regeneration, he is potentially in the heavenly life, although not, as yet, fully so. But the subject of the section is the appropriation of good signified by eating the bread of the land; and it is worth while to consider what this involves. It is evident that when a person takes food naturally and properly digests it, then the materials of that food become, by the process of digestion, a part of his body, and that this is a real appropriation. And it is just the same with regard to the appropriation of good and truth from the Lord. For the good and truth thus received are outside the man to begin with, and he has the power or faculty from the Lord of making them a part of his very being. And he first receives them into his memory and understanding as knowledge and affection; but after he has thus received them by thus spiritually eating them, their digestion is under another control, and, in short, is the work of the Lord according to certain spiritual laws, to which the laws regulating the digestion of man's food correspond. Just, therefore, as a person cannot regulate his own digestion, although he may injure it by taking unsuitable food, or by neglect or excess in eating or drinking, so he may do spiritually. He may receive good and truth and may abuse them through his selfishness by wrong application, or misappropriation. And hence we may see that there is important spiritual instruction in our section. When a man receives good from the Lord, therefore, which is freely given (Isa 55:1), and which the Lord desires he shall make properly his own, then there is an important duty before him; and this duty is represented by offering up a heave offering to the Lord. That is, the good which he incorporates must be acknowledged to be from the Lord, and the recipient must love to have it so, and perceive that it is so continually.

Outwardly, indeed, among Christians, it is a very common thing to acknowledge that all natural and all spiritual good things are from the Lord, for nothing is more easy to do than this. But the real acknowledgement and perception signified by the heave offering is not quite so easy, because it involves the repression and so to speak, the extinction of the conceit that what we appropriate is our very own without any qualification. Thus, then, to make the acknowledgement here required involves the giving up of our own selfish life, and this both as to the understanding and the will. Now the angels, in their happy homes, are able to do this, because they are fully regenerated, but still they know very well that they could not do it without the continual dependence upon the Lord which is necessary. It is said both as to the understanding and the will, because there were both wave offerings and heave offerings in the representative church, the former having relation to spiritual things and the latter to celestial. Of course, the thing that was offered itself represented the acknowledgement that a certain specific good was from the Lord, 9938², but the waving or heaving, as it is said, denoted vivification by influx into spiritual or celestial things respectively. And really it is a delightful thought that, as soon as, or in proportion as we get rid of evil impulses, we may have good impulses from the Lord, and the appropriate activity thence.

But there is yet another point here. For "the first of your dough" signifies the first state of truth from good, according to the explanation in the place to which reference is made; and this, to some extent, illustrates what is said about the threshing-floor, since this signifies the state of the good of truth before regeneration is completed, and of the truth of good after it is completed, the cake denoting the conjunction of truth with good in the first instance, and the conjunction of good with truth in the second, while the heave offering denotes the perception of this conjunction, and that it is from the Lord. See also 5295, 5959.

The next section, which has reference to what is to be done, when sins arising from ignorance or error are committed, is interesting, not only as showing the difference between such offences and those which spring from deliberate wickedness, as described in vers. 30-31, but also as distinguishing between an error of the will, and of the understanding, the former being denoted by the whole assembly sinning thus, and the latter by a single person doing so. For when the assembly unwittingly sinned, a he-goat was offered as a sin offering, but when one person only sinned, it was a she-goat, and we naturally desire to know why this difference was to be made. Now, the reference shows that a she-goat, compared with a ewe, denotes the good of the understanding as distinguished from the good of the will, and it follows, therefore, that a he-goat denotes the truth of the understanding, 725, and that this is relatively exterior to its good, so that, as it is said, the she-goat signifies worship from a more interior good than does a he-goat. That is to say, when an error is committed from imperfection as to the understanding only, and not as to the will, which is denoted by one person sinning unwittingly, then the state of good by which atonement is made, or the state of worship causing the removal of the evil, is evidently the interior good of faith signified by the she-goat; but when, on the other hand, the error is committed through imperfection as to the will as well as the understanding, which is denoted by the whole assembly sinning unwittingly, then it is equally evident that the state of good by which atonement is made, or the state of worship causing the removal of the evil, is the exterior good of faith signified by a he-goat. Thus, then, the secret reason why a he-goat was offered as a sin offering in one case, and a she-goat in another, clearly appears; and we here see how particular the laws of Moses were in the selection of the various animals that were employed in the sacrifices. But this difficulty being removed, we may soon proceed to consider the remaining sections, the first of which has relation to the claiming of merit which is an act of the imperfect will, and the second to the proper study of the Word, which, of course, is an act of the understanding.

