09. Natural Law in the Spirit World
The difference between "Plant" and "Animal" life is, that the "Plant" has not "conscious" life, while the "Animal" has. The difference between "Animal" life and "Human" life is, that while animals have "conscious" life, a soul, man has more: he has a LIVING soul, that is a soul in which dwells a "SPIRIT." Gen. 2:7. While man differs from a beast in having a "Spirit," yet he is as to his body only an ANIMAL. That is, his body is formed on the same general plan, and governed by the same laws, and its organs, and functions of respiration, digestion, and assimilation, are the same as those of an animal. When the Apostle Paul speaks of the "Natural" body (1 Cor. 15:44) he refers to the "Animal" body, and when he speaks of the "Spiritual" body, he means a MATERIAL BODY adapted to the realm of the "Spirit World," for the "Spirit World" is just as much MATERIAL as the "Natural World" in which we dwell. We cannot imagine heavenly beings and places without material forms and substances. The only difference is that the bodies of "Spirit Beings" are adapted to the "Spirit World," just as the bodies of fish are adapted to the world of water, and the bodies of birds to the world of air. This is beautifully brought out by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:39-40. "All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of MEN, another flesh of BEASTS, another of FISHES, and another of BIRDS. There are also 'CELESTIAL BODIES' (Spirit bodies), and 'BODIES TERRESTRIAL' (Human bodies); but the glory of the CELESTIAL is one, and the glory of the TERRESTRIAL is another." We know that there are all kinds and varieties of flesh; "FISH-flesh," "BIRD-flesh," "BEAST-flesh," and "HUMAN-flesh," and of "Beast-flesh" there is beef, venison, pork, mutton, etc. Why this great variety of
NATURAL LAW IN THE SPIRIT WORLD flesh? The answer is that each kind of flesh is adapted to the needs and habitation of the creature to which it belongs. From this we see that our "Human" body is adapted to this physical world in which we now live, and at the resurrection we shall receive a body adapted to the "Spirit World." The unborn child has life, but not conscious life, its life is suited to its habitation. As soon as the child is born it finds itself in a new environment of vast extent, and with laws that completely change the character of its being. Through its five senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing, it realizes that it is in a new world for which those senses adapt it.
We must not forget that in the Natural world, under certain conditions, one law may counteract another law. For illustration we may lay on a table a piece of steel, and suspend a foot or two above it a piece of steel in the form of a horse-shoe magnet, to which is attached a wire that leads to an electric battery. As long as the magnet remains demagnetized, the "Law of Gravitation" will hold the piece of steel firmly to the table, but the moment we magnetize the magnet, by turning on the current from the electric battery, the "Law of Magnetism" will overcome the "Law of Gravitation" and lift the piece of steel from the table and hold it suspended in the air. But the moment we turn off the current from the battery, the "Law of Magnetism" is withdrawn, and the "Law of Gravitation," no longer overpowered, again comes into play, and the piece of steel falls to the table. Apply this illustration to the Resurrection of Lazarus. Lazarus had come under the power of the "Law of Death," but when Jesus brought into play the higher law of "Resurrection" Lazarus was restored to life, but when later the "Law of Resurrection" was withdrawn Lazarus came again under the "Law of Death," and died the second time.
The "Natural World" and the "Spirit World" lie close together and there is an overlapping of their laws. In fact the laws of the "Spirit World" are only "natural laws" of a higher order. A miracle is not something contrary to nature, but the working of a higher law, that, thus far, is contrary to our experience. When we reach
NATURAL LAW IN THE SPIRIT WORLD the "Spirit World" we shall find that what we now look upon as miracles are simply the working of the natural laws of the "Spirit World." For illustration suppose that we should take a trip to some tropical country in a submarine boat on which is a machine for manufacturing ice. Suppose the natives had never seen or heard of a submarine boat or an ice-machine, and a few days after our arrival we should invite the Chief and a few of the head men of the tribe to come on board. We tell them that in the country from which we came that at certain times of the year water becomes solid. They laugh at us and say it is impossible, for they have never seen it so. We show them the ice-machine and, putting some water in pans, we place the pans in the machine and in a little time take them out and empty from them solid cakes of ice. The natives are dumbfounded. They call it a miracle. Was it a miracle? No. It was simply the working of a law with which we are familiar, but of which they knew nothing. If we told them that in our country they "imprisoned" the songs and music of the people on recording plates and cylinders, so they could be reproduced at any time, and that we could speak for miles over a wire, they would declare it impossible. But when we started a Graphophone and they heard the sound of the human voice, and placing the receiver of a Telephone at their ear they heard the voice of an invisible person, they would declare it a miracle, would it be so? If to cap the climax we should tell them that we were going to take a trip under water, they would declare it impossible. That nothing but fish could live under water. But while we are talking orders are quietly given, the hatches are closed, the machinery is set in motion, the vessel dives downward into the sea, and through the lookout portholes the natives see the fish and submarine animals swimming in the sea, and they watch as we pass by sea ferns, and coral beds, and survey the landscape of the ocean's bed. And when after an hour's run we rise buoyantly to the surface of the sea, and they find themselves almost out of sight of land, but safe, they call it a miracle. Was it? No. It was simply the working of higher laws than
NATURAL LAW IN THE SPIRIT WORLD those natives knew anything about. To them we seemed to be a higher race of beings come from another world with a knowledge of certain laws that they knew nothing about.
