Chapter 9
MAN
DEVELOPS SPIRITUAL FACULTIES
GENESIS 29, 30 and 31
Charles Fillmore
Mysteries of Genesis
AN ALLEGORY is a
description of one thing under the
image of another. It suggests but does
not specifically state a meaning. A key
to its interpretation is necessary, and
this is usually given in the proper
names that are used. By the employment
of such symbols the Bible describes man
in his wholeness, spirit, soul, and
body. The names of men, places, tents,
temples in every case have a meaning
relative to the character of man.
Mental states are thus described, and
it is important that the individual who
seeks spiritual wisdom for his
regeneration shall be able to
understand the allegory by use of the
key hidden in the names.
An example of this is
the name Jacob, which means
"supplanter," one who gradually
supplants and takes the place of the
natural man in the consciousness of the
individual and of the race. To
accomplish this great work it is
necessary that the individualized I AM
shall have certain experiences and
develop certain faculties essential to
the higher-type man that is to
follow.
Mystics tell us that man
passes through twelve stages in his
spiritual development. Each of these is
a particular state of consciousness
developed by a presiding ego or
faculty. The last and highest state of
consciousness is that complete,
twelve-sided spiritual character
attained by Jesus. This final
attainment of the twelvefold man
reveals the spiritual man, the image
and likeness created in the beginning.
These states may all be active in the
individual consciousness at the same
time, but the dominant one will
indicate the point the person has
reached in his development.
Jacob was overdeveloped
intellectually and robbed his body
(Esau) of its rightful heritage of
life. This wrong was atoned for when he
divided his accumulated wealth with
Esau. In the meantime he had developed
the spiritual side of his life and had
brought forth a number of faculties
(sons).
Gen. 29:1-15. Then
Jacob went on his journey; and came
to the land of the children of the
east. And he looked, and, behold, a
well in the field, and, lo, three
flocks of sheep lying there by it;
for out of that well they watered
the flocks: and the stone upon the
well's mouth was great. And thither
were all the flocks gathered: and
they rolled the stone from the
well's mouth, and watered the
sheep, and put the stone again upon
the well's mouth in its place. And
Jacob said unto them, My brethren,
whence are ye? And they said, Of
Haran are we. And he said unto
them, Know ye Laban the son of
Nahor? And they said, We know him.
And he said unto them, Is it well
with him? And they said, It is
well: and, behold, Rachel his
daughter cometh with the sheep. And
he said, Lo, it is yet high day,
neither is it time that the cattle
should be gathered together: water
ye the sheep, and go and feed them.
And they said, We cannot, until all
the flocks be gathered together,
and they roll the stone from the
well's mouth; then we water the
sheep. While he was yet speaking
with them, Rachel came with her
father's sheep; for she kept them.
And it came to pass, when Jacob saw
Rachel the daughter of Laban his
mother's brother, and the sheep of
Laban his mother's brother, that
Jacob went near, and rolled the
stone from the well's mouth, and
watered the flock of Laban his
mother's brother. And Jacob kissed
Rachel, and lifted up his voice,
and wept. And Jacob told Rachel
that he was her father's brother,
and that he was Rebekah's son: and
she ran and told her father.
And it came to
pass, when Laban heard the tidings
of Jacob his sister's son, that he
ran to meet him, and embraced him,
and kissed him, and brought him to
his house. And he told Laban all
these things. And Laban said to
him, Surely thou art my bone and my
flesh. And he abode with him the
space of a month. And Laban said
unto Jacob, because thou art my
brother, shouldest thou therefore
serve me for nought? tell me, what
shall thy wages be?
Metaphysically
interpreted, Jacob's journeying toward
the east is a way of saying that the
illumined intellect is penetrating
deeper into the inner spiritual
consciousness. The well of water
symbolizes an innate spiritual life
capacity in the body consciousness. The
three flocks of sheep represent three
states of physical existence, each on
its own plane expressing the innocent,
obedient activity of life. The people
Jacob visits are living in Haran, the
name of which means "strong,"
"exalted," "mountaineer"; the people
being not necessarily spiritual but
having high ideals. Their concepts are
limited in expression ("they put the
stone again upon the well's mouth in
its place"). Laban represents the
unsophisticated natural man whose pure
high ideals are expressed by Rachel and
Leah (they shepherd his sheep or
thoughts). Jacob (related through his
mother to this divine-natural plane of
consciousness) now makes a closer
contact that brings about prosperity
for all concerned.