And with regard to the first, which, in the literal sense, describes the punishment inflicted by the Divine command upon a man who was found gathering sticks, or wood, on the Sabbath, does it not seem, on the surface, to be a very severe sentence for a relatively small offence? But reflection will show that there was a sufficient reason for it. For the church, at that time, was only the representative of a true Spiritual Church; and by its means such an external conjunction between mankind and heaven was maintained, as was then absolutely necessary, because such was the state of the Israelites, and of the human race generally, that there could be no interior conjunction, and thus no true church; and if, therefore, the representative people had not been strictly kept in their outward obedience by miracles and severe punishments, the connection between heaven and the world would have been broken, and great calamities would have been the result. Hence, therefore, severe punishments were necessary even for apparently slight offences, as in the case before us and others. See, for example, Exod 19:12; Lev 16:13; 2 Sam 6:6-7; and 4545⁶, 6304, 4208. But as to the internal sense, it is evident that the Sabbath signifies the heavenly state of love to the Lord and the neighbour, while the six days of labour denote a state of conflict between good and evil, which precedes the heavenly state; so that, generally speaking, to keep the Sabbath denotes to preserve in ourselves the state of good by not doing evil things at any time, and that to break the Sabbath signifies to do what is evil at any time. And thus in reality a person may keep the Sabbath holy; or break it, on any day in the week, as well as the first.

And now, this being understood, it becomes evident that, at any time, to claim merit to ourselves for any good thing which we do, which the references given in connection with this section show, is signified by gathering wood, is actually to break our spiritual Sabbath, and is, in fact, a far more serious matter than, at first thought, it may appear. For it amounts to this, that we then ascribe to ourselves what really belongs to the Lord, and bring upon ourselves, for the time being, a state of spiritual death, which is signified by being stoned with stones. That is, we put ourselves entirely in a false position, and suffer the punishment arising from it. For how can we truly ascribe our good to the Lord, although, internally, we desire to do it, so long as we are selfishly gratified by hearing anybody praise us for doing some good thing, this being actually the claiming of merit. How, then, shall we be delivered from such a false position? Only by acknowledging, not in words alone, but from our hearts, that all good is from the Lord; and thus we shall be purified, and while properly rejoicing, as we may, that we are able to perform uses sincerely, we shall get rid of a very troublesome vice, which cannot be tolerated among the angels, 2380⁴, Luke 18:19.

Coming now to the last section, we have an excellent example of how the internal sense of the Word sometimes, as it were, descends and manifests itself in the letter of the Word; for the sum and substance, both of the spiritual and literal sense lies in continually remembering the commandments of the Lord to do them. It is very important indeed that the man of the church should make for himself a fringe at the border of his garments, or, in other words, should value the literal sense of the Word, because there even the Divine Truth is in its fullness, its sanctity, and its power (DLW 221). It does, indeed, appear as if much of the literal sense has no relation to man's duty to the Lord and the neighbour at all, but when the spiritual sense is known, even these may be read with the greatest delight and interest, since all the expressions immediately call forth the spiritual truths within, and the mere history, or literal precept, or prophecy, seems to pass unnoticed, while the mind is intent on receiving real instruction in the duties and laws of life, as well as in the phenomena of regeneration. But in other parts the letter is so full of wisdom and of practical instruction, even in relation to man's spiritual experiences in the natural life, that no secular writing as to our moral duties appeals to us with anything like the interest and power of the sacred books. Take, for example, the universal suitability, in this respect, of the Psalms in the Old Testament, and of the Lord's own personal teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, and in other parts of the Gospels, in the New. Well, then, is it with us when we regularly make use of the literal sense of the Word, or, in correspondential language, make for ourselves fringes upon the borders of our garments.

But, also, we are instructed in this spiritual law to put upon the fringe a cord of blue, or a scarlet thread, in order that we may remember. For this scarlet thread is the love of truth conjoined with the love of good, or it is love to the neighbour conjoined with love to the Lord; and we all know very well that we remember best that which we love most, and also do best that which we love most. By all means, therefore, let us not forget the lesson of the fringe and the scarlet thread, but carry with us the Word of the Lord in all our wanderings, fixing its truths in our memories and embodying them in our lives from genuine love.