6502. 'And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians' means preservation from evils which would hinder it, that is to say, the joining together. This is clear from the meaning of 'commanding' as flowing into, dealt with in 5732; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal, dealt with just above in 6499; and from the meaning of 'the physicians' as preservation from evils (for it is apparent from the train of thought here that the preservation is from evils which would hinder the joining together referred to immediately above in 6501). From all this it is evident that 'Joseph commanded his servants the physicians' means an influx from the internal regarding preservation from evils which would hinder the joining together. The reason why 'the physicians' means preservation from evils is that in the spiritual world 'sicknesses' are evils and falsities. Spiritual diseases are nothing else, for evils and falsities rob the internal man of good health; they introduce mental disorders and at length states of depression. Nothing else is meant in the Word by 'sicknesses'.

[2] In the Word 'physicians', 'medicine', and 'medicaments' mean forms of preservation from evils and falsities. This is clear from places where they are mentioned, as in Moses,

If you obediently hear the voice of your God, and do what is good in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will not put on you any sickness that I put on the Egyptians; for I, Jehovah, am your Physician. Exodus 15:26.

'Jehovah the Physician' stands for the preserver from evils; for these evils are meant by 'sicknesses on the Egyptians'. The fact that 'sicknesses on the Egyptians' means evils and falsities that arise when people reason about the arcana of faith on the basis of factual knowledge and false notions will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown where those sicknesses are dealt with. But spiritual ones are meant, as is evident from its being said that if they heard the voice of God, did what was good, gave ear to His precepts, and kept His statutes, none of those sicknesses would be put on them.

[3] In addition the Lord calls Himself 'a Physician' in the same sense in Luke,

Those who are healthy have no need of a physician but those who are ill. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:31, 32

Here also 'a physician' stands for a preserver from evils; for 'those who are healthy' is used to mean the righteous, and 'those who are ill' sinners. In Jeremiah,

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of My people? ¹ Jeremiah 8:22.

'A physician' stands for preservation from falsities in the Church, for 'the health of the daughter of My people' is the truth of doctrine there.

[4] In the Word healing, cures, remedies, and medicaments are spoken of not in a natural but in a spiritual sense, as is evident in Jeremiah,

Why have You stricken us so that there is no remedy for us? Await peace, but no good comes; a time of healing, but behold, terror. Jeremiah 14:19; 8:15.

In the same prophet,

I will bring health and curing to it, ² and I will heal them, and reveal to them the crown of peace, and truth. Jeremiah 33:6.

In the same prophet,

There is none judging your judgement for healthiness; you have no restorative medicaments. Jeremiah 30:13.

In the same prophet,

Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have multiplied medicaments; there is no healing for you. Jeremiah 46:11.

[5] In Ezekiel,

Beside the river there is rising up upon its bank, on this side and on that, every tree for food, whose leaf does not fall and whose fruit does not fail; it is reborn monthly, for its waters are flowing out from the sanctuary, wherefore its fruit is for food, and its leaf for a medicament. Ezekiel 47:12.

Here the prophet is describing a new house of God or a new temple, by which a new Church is meant, and in a more internal sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom. Therefore by 'the river upon whose bank there is rising up every tree for food' is meant things that belong to intelligence and wisdom, 108, 109, 2702, 3051 - 'trees' are perceptions and recognition of what is good and true, 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 2972, 4552; 'food' is forms of good and truths themselves, 680, 4459, 5147, 5293, 5576, 5915; 'waters going out from the sanctuary' are truths that compose intelligence, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668; 'the sanctuary' is celestial love, and in the highest sense the Lord's Divine Human, which is the source of that love; 'fruits which are for food' means forms of the good of love, 917, 983, 2846, 2847, 3146; and 'leaf which is for a medicament' means the truth of faith, 885. From this it is evident what 'a medicament' means, namely that which preserves from falsities and from evils; for the truth of faith, when it leads to goodness of life because it leads away from evil, acts as a preserver.

Poznámky pod čarou:

"In Judah is God known, His name is great in Israel. In Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place is Zion. There brake He the arrows of the bow, the shield and the sword and the battle." Psalm 76:1-3

Additional readings: Ezekiel 47:1-9, Luke 6:27-49

Judah and Israel, the two great divisions of the Holy Land, represent the two division of the human mind, the will and the understanding.

The Scripture quoted in our text means that the Lord dwells in the wills and minds of those who love, know, and keep the truths of His Word, and protects them from evil and falsity.

The peoples of the world are living under a great strain. There is need of national self-control and self-sacrifice. The conditions which exist in the world today are the result of internal changes that have been going on ever since the Second Coming of the Lord. A new era in the world’s life began with the new revelation of the Lord through Moses and the Prophets. A new era was introduced by the coming of the Lord in the flesh. Every era that is really new has its beginning in a revelation from the Lord. This is true of the era into which the world has now entered. The essence of this new era was the opening of the inner meaning of the Word. The Writings do not indulge in particular prophesies, but in them the statement is made that the results would be endless and incalculable.

We are living in a spiritual and moral atmosphere altogether different from that which prevailed two centuries ago. Less than twenty years after the Second Coming occurred one of the important and decisive events in modern history, namely the American Revolution, whereby the United States were not only freed from their dependence upon Great Britain, but were enabled to establish on a scale previously impracticable a republican form of government. Hard upon this followed the revolution in France, which affected society to its foundations, and overthrew for France and for many other nations all belief in the Divine right of kings.