Gen. 29:16-30. And
Laban had two daughters: the name
of the elder was Leah, and the name
of the younger was Rachel. And
Leah's eyes were tender; but Rachel
was beautiful and well-favored. And
Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, I
will serve thee seven years for
Rachel thy younger daughter. And
Laban said, It is better that I
give her to thee, than that I
should give her to another man:
abide with me. And Jacob served
seven years for Rachel; and they
seemed unto him but a few days, for
the love he had to her.
And Jacob said
unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my
days are fulfilled, that I may go
in unto her. And Laban gathered
together all the men of the place,
and made a feast. And it came to
pass in the evening, that he took
Leah his daughter, and brought her
to him; and he went in unto her.
And Laban gave Zilpah his handmaid
unto his daughter Leah for a
handmaid. And it came to pass in
the morning that, behold, it was
Leah: and he said to Laban, What is
this thou hast done unto me? did
not I serve with thee for Rachel?
wherefore then has thou beguiled
me? And Laban said, It is not so
done in our place, to give the
younger before the first-born.
Fulfil the week of this one, and we
will give thee the other also for
the service which thou shalt serve
with me yet seven other years. And
Jacob did so, and fulfilled her
week: and he gave him Rachel his
daughter to wife. And Laban gave to
Rachel his daughter Bilhah his
handmaid to be her handmaid. And he
went in also unto Rachel, and he
loved also Rachel more than Leah,
and served with him yet seven other
years.
When unselfish love
touches the heart, self drops out of
the mind. Love in the heart lifts us
out of the time limitations of sense
consciousness into the joy of the
eternal present. When we forget
ourselves in the service of love, the
selflessness of God takes possession of
our being. Yet the selfless man is ever
the self-possessed man, such is the
paradox of spiritual law. The higher
self in man loves the pure natural soul
(Rachel) and works joyously to possess
it. The higher self also loves the
human part of the soul (Leah) with an
objective love and feeds it with the
enduring substance of true thought.
Jacob was true to Leah. We can sustain
the whole consciousness in health and
unfailing strength by recognizing it as
the essence of invisible
substance.
The love story of Jacob
and Rachel is one of the most beautiful
in all literature. Jacob served her
father seven years for her hand and was
then disappointed because he had to
marry her elder sister Leah. He then
served seven more years for Rachel,
which because of his great love for her
seemed but a few days.
The name Bilhah means
"bashfulness," "timidity,"
"tenderness." Bilhah represents a
tendency of the soul toward
self-abasement.
The name Zilpah means
"distilling," "leaking." Zilpah
symbolizes the unfolding soul of man in
which as yet too much of the human is
in evidence.
Gen. 29:31-35. And
Jehovah saw that Leah was hated,
and he opened her womb: but Rachel
was barren. And Leah conceived, and
bare a son, and she called his name
Reuben: for she said, Because
Jehovah hath looked upon my
affliction; for now my husband will
love me. And she conceived again,
and bare a son: and said, Because
Jehovah hath heard that I am hated,
he hath therefore given me this son
also: and she called his name
Simeon. And he conceived again, and
bare a son; and said, Now this time
will my husband be joined unto me,
because I have borne him three
sons: therefore was his name called
Levi. And she conceived again, and
bare a son: and she said, This time
will I praise Jehovah: therefore
she called his name Judah; and she
left off bearing.
The first child born to
Leah was Reuben. At his birth she
cried, "Jehovah hath looked upon my
affliction." The emphasis is on the
word looked, and we find that the name
Reuben means "a son seen," "vision of
the son." Thus the mother revealed the
character of the faculty represented by
the child, and this is likewise true in
the case of each of the
sons.
The first faculty
brought forth in man's spiritual
development is vision, the ability to
discern the reality of Spirit that lies
back of every form or symbol in the
material world. Like Jacob all Truth
seekers are anxious to develop faith
(Benjamin) to remove mountains and
imagination (Joseph) to mold substance
to their desires, but also like Jacob
they must bring forth the faculties of
seeing, hearing, feeling, praise,
judgment, strength, power,
understanding, zeal, and order on the
spiritual plane.
