200. 3. It is the spiritual meaning that makes the Word divinely inspired and holy in every word. People in the church say that the Word is holy because the Lord Jehovah spoke it. In the literal meaning by itself, however, the Word's holiness is not apparent. Therefore once people come to doubt its holiness, afterward when they read the Word they find many things in it that convince them to doubt further. They say to themselves, "Is this holy? Is this divine?" Thoughts like this, flowing into many people and growing stronger, create the risk that the Word may be rejected as a worthless document and that the Lord's connection to these people may come to an end. The Lord has chosen to reveal the Word's spiritual meaning now so as to prevent this, and so that people will know where in the Word the divine holiness lies.
Examples will illustrate: In one verse the Word will mention Egypt; in another, Assyria; in others, Edom, Moab, the children of Ammon, the Philistines, Tyre and Sidon, and Gog. If people do not realize that the names of these places and people mean aspects of heaven and the church, they could be misled to think that the Word has much to say about peoples and nations and only a little to say about heaven and the church; that it has much to say on worldly topics and little to say on heavenly topics. When people know what those places and their names mean, however, they can be brought back from their error to the truth.
[2] Likewise people see that the Word frequently mentions gardens, groves, and forests, as well as trees such as olives, grapevines, cedars, poplars, and oaks. It often mentions lambs, sheep, goats, calves, and oxen; and also mountains, hills, and valleys; and springs, rivers, bodies of water, and other such things. Those who know nothing about the Word's spiritual meaning cannot help believing that those actual things are what is meant. They do not know that a garden, a grove, and a forest mean wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge; an olive, a grapevine, a cedar, a poplar, and an oak mean the heavenly, the spiritual, the rational, the earthly, and the sensory forms of good and truth in the church. A lamb, a sheep, a goat, a calf, and an ox mean innocence, goodwill, and earthly feelings. Mountains, hills, and valleys mean the higher, the lower, and the lowest aspects of the church.
[3] Egypt means scholarly study; Assyria, our rational faculty; Edom, our earthly aspect. Moab means the contamination of what is good; the children of Ammon mean the contamination of what is true. The Philistines mean faith without goodwill; Tyre and Sidon mean our concepts of goodness and truth; and Gog means external worship that lacks anything deeper. Generally speaking, Jacob in the Word means the earthly aspect of the church, Israel means the spiritual aspect of the church, and Judah means the heavenly aspect of the church.
When we know all this, we are able to think that the Word deals only with heavenly topics, and the worldly details in it are only outer things that have heavenly things inside them.
[4] Let us take an example from the Word as an illustration: We read in Isaiah,
On that day there will be a pathway from Egypt into Assyria so that Assyria can go into Egypt and Egypt into Assyria. The Egyptians will serve with Assyria. On that day Israel will be part of a group of three with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the middle of the land. Jehovah Sabaoth will bless that group of three, saying, "Blessed be my people Egypt, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my blessing. " (Isaiah 19:23-25)
Spiritually these words mean that when the Lord's coming occurs, scholarly study, rationality, and spirituality are going to become one. Scholarly study will then serve rationality, and both of them will serve spirituality. (As I have said, Egypt means scholarly study, Assyria means rationality, and Israel means spirituality.) The "day" being named twice means the Lord's First Coming and his Second Coming.
