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this point must be regarded as strong evidence that the Urim and Thummim were identical with the stones.

(3.) It will be observed upon comparing Ex. xxxix. 8-21, with Lev. viii. 8, that in the description of the Breast-plate, given in the former, while the rows of stones are mentioned, nothing is said of the Urim and Thummim; while in the latter, which speaks of the investiture of Aaron with the pontifical habit, the Urim and Thummim are mentioned, but the stones are passed over in silence. What inference more obvious than that these objects were in fact one and the same? (4.) Our array of testimonies on this head may be considered as amounting to demonstration from the fact that Swedenborg expressly affirms the identity of the stones of the Breast-plate and the Urim and Thummim. "Hence it is evident what was represented by the twelve stones, which were called Urim and Thummim" (A. C. 9873). Indeed this is assumed all along in the course of his explanation, the substance of which we present to the reader. "That by the Urim and Thummim is signified the shining forth of Divine Truth from the Lord in ultimates, appears from the signification of the breastplate of judgment, as denoting Divine Truth shining forth from the Divine Good of the Lord; and from the signification of Urim and Thummim, as denoting light and the shining forth [explendescentia] thence. The reason why the Urim and Thummim denote light and explendescence is, because by the stones in the breast-plate the light of heaven shone forth with variety according to the responses which were given by them, therefore also they were of different colors; for the Divine Truth proceeding from the Divine good of the Lord appears before the angels as light, hence is all the light of heaven. The colors thence derived, which are the modifications of that light, with the angels, are variegations of the intelligence and wisdom appertaining to them, for all wisdom and intelligence is from that Divine Truth or light. Hence it may be manifest that by the shining forth [explendescence] of various colors from that light are presented Divine Truths, which are responses in the heavens; in like manner by the Urim and Thummim, when the Divine [being or principle] was interrogated. But it is to be noted, that when the explendescence appeared, then at the same time the response to the subject of inquiry was pronounced in an audible voice [viva voce]; which was done by the angels, to whom by such explendescence it was revealed from the Lord; for, as was said, the Divine Truths, which are responses, so appear in the heavens. That this is the case, is also manifest from the signification of Urim and Thummim, for Urim signifies fire lucent, and Thummim the explendescence; fire lucent is the Divine Truth from the Divine Good of the Divine Love of the Lord, and the explendescence is that truth in ultimates, thus in effect. And it is to be denoted, that Thummim in the Hebrew tongue denotes integrity, but in the angelic tongue explendescence. It is said in the angelic tongue, because the angels discourse with each other from the very essence of a thing perceived inwardly in themselves, thus according to its quality; the discourse thence flows forth into a conformable sonorous [expression], audible only to the angels; the explendes

cence of the Divine Truth and the sonorous [expression] is thummim, hence now is its denomination. The like is perceived by the angels when thum is read in the Hebrew tongue, by which is signified what is entire, or integrity. Hence it is, that by entire, in the internal sense of the Word, is signified Divine Truth in effect, which is a life according to the Divine precepts, as may be manifest from several passages in the Word, as in Joshua, chap. xxiv. 14; in the book of Judges, chapter ix. 16, 19; and in David, Psalm xxv. 21; Psalm xxxvii. 37; Psalm 1xxxiv. 11; Psalm ci. 2; Psalm exix. 1. Hence also it is, that the Urim and Thummim are called the judgment of the sons of Israel, also the breast-plate of judgment, and likewise the judg ment of Urim, for judgment signifies Divine Truth in doctrine and life. From these considerations it may now be manifest, that the breastplate by Urim and Thummim, that is, by the explendescence of the light of heaven, revealed Divine Truths in a natural sphere, thus in ultimates. A like explendescence is also presented inwardly with those who are in truths derived from good, which dictates, and as it were gives responses, when truth is inquired after from affection of heart, and is loved as good. That there is such an explendescence, whereby Divine Truth from heaven is revealed in the natural man, with those who are illustrated from the Word, is not perceived in the world, by reason that it is unknown that any light from heaven illus trates the intellectual principle of man; but that it is so, has been given to perceive, and also to see. It is to be noted further, that that explendescence appears in ultimates, since all things which are of light from the Divine [being or principle], descend even to ultimate ends; and because they descend thither, they also shine forth there and thence. Hence now it is, that the breast-plate was set upon the ephod and upon its girdle; for the ephod represented Divine Truth in ultimates, and its girdle represented a common bond, that things might be kept in connexion. Therefore it is said, And they shall tie the breast-plate from its rings to the rings of the ephod, to be upon the girdle of the ephod, nor shall the breast-plate recede from being upon the ephod, verse 28 of this chapter. The reason why the names of the sons of Israel were also engraven was, because the twelve tribes likewise represented all things of the Divine Good and truth in the heavens, consequently heaven with all the societies there, and various things according to the order in which they are named in the Word."

