Elijah Became John the
Baptist
A basic cosmic law taught in the
Scriptures is that of rebirth: the doctrine that as differentiated Spirits
in God we are reborn again and again in bodies of increasing efficiency on
the physical plane to learn the lessons incident to material existence,
and to unfold our latent divine potentialities into dynamic
powers.
It is evident that the Jewish priests
believed in the theory of rebirth, or they would not have sent to ask John
the Baptist, "Art thou Elijah?", as it is recorded in the first chapter of
St.
John's Gospel, 21st verse. In the 14th verse of the 11th Chapter of St.
Matthew's Gospel we have the words of the Christ concerning John the
Baptist which are unambiguous and unequivocal. He said, "this IS Elijah."
Upon a later occasion, at the time when they had been upon the Mount of
Transfiguration, as recorded in the 17th Chapter of Matthew,
the Christ said, "Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have
done unto him whatsoever they listed...Then the disciples understood that
He spake unto them of John the Baptist." In the 13th verse of the 16th
Chapter of Matthew
we find the Christ asking His disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am?" And they said, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some
Elias, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
"And He saith unto them, But whom say
ye that I am?" And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God." We notice from these passages that Christ Jesus
did not contradict His disciples and this is quite significant. He was
essentially a teacher, and if they had entertained a wrong idea concerning
the idea of rebirth, it would have been His manifest duty to have
corrected them. He did not indicate that there was any need for
correction, however, and Peter's reply conveys a knowledge of the deeper
truths involved in the present mission of the Christ.
Samson
As further biblical substantiation for
the doctrine of rebirth, we find cases mentioned in the Scriptures where a
person was chosen for a certain work BEFORE his birth. An Angel foretold
the coming of Samson and his mission: to slay the Philistines. In the 13th
Chapter of Judges
it is related: ''There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of
Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and bare
not.
"And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and
bearest not; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
"...and he shall begin to deliver
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."
"...and the woman bare a son, and
called his name Samson." In the first Chapter of Jeremiah,
5th verse, the Lord said to the prophet, "...before thou camest out of the
womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto all
nations."
We are all familiar with the stories in
the Bible telling of the coming of Jesus and John and of their special
missions. A person is chosen for a special mission because of a specific
fitness for the particular type of work to be done. Proficiency
presupