"They will be divided; three against two and two against three"
As stated, one wanted to explain sons and daughters differently this year; with reference to verses hinging on the numbers two and three. But in order to explain two and three, one had first to explain 'name'. So we will now jump into the verse one had in mind in order properly to substantiate these matters:
"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).
The literal sense of this verse can be seen clearly enough. It does not matter if people meet in a large group or a small group, in a cathedral or by a river, in a forest or in a living room; because what matters to God is people hearing and doing the Word while facilitating the hearing and doing of the Word for others.
God does not really care about fancy buildings: humans do. God does not really care about fancy rituals: humans do. If two people share bread and wine on a wooden pier or in a factory cafeteria, what matters is not the location but whether or not these people are genuinely applying the truths of the Word to shun sin and error, welcome good and truth, and bear much fruit of good deeds and of duties well discharged.
But the verse contains layers of meaning at which we will now look. We covered the term 'name' and how it represents the quality of something; and how the name of the Lord represents all the qualities, the goods and truths, which He embodies and for which He stands. So people who gather in His name have not merely congregated and engaged in the pious-sounding use of His name; but rather are such people as to some real extent embody that name by receiving His love and wisdom and sharing and practicing these in their lives.
In addition, the numbers two and three reinforce this meaning; because two when in direct association with three in a verse means good or conversely evil, and three in direct association with two in a verse means truth or conversely falsehood.
In the Word of God, every number means something, from the simplest to the most complex; and the meaning of even a single number will depend on the context in which it occurs. Even numbers will tend to mean goods or evils; while odd numbers will tend to mean truths or falsehoods. Larger numbers will tend to have the same meaning as their factors, so that 12000 will have basically the same meaning as 1200, 120, and 12; and in all these cases will involve the complex of all the goods and truths which are His name and which constitute His Church.
So when 2 and 3 are gathered in His name, and His being in the midst of them, this refers to His being with everyone who receives His goods and truths and practices them in life; because such people, and only such people, are "in His name".
Let us now look at Isaiah:
"Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel" (Isaiah 17:6).
In this case, the two or three berries that are left refer to the few people towards the end of a Church who continue to have genuine goods and truths; for not everyone succumbs to the general rot, and those few -- those two or three berries -- are the class of people whom we commonly refer to as a 'righteous remnant'. Such people can be salvaged, and will be taken by the Lord into the New Church as the Old Church perishes; just like the disciples of Jesus were taken onto the ark of Christianity as the Jewish boat spiritually sank.
This too has been said about people towards the end of a dying Church:
"So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD" (Amos 4:8).
Cities involve doctrine and water means divine truth. The two or three cities refer to the few who still have some residue of good and truth; whose quest for more substantial information as to theory and practice runs into the problem of not finding it and therefore not being satisfied.
Ditto Zechariah:
"8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God" (Zechariah 13:8-9).
This refers to de facto death of good in the Church -- "two parts therein shall be cut off and die" -- even as some truth remains, eg "the third shall be left therein". And such truth as remains will be brought through the fire because fire equals love; and unless that truth has to do with becoming more loving of God and the neighbor, then it is not genuine truth. Gold too refers to righteousness or love; and their refinement to becoming more loving while being purified of sin that drives away such love.
Again we see the term name, because those in the loves of the Lord and the truths about those loves are in His name and call on His name. As mentioned, think of the disciples. They had a little truth, and thus recognized the Truth in person when He came; and He brought them into purifying experiences, through fire, so as to make the truth they possessed relevant to them in terms of love.
Now we will look at what, if you like, may be termed a synonym of such pointed usages of two and three in one verse, this time using three and four:
"11 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever" (Amos 1:11).
From our discussion of Cain's slaying Abel, as the separation of truth from charity -- "Am I my brother's keeper?" -- it should be very clear that pursuing one's brother with the sword involves using some falsehood or twisted truth to justify not being charitable and loving towards those whose keeper, in that sense, one most definitely constitutes.
The three transgressions here involve spiritual falsehoods; while the four transgressions involve evils.
This is even clearer in the other mention of the same three and four transgressions in Amos:
"Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked" (Amos 2:4).
Remember what one said, that the three and four involve error and sin respectively; which can here be plainly seen defined as "lies caused them to err" and "despised the law of the Lord".
In this context, remember too what one said about odd numbers tending to refer to truth or falsehood; while even numbers tend to refer to good or evil; and also to the fact that a number like 4 has the same meaning as its factors, being 2 and 2.
So now, at long last, one can properly teach this verse and thus substantiate the meaning of sons as truths and of daughters as goods in the Word:
"51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law" (Luke 12:51-53).
Remember what the Lord inspired Jeremiah to say?
"10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul" (Jeremiah 4:10).
Essentially, hey! Those angels were singing about our forthcoming peace on earth!
Of course we can have peace, just as the student can have a diploma or degree, if we pass the grueling series of spiritual exams which sufficiently prepare us to live peacefully in the land of peace...
Now then, let us return to the numbers in the verse so that the context can clearly be seen. The Lord said that three would be against two and two against three, which signifies that errors and sins would combat against truths and goods in states of temptation.
As we read in the Apocalypse Explained, "father signifies the good of the church, son the truth of the church, mother the truth of the church, and daughter its good" (Apocalypse Explained 532). So with this information in hand, the battle of these goods and truths with the sins and errors which they would expel and replace can clearly be seen; and make perfect sense as the turbulence of spiritual combat without which we cannot be regenerated and enter Heaven.
Perhaps now it will make more sense what the Lord says about the 3rd and 4th generations:
"5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me" (Exodus 20:5).
For this verse does not in any way involve punishing children for their parents' sins, as the Lord explains openly in Ezekiel:
"20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son" (Ezekiel 18:20).
We must therefore acknowledge another meaning to visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and four generation; and that meaning may be found in the usual error and sin of those who hate Him and whose behavior and ideation preclude the marriage of love and wisdom; the opposite of which has here been compared to jealousy.
This journey through the meaning of these numbers in relation to otherwise quite enigmatic verses has been a pleasure, and one hopes that it will be useful in better understanding the Word; in which every number and thing whatever has such meanings as have here been expounded. Be it so, amen!
Comments
Post a Comment