Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 2.pdf/125



N the Scriptures, beasts and birds are mentioned very frequently, and in such connection with the spiritual things of heaven and the church, as to convince the reflecting mind that they refer not only to the animals so named, but to man, and to his affections and thoughts. Beasts of the field, and the birds of the heaven, are named to denote the affections and thoughts of the mind; each affection, whether good or bad, being denoted as to its quality by some particular beast: and each thought, whether true or false, by some particular bird. As the covenant of God is made with man, and operates upon his affections and thoughts, so we read in Hosea ii. 18, that the Lord "will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven."

All unclean and savage beasts are, in Scripture, named to denote evil and polluted affections; while the clean and the gentle represent the good and heavenly desires; the degrees in each being expressed by the different animals. So also, birds of prey, and birds of night, are the emblems of evil thoughts, with their obscurities and perversions; while those of gentle habits, of rich plumage, or song, are emblems of the heavenly thoughts of the regenerate man. It is from this signification of beasts and birds, that the clean of