Simeon, the second son
of Leah, represents hearing or, in a
broader sense, receptivity. When man is
receptive to the inflow of Spirit
nothing can keep his good from him, and
he is in a position to make rapid
strides in his development.
When Levi, the third
son, was born, Leah exclaimed, "Now
this time will my husband be joined
unto me." The emphasis is on the word
joined. Levi means "uniting," which in
the body is feeling, in the soul
compassion, and in the spirit love. The
faculty of love is the unifying
principle in consciousness. It connects
our forces with that on which we center
our attention. When our attention is
focused on Spirit, these faculties
become spiritualized. When we elevate
love (Levi) to the plane of Spirit
(John), it draws to us all that the
soul requires. When it is kept on the
lower plane as feeling or emotion it
often leads to selfishness, to
indulgence, even to
violence.
The fourth son of Jacob
and Leah was Judah. In the Hebrew this
name means "praise Jehovah." In Spirit
this is prayer and the faculty of
accumulating spiritual substance. In
sense consciousness this faculty
becomes acquisitiveness, the desire to
accumulate material things, and if the
self is dominant the faculty "hath a
devil" (Judas).
Gen. 30:1-8. And
when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob
no children, Rachel envied her
sister; and she said unto Jacob,
Give me children, or else I die.
And Jacob's anger was kindled
against Rachel: and he said, Am I
in God's stead, who hath withheld
from thee the fruit of the womb?
And she said, Behold, my maid
Bilhah, go in unto her; that she
may bear upon my knees, and I also
may obtain children by her. And she
gave him Bilhah her handmaid to
wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
And Bilhah conceived, and bare
Jacob a son. And Rachel said, God
hath judged me, and hath also heard
my voice, and hath given me a son:
therefore called she his name Dan.
And Bilhah Rachel's handmaid
conceived again, and bare Jacob a
second son. And Rachel said, With
mighty wrestlings have I wrestled
with my sister, and have prevailed:
and she called his name
Naphtali.
Rachel and Bilhah
represent soul attitudes. The name
Rachel means "journeying," "migrating,"
which indicates a transitory state. In
this instance Rachel was finding fault
with Jacob (I AM). Such an attitude
thwarts the inflow of Spirit. This is
why Rachel had not
conceived.
Bilhah was modest and
teachable, consequently receptive to
Spirit. This receptivity opens the door
to spiritual inspiration, whose fruit
is good judgment (Dan) and strength of
character (Naphtali). That there is a
close relation between the physical,
mental, and spiritual aspects of
strength is shown by the fact that the
back becomes tired when thoughts of the
burdens of materiality are held. The
realization that all strength is
primarily spiritual relieves this
condition, and strength is restored.
("Lo now, his strength is in his
loins," says Job.) Man retards his
spiritual growth by his material
thinking and his mental clinging to the
things of the world. The faculties of
judgment and strength find expression
in the physical or more outer
consciousness of man, but their true
origin is Spirit, and their spiritual
nature and spiritual activity are in
due time established. The higher
expression of this faculty is
symbolized by Jesus' apostle
Andrew.
Jacob and his sons lived
several hundred years before the time
of Jesus, hence represent the eariler
stages of man's development. They were
natural men living by sense and
emotion, yet possessing great spiritual
possibilities. In the same way our
faculties in the first stages of their
unfoldment express themselves on the
lower planes of sense. Like everything
else with which we have to deal, they
have a physical, a mental, and a
spiritual side to bring into
manifestation.
The faculties evolve on
three planes. Jacob being a type of the
illumined mental, his sons especially
portray ideals. By developing our
ideals we may attain to a high degree
of human perfection. But before we can
become anything more than human or
mortal our faculties must be
spiritualized and put to work on the
heavenly plane. Just as the sense man
has reached his present stage by the
development of the senses, so the
divine man must evolve by the
development of his spiritual powers.
The faculties involved are essentially
the same, differing only as regards the
plane on which they are expressed,
since body, soul, and spirit are really
one, and are separated only in
consciousness.
Gen. 30:9-13. When
Leah saw that she had left off
bearing, she took Zilpah her
handmaid, and gave her to Jacob to
wife. And Zilpah Leah's handmaid
bare Jacob a son. And Leah said,
Fortunate! and she called his name
Gad. And Zilpah Leah's handmaid
bare Jacob a second son. And Leah
said, Happy am I! for the daughters
will call me happy: and she called
his name Asher.
