“For each lamb there was a minchah consisting of one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil; and the wine for the drink offering was a quarter of a hin.
For each ram there was a minchah consisting of two tenths [of an ephah of fine flour, and a third of a hin of oil; and a third of a hin of wine for the drink offering.
For each young bull there was a minchah consisting of three tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil, a half of a hin; and half of a hin of wine for the drink offering” – Exodus 29: 40-42
“The Lord said that the kingdom of the heavens is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened” (Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:21).
The natural process of ‘leavening’ corresponds to the spiritual action of innocence in the soul. In leavening yeast acts as a catalyst that causes the combination of flour, heat, and oil to rise; the separate ingredients are fermented into the usefulness and delightful substance of bread. Similarly, innocence in the soul, initiates the body, mind and affections into a union that brings about an elevated spiritual state. One rises from a selfish state, into a more mature state of the soul. If we inwardly pursue the half-conscience feeling of innocence inside us, the presence of Innocence begins to cause evil to consume evil, thus to remove evil in our body and soul. The presence of innocence causes an ‘inner crises’, an anxiety, for it exposes evil, and allows the perception of evil; and thus, one must inwardly make a choice. This process causes a transformation from an ignorant to an elevated perception.
The innocence in us is called remains, because they are dormant in our soul while we are consumed in the activity of the world. The remains is the innocence stored in us from childhood, when we loved our parents, our playmates, in a pure and unconditional way. These remains are in the memory of our mind and soul, and can be felt and remembered. Our spiritual memory is in our soul and never goes away; our natural memory is in our body (brain) and deteriorates in time. Remains give us a moral compose because it has an innate knowledge of heavenly principle – but it must be remembered, felt and ‘mined’. It must be valued and processed from our own will and desire. In valuing God we value our soul and our remains and visa versa. God is received through the innocence in our remains. As we grow the remains must merge into our intelligence and whole soul for us to mature in our walk with God, – like the tiny shoots the reach out from a seed into the warmth, moist soil, and eventually become a tree.
When the presence of innocence clashes with evil, it causes an inner anxiety which initiates a struggle, known as a temptation. We have to fight within ourself for which will win, which will dominate in our soul. We have the ability in our will to choose, but it’s a battle. Sometimes we take a step forward and sometimes a step back. The step back can cause an even deeper crisis. (A lot of people have to hit bottom before they really change). In the process we are influenced by outside people and circumstance, and by inward influences. In this life we are always in the balance of good and evil. God is received through the presence of innocence in our soul, and He is also works his providence in the world around us. God operates in a place out of the reach of our consciousness, and he does so for a good reason, which is, that we must choose which way we go in freedom. He uses the stimulation of evil to remove evil. This forces us to become aware, which is painful, but it is a productive pain that leads to awareness and maturity if we go through it. We can also choose to not to grow through it, thus keeping the innocence dormant and the evil dominant.
As an example, I am writing this by mining the feelings in my own soul. I am deeply observing the pains and inspirations stirring in my soul; and using my mind to articulate and interpret them, to bring them to awareness. The principles of the Word are ‘written in our soul’ and accessble through approaching them in humility (and innocence is the heart of humility). By reading the Word, the yearning for truth is stimulated, and the knowledge of truth is sometimes seeded and sometimes comes to fruition. I must inwardly meditate and fight for the awareness to come. Everyone can do this. This is what is meant by ‘when we read the Word, the Word is reading our soul’. Jesus is the living Word and our inner teacher, and orchestrates all of this.
This is why it is a fallacy when external minded Christians say, ‘Don’t use your reasoning but just believe the scriptures. This is true in the sense that the scriptures are the container and source of truth, BUT THEY MUST BE PROCESSED THROUGH SOUL AND APPLIED TO LIFE. Love and wisdom only exist in the receptacle of the human soul.
The Lord said to use all of our strength, body, mind and soul to come to him. I have been describing doing this. We have no choice. The scriptures are made to nourish the soul of Man, and they can only be processed in the soul of Man.
All of this is why on this site I am always encouraging people with questions like, ‘what does this scripture mean?’; ‘How has this scripture been important in your life?’ We need to take time to reflect, and struggle with articulating these things in our own soul. But a lot of people are likes stones; they don’t want to penetrate into the inner work and meaning. A lot of people just want to take the easy way and remain external and comfortable.
There are many levels to heaven for those who approach the internal sense. For instance, Swedenborg reveals part of the internal meaning to the above scripture:
“The reason why the proportions of fine flour, oil, and wine for a lamb should be different from those for a ram or for a young bull was that a lamb meant the inmost good of innocence, a ram the middle good of innocence, and a young bull the lowest or external good of innocence. For there are three heavens – the inmost, the middle, and the lowest – and therefore also there are three degrees of the good of innocence. The increase of it from first to last is meant by the increase in the proportions of fine flour, oil, and wine. It should be remembered that the good of innocence is the very soul of heaven, because that good alone is the recipient of the love, charity, and faith which constitute the heavens.”
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