The chapter starts with a firm statement “The Lower Self is judged by God.” This is intended
to make it clear to the initiated that this chapter, and indeed the whole relationship between God and the Lower Self, is
governed by the Law of Justice – not by the Law of Love[1]. Ultimately “the Lower Self is swallowed up”
– that is to say it becomes one with the Higher Self, whilst the “brutish nature is judged in Hell and consumed”.
This reveals to us the true role of Hell. It is not there to punish wrongdoers, but rather to consume
the “brutish nature” that they have accrued. The “brutish nature” is in effect the accumulated evil
of its past wickednesses, but let us explain in a little more detail.
A spirit only finds itself in Hell because it has predominantly done evil deeds rather than good.
As a result, once it has cast aside its Physical and Astral Bodies and starts to function in its Spirit Form alone that Form
is composed largely of darkness, rather than of light. Hence it falls
into the Realms of Darkness, which we on earth call Hell.
Still, however, there remains within it the Divine Spark, buried indeed, beneath many layers of sin,
but itself as pure as ever. In Hell, as the sinner is gradually
brought to repent of his sin, this form of spiritual darkness is consumed, leaving the Divine Spark, clothed only in
whatever small amount of goodness it may have still left to itself.[2] This, however, is enough to enabled him to rise up out of Hell, and eventually
leave it behind.
All that is left of his spirit form is the little good that he has done, but this then becomes the
nucleus around which his new spirit form of light can grow, and grow it does, for as we are told, “that which remains
is nourished in the spirit planes”. Thus, purged of evil by its
sufferings in Hell, and nourished once more by the Divine Life Force, the soul is enabled to advance once more and eventually
it is reborn on earth.
Verses 4 & 5 then consider how the primitive spirit would have fallen into such a state, and the
reason is quite clear. He has been “speeding away alone after passions and power.”
In other words, instead of doing good deeds he has been “speeding away alone” or as we might say, separating
himself from God and he has been doing this basically because he has been seeking to satisfy his earthly passions and/or to
increase his own worldly power, which in many cases are virtually the same thing
Such actions are literally a turning away from God, and here they are described “contending against
the life-force of the Father”. Quite literally, when the Lower Self leads the spirit astray in such a way, it is swimming
against the spiritual life force which the Father constantly pours forth upon all Creation, for this Divine Grace[3] is designed to draw all His children life back to Him. Such actions lead to “ruin
on the crooked path” as has already been considered.
Having considered what happens to the spirit of a bad man in Hell, verse 6 indicates that even here
on earth this sort of evil feelings and actions can seriously corrupt the soul.
Interestingly we are told that they “assume its shape” or form, just as we know happens
on the Spirit Plane. There, of course it is obvious, but because on earth it still has a physical body and its spirit form
cannot be seen by most of its fellow humans this is not immediately apparent.
We are also told that they “cover it like a garment keeping it away from Heaven and the Divine
Life Force.” In other words, because we have free-will, even God Himself cannot reach us if we resolutely turn our backs
on Him and His Grace.
In verse 7 we are told that “This outer garment of pride leads to a desire for dominion over
others”. Clearly this is the most basic desire of pride – and when pride is occupying such a dominant place in
our minds we will always seek to advance ourselves at the expense of others. Thus pride also spawns selfishness as well as
many other serious vices.
In an earlier place we noted that in primitive souls, pride can sometimes be a help in acquiring the
most basic lessons of the Human state, but we also said that in older souls pride can be a deadly fault, and clearly this
is what is illustrated here. By the time that a soul has reached the point of being able to choose between God and the world,
pride, in any form, will always lead it to turn away from God. This is what has happened to the soul in this case.
Yet even the Lower Self is not irrevocably set in the ways of the world – certainly it is not
evil, and it is the duty of the guide to try to save as many souls as possible from the results of their own folly. At times
his efforts may not bear fruit, yet at others he may convert a sinner from the evil of his ways, so that like “a firebrand
plucked out of the burning”(Amos 4; 11) he may be saved from the fate that
threatens him. This, however, is only possible if the guide is alert to signs that the sinner may be ready to respond to his
help and acts upon them.
Verse 8 refers to one such sign; it is the “The desire for Grace” and this is often demonstrated
only in a half-joking way[4]. However we should always be on the look-out for some small indication that an apparently
worldly soul may be nearly ready to begin thinking about God.
The reference to the “nibbling of a mouse” is an interesting idiom, carried through from
the Hebrew, and can perhaps be compared with the way that today we sometimes describe an uneasy conscience as being Itchy,
Uneasy, Prickling or Nagging[5]. The nibbling of a mouse is something that is so quiet that it may almost pass unheard,
yet if not heeded the mouse will eventually gnaw its way through the wall and in some circumstances, may destroy some important
support structure and thus bring down the whole house. Thus it is with the desire for grace. If this desire in a sinner is
constantly fed by those who care for his spiritual well-being, it will grow, and remember that “the Lord of Grace hears
even the cry of a mouse”. Thus we can see that even the least desire for Grace allows at least some Grace to be sent,
and that often produces a desire for more, so that, with a little help, even the worst the sinner can be saved if only he
can be led to desire it.
God, however, is not limited to helping souls on earth. He is equally responsive “even to the scream of anguish from Hell”, and the mere fact that a soul in Hell
is suffering, may well become the means of leading it to turn again to God.
The resulting process of repentance and recovery may take a long time, but the ultimate result, as
we are told, in verse 10 is that “God’s goodness heals them all”.
God will not force us to do good things, for He has given us each Free Will, but whether we be in Hell
or still on earth He will seek “Seek after those who repent, granting them the waters of life and goodness”, but
note that He can only do so when we repent.