With the formation of a republic came the idea of universal education. If people are to govern themselves, education becomes a necessity. Emancipated from priestly surveillance, with all the sources of knowledge thrown upon to all men, their souls freed, their heart kindled with new hopes and aspiration, what wonderful progress has been made in the last two hundred years! The conditions of external human life have been revolutionized. With the use of machinery one man can do the work of fifty, or of a thousand in some fields. All these things have been brought about within so short a period, almost within one man’s lifetime, and follow each other with such rapidity, that we can only hold our breath in amazement and ask, "What next?" Thus, so far as external matters are concerned, the prophecy has been fulfilled.

These changes are so familiar that the recital of them would be superfluous. But the transformation does not stop at this point. It is not limited to matters of natural and worldly import. To all who have eyes to see and ears to hear it is obvious that the spiritual beliefs of men have changed. The eighteenth century forms of belief have not been openly repudiated, and their influence is felt in no small degree, but many of the old beliefs excite disquietude, faith in them has been shaken, and new ideas receive more and more favor.

Dishonesty and fraud still exist. Anger, hatred, envy, lust, hypocrisy are enemies to Christian life that have not been overcome, but there is a growing belief that these things, practiced even in secret, are not compatible with salvation or with happiness. The Church is beginning to cultivate a broader charity, and the thoughts of not a few are eagerly turning to some future time of universal Christian love and brotherhood. Yet this time is still a great way off. With all its progress, the world is still far from peace either external or internal.

Then the question is asked, "What is the world’s greatest need?" It would seem that a little reflection would lead all to agree that the only possible answer is the recognition and acknowledgment of the Lord as the one great and only source of life, who creates all men with faculties capable of receiving all the blessings of peace and happiness.

Yet humanity is suffering, suffering from wounds it has inflicted upon itself. It is obvious that something is the matter. Just what that something is it cannot tell, and it will look in vain for guidance to its own intelligence and devices. Many and various remedies are suggested, but few seem to think of the One Divine Physician who alone can heal the wounds.

The Church is at fault here. There is little clear belief about the Lord or in the divinity of the Word. Without much beliefs there are no fixed standards. It is of no use to say, "I believe in the Lord" and not seek to learn and do His will. The Lord is the source of all life. He is the central fact and foundation of all human activities. He must become more to us than a mere name, for if He is not made central in our lives, He will not rule in them. Without the Lord the world would drift on without any guiding principle or power other than the achievement of its own selfish ends, with hopeless confusion and conflict as the result. This is the state in which much of the world finds itself today.

"In Judah is God known, His name in great in Israel." Israel represents intellectual acknowledgment of God: Judah the acknowledgment of God in the heart, the doing of His will. Israel and Judah can exist together, but separated they fall. There may be an intellectual acceptance of Christian truth while in practical life the Lord is to a large extent ruled out of court; hence there is strife and struggle, sorrow and distress, destruction and war.

"In Judah is God known, His name is great in Israel." The Lord has made Himself known to us through the Scriptures. From Israel and Judah came the prophets, through whom the Scriptures were given, and in the Gospels and the Book of Revelation are given the record of the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.

Toward the close of His life on earth, the Lord said to Philip, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). The Lord has been a long time with us, yet the question, "Hast thou not known Me?" still applies. He reveals Himself to us in the Scriptures, and is present with us as we see Him there and keep His teachings. But we must get the real meaning of the Scriptures to see God, and we cannot know the truth of the Scriptures until we have lived it.

We are living in turbulent times. A new world is slowly and painfully coming into being. Or is the world rushing to destruction? We should be able to give a confident answer because the strength and vitality of the Word have been revealed by the Lord in His Second Advent.

Diplomacy will not bring peace, neither will the mailed fist, nor will rationalism, atheism, or mysticism, nor the worship of men or saints. In this age these will be weighed in the balance and found wanting. Salvation will be found only through the opened Word of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself" (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27). The observance of outer forms alone will not suffice. Our minds and hearts must worship Him as well as our bodies. There must be knowledge of the Lord in the mind and love of the Lord in the heart.

One of the precepts of the Word is "Love your enemies." This is a searching exposure and a fearful condemnation of modern policy. Our religion is not measured by our conduct toward our friends. The acid test is the spirit in which we deal with the enemy. "For if you love them which love you, what thank have ye, for sinners also love those that love them" (Matthew 5:46, Luke 6:32).

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). We are not asked to be infinitely perfect, but finitely perfect: that our knowledge and love make one, that we apply to life what we know to be true, and so copy in our finite way the perfection that is in the Lord. That is the way of salvation for the individual and for groups of individuals. The world may reply, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?" (2 Kings 5:12). Cannot the wisdom, the craft, the diplomacy, the power of statesmen and of armies, of economists born, bred, and educated in the problems of the world politics suffice? The Church must surely answer, "They cannot suffice." One thing only has saving power, and that is the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, the truths of the Word made known to the mind and accepted in the heart.

We must not form our principles from our daily papers, or from the books of men. For the folly of selfish interests and worldly wisdom will finally be proved with what suffering and agony we shall not live to know--and in the end the Word of the Lord will be heard. Then, tired of folly and in a humble and contrite spirit, will we come to the sanctity of those laws revealed by the Lord.