RAIN >> Natural Truths in Practical Life

 And, as the water which is absorbed by the air, and which goes up in the clouds, returns to the earth, in the rain, so the natural truth, which is lifted up in our  minds, by the warmth of love, and the moving of thought, descends again, in its clearer application to all the details of our practical life. And as the rain fertilizes the earth, so the return of truth fertilizes our minds. "As the rain cometh down, and the snow, from the heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater ; so shall My Word be, that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper whereto I sent it." (Isaiah Iv. lo, ii.) And, again, "My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as showers upon the grass." (Deut. xxxii. 2.)

The streams of the waters of truth flow together, and unite themselves into rivers, broad and deep streams of generally-known and acknowledged truths, the streams of enlightened public opinion, which, when pure and good, fertilize the things of human life, and afford a medium of communication, in men's mental intercourse. And all the rivers of truth and knowledge unite, to pour their riches into the grand sea of the memory, where all truths are collected. Either by flowing water, or by steam, much of our machinery is operated. And so the machinery of our minds is operated, in the mental work of daily life, by the various forms of natural truth. The steam of our minds is the intense activity of the truth, when warmed by the fire of love, and put to practical use by suitable methods, or mental machinery. As many of the useful things of earthly life are destroyed or damaged by floods of water, so, in our mental life, the destructive floods of truths abused and perverted into falsities, overflow our minds, and break down the good, the useful, and the peaceful things of orderly and regenerate life. All the floods spoken of in the letter of the Scriptures, spiritually teach us about these floods of false principles and spiritual insanities, which break out upon the sinful mind, and carry spiritual devastation in their path.

Many things are said of floods which cannot be literally true of physical floods. In Psalm cxxiv. 2-7, we read, "If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us; then the waters had overwhelmed us ; the stream had gone over our soul ; then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be Jehovah, who has not given us a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped, as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers : the snare is broken, and we are escaped." Here the danger is especially said to be to men's souls, not to their bodies. Again, in Psalm Ixix. i, 2, we read, "Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing : I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me."

We read, in Matthew xxiii. 15, "Woe unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and land, to make one proselyte." Men make proselytes by their teachings. And bad men make proselytes by false persuasions. The "sea and land" which they compass, are in the minds of men. The waters of the sea are the truths, and the land is the good, which these evil men seek to defile, and to undermine, in the minds of others.

In Isaiah Ixii. 4, 5, we read, "Thou shalt not any more be termed Forsaken ; neither shall thy land anymore be termed Desolate : but thou shall be called Hephzi-bah [my delight], and thy land Beulah [married] . For Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. ... As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." The marriage of our land is the spiritual marriage, or inward union, of good in our hearts with truth in our intellects. In this spiritual marriage, men are united with the Lord. The Lord is the Bridegroom, and the church is the bride. And this is accomplished by the marriage of our good affections with the corresponding truth of the Lord.

Author: Edward Craig Mitchell From Scripture Symbolism 1904