end entirely spiritual; for it had exclusive regard to man's deliverance from the infernal bondage of false doctrines and evil lusts. He taught that spiritual cleanness-purity of thought and of affection-is the proper end of life for every man to propose to himself. His language was, "Seek ye first-[as a "Seek ye first-[as a thing of primary and supreme importance]-the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all [other] things shall be added unto you." (Matt. vi. 33.) Consequently we should suppose that every thing which He said and did while on earth, must, when rightly understood, be seen to have primary regard to the state of the church and the essential principles of heavenly life with man. And since the Lord is ever the same, we should suppose that his second coming would have reference to the same great end as his first, viz. to the spiritual condition of the church. Accordingly, as has been already stated, it is taught in the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, that, when the Lord speaks of the Consummation of the Age, He refers to a full state of the first Christian Church; when, through successive perversions and falsifications of the Word, it would spiritually come to its end, and be succeeded by a New Church; and that the wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, &c., which it is declared should precede that event, refer to the famishing and desolate state of the church in respect to goodness and truth, and to the various controversies and spiritual changes which she would have to pass through before her final con

summation.

But let us see in what language the consummation or end of the Jewish Church is foretold by the prophets. In Isaiah chap. x., which speaks of a "day of visitation" to the church, and says, in reference to the Lord's advent, that the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briars in one day," (v. 3, 17.)-it is written, “A remnant shall return-a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God; for though the people of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall return: the consummation (or destruction) decreed shall overflow with righteousness; for the Lord Jehovih Zebaioth maketh

* * *

a consummation and decision (or a destruction determined upon) in the midst of the whole earth." That the consummation or destruction here mentioned, is used in reference to the Jewish Church, which was consummated at the time of the Lord's advent, is evident from what we read in the beginning of the chapter immediately following: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots; and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord. # And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." Again, the same prophet, speaking of the corrupt state of the Jewish Church, says, "Now, therefore, be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord Jehovih Zebaioth a consummation and decision (or a destruction decreed) upon the whole earth." (xxviii. 22.) That it is a consummation of the then existing Church which is here spoken of, is manifest from the following passage which occurs in the same chapter, and only four verses preceding the one just quoted. "Wherefore hear the Word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem: Because ye have said, 'We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, 'Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious corner (stone), a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place." (xxviii. 14, 15, 16, 17.) It is evident that this was said in reference to the condition of the Jewish Church, and the advent of the Lord to establish a new Church. Again, in the first chapter of Zephaniah, where the approaching end of the Jewish Church is foretold in these words: "The

great day of the Lord is near, a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness," (i. 14, 15.)-it is added, "but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, because he will make a consummation-surely a sudden destruction of all the inhabitants of the earth." (v. 18.) Likewise, in Daniel, where Messiah's advent is treated of, we read, "Know, therefore, and understand, from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, (shall be) seven weeks, and three score and two weeks; and for the overspreading of abominations He shall make desolate, and until the consummation decreed, it shall drop upon the devastation."* (ix. 25, 27.) Here and elsewhere in the prophets, we find language employed, foretelling the end of the Jewish Church, at the time of the Lord's first advent, similar to that used in the Evangelists, where his second coming is predicted. The conclusion therefore may be easily and fairly drawn, that, by the consummation of the age spoken of in the Evangelists, is denoted the end or consummation of the first Christian Church.

Again: in one of the texts cited above, "a consummation and decision upon the whole earth" is spoken of; and in another it is said, "the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of God's jealousy," &c. In the original Hebrew language, the word here translated earth is the same as that translated land. Now in the language of correspondence, in which, according to the writings of the New Church, the Sacred Scriptures

* It will be seen that the word consummation is not found in our common English version, except in one of the texts here cited, but instead of it, the word consumption or riddance is employed. But the same Hebrew word

kalah, occurs in each of them, and signifies completion, consumption, destruction. It also comes from a root which signifies to finish, to complete, to waste, to destroy; and when used with veneheratsah, as is the case in nearly all of the above texts, they together denote destruction and decree, or destruction decreed. (See Gesenius' Hebrew and English Lexicon.) Moreover, the word kalah, in the text from Daniel, is translated consummation in our common English version; and as this word expresses the exact meaning of the original, we have employed it in each of the other texts also; as it should be for the sake of preserving uniformity in the translation.

are composed throughout, earth or land signifies the church; and fire denotes love either good or evil. Here, because it is the fire of God's jealousy, it denotes the infernal love of self; for this it is which consumes and destroys all heavenly principles in human minds, and thus"devours" the church or "the whole land." The

ground of this correspondence and consequent signification of fire in the word, will appear when we come to treat of the Science of Correspondences, and explain the laws of a divine composition.

That earth and land, wherever they occur in the Sacred Scriptures, signify the church, appears evident from many passages. To instance only a few: "Behold Jehovah maketh the earth empty; and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down." (Is. xxiv. 1.) "And He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." (xi. 4.) "The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof (mark-the transgression of the earth) shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, (i. e. the earth shall fall.) (xxiv. 19, 20.) "Behold the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and the earth shall remove out of her place. (xiii. 9, 13.) "In my distress I called upon Jehovah, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before Him, [even] into his ears. Then (i. e., when David called upon Jehovah and was heard) the earth shook and trembled." (Psalm xviii. 6, 7.) "Let the earth hear, and all that is therein." (Is. xxxiv. 1.) "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matt. v. 5.)

Now it is plain that this material earth, or any portion of it, cannot be meant in such passages as these; as where it is said to be "turned upside down," to be "utterly broken down," to "reel to and fro like a drunkard," to be "removed out of her place," to tremble and fall, &c. But if by earth we understand that the church is denoted, which, by means of falses and evils, is clean

dissolved, turned upside down, moved out of its place, made to tremble and fall, &c., then these passages become intelligible. Then we can understand what is meant by the transgression of the earth, as in Isaiah; and also by the words "Blessed are the meek, for they Ishall inherit the earth." The earth here refers to the land of Canaan, which signifies the spiritual Canaan, or heaven and the church, with its goods and truths. And because only those who are of a meek and lowly mind can receive these goods and truths, or those angelic loves which are the essential things of a true church, and which constitute the kingdom of heaven within us, therefore the meek are said to be "blessed." They know the delights of a heavenly inheritance.

Thou

There are also other passages which make it still more evident that earth and land are used in the Scriptures to denote the church; such are, "through the wrath of Jehovah Zebaioth, the land is darkened;" (Is. ix. 19) "for ye shall be a delightsome land," &c. (Mal. iii. 12). And in Isaiah, where Messiah's advent is foretold, it is said of the church, in reference to her renovation and purification consequent upon that event, "and the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name. shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, (i. e. my delight is in her) and thy land Beulah (i. e. married); for Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married." (lxii. 2, 3, 4) Now when there is a perfect union of love and wisdom in human minds, i. e. when men will and love to do what the truth in their understanding teaches them to be right, then they have within themselves the celestial marriage of goodness and truth. They are then a true church-the delight of Jehovah; and as "the Bride, the Lamb's wife," they are conjoined to the Lord, who is the Husband of the Church. Then the land is married.