908. 'Every wild animal of all flesh that is with you' means everything that has been made living within the member of this Church. This is clear from the fact that 'wild animal' refers to Noah, the member of this Church who has now been regenerated, and plainly has reference to the things that follow, namely to 'birds, beasts, and creeping thing that creeps', for the words used are 'every wild animal of all flesh that is with you - birds, and beasts, and every creeping thing that creeps over the earth'. In the original language the word for wild animal strictly speaking means life or that which is living; but when used in the Word it means not only that which is living but also that which in one sense is not living, or a wild animal. Consequently unless a person is acquainted with the internal sense of the Word he cannot always know what is meant. The reason it carries both meanings is that the member of the Most Ancient Church, in humiliating himself before the Lord, acknowledged that he himself was not living, not even a domestic beast, but an animal living in the wild, for he knew that man is such when regarded in himself or as to the proprium. Consequently the same word means that which is living and also means a wild animal.
[2] As to its meaning that which is living, this is clear in David,
Your wild animals will dwell in it (the inheritance of God); You, O God, will strengthen the needy with Your goodness. Psalms 68:10.
Here, because he is to dwell in the inheritance of God, nothing else is meant by 'wild animal' than a regenerate person, and so, as is the case here, that which is alive in him. In the same author,
Every wild animal of the forest is mine, beasts on mountains of thousands; I know every bird of the mountains, and the wild animal of My field is with Me. Psalms 50:10-11.
Here too 'wild animal of the field with Me', that is, with God, stands for a regenerate person and so for things with him that are alive. In Ezekiel,
In its branches all the birds of the air 1
made their nests, and under its branches every wild animal of the field gave birth. Ezekiel 31:6.
This refers to the formation of the spiritual Church and so stands for things with the member of the Church that are alive. In Hosea,
I will make a covenant on that day with the wild animals of the field and with the birds of the air. 1
Hosea 2:18.
This refers to people who are to be regenerated, with whom a covenant is to be made. Indeed the application of 'wild animal' to that which is alive extends even to the cherubs or angels seen by Ezekiel being called four wild animals, in Ezekiel 1:5, 13-15, 19; 10:15.
[3] That 'wild animal' in the contrary sense stands in the Word for that which is not alive, or a fierce wild animal, is clear from many places. Let just the following examples serve to confirm the point: In David,
Give not the soul of Your turtle dove to the wild animal. Psalms 74:19.
In Zephaniah,
The city has become a desolation, a place for the wild animal to lie down in. Zephaniah 2:15.
In Ezekiel,
They will no more be a prey to the nations, and the wild animal of the land will not devour them. Ezekiel 34:28.
In the same prophet,
Upon its ruin will dwell every bird of the air, 1
and on its branches will be every wild animal of the field. Ezekiel 31:13.
In Hosea,
There I will devour them like a lion, the wild animals of the field will tear them apart. Hosea 13:8.
In Ezekiel,
To the wild animal of the earth, and to the birds of the air 1
have I given [you] for food. Ezekiel 19:5.
The usage recurs fairly often. Moreover since the Jews were confined solely to the sense of the letter, and understood wild animal by 'wild animal' and bird by 'bird', they did not wish to know of, still less acknowledge, the inner contents of the Word, and so receive instruction. Indeed they themselves were so cruel, and such wild animals, that they took delight in not burying enemies they had slain in battle and in exposing them to be devoured by birds and by wild animals. These things also show what a wild animal man is.
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