Therefore my people have gone into captivity,
Because they have no knowledge;
Their honorable men are famished,
And their multitude dried up with thirst.
Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself
And opened its mouth
beyond measure; (Isaiah 5: 13,14).
This article may be challenge to absorb
because it involves a very spiritual and essential concept of the universe, but
it is well woth it. I will do my best to make it concise, and I hope you will
take the time to meditate on it.
Equilibrium is a term that applies to all
life, and I want to show it here in its most important context – the loss of
equilibrium due to an overabundance of evil that led to the incarnation of the
Lord. Equilibrium is fundamental to the structure of the universe. (This
understanding is pioneered by Swedenborg.) On a cosmic level, the Lord
maintains equilibrium between heaven and hell and governs both by his might
alone. A single man or woman fighting against the forces of evil on his own is
like a fly against a giant; there is no chance without the Lord. Before the
Lord was born there was an accumulating darkness. As people died and entered
the spiritual world, even if they were good, evil spirits intercepted them by
artful deceptions and led them into their false heaven. These suedo heavens
were in the spiritual world which is between heaven and hell. Once evil began
to tip the tables in their favor, their power increased and increased. The
over accumulation of spirits (people) in hell, and in this suedo-heaven
eventually caused a dark cloud between heaven and earth that greatly blocked
the reception of heavenly influx to humanity. This is what is meant by “Sheol
has enlarged itself and opened its mouth beyond measure”. Here is another verse
that refers to the loss of equilibrium between heaven and hell:
For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places (John 6:12).
This verse refers to evil forces
infulttrating and occupying heaven; ‘high places’ meaning heaven. They were like
a murading army ransacking the first levels of heaven, taking residence, and
deceiving the people in a thousand horrid ways. Matthew describes this when he
says “And from the days
of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the
violent take it by force” (Mat. 11:12). The
power of evil was overwhelming heaven. When this happens a measure of freedom
is lost. Freedom on earth exists at the pinnacle of the balance between heaven
and hell. When equilibrium is lost so is freedom. Under normal circumstances
neither the angels of heaven nor the demons of hell can compel human beings one
way or the other, but both can influence within the laws of freedom. During
life it is up to each person to will and choose their way as they are exposed
to the influences of heaven and hell. Thus freedom is the very means of
salvation, and it is also the cause of hell. It is the cause of hell because
freedom of will is total and complete; the consequences are real, otherwise
freedom would not be real, and life would not be real. The structure of the
whole universe is based on this equilibrium between heaven and hell. The Lord
maintains equilibrium, subjugating evil and keeping heaven in divine order with
His omnipotent power for the sake of human freedom. Understanding this is a
profound key to understanding the nature of the universe, history, and the
Bible. If Jesus had not come and reversed the process, the over-abundance of
evil would have progressed until humanity was consumed in total darkness.
A similar loss of equilibrium took place at
the time of Noah. The story of Noah describes how the whole earth was becoming
wicked, that is, the over-accumulation of evil was on the verge destroying the
entire human race. The Lord solved the problem by wiping out the wicked with a
flood, and using Noah and his family as the seed of the new human race. He
started over with Noah and his family, and the pairs of animals. This process
of renewing from a remnant is called ‘remains’ in the Bible. Noah, his family
and the pairs of animals were the remains from which the Lord started a new
church with true charity in it. On an individual level the word ‘remains’
refers to the innocence from love stored on a person’s soul from childhood from
which the Lord works to regenerate the whole person. So the collective sense it
refers to the few left in a society who still possess true charity in their
heart by which the Lord can establish a new church. After the Lord destroyed
the people at the time of Noah the Lord promised he would never destroy people
wholesale ever again, so when the loss of equilibrium took place again at the
end of the representative Jewish church, the Lord chose to be born on earth in
order to redeem humanity and put all things back into order.
It is often asked, why did the Lord choose
or need to be born on earth? I beeive the answer can be approached from
understanding how essential freedom is to salvation. God in his essence cannot
approach a person or angel without destroying them. As the scripture says, no
man can look upon God and live. It is like a person approaching the sun, the
pure love of the Lord would destroy them. In the soul and the body of every
human being there is hereditary evil, and this evil shrivels and burns in the
presence of the pure good and love of the Lord. This is why in the Bible every
time the glorified presence of Jesus appears those around make themselves
postrate to him. By being born on earth Jesus became ‘the bridge’. He made God
accessible to humanity. If instead God had waved his hand and made earth a
paradise it would mean nothing, because in that case people would have done
nothing from their own will. A bond only forms recipricaly. The Lord himself
operated within the laws of freedom during his life on earth so that people
could ‘become’ from themselves in a reciprical way.
An important scripture which speaks to the
inevitable of equilibrium in the universe and our place in it - is this: “Woe unto the world because of
offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by
whom the offence cometh!” Freedom speaks to the essence of being human, yet
from freedom it is inevitale that there will be evil, because their are
consequences to freedom. In equilibrium, in the battle between good and evil,
is the only way life can exist! There must be contrast and variety for there to
be life, growth, and perception. From the nature of the Lord there is infinite
variety and divine order, therefore there is continual contrast and meaning in
life. If everthing were monotone as in a white-out or black-out, there would be
no perception or individual identity. Nevertheless, this philosophical truth does
not take away from the terrible consequences of evil choices in life. This is
what is meant by, ‘woe to that man by whom the offence cometh’. In the battle
between good in evil it is paramount that we favor the good in our heart,
whether it bears fruit or not - we must still try.
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