fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, afterwards Moses and David, as deities, and besides to account holy and as Divine and to worship, every stone and every piece of wood, which was inaugurated into their Divine worship, as the arks, the tables, the lamp, the altars, the garments of Aaron, the urim and thummim, and afterwards the temple. By such things (adds our author) there was given at the time, of the Lord's Providence, a communication of the angels of heaven with man; for there must needs be somewhere a Church, or the representative of a Church, that the communication of heaven with the human race may be maintained; and, inasmuch as that nation, above every other nation, could place divine worship in external things, and thus enact the representative of a Church, therefore that nation was chosen,”1 and as he elsewhere teaches, all the rites and ceremonies of its worship were accordingly represented as coming from God, and commanded to be esteemed holy, as is the case in the Old Testament. "Every one," he observes in another place, "who is gifted with any faculty of interior thought, may perceive that Jehovah could not dwell in a tent, but that he dwells in heaven; and that that tent could not be called a sanctuary, unless it had reference to heaven, and to the celestial and spiritual things, which are there. Let every one think with himself, what would it be for Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth, to dwell in a small habitation made of wood covered over with gold, and encompassed around with curtains, unless heaven and the things of heaven, had been there represented in form." And this he adds was the case, "when Moses with the people were

1 Ibid. n. ESS.

n of Jehovah Himself."'

th respect to the typical nature, and theocraticoical and purely national tone of the historical events ed in the Old Testament, we find in Swedenborg not the general affirmation that all the historical occures are representative of Divine things, and the very essions in which they are described significative and olical,2 in consequence of the religious purpose which Jews, as a nation, were, as we have seen in the pre = extracts, designed to serve; but, in addition to this, ⇒ criticism and explanation of many particular transns, such as the following. In reference to the extertion of the Canaanites, for example, by the chosen le, our author observes, "The Israelites and Jews oyed the nations of the land of Canaan, because the er represented spiritual and celestial things, and the ns represented infernal and diabolical things,3 which r things can in no case be together with the former, hey are opposites. The reason," he continues, "why -s permitted them to destroy the nations, was because them [the Israelites and Jews] there was not a ch, but only the representative of a Church, thus er was the Lord present with them, except only reentatively; for they were in externals without an inl, that is, in worship representative of goodness and 1, but not in goodness and truth themselves. To perof such a character it is permitted to destroy, to kill, ve to the slaughter and to the curse, but it is not

id. n. 9457. 2. Ibid. n. 1408. ad init.

is, although it may appear to be an arbitrary view of the subs not so in reality, and in other places Swedenborg shows that nations were of such a character, as indeed is known from history, heir extirpation was, on the whole. a blessing to the world; igh in this, of course, there is no palliation of the conduct of the nor any countenance to the Jesuitical doctrine, that the end jushe means.

other part of the Arcana he remarks, upon the same subject, that the Jewish nation "believed they were doing what was well-pleasing to Jehovah and were serving Him, when they treated the nations with barbarity and cruelty, by exposing their bodies, when they were slain, to be de. voured by wild beasts and birds, by cutting them alive with saws, wounding them with spikes and axes of iron, and making them pass through the brick-kiln, 2 Sam. xii. 31;-if any one then had said to them (he adds) that such things were against the internal truths of the Church, they would have replied that this was false." Again, in regard to the matter of the Israelites' spoiling of the Egyptians at the time of their departure out of Egypt, he says, "Every one may see that unless such things [viz.: such as take place in the other life amongst the evil] had been represented by it, the Divine Being would never have commanded that the children of Israel should use such artifice against the Egyptians, for everything of the sort is at the utmost distance from the Divine nature. But whereas the Israelitish people were altogether representative, it was permitted them by the Divine Being to do so, because it is so done in the case of the evil in the other life; it is to be known," he adds further, "that very many things which are commanded by Jehovah, or the Lord, [in the Word], in the internal sense do not bear the signification of having been commanded, but of having been permitted."3

One other short extract under this head, and we have done with this subject. "As to the historical relations in particular," observes our author, in the preface to Gen.

1 Arc. Coel. n. 9320. 2 Ibid. n. 4903. 3 Ibid. n. 6914.

ical Scriptures] contained Divine and celestial things, ractedly from the letter, they could never be acknowld by any one, who thinks at all deeply, to be the ined Word of God, and this as to every iota; what, for uple, could such an one think of the abominable r of Lot's daughters' being related in the Divine Word, hich the story is given at the end of this chapter? or he history of Jacob's peeling of the rods and making white appear, and placing them in the gutters, in r that the flock might bring forth cattle ring-straked, kled and spotted, besides many other things in the r books of Moses, of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and s, which would be of no moment and quite the same her they were known or not known, unless they ined some deeper Divine arcanum; unless this is the they would in no respect differ from other histories, h are sometimes so written, as to appear to have the ty of affecting the mind more powerfully than

ויי ב

We next feel desirous of adducing a passage or two our illustrious author, in regard to the marvellous miraculous elements in the sacred writings, upon h the critics of the Mythical school are wont to found y of their arguments in favour of their peculiar views. first as to the general character of wonders and igies as it respects the Jewish people. "As to what erns prodigies and signs," observes Swedenborg, "it be known that they took place amongst such as were ternal worship, and did not desire to be acquainted internal. They, also, who were in such worship were e driven by external means: hence it is that miracles performed amongst the Israelitish and Jewish peo

ɔid. n. 2310.

worship, that is, of charity and faith, miracles are not done, for they are hurtful to them, inasmuch as miracles compel belief, and what is of compulsion does not remain, but is dissipated." "Hence it is," he adds, "that no miracles are wrought at this day." And again: "It [the Jewish nation,] believed more than the Gentiles that there were several gods, but that Jehovah was greater than they, because He could do greater miracles; wherefore, as soon as miracles ceased, and also when they were become of little account from being frequent and familiar, they immediately turned themselves to other gods, as may manifestly appear from the historical and prophetical parts of the Word."2

We shall now cite Swedenborg's account of three of the most marvellous occurrences recorded in the Old Testament, viz. : the miracle of the sun's standing still at the com. mand of Joshua, that of Balaam's ass speaking, and lastly, the raising of Samuel by the witch of Endor. First, then, as to the matter of the sun's standing still, we read in the work entitled "Apocalypse Explained," "It is said that the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, viz.: in the sight of the children of Israel, that they might see their enemies; but this was prophetical [or written in the prophetical or mythical style, above described], as may appear from the circumstance of its being said, ‘Is not this written in the book of Jasher?' and this was a pro. phetical book, [being, as we have seen, a book of the Ancient Church and composed in the style of those times] from which the words were taken; wherefore from the same book it is also said, 'until the nation was avenged upon its enemies,' and not until the children of Israel

1 Ibid. n. 7290. 2 Ibid. n. 4847.