CHAPTER IV.

THE SEVENTH DAY, A CELESTIAL STATE OF MAN.

Gen. ii. 1. "There is one law of criticism, the most important to the thorough understanding of any work. It is that, by which we should be led, by continued habits of mind and action, to approximate to that intellectual and moral condition in which the work originated. - The Bible has mind for its subject, that condition of mind, which is heaven, for its object, and the Father of mind for its Author.". Growth of the Mind, by SAMSON REED.

A KNOWLEDGE of things pertaining to the natural world, is to be ́ procured by the natural powers of men. Supernatural communications are not required to inform us of points in science, philosophy, or history. Narratives, literally expressing such things, may be employed as the vehicle for higher information, and thence derive a sanctity; the parties writing them may, also, have been sensibly directed in the selection of such external vehicles, nevertheless, they do not properly come within the idea of having required supernatural discovery.

A revelation is necessary to bring us acquainted with spiritual things, because they are beyond the reach of the ordinary efforts of the human mind, nor can such things be expressed, in natural language, in any other way than as types and figures; and therefore, what has been said concerning the "creation," is but a brief example of that representative and significant writing, which prevails through every document that delivers an actual revelation. It is the spiritual truths contained within the letter of the Word, which properly constitutes a revelation from God, and the Scriptures are said to be inspired, in consequence of the presence of such truths. Thus, the Word itself is an inspired writing, apart from the abnormal or inspired condition of the individual, by whose instrumentality it was produced. The letter is only the natural and symbolical continent, employed for the delivery of spiritual truth to man.

We do not suppose, that in the preceding exposition, we have anticipated every objection, that may be raised against the literal sense; or, that we have so stated its spiritual meaning, as to remove every difficulty, which may lay in the way of its immediate adoption to effect these results, a more enlarged and particular treatment of the subject would be required, than we proposed to undertake. What has been set forth are only a few of the gen

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DEVELOPMENT OF REGENERATION.

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eral points contained in the chapter, leaving a very large amount of its particular arcana altogether unreferred to. The object has been to place the subject in such a light, as to enable the ordinary thinker to see, at least, some general resemblance, between the literal description, and the spiritual process, through which a successive development of human principles, finally resulted in man becoming an image of the Divine.

This process we have spoken of as a development. It might have been called regeneration, and we should have adopted that term, if we had not contemplated some probable confusion by its use. Regeneration, indeed, considered in an enlarged and proper sense, is a development of all the human excellences; but then it is commonly used to express man's attainment of those graces after he had fallen, and therefore, in treating of that portion of the Scriptures, which speaks of him before that calamity had taken place, it was felt that the expression, development, would exclude that idea, and so enable us to employ the word regeneration, in its more general acceptation, when we come to consider the events by which that calamity was succeeded.

Hitherto we have considered the process, by which man was successively raised, as it were, out of a state of nothingness, as to spiritual life, into its full possession and enjoyment. The SPIRITUAL life of man is that, in which all his affections and thoughts are regulated and determined into act, by a clear understanding of the laws and rules of religious duty. In other words, man becomes SPIRITUAL, when he becomes good, by means of truth teaching him what good is. In this case, he becomes a practical reflector of the Divine wisdom, and thence he is called the image of God. This was his condition upon the sixth day.

But a seventh day is next treated of, in which a higher state is contemplated. This was a condition of CELESTIAL life, in which there is rest and peace, in consequence of the Lord having become the primary object of human love. He who loves the Lord above all things, and from that love perceives and does what is good and true, in all the descending varieties of duty, is a CELESTIAL MAN. It is a development of the highest condition of humanity on earth. To accomplish this, was the great design of all God's providential works; and the realization of it is expressed, as being the attainment of the seventh day; hence the Lord is stated to have ended his work and rested thereon; also, to have blessed and sanctified it. That the seventh day is expressive of this exalted state of

man, and thus a realization of the Divine purpose on earth respecting him, must be pretty evident to the reflecting. For God cannot be said to have "ended his work," and "rested," in any ordinary sense of those terms. The perpetuation of nature is as much a Divine work as was that of its origination; and, therefore, supposing the narration to refer to mundane things, the statement that he ended his work on the seventh day, does not agree with the truth, that he is continually working for its preservation. To this it may be indeed replied, that the statement ought to be understood, only as expressing the end of the work, by which nature was originated. But if this were granted, the difficulty is not removed; for after this, God is described to have caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, to have taken a rib out of his side and built it into a woman. The expression, therefore, will not bear such a construction. Neither can it be supposed that rest could be required, unless we venture to predicate fatigue of the Omnipotent, which will be scarcely attempted.

It is easy, then, to see, that by God ending his work, and resting on the seventh day, is a symbolic method of expressing the idea, that the Divine purpose in human development was so far completed, and thus, that the Divine love was satisfied; the rest, not being a cessation of those active providences, by which it had been brought about, but a holy satisfaction with their result.