(To be continued.)

G. B.

EXTRACT.

"Inasmuch as the will of man is his love, and the will of God is his divine love, it is plain what is understood in the spiritual sense by doing the will of God, and the will of the Father, namely, that it is to love God above all things, and our neighbor as ourselves. And inasmuch as to love is to will, so likewise it is to do, for what a man loves, that he wills, and what he wills he also does. Hence by doing the will of God, or of the father, is understood to do his precepts, or to live according to them from the affection of love or charity."-A. E. 295.

First

ARTICLE V.

THE COVENANT.

ONCE upon a time (as the old divines tell us), before the creation of this nether world, the three persons of the Trinity had an interview with each other. The occasion was a very important one. A portion of the angelic hosts had fallen from their first estate, and, by doing so, had left a large part of Heaven unoccupied. It was resolved, therefore, in solemn council, to create a new race of beings-men, who, after spending a few years upon an earth that was also to be specially created for their benefit, were to be elevated to Heaven in order to supply the places of the angels who had fallen. This, say the old divines, was a happy thought. So also says the poet Milton, who, next to Calvin and the other Reformers, is to be regarded as one of the founders of a great system of theology, that has been much in repute since their time. It was, perhaps, a defect in the scheme that was to supply Heaven with inhabitants, that man was to be created with a weaker nature than the angels, and more liable to fall on his first exposure to temptation. But then, again, the divines, who seem to have been in the secret, although they were not present at the original consultation, tell us, that the very infirmity of man's nature, and his liability to sin, were indispensable to a grand scheme of salvation, in which the three persons in the Trinity, were, like three actors upon the stage, to perform respectively certain important parts, in which the justice of one, the mercy of another, and the holiness of the third were to be signally displayed. Man, therefore, was to be created weak, with a capacity for sinning. He was, also, to be constituted a representative of his race through all its countless generations, to the end of time, even before they were brought into being, and, of course, before they could have the possibility of consenting to the arrangement. If he sinned, his descendants, consequently, were to sin in him and with him. If he obeyed, his obedience was to be their obedience. He, in a word, was to act for himself, and for them, and they were to be responsible for his acts. If he disobeyed, the penalty of his trangression, and, ex vi termini, of theirs also, was to be death-death temporal, and death eternal; in other words, by eating of the forbidden fruit, his whole soul was to be infected with a mortal disease, reaching to the very fountains of life, and the whole of his posterity were to be brought into the world with a corrupt nature, subject to the wrath of God in this life, and to the intolerable pains of hell hereafter. O, Adam! what a terrible responsibility rests upon thee! If thou sinnest, how canst thou clear thy skirts of blood? Thou art the murderer of thy posterity to the latest genera

tion !

First Person. "I perceive, O Son, that man, whom we are about to create, will certainly fall, like the angels before him. I perceive a soaring pride in his heart, that will lead him to aspire to the highest places, and which will tempt him, if it were possible, to dethrone his

Maker. His disposition will be much like that of Lucifer, Son of the
Morning."

Second Person. "True, O Father, I see in him a thirst for things which it would be far better for him never to know,-a fearful crav ing for forbidden knowledge, the knowledge of Good and of Evil."

Third Person. "O unholy passion! Worm of the dust! Yes, he will stretch his puny arm up to the eternal throne, and desire to be as God."

Angels. "Alas! alas! man will fall as our ill-fated companions have fallen. Who, then, will supply their places in these bright abodes?"

Second Person. "But man is not yet created."