Leah's maid Zilpah
(whose name means "distilling,"
"extracting an essence") was the mother
of the next two sons, Gad and Asher.
Gad symbolizes power, which at this
stage of development is on the personal
plane. Divine Mind gives man power over
his thoughts and ideas and the forces
of the soul. In the higher
consciousness this power is exercised
over the self and inner conditions
rather than over other persons and the
world without. The higher expression is
shown by the apostle Philip.
Asher symbolizes
understanding, which corresponds to
wisdom in the realm of Spirit (Thomas).
Through his knowing faculty man
acquires a body of knowledge by study
and observation of the world without.
Through the same faculty he acquires
wisdom by being receptive to the Spirit
within. Tennyson brings out this
difference clearly when he says,
"Knowledge is earthly, of the mind; but
wisdom is heavenly, of the
soul."
Jacob now had eight
sons, four by Leah, two by Bilhah, and
two by Zilpah.
Gen. 30:14-21. And
Reuben went in the days of wheat
harvest, and found mandrakes in the
field, and brought them unto his
mother Leah. Then Rachel said to
Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy
son's mandrakes. And she said unto
her, Is it a small matter that thou
hast taken away my husband? and
wouldest thou take away my son's
mandrakes also? And Rachel said,
Therefore he shall lie with thee
to-night for thy son's mandrakes.
And Jacob came from the field in
the evening, and Leah went out to
meet him, and said, Thou must come
in unto me; for I have surely hired
thee with my son's mandrakes. And
he lay with her that night. And God
hearkened unto Leah, and she
conceived, and bare Jacob a fifth
son. And Leah said, God hath given
me my hire, because I gave my
handmaid to my husband: and she
called his name Issachar. And Leah
conceived again, and bare a sixth
son to Jacob. And Leah said, God
hath endowed me with a good dowry;
now will my husband dwell with me,
because I have borne him six sons:
and she called his name Zebulun.
And afterwards she bare a daughter,
and called her name Dinah.
There is an interesting
story in connection with the birth of
the next son. In the Oriental household
where there were several wives there
were sure to be petty jealousies and
naive intrigues. Jacob spent most of
his time with Rachel since she was his
favorite. To get his attention Leah
bargained with Rachel to keep out of
the way for a while, and as a reward
gave her some mandrakes or "love
apples" that her son Reuben had brought
in to her. Leah had great zeal and was
never discouraged by her failure of her
attempts to win Jacob's favor. When the
child was born she called him Issachar,
a name meaning "there is reward."
Metaphysically he represents the
faculty of zeal, active in substance
and in the body
consciousness.
Zeal is a strong force,
the urge behind all things and the
impulse to every achievement. It sets
in motion all the machinery of the
universe to attain the object of its
desire. It should be tempered with
understanding and love, else it becomes
a destructive force. Even a criminal
may be zealous in his work.
The spiritual side of
the zeal faculty is represented by the
apostle Simon the Canaanite.
It is worthy of note
that Leah--metaphysically the human
soul as distinguished from the more
advanced soul (Rachel)--was the mother
of six or one half of Jacob's sons. The
last one she brought forth was Bebulun
(whose name means "habitation,"
"neighbor") and who symbolizes the
faculty of order. Order is the first
law of the universe. Indeed there could
be no universe unless its various parts
were kept in perfect harmony. In the
sense mind there is disorder, manifest
in confusion of thought and action,
while in Divine Mind everything is
perfect order. Therefore it is most
important, if we are to survive at all,
that our thoughts be put in order and
kept in harmony with divine
intelligence.
Even in the small
details of life, such as dress,
conversation, eating, sleeping, and
working, system and order enables one
to live a richer and fuller life. But
only in divine order can be found the
life abundant and eternal. This order
is established in our body and affairs
when we live up to the higher
convictions of our being under the
guidance of spiritual understanding. No
man-made law can be strong, true, or
exact enough to insure perfect order.
Only when man becomes conscious of who
and what he is can he exercise his
God-given dominion and bring his life
into line with the principle of divine
order, which is mind, idea, and
manifestation. The apostle James, son
of Alphaeus, symbolizes order on the
spiritual plane.
The name Dinah, the
daughter of Leah and Jacob, means
"judged," "justified," "acquitted,"
"avenged." Dinah represents the soul
side or feminine aspect of the judgment
faculty in man; it might be called
intuition, the intuition of the natural
man.
Gen. 30:22-25. And
God remembered Rachel, and God
hearkened to her, and opened her
womb. And she conceived, and bare a
son: and said, God hath taken away
my reproach: and she called his
name Joseph, saying, Jehovah add to
me another Son.
And it came to
pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph,
that Jacob said to Laban, Send me
away, that I may go unto mine own
place, and to my
country.
During all this time
Jacob had been serving his
father-in-law Laban in the country of
Haran. This was a high or mountainous
place and metaphysically denotes the
high state of consciousness in which
the individual is strengthened and
given the determination to go forward
to spiritual enlightenment and full
development. Eleven of Jacob's sons
were born in Haran, the last of whom
was Joseph, the child of Rachel, the
beloved. In the high state of spiritual
consciousness man develops the
faculties from the simple one of seeing
to that of imagination, the faculty
represented by Joseph.
Gen. 30:26-43. Give
me my wives and my children for
whom I have served thee, and let me
go: for thou knowest my service
wherewith I have served thee. And
Laban said unto him, If now I have
found favor in thine eyes, tarry:
for I have divined that Jehovah
hath blessed me for thy sake. And
he said, Appoint me thy wages, and
I will give it. And he said unto
him, Thou knowest how I have served
thee, and how thy cattle have fared
with me. For it was little which
thou hadst before I came, and it
hath increased unto a multitude;
and Jehovah hath blessed thee
whithersoever I turned: and now
when shall I provide for mine own
house also? And he said, What shall
I give thee? and Jacob said, Thou
shalt not give me aught: if thou
wilt do this thing for me, I will
again feed thy flock and keep it. I
will pass through all thy flock
to-day, removing from thence every
speckled and spotted one, and every
black one among the sheep, and the
spotted and speckled among the
goats: and of such shall be my
hire. So shall my righteousness
answer for me hereafter, when thou
shalt come concerning my hire that
is before thee: every one that is
not speckled and spotted among the
goats, and black among the sheep,
that, if found with me, shall be
counted stolen. And Laban said,
Behold, I would it might be
according to thy word. And he
removed that day the he-goats that
were ringstreaked and spotted, and
all the she-goats that were
speckled and spotted, every one
that had white in it, and all the
black ones among the sheep, and
gave them into the hand of his
sons; and he set three days'
journey betwixt himself and Jacob:
and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's
flocks.
And Jacob took
him rods of fresh poplar, ??? of
the almond and of the plane-tree;
and peeled white streaks in them,
and made the white appear which was
in the rods. And he set the rods
which he had peeled over against
the flocks in the gutters in the
watering-troughs where the flocks
came to drink; and they conceived
when they came to drink. And the
flocks conceived before the rods,
and the flocks brought forth
ringstreaked, speckled, and
spotted. And Jacob separated the
lambs, and set the faces of the
flocks toward the ringstreaked and
all the black in the flock of
Laban: and he put his own droves
apart, and put them not unto
Laban's flock. And it came to pass,
whensoever the stronger of the
flock did conceive, that Jacob laid
the rods before the eyes of the
flock in the gutters, that they
might conceive among the rods; but
when the flock were feeble, he put
them not in: so the feebler were
Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.
And the man increased exceedingly,
and had large flocks, and
maidservants and men-servants, and
camels and asses.
This Scripture is quite
symbolical of conditions within
ourselves.
One of the forces
operative in the illumined intellect
(Jacob) is the image-making faculty of
the mind. In this Scripture the
activity of this faculty is freely
exemplified. The imagination has the
ability and power to throw onto the
screen of visibility in substance and
life any idea that the mind conceives.
This accounts for the rapid increase in
Jacob's possessions.
Jacob served Laban seven
years thinking he would get Rachel (the
spiritual soul) to wife only to find
that Leah (the human soul) had been
substituted. This would indicate that
Laban in one aspect of his nature was
something of a trickster. Jacob then
had to work another seven years to pay
for Rachel. However, there is only one
presence, one power, one intelligence,
and one's own must come to him. When
the soul looks steadily to
Omnipresence, it finds that the law of
equilibrium adjusts all conditions. For
his hire Jacob was to take from Laban's
flock all the ring-streaked and
speckled and spotted cattle, all the
black sheep, and all the speckled and
spotted goats; which he removed some
little distance. In addition to this he
was to receive from the increase of
Laban's flocks, which were free from
these markings, all those animals which
bore the same markings as Jacob's
flocks.