Now apply these simple illustrations to the "Spirit World" and is it not clear that what to us appears miraculous is only the working of natural laws with which we as yet have not become acquainted. Take the Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus by His crucifixion came under the power of the "Law of Death," but on account of His Deity He could not be "holden" of death (Acts 2:23-24), and through the greater power of the "Law of Resurrection" He was delivered from Joseph's tomb. When Jesus Ascended we are told that He was "taken up." Acts 1:9-11. That is, the "Law of Ascension" overcame the "Law of Gravitation." Jesus could no more have remained on earth than the buoyancy of a mass of cork could be overcome by piling tons of seawater upon it. So we see that there is a law of "Celestial Gravitation" as well as a law of "Terrestrial Gravitation."
IX
The Relation of the Spirit World to the Natural World
Much of the miraculous and strange phenomena of the Scriptures can be explained when we understand the relation of the "Spirit World" to the "Natural World." Take for instance the "Fall" of the Walls of the City of Jericho. Joshua 6:1-27. We are told that the Children of Israel were commanded to march around the City once each day for six days, and on the seventh day they were to compass it seven times, and then a long blast on a "Ram's Horn" was to be the signal for them to shout and the walls would fall down so they could take the city. This literally occurred. Now what is the explanation? Some claim that the walls were thrown down by an earthquake that was timed to occur at the "Psychological Moment" when the people shouted. If this be true, there was never an earthquake before or since like it, for only the walls of the city fell down, not a dwelling house was disturbed, nor any persons killed, and the part of the wall where Rahab lived, which was protected by the "Red Cord" in the window lattice, a type of the "Blood," was not thrown down. Others claim that the walls were thrown down by "Concussion," caused by the "blare" of trumpets, and the "shout" of the people. That is, the trumpets and voices of the people were "keyed" to the note of the walls and caused them to vibrate until they fell. But the fallacy of this explanation is seen in that Joshua never resorted to such a method to throw down the walls of other cities. What then is the explanation? We must go back a few verses into the preceding chapter to get the setting of the miracle. In Joshua 5:13 we read that when Joshua was about to besiege Jericho he was met by a "man" with a drawn sword in His hand.
THE SPIRIT AND NATURAL WORLD
When Joshua asked Him whether He was a friend or an enemy, He replied that He was
"THE CAPTAIN
OF THE HOST OF THE LORD,"
and as He commanded Joshua to take off his shoes, because the place where he stood was holy (vs. 15), the "MAN" was the same that commanded Moses to take off his shoes at the "Burning Bush" (Ex. 3:1-6), or Jesus before His Incarnation.
In the interview that followed (Joshua 6:2-5) Joshua was told the part he was to play in the taking of the city, in which he was to be aided by the "Armies of Heaven" under the command of their "Captain," the "Lord of Hosts." So when Joshua and the people had fulfilled their part, at the sound of the Trumpet, the co-operating and invisible angelic army under the command of their Captain, the "Lord of Hosts," threw down the walls of the city excepting the part upon which the house of Rahab was built. Joshua 6:22-25.
As confirmation of this view we turn to 1 Chron. 14:13-17. The Philistines had spread themselves over the valley, and King David inquired of God as to what to do, and God said unto him—"Go not up after them: turn away from them, and come upon them over against the 'Mulberry Trees.' And it shall be, when thou shalt hear a sound of 'GOING' in the TOPS of the 'Mulberry Trees,' that then thou shalt go out to battle: for GOD IS GONE FORTH BEFORE THEE TO SMITE THE HOST OF THE PHILISTINES." Here we see the co-operation of an "Angelic Army," whose presence would be made known by the sound of "going," or marching of troops, in the tops of the Mulberry Trees, and it was really the "Angelic Army" that swept on before the "Army of David," that smote the Philistines that day.
THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM
When Jesus was about to be born, some "Wise Men" in the East saw a peculiar "Star" in the heavens, which indicated to them the nearness of His birth. They at
THE SPIRIT AND NATURAL WORLD once departed for Jerusalem, and naturally expecting that the "King of the Jews" would be born in a palace, they went to the home of King Herod. Not finding Him there they were directed to Bethlehem. When they started for Bethlehem the "Star" that they had seen in the "Eastern Country" reappeared and "went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was." Matt. 2:9. The "Star" then disappeared. What was that "Star"? Some claim that it was a "special star" that appeared for the purpose; others that it was the conjunction of three stars or planets; others that it was a comet or meteor, but none of these explanations fulfil the conditions. First the "Star" must have presented some peculiar appearance to attract the attention of the "Wise Men." Then it must have been a moving star, for when they left Jerusalem it reappeared and "went before them" as a guide to Bethlehem, and "stood" over the house (presumably not far above it), where the infant Jesus was, so as to point out the exact place, and then it disappeared. The only satisfactory explanation of the peculiar movement of the "Star" is that it was an "ANGEL" who assumed the form of a star. We know that angels were busy visiting the earth in those days. The angel Gabriel announced to Zacharias the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:11-17), and to Mary the birth of Jesus (Luke 1:26-35). And it was an angel that announced the birth of Jesus to the Shepherds. Luke 2:8-11. Why not an angel then direct the "Wise Men"?
