new church life: november/december 2017
1. Seeking Enlightenment
The first is to acknowledge that we need help from the Lord to understand
His Word. We could turn to the fourth law of Divine Providence, which tells
us: “It is a law of Divine providence that people be led and taught by the Lord
from heaven through the Word and through doctrine and preaching from the
Word, and this to all appearance as though of themselves.” (Divine Providence,
heading to 154ff)
One major message of this law is that “the Lord teaches a person by
enlightenment,” this being His direct path of light into our lives. (Ibid. 165) It
matters not that we receive the Word through the agency of others (preachers,
teachers, parents, etc.), for it is the Lord who teaches us by means of these
people. (Ibid.72:4) It also matters not, evidently, what part of the Word we are
talking about – Old Testament, New Testament, or Heavenly Doctrines – as
all qualify as “the Word” and therefore require the Lord’s enlightenment to
understand.
A companion teaching comes in the work De Verbo, describing three
things that we need, in order to see the spiritual sense of the Word: the doctrine
of genuine truth, the knowledge of correspondences, and enlightenment (n.
21). I would suggest that the former two have been given to us by means of
the Heavenly Doctrines, but that the latter element comes only from the Lord.
If, therefore, we require enlightenment from the Lord to be able to draw
meaning from His Word, it follows that we should seek that enlightenment.
It could usefully be noted that enlightenment is available to all people who
turn to the Word with a desire to understand its meaning for their lives. (See
Apocalypse Revealed 224) An inspiring teaching along these lines is: “Read the
Word and believe in the Lord, and you will see the truths that must be those of
your faith and life.” (Ibid. 224:3)
2. Going Back to the Text, Repeatedly
There are four powerful Scriptures that illustrate the message that we need
the Word as a continuous point of reference. The first comes in the Lord’s
commission of Joshua:
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in
it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For
then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
(Emphasis added, Joshua 1:8)
The second Scripture comes during the time of King Josiah, when Hilkiah
found the Book of the Law. (2 Kings 22:8) We know that it had been lost and
neglected, and that the people had strayed significantly from its commands.
We know too that Josiah led a full reform of Judah, leading to these words of
praise:
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