Page:The Parable of Creation.djvu/89

Rh its meaning, he sees at a glance the figurative reasons for its taking that form. Knowing that it was given for the sake of its spiritual meaning only, he views the expressions as fully harmonious with that purpose. He may go even further and admit the force of a natural figurative meaning underlying the other which will harmonize these statements with the facts of known science. But the basic truth is that its primary form, force and meaning is spiritual.

And now let us see what the natural figures are that are here used, and what they spiritually mean.

On this fourth day there are lights set up in the firmament of heaven. They are placed there to give light upon the earth; and to divide the day from the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. When we remember that the firmament of heaven typifies the spiritual mind, that is to say, the faculty of discerning spiritual things, the significance of these newly created objects becomes manifest. According to the laws of Divine symbolism, the sun is the symbol of love; the moon of faith, and the stars of knowledge. But as these are of little value except as they are directed to the Lord and derived from Him, the sun is frequently used to denote the Lord as the object of our love, the moon to denote the Lord as the object of our faith, and the stars to signify our knowledge concerning