shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it" (Matt. x. 35, 36, 39); and, again, "Happy shall he be that taketh thy little ones," O daughter of Babylon, "and dasheth them against the stones" (Psalm cxxxvii. 9).

In Genesis we read that "it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at his heart" (vi. 6). Here, again, we have an apparent truth, resulting from man's rebellious disobedience and obstinate impenitence, mentioned in the previous verse, and hence a change is ascribed to the Divine Being; but He declares his own true character where He says, "God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent" (Num. xxiii. 19). So, again, we read, "the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart" (Ex. vii. 13). This also is expressed according to the appearance, and in accommodation to the state of the Israelites, who supposed that what the Lord permitted He willed. The genuine truth is asserted in Ex. viii. 15, 32, where it is twice said, "Pharaoh hardened his own heart" (see also 1 Sam. vi. 6). By grief and repentance, when predicated of Jehovah, are signified, in the internal sense, the operations of his divine mercy and wisdom, which are spoken of so as not to transcend finite conceptions, in agreement with the nature of mercy and forgiveness as exercised among men; and for the same reason human properties and characteristics are so often ascribed to the Lord.

On this part of our subject, Swedenborg thus writes: "Whosoever is disposed to confirm false principles by appearances, according to which the Word is written, may do so in innumerable instances. But there is a difference between confirming false principles by passages from the Word, and believing in simplicity what is spoken in the Word. He who confirms false principles, first assumes some principle of his own, from which he is unwilling to depart, and whose authority he is determined at all events to support, for which purpose he collects and accumulates corroborating proofs from every quarter, consequently from the Word, till he is so thoroughly self-persuaded with regard thereto, that he can no longer see the truth. But whosoever in simplicity, or out of a simple heart, believes what is spoken in the Word, does not first assume principles of his own, but thinks what is spoken to be true, because the Lord spake it; and in case he is instructed as to the right understanding thereof, by what is spoken in other parts of the word, he instantly acquiesces, and in his heart rejoices: nay, even supposing a person, through simplicity, to believe

that the Lord is wrathful, that He punishes, repents, grieves, etc., whereby he is restrained from evil, and led to do good, such belief is not at all hurtful to him, inasmuch as it leads him to believe also that the Lord sees all things both generally and particularly, and when he is principled in such belief he is afterwards capable of being enlightened in other points of faith, at least in another life, if not before: the case is different with those who are self-persuaded in consequence of preconceived principles, and who are riveted in the belief thereof through the pernicious influence of selfish and worldly love.”—A. C., n. 589.

Again, the same author says, In many passages of the Word we find anger, wrath, and vengeance attributed to God, and it is said that He punishes, casts into hell, tempts, with many other expressions of a like nature. Now, where all this is believed in a child-like simplicity, and made the ground of the fear of God, and of care not to offend Him, no man incurs condemnation by such a simple belief. But where a man confirms himself in such notions, so as to be persuaded that anger, wrath, vengeance, belong to God, and that He punishes mankind, and casts them into hell, under the influence of such anger, wrath, and vengeance, in this case his belief is condemnatory, because he has destroyed genuine truth, which teaches that God is love itself, mercy itself, and goodness itself, and, being these, that He cannot be angry, wrathful, or revengeful. Where such evil passions, then, are attributed in the Ward to God, it is owing to appearance only. It is the same in many other instances."S. S., n. 94.

Truths accommodated to our gross perceptions are, for the most part, apparent truths; but seen in spiritual light, their appearance is changed, a transfiguration, so to speak, takes place; they are invested with new splendors, and are spiritually discerned. Let us "not judge, then, according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment " (John vii. 24); for, from making no distinction whatever between the apparent and real truths of Scripture, which correspondence thus opens and explains, all the false and heretical doctrines which have agitated and divided the Christian world have sprung. Hence we see the importance of true doctrine to enable us rightly to understand the revealed Word (see, for illustration, Gen. vi. 7; Ex. xxxiii. 1214; Jer. xviii. 8-10; Hos. xi. 8, 9; Joel ii. 10-12; Jonah ii. 9, 10: Rev. xv. 1-7).

CHAPTER IX.

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF WAR AND IMPLEMENTS OF WAR IN THE HOLY WORD.