It is admitted, that the seventh day, in this narrative, cannot mean the seventh day, in the ordinary sense of that expression, because that which is described as the six preceding days, are not days in the ordinary sense; and therefore, the seventh day, from the circumstances of man, with which it is connected, must be regarded as the emblem of some exalted state. Cruden observes, that this word seven, is used in the Scriptures as a number of perfection, and that in the sacred books and religion of the Jews, a great number of events and mysterious circumstances are set forth by it. (Concordance, Art. Seven.) It may be useful to cite an instance or two, in which it is employed, without any reference to its numeral import. Thus Isaiah, speaking of the future glory of the church, says, "In that day, seven women shall take hold of one man;" (Isaiah iv. 1;) where, by seven women, are denoted an exalted state of the affections, and by their taking hold of one man, is signified their attachment to, and acknowledgment of the Lord, as that one Divine Being, whom the prophet beheld as 66 one man." (Daniel x. 5. Marginal reading.) Again, it is written,

HOW THE SABBATH IS HOLY?

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"She, that hath borne seven, languisheth;" (Jeremiah xv. 9;) to signify that the church, in which sanctified affection had been conspicuous, was now declining The Lamb, which was beheld in the midst of the throne, is said to have "had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God:" (Rev. v. 6:) to denote the perfection of power and wisdom, by which the Lord is distinguished and thus it is evident, that the number seven, is used to denote completeness and perfection.

The seventh day was afterwards called the sabbath, which word means rest, in the original tongue: it also includes the idea of peace. The rest and peace, which God is said to have had, on the sabbath day, signify that merciful repose and heavenly tranquillity, which are experienced on the part of man, when he rests in the delights of superior wisdom, and enjoys the peace of exalted virtue; they are plainly the Divine rest and peace within him, and they are predicated of God, to indicate that their existence in man is from him.

Almost every one has some idea, more or less distinct, of the number seven denoting something that is holy. This may have originated in the circumstance of the sabbath being the seventh day; nevertheless, it cannot be the holiness of the day; for what distinction, in that respect, can exist among the seven? Therefore, it must be some presumed states of holiness in man, specially exhibited on this day, which is the ground of this idea. Holiness, indeed, belongeth to the Lord alone, and therefore, He is the essential Sabbath; (Mark ii. 28;) consequently, man, so far as he is receptive of holiness from him, may also be considered as a sabbath, by virtue of that excellence.

It is on account of this signification of the seventh or sabbath day, that under the representative economy, it was commanded, that no work should be done thereon. They, who attain the celestial state, are not, like the spiritual man, to be engaged in the labor, which attends the learning of spiritual truths and duty by an external way; because, possessing the love of God above all things, which is the highest sentiment of humanity, they will at perceive what is wise and good, from an internal dictate. Thus the law, which is prohibitory in the letter, declares a blessing in its spirit and the prohibition was delivered, in order to provide a means conducive to the blessing.

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Under the same significant dispensation, there was a law, declaring that the transgressor of the sabbath should be put to death.

(Exodus xxxv. 2.) This, indeed, appears a fierce and sanguinary enactment, nor was its letter ever designed for perpetual obligation. It was written for the sake of representing, and so revealing, a spiritual truth, which every one may see to be rational in its nature and continually in force. The sabbath, in the highest sense, is the Lord himself, because He is himself that essential rest and peace, which the word expresses: to violate the sabbath, in this sense, is to reject the Lord, by sinning against him, and thereby to incur the penalty of spiritual death.

Hence, then, it is evident that the seventh day, in the subject before us, is mentioned to express the holiness of man, on his attainment of the celestial state. And thus we learn, that the second chapter of Genesis is designed to treat of man, under an aspect superior to that in which he is spoken of in the first. It was seen, that the divine proposition was to create man in his own image and likeness, but that it was the image only which was then effected: the production of the likeness was to be a subsequent work, and this is distinctly declared to have been accomplished. (Gen. v. 1.) It came into existence with man's sabbatical state. He was an "image," in his spiritual degree of life, because he was good from the teachings of wisdom: but he was a likeness," in his celestial degree of life, because he was good from the impulses of love.

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The first chapter of Genesis treats of the creation of the image, or spiritual state; the second chapter describes the creation of the likeness, or celestial state. And this at once accounts for the circumstance, of there being two descriptions of the creation, marked by somewhat different and distinctive features. Each treats of its own subject: and therefore, we may observe even a difference of terms applied to both man and God. The Supreme Being, in respect to the spiritual man, is called by the single name God, but in reference to the celestial man, he is called Lord God. Also, man's external nature, in the former case, is denominated earth, but in the latter, it is spoken of as the ground:* and this is the man of whom it is said, "the Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives; and he became a living soul." The living soul, here spoken of, does not specifically refer to that

*The reader is desired to verify these remarkable facts, by referring to the first chapter throughout, up to the third verse of the second, and from thence to the commencement of the fall.

+ Gen. ii. 7.

"Lives," plural, is the true rendering of the original.