When the strong, healthy
herds were ready to conceive, Jacob
placed in the gutters around the
watering troughs where they came to
drink rods of fresh poplar, and of
almond, and of the plane tree, in which
he had peeled white streaks; the flocks
conceived before these rods, and they
brought forth young that were
ring-streaked, speckled, and spotted.
When the weak flocks were ready to
conceive and came to drink, he took
away the rods in which he had peeled
the white streaks. In the end Jacob had
large, strong, healthy herds and Laban
had small and weak herds.
Taking it all in all,
the illumined intellect (Jacob)
receives all that it
deserves.
These passages in
Genesis show the urge toward higher
things on the part of those who
received the quickening of the Spirit.
Jacob, Laban, and Laban's family were
of the same stock, but Jacob was more
spiritually awakened, and because of
his superior understanding all those
with whom he was associated enjoyed
increase of understanding and
substance. Laban said to Jacob, "I have
divined that Jehovah hath blessed me
for thy sake." Separating the animals
owned jointly by Laban and Jacob
implies that the vital forces have
expanded to the point where finer types
are possible. These types are
represented as "ringstreaked, speckled,
and spotted," and they fell to Jacob.
Jacob also discovered that he could
increase his "flocks" by using his
image-making faculty, focusing the mind
on a certain image when he was in
creative consciousness. The sculptor
makes a mental image of the thing he is
carving and it appears under the impact
of his hand.
Gen. 31:1-16. And he
heard the words of Laban's sons,
saying, Jacob hath taken away all
that was our father's; and of that
which was our father's hath he
gotten all this glory. And Jacob
beheld the countenance of Laban,
and, behold, it was not toward him
as beforetime. And Jehovah said
unto Jacob, Return unto the land of
thy fathers, and to thy kindred;
and I will be with thee.
And Jacob sent
and called Rachel and Leah to the
field unto his flock, and said unto
them, I see your father's
countenance, that it is not toward
me as beforetime; but the God of my
father hath been with me. And ye
know that with all my power I have
served your father. And your father
hath deceived me, and changed my
wages ten times; but God suffered
him not to hurt me. If he said
thus, The speckled shall be thy
wages; then all the flock bare
speckled: and if he said thus, The
ringstreaked shall be thy wages;
then bare all the flock
ringstreaked. Thus God hath taken
away the cattle of your father, and
given them to me. And it came to
pass at the time that the flock
conceive, that I lifted up mine
eyes, and saw in a dream, and,
behold, the he-goats which leaped
upon the flock were ringstreaked,
speckled, and grizzled. And the
angel of God said unto me in the
dream, Jacob: and I said, Here am
I. And he said, Lift up now thine
eyes, and see: all the he-goats
which leap upon the flock are
ringstreaked, speckled, and
grizzled: for I have seen all that
Laban doeth unto thee. I am the God
of Beth-el, where thou anointedst a
pillar, where thou vowedst a vow
unto me: now arise, get thee out
from this land, and return unto the
land of thy nativity. And Rachel
and Leah answered and said unto
him, Is there yet any portion or
inheritance for us in our father's
house? Are we not accounted by him
as foreigners? for he hath sold us,
and hath also quite devoured our
money. For all the riches which God
hath taken away from our father,
that is ours and our children's:
now then, whatsoever God hath said
unto thee, do.
Laban and his family
represent the pure natural in man, to
which Jacob (spiritual illumination)
brings expansion. Laban acknowledged
that Jacob had brought him prosperity.
But the spiritually illumined intellect
(Jacob) reaps a share of the increase,
and to this the natural man objects
when his sons or "afterthoughts" call
his attention to it.
In his dream Jehovah
showed Jacob (illumined intellect) that
he had finished his work in Haran (a
high exalted state of consciousness on
the natural plane) and now must
function in a more fertile, productive
soil. He must return with his
possessions to the land of his
nativity.
The wives for whom Jacob
had labored also had their substance
share and inherited part of the
increase. When the mind is spiritually
quickened all the faculties respond,
especially the imagination, as
indicated by the "ringstreaked,
speckled, and grizzled"
progeny.
