51. II. That the second state of this church was instruction, and at length introduction into the land of Canaan, and then its progression into light and day. It has been pointed out above, that this Israelitish Church, as well as the Ancient, or Noachian Church, was, as to the whole of its worship, a representative church. This was of the Divine providence, because Jehovah had not yet put on the Natural Human (which He took up by incarnation in the womb of Mary, thus according to the order established from creation); and prior to this, He could not be conjoined to man as to the interiors of his spirit, and thus manifest there to man's perception His Divine things, which are celestial and spiritual, and thus far above the discernment of the senses of the body. This also was as impossible as it is to make a bird fly in ether, or a fish to step in air. For if Jehovah were to enter with man except by means of His Human, it would be like putting the branch of a tree into the very focus of a burning glass, or quicksilver to a blazing log in a furnace, which would be suddenly dissipated. For from the zeal of His Divine love Jehovah is like a consuming fire; and were He to enter into man in this without His Human, He would dissipate him, as has just been said: for which reason He said to Moses, when he desired to behold His glory with his own eyes, that no man could see Him and live. It was otherwise, however, after He assumed the Natural Human, and united this, when glorified, to His Divine, and thus conjoined into one in Himself the Divine celestial, the Divine spiritual, and the Divine natural. He was then able, by means of this, to conjoin Himself to man in his natural, yea, in his sensual, and at the same time to his spirit or mind in his rational, and thus to enlighten man's natural light, with heavenly light. That such conjunction was effected after the Coming of Jehovah into the world, is plainly manifest from the words of the Lord Himself:
In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20). [2] Now, before the incarnation of Jehovah was accomplished, conjunction with Him could not take place except through an angel, thus by means of a representative human; on which account, also, all things of the church of the men of that period, were made representative, and consequently men worshiped Jehovah by types affecting the senses of the body, and at the same time corresponding to spiritual things. Hence it was that the men of the Ancient Church, and still more the men of the Israelitish Church, were external and natural men, nor could they become internal and spiritual, as men can since the Lord's coming. But, still, those who acknowledged Jehovah, and, at the same time the Lord with him, that is, the Lord who was to come, who in the Word is named the "Lord Jehovih," the "God of Israel," and "His Holy One," "Messiah" or the "Anointed of Jehovah," "King," "Rock," and in some places "Son," and who worshiped them together, received holiness in their spirits, and hence in the types of their religion. The rest, however, did not receive it; whence the religion of these was not a religion but a superstition, and their worship was not representative but idolatrous and although this was similar in the external form, yet it was dissimilar in the internal. [3] But in order that this matter may acquire some light, it shall be illustrated by comparisons. Idolatrous worship is like a man who reveres a king, a prince, a nobleman, or any man of exalted dignity, solely on account of the pomp of his retinue, the magnificence of his carriages and horsemen, or of his forerunners, and the splendor and gorgeousness of his clothing; but genuine representative worship is like one who regards a king, prince, nobleman, of any man of exalted dignity, from his religion and his wisdom, and from his justice and judgment, and from these regards the above-mentioned marks of his honor. Idolatrous worship, moreover, is like a man who regards the primate of the church solely on account of his tiara and the jewels in it, or any other prelate, or bishop, on account of his fillet or mitre; but genuine representative worship is like one who regards them from the zeal of their love for the souls of the men of the church, and for their eternal salvation, and the marks of distinction on their heads from these grounds. Again, idolatrous worship is like a field filled with stalks without ears, or with ears without grain in them, or even with these without any kernel in them, and so on; but genuine representative worship is like a field filled with the harvest, whose grains are bursting with kernels, which afford flour and bread in abundance. Idolatrous worship is also like an egg in which there is no spermatic germ; but genuine representative worship is like an egg in which there is the prolific element from which is the chicken. To still further follow those two kinds of worship by comparison, idolatrous worship is like one who has lost the sense of smell and the sense of taste by a catarrh; when such a one applies any grape to his nostrils, or pours wine on his tongue, he is sensible of nothing but their touch; but genuine representative worship is like one who is keenly sensible at the same time of the fragrance of the grape and the flavor of the wine, and thus enjoys the use of both with pleasure.
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