Angels. "May he never be! Better that he should never exist, than exist as a sinner, suffering, with his numerous posterity, the miserable consequences of his sin to all eternity."

First Person. "The decree has gone forth, ye angels, and is not to be recalled."

Second Person. "That is true, and yet the object of man's creation will have failed. How is Heaven to be supplied with inhabitants?"

Third Person. "Certainly not from a corrupt and wretched race of mortals. What say ye, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and ye heavenly hosts? Here is a difficulty to be met. The decrees of God must stand. Yet man falls, and, falling, he can never enter Heaven."

Angels. "Gladly would we save man, if we could, but no created arm can save him."

Second Person. "What say'st thou, O Father, must man certainly perish? Is there no way by which the consequences of his transgression can be warded off?”

First Person. "I have no proposition to offer, but would gladly hear any which you may have it in your power to make. A law once enacted, must be obeyed. If violated, the penalty annexed to its violation must be inflicted on the offender. Justice must be satisfied. This is too evident to be disputed."

Second Person. "I grant it, and yet it seems a hard case, that all mankind, consisting of myriads upon myriads of human beings, should suffer so severely for one man's fault. That Adam should suffer the consequences of his own transgression, being free to act, is reasonable; but there seems to me, I must confess, a species of injustice in inflicting upon so many others, who are equally free, the wretched sufferings which are to follow upon the isolated act of a single individual. While, for Adam, who offends, nothing can be said in justification of his voluntary crime, yet I would fain plead for mercy to his unfortunate descendants, who never can be said to have known the law, while they are made responsible for the guilt of its

violation."

First Person. "This is not a case in which the claims of mercy can be heard. It is a case which belongs only to a tribunal of inexorable and infinite justice. Justice, I repeat, must be satisfied, and the dignity of the law maintained."

Second Person. "True, O Father, the law must be maintained in all its force; but will mankind be satisfied of the justice of a law which punishes the innocent for the offences of the guilty? Casting my eye along the vista of coming ages, I see a monarch who inscribes laws for the government of his subjects on a lofty pillar, beyond their sphere of vision, that they may not be able to read them, and yet punishes them for their violation. I see that all mankind, without a dissenting voice, denounce this monarch as a tyrant-a monster of injustice. But what will they think of the divine justice of a law which condemns countless millions to everlasting punishment for the offence of an ancestor whom they never knew, and who lived and died, it may be, ages before they were brought into being ?" First Person. "The opinions which men entertain of the justice of their Creator, are immeasurably vain and inadequate. Adam will be the representative, the federal head of his posterity, and consequently his sin will be their sin, and its consequences will fall upon their heads justly."

Second Person. "Yes, I grant it, if Adam were constituted their federal head by his descendants themselves, for then they would act by and through him, and would accordingly be responsible for his acts; but how can they enter into such a league with their ancestor, and give their consent to such an arrangement, when they are not yet themselves in being?"

First Person. "The consent of Adam's descendants will be unnecessary. The compact will be entered into between Adam and ourselves. He will be constituted their representative by a divine and immutable decree. He will be informed, in due time, that if he sins, the consequences of his sin will be visited upon his posterity, to the latest generation-that his sin will be imputed to them, and, under such a compact, or covenant, no injustice will be done either to him

or to them."

Second Person. "Is this, O Father, divine justice?”

First Person. "O Son, it is."

Angels. "Alas, for man! O, miserable, undone creature! O, awful justice, how terrible are thy demands !"

Second Person, "If this really be justice, I see, or think I see, a way by which mercy may be shown to man, and justice, at the same time, vindicated."

Angels. "Joy! joy! a way of escape for man is found! Listen! O listen !"

First Person. "What is it that you propose, O Son?"

Second Person. "I propose, O most just Sire, to die for man, in order to satisfy the demands of infinite justice. As the sin of Adam may, consistently with justice, be imputed to his posterity, so may it be imputed to me, and, dying, as I propose to do, in his stead, my righteousness may be imputed to him, and so he may be saved."

First Person."You propose, O Son, to suffer and die for mankind, yet you are aware that God can neither suffer nor die."

Second Persor "I intend, O Father, to become a man, in order that I may sufler and die."

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