Gen. 31:17, 18. Then
Jacob rose up, and set his sons and
his wives upon the camels; and he
carried away all his cattle, and
all his substance which he had
gathered, the cattle of his
getting, which he had gathered in
Paddan-aram, to go to Isaac his
father unto the land of
Canaan.
Jacob was moving from
Haran all the possessions he had
acquired in Paddan-aram (the place of
substance in the organism) to Canaan
(the state of consciousness that to the
individual is the kingdom of heaven).
He took away with him a great wealth of
substance, including camels, cattle,
sheep, gold, and silver, and even the
teraphim (highest thoughts) of that
land.
"I am the God of Bethel,
where thou anointedst a pillar, where
thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise,
get thee out from this land, and return
unto the land of thy
nativity."
We recall that Bethel,
"the house of God," symbolizes the
consciousness in which Jacob dwelt when
he beheld the ladder reaching to heaven
and exclaimed, "Surely Jehovah is in
this place; and I knew it
not."
Gen. 31:19-21. Now
Laban was gone to shear his sheep:
and Rachel stole the teraphim that
were her father's. And Jacob stole
away unawares to Laban the Syrian,
in that he told him not that he
fled. So he fled with all that he
had; and he rose up, and passed
over the River, and set his face
toward the mountain of
Gilead.
Gilead represents a high
state of consciousness, where Spirit
reveals its discerning, judging power.
In this state of consciousness man
refuses to allow his high ideals to
become subject to error reasonings.
Thus his spiritual discernment is not
clouded by mortal thinking.
Gen. 31:22-32. And
it was told Laban on the third day
that Jacob was fled. And he took
his brethren with him, and pursued
after him seven days' journey; and
he overtook him in the mountain of
Gilead. And God came to Laban the
Syrian in a dream of the night, and
said unto him, Take heed to thyself
that thou speak not to Jacob either
good or bad. And Laban came up with
Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his
tent in the mountain: and Laban
with his brethren encamped in the
mountain of Gilead. And Laban said
to Jacob, What hast thou done, that
thou hast stolen away unawares to
me, and carried away my daughters
as captives of the sword? Wherefore
didst thou flee secretly, and steal
away from me, and didst not tell
me, that I might have sent thee
away with mirth and with songs,
with tabret and with harp; and
didst not suffer me to kiss my sons
and my daughters? now hast thou
done foolishly. It is in the power
of my hand to do you hurt: but the
God of your father spake unto me
yesternight, saying, Take heed to
thyself that thou speak not to
Jacob either good or bad. And now,
though thou wouldest needs be gone,
because thou sore longedst after
thy father's house, yet wherefore
hast thou stolen my gods? And Jacob
answered and said to Laban, Because
I was afraid: for I said, Lest thou
shouldest take thy daughters from
me by force. With whomsoever thou
findest thy gods, he shall not
live: before our brethren discern
thou what is thine with me, and
take it to thee. For Jacob knew not
that Rachel had stolen them.
The teraphim were
household gods of the Eastern peoples.
They were images, apparently human in
form, that were used for purposes of
worship in the homes of the people.
They were supposed to bring prosperity
and health and general domestic good.
Even the Israelites used these images
much of the time, though the practice
was of heathen origin.
Metaphysically the
teraphim represent thoughts tending to
the outer only for supply, protection,
and all good (givers of prosperity,
guardians of comforts, nourishers,
domestic idols); thoughts that imply
trust in the many outer channels
through which one's good comes to one
instead of faith in God as one's
sustenance and power of development;
also the many thoughts and desires that
man entertains and gives expression to
in outer ways and that should first of
all be centered in the one Presence
within him.
Gen. 31:33-53. And
Laban went into Jacob's tent, and
into Leah's tent, and into the tent
of the two maid-servants; but he
found them not. And he went out of
Leah's tent, and entered into
Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken
the teraphim, and put them in the
camel's saddle, and sat upon them.
And Laban felt all about the tent,
but found them not. And she said to
her father, Let not my lord be
angry that I cannot rise up before
thee; for the manner of women is
upon me. And he searched, but found
not the teraphim.
And Jacob was
wroth, and chode with Laban: and
Jacob answered and said to Laban,
What is my trespass? what is my
sin, that thou hast hotly pursued
after me? Whereas thou hast felt
about all my stuff, what hast thou
found of all thy household stuff?