WE frequently read in the Holy Word of cruel wars, and of

weapons of war, which, because they all, either in a good or a bad sense, represent states of spiritual warfare, and describe the instrumentalities by which they are carried on, appear in the letter of the Word to be sanctioned and applauded, and are sometimes represented as commanded by Jehovah; as, "The Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation" (Ex. xvii. 16). Nothing can be more abhorrent to the Divine character or revolting to Christian feeling than the ferocious spirit of war; and yet the Lord commanded the children of Israel not only to exterminate the Amalekites, but the inhabitants of Heshbon and Bashan. In Deuteronomy we read how this was done: "And the Lord our God delivered the king before us, and we smote him and his sons and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men and the women and the little ones of every city; we left none to remain" (ii. 33, 34; iii. 6). While such revolting cruelty was permitted on account of the degeneracy of mankind, and was even attributed to the Lord, because it was, as in all other similar cases, a lesser evil for a greater good, it must be evident that it was recorded by inspiration for some more hidden meaning than the mere history, though that history be true. Let us call to mind "the foes of our own household" (Matt. x. 36), the adversaries lurking in our own bosoms, the enemies of our eternal peace, and how beautiful is the lesson of instruction with which we are at once supplied! How deeply interesting is the command to destroy, by the power of truth and love, all our bitter antagonists, our selfish passions and unclean persuasions, to let not one remain! Both in the Old and New Testaments armor and instruments of war are continually mentioned in reference solely to their internal significations. Turn to Joel: "Prepare war," saith the Lord; "beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak say, 'I am

strong

(iii. 10). Now read Isa. ii. 4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." We have here, in the literal sense of the Word, two divine commands and predictions the very opposite of each other. There is another striking instance in the New Testament of a precisely similar description, amounting to an apparent contradiction. In Luke it is said that "the Lord hath visited us to guide our feet into the way of peace" (i. 79); and we read that the angels sang at his nativity, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men [or to men of good will]" (ii. 14). But what does our blessed Lord himself say? "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword" (Matt. x. 34). Equally inexplicable in the letter only are two passages of similar import, which the Lord spake nearly at the same period to his disciples, one of which is recorded in Matt. xxvi. 52: “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword;" and the other in Luke xxii. 36, where He says, "He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.' By the mere letter these apparent contradictions never can be harmonized; the spiritual sense can alone reconcile them. Every other mode of interpretation leaves them unexplained mysteries. How interesting and instructive, how plain and simple, how pure and true are all such passages when their hidden meaning is unfolded by the great law of correspondence! As we read them, let us contemplate that triumph over sin and folly, in intention, thought, and deed, which must ever precede a state of internal peace, and which devout and humble faith in the Word of God, our armory and our "quiver," and ready obedience to its commands, always gives; for doing this we have "our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace' (Eph. vi. 15). Let us think, therefore, of our spiritual warfare against evil and hell; "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph. vi. 12). Let us think of the panoply of strength requisite to give us victory over all our inward foes and persecutors—“the helmet of salvation,” “the breastplate of righteousness,"" the shield of faith," "the sword of the Spirit," "the spear" of true doctrine, the sharppointed arrows of truth, and "the whole armor of God" (Eph. vi. 10-17); clothed and armed with which we have to wage this inward combat, destroying, by the power of faith and love, all our spiritual

enemies, young and old, before we can sit down in tranquillity— before the Lord Jesus Christ can impart to our souls "that peace which the world can neither give nor take away," and all becomes at once luminous, intelligible and practical, and in the inspired language of the Psalmist we are ready to exclaim, "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me; fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation" (Ps. xxxv. 2, 3); "Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies" (xlv. 3, 6); "Blessed be the Lord my strength, who teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight" (cxliv. 1), and to ascribe from the heart all the power and the glory to Him alone. "Thou, O Lord, hast given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the Lord God of my salvation be exalted" (Ps. xviii. 35-39, 46).

Again: treating of the final destruction of all our spiritual enemies, the sacred prophet, addressing his divine deliverer, in whose name and by whose strength the regenerating Christian ever "comes off more than conqueror," says, "Thou [O Lord, by thy Word] art my battle-axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; with thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers" (Jer. li. 20-23). It is in this, the true inward sense of temptation conflict, that the apostle Paul exhorts Timothy to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life, and as an encouragement sets before him his own example and experience at the close of his