n e w c h u r c h l i f e : j u ly / au g u s t 2 0 1 3
By Elijah and by Elisha was represented the Lord as to the Word, thus by them was
represented the Word, specifically the prophetic Word. … The ‘hairiness’ and the
‘girdle of skin’ signified the literal sense, a ‘hairy man’ this sense in respect to truths,
and a ‘girdle of skin’ about the loins this sense in respect to goods. For the literal
sense of the Word is its natural sense, because it is from the things in the world;
and the internal sense is the spiritual sense, because it is from the things in heaven.
These two senses are circumstanced as are the internal and external of man; and
because there is no internal without an external, for the external is the ultimate of
order in which the internal subsists, therefore it was a reproach against the Word to
call Elisha bald, implying that it is devoid of an external, thus that the Word has no
sense that is adapted to the apprehension of man. (Apocalypse Revealed 573:6)
It’s one thing for a kid to shout an insult at an old man. It is something
entirely different when a person, in a state of spiritual trial and temptation,
decides for himself that the Word has no power to help him – that it teaches
nothing that applies to his life!
As we read in the second lesson, the Lord Himself taught that every sin
and blasphemy can be forgiven except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. (See
Matthew 12:31-32) The Lord can forgive any sin if a person approaches Him
humbly, prays for forgiveness, and amends his life. The reason He cannot
forgive blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is because it is the denial that the
Lord can save – and if you deny that the Lord has the power to save, you will
not ask Him to forgive you. He cannot begin the process of regeneration unless
you ask Him to.
So, the mocking of the youths is the same kind of thing. The Word is the
Lord speaking to us. It’s the instruction manual for spiritual life. To call Elisha
“bald” is to say, in the internal sense, that the Word is just a bunch of stories
about ancient peoples that have no real application to our life today, that the
Word has no power to affect our lives one way or the other.
We can all recognize the threat to spiritual life that such thinking
represents. And what happens next is a picture of the spiritual consequences
of that view: she-bears come out of the woods and destroy 42 of the youths.
By “a bear” is signified those who read the Word and do not understand it, whence
they have fallacies. That these are signified by “bears” was clear to me from the bears
seen in the spiritual world, and from some there who were clothed in bearskins,
who had all read the Word, but had not seen any doctrinal truth therein; also
who had confirmed the appearances of truth therein, whence they had fallacies.
(Apocalypse Revealed 573)
Do we see the delicious irony that when the boys mock Elisha, they are
saying the Word has no power? What punishes them? Bears, which represent
those who read the Word and do not understand it. They are being punished
by their own failure to understand and respect the value of the Word.
The Word is our instruction manual for spiritual life. There is no other way
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