Set it here before my brethren and
thy brethren, that they may judge
betwixt us two. These twenty years
have I been with thee; thy ewes and
thy she-goats have not cast their
young, and the rams of thy flocks
have I not eaten. That which was
torn of beasts I brought not unto
thee; I bare the loss of it; of my
hand didst thou require it, whether
stolen by day or stolen by night.
Thus I was; in the day the drought
consumed me, and the frost by
night; and my sleep fled from mine
eyes. These twenty years have I
been in thy house; I served thee
fourteen years for thy two
daughters, and six years for thy
flock: and thou hast changed my
wages ten times. Except the God of
my father, the God of Abraham, and
the Fear of Isaac, had been with
me, surely now hadst thou sent me
away empty. God hath seen mine
affliction and the labor of my
hands, and rebuked thee
yesternight.
And Laban
answered and said unto Jacob, The
daughters are my daughters, and the
children are my children, and the
flocks are my flocks, and all that
thou seest is mine: and what can I
do this day unto these my
daughters, or unto their children
whom they have borne? And now come,
let us make a covenant, I and thou;
and let it be for a witness between
me and thee. And Jacob took a
stone, and set it up for a pillar.
And Jacob said unto his brethren,
Gather stones; and they took
stones, and made a heap: and they
did eat there by the heap. And
Laban called it Jegar-saha dutha:
but Jacob called it Galeed. And
Laban said, This heap is witness
between me and thee this day.
Therefore was the name of it called
Galeed: and Mispah, for he said,
Jehovah watch between me and thee,
when we are absent one from
another. If thou shalt afflict my
daughters, and if thou shalt take
wives besides my daughters, no man
is with us; see, God is witness
betwixt me and thee. And Laban said
to Jacob, Behold this heap, and
behold the pillar, which I have set
betwixt me and thee. This heap be
witness, and the pillar be witness,
that I will not pass over this heap
to thee, and that thou shalt not
pass over this heap and this pillar
unto me, for harm. The God of
Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the
God of their father, judge betwixt
us. And Jacob sware by the Fear of
his father Isaac.
Man should remember
always that he does not live by bread
alone, by outer ways and means, but by
every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God: by the inner creative,
sustaining, energizing life, love,
power, strength, and intelligence of
Spirit.
Laban symbolizes that
which is pure and gentle. He was told
in a dream what had happened, but God
also revealed to him that he was not to
speak good or bad to Jacob. However, he
searched the tents for the teraphim
without discovering them, as Rachel had
placed them on the camel's back under
the saddle on which she was riding. A
covenant was made between Jacob and
Laban. They gathered stones in a heap
and they ate there. Laban called the
heap Jegar-sahadutha, the Aramaic name
for Galeed. Galeed means "massive
witness," "heap of witnesses," "rock of
time," "great endurance." It was the
heap of stones that Jacob and Laban
gathered for a witness between them
when Jacob with his wives, children,
and possessions left Laban to return to
Esau and to Jacob's own country. It was
also called Mizpah, "watchtower," and
thus signifies the watchtower of
prayer, while Galeed signifies the
witness that Spirit with man bears to
Truth. By following the true Jehovah
Spirit in ourselves we shall always
deal justly with every phase of our
consciousness and of our entire
organism, as well as with persons.
"This heap be witness, and the pillar
be witness, that I will not pass over
this heap to thee, and that thou shalt
not pass over this heap and this pillar
unto me, for harm."
Gen. 31:54, 55. And
Jacob offered a sacrifice in the
mountain, and called his brethren
to eat bread: and they did eat
bread, and tarried all night in the
mountain. And early in the morning
Laban rose up, and kissed his sons
and his daughters, and blessed
them: and Laban departed, and
returned unto his place.
Jacob offered a
sacrifice, and he and his brethren ate
bread together. The sacrifice consisted
of an animal slaughtered as an offering
to the deity in man, symbolizing the
surrender to Spirit of the animal
forces that they may be transmuted into
higher states of consciousness. Eating
bread means joining in communion,
partaking of spiritual substance. Early
in the morning Laban arose and kissed
his sons and his daughters in token of
affection. Then he invoked divine favor
upon them and returned to his
place.
Chapter
10 * * * * *
Mysteries of
Genesis
Table of
Contents
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