What more appropriate form could the angel assume than that of a "STAR." The "Wise Men" were from the East, from Babylon and Persia, the country of the Captivity of Israel. They may have been of the Jewish remnant left there, and acquainted with the prophecies relating to the Messiah, among them that of Balaam, who foretold as a "sign" that there should come a
"STAR OUT OF JACOB."
Num. 24:15-17.
The form of a "Star" then was the most appropriate the angel could assume to arouse the interest of the "Wise Men." In fact only a "Star Angel" could move
THE SPIRIT AND NATURAL WORLD about in the heavens and guide them to the exact spot where the child Jesus lay.
This interpretation is confirmed by other instances in which angels assumed a "Star Form." In the Book of Revelation (Rev. 9:1), we read that when the Fifth Angel sounded his Trumpet, that the Apostle John saw a "STAR" fall from Heaven. But it was not a literal star, for in the same sentence he says, "to HIM (the star) was given the 'Key' of the Bottomless Pit." A literal star could not handle a "key" or "open a door." So we see that the "Star" that guided the "Wise Men" was not a real star, but an "Angel," who for prophetic reasons assumed the form of a star.
THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS
The "Ministry of Angels" is seen all through the Scriptures. They are not only sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:13-14), and to keep them in the way, and bear them up lest they dash their foot against a stone (Psa. 91:11-12), but they minister in other ways. The Cherubim were placed as guardians over the Garden of Eden, lest men should enter and eat of the "Tree of Life." Gen. 3:24. When the time came to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah two angels were sent to deliver Lot and destroy those two cities. Gen. 19:1-29. At Bethel Jacob saw the angels ascending and descending. Gen. 28:10-19. As Elijah lay under a Juniper tree despondent and praying that he might die, an angel brought him bread and water. 1 Kings 19:4-8. When Elisha was besieged at Dothan the angelic hosts were sent to deliver him, which they did by smiting the enemy with blindness. 2 Kings 6:13-18. The Angel of the Lord smote in one night 185,000 of the army of Sennacherib the King of Assyria. 2 Kings 19:32-36. When Daniel was thrown into the "Lions' Den" God sent an angel to close the lions' mouths. Dan. 6:19-22. It was an angel that warned Joseph to flee into Egypt with the child Jesus, and when to bring Him back. Matt. 2:13, 19. After Jesus had fasted 40 days angels came and ministered unto Him.
THE SPIRIT AND NATURAL WORLD
Matt. 4:11. And at the close of His sufferings in Gethsemane an angel appeared to strengthen Him. Luke 22:43. It was an angel that liberated the Apostles from prison (Acts 5:19, 12:5-10), and that notified the Apostle Paul that he, and all who sailed with him, would be saved from shipwreck. Acts 27:21-24. At the close of "The Great Tribulation" the Son of Man shall "send His angels with a great sound of a Trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt. 24:31. At the end of the Age the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just (Matt. 13:47-50), and when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, His "Mighty Angels" shall come with Him, and execute His vengeance upon them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thess. 1:7-8. Lastly, as the heavens are peopled with the "Principalities and Powers of Evil," and Paradise the abode of the "Righteous Dead" is now in the "Third Heaven," we shall need the convoy of "Good Angels" as a bodyguard to protect us from these evil and malicious Spirits, when at death our Soul takes its flight to Paradise.
THE TABERNACLE
OUTER COURT
X
Man's Relation to the Spirit-World
Man in his physical and spiritual makeup, was made for two worlds, the Physical and the Spirit world. Writing to the Thessalonians Paul says,
"I pray God your whole 'Spirit' and 'Soul' and 'Body' be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thess. 5 : 23.
Writing to the Hebrews he says—
"The Word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of 'Soul' and 'Spirit,' and of the 'Joints and Marrow' (body), and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb. 4 : 12.
From these references we see that man is a Trinity, and is composed of "Body," "Soul," and "Spirit." Man was made in the "Image of God" and God is a Trinity.
The Tabernacle was a tent surrounded by a court, which court was enclosed by a curtain fence. (See diagram of the Tabernacle.) The tent was divided into two parts, one twice the length of the other, by a "veil" or curtain. The larger part was entered from without by a curtained doorway, and contained the "Table of Shewbread," the "Altar of Incense," and the "Seven-Branched Candlestick." This part was called the "Holy Place." The smaller part was entered from the "Holy Place" through the "veil" or dividing curtain, and contained the "Ark of the Covenant," on the lid of which, between the "Cherubims," God took up His residence in the "Shekinah Glory." This part was called the "Most Holy Place." There were no windows in the Tabernacle, and the only entrance was through the curtained doorway into the