As long as we remain fixed in our opposition to God, He will not force us to do well but as soon as
we begin to repent He is only too willing to help us to change. The result
of such help is often dramatic, for giving to the sinner “the water of life and goodness” produces “children
of God”.
This, of course can be taken metaphorically, but it is also significant that in the oldest parts of
the Bible the phrase “Sons of God” is used to refer to Angels (Job 38;
7) and this passage indicates a knowledge that eventually the sinner will be transformed, not just into a Saint, but into
one of the Angels of God.
One of the key differences between one who is pre-occupied with physical things and one who is more
spiritual is that he lacks self-control. He allows the physical needs of his body and his bodily desires to dominate him,
rather than subordinating them to the higher aspects of life. Therefore if we are to raise ourselves to the heights of the
spirit we must learn to control the body so that it becomes our slave and not our master, for as a slave, it will serve us
well, but as a master it becomes harsh and tyrannous, constantly demanding more and more effort to satisfy its every-increasing
expectations.
In such circumstances, as we are told, the physical man “pursues evil till it becomes his abode”,
for once having surrendered to the demands of the material world, its control over him steadily increases until it becomes
almost unshakeable.
This is what Verse 13 means when it tells us that “He becomes fixed in evil as strongly as an
oak tree is fixed in the ground”. Oaks are known for their strong
roots and tough wood. Their branches may at times be damaged by major storms but it is only occasionally that the whole tree
is uprooted, and even then it is usually only if the soil surrounding the roots has been softened or loosened beforehand.
Alternatively the roots themselves may have been damaged in some way, so that they break off and though parts of the roots
remain behind in the earth, the tree itself falls.
So it is with the man who is strongly rooted in physical desires – only a great storm that not
only shakes his convictions but damages the physical circumstances surrounding him, is likely to separate him from those desires.
That does not mean however that he is satisfied by them – quite the contrary in fat, for “he
has been distracted from his true purpose which is the pursuit of Righteousness.” We all realise that worldly pursuits
do not bring true or lasting happiness, and that the pursuit of Righteousness can do so, but we may well ask what exactly
this means?
Verse 15 gives us the answer; “Righteousness is the service of God: and it is His precious gift
to mankind”. In other words it is the opportunity to comprehend God and to desire to serve Him by aiding his fellow
mortals that distinguishes God’s relationship with mankind from His concern for lesser creatures. It is indeed a most
precious gift, but it is one that is only given to His human children and among them only to those who have earned the right
by being capable to receive it. For remember, the mere fact that we can understand and believe in God and recognise an opportunity
to serve Him, is a state that has only been reached after many lives of struggle.
Therefore if we find ourselves with this opportunity, let us embrace it. God’s service is an
ever-present duty, not merely a pious aspiration for the future and it is only when we cease following our own wishes and
try to do what God wants that we can really achieve happiness. Once we realise this, and desire to serve Him, God will not
fail to provide us with opportunities to do so. This is a key point, we either take the opportunity of working for Him when
He offers it to us, or we reject it, and if we reject it once, it may be long before the offer is repeated. The exact nature
of such an “offer of service” matters not. Undoubtedly it varied even in the times of Melchizedek, and certainly,
today the service of God can take an enormous variety of forms.
However, whatever the form, the chance to serve God is a great gift that is not offered to all people,
but only to those who have earned it. If such fail to accept the offer when it is given, that in effect is a direct turning-away
from the “Path of Righteousness”. Physical Man may turn away, for God has given him Free Will, but if he does
so to a major degree, it may be many lives before the opportunity of treading the Path is given to him again. However, if
he “gathers it in and makes use of it” he may journey swiftly towards his goal. Not that the Physical Man will
always turn from sinner to Saint in a single incarnation, but if he makes the most of each of the opportunities for service
that are given to him, then more will come. And if he continues to make the most of these, the end of his journey will draw
rapidly nearer.
This Physical man that we have been talking about is not just the physical body – it is the “Lower
Self,” and although the Lower Self has a pre-occupation with the physical, the Lower Self is not limited to the physical
Plane The demands of the physical world may still affect souls after death. On the Astral Plane, the materialist tends to
try to recreate a physical world rather than adapting himself to life on that Plane. If he persists in this view then when
the time comes for him to pass to the Spirit Plane, he will continue to do so thereon, dwelling among other non-believers
in that division of Hell where materialists congregate
[1]
It
is only when it has learned the lessons pertaining to the Law of Justice that the Lower Self can even begin to appreciate
the Law of Love and it is only through its Higher Self that any Soul can come to work under that Higher Law
[2]
For
even the worst sinner has done some good and although it may be utterly submerged in a far greater mass of evil, yet it cannot
be destroyed, but remains clinging desperately to the Divine Spark and when that evil is stripped away in Hell, it remains
ready to help the Spark begin again.
[3]
In
Christian Literature, this Divine Life Force, is usually called Grace but this is rarely so in the Old Testament, although
Proverbs 3; 34, “he giveth grace unto the lowly”, provides an exception.
[4]
For
instance I have often been told “Father, if I were to come to Church the building would fall down”. Sometimes
this means what it says, “I have no intention of ever coming to church”, but at other times it is begging to be
contradicted, and even if one is unsure, one should always try to take up the challenge, for many people who have initially
spoken like this, are indeed, in later life, “saved as a brand from the burning”.
[5]
How
often does an apparently bad man conceal a terrible crime, perhaps a murder, for many years, but eventually his conscience
“gets the better of him” and he tells someone about it. This may or may not result in his conviction, but it is
done in an attempt to “ease his conscience”. Thus the “nibbling
of a mouse” may eventually produce results, though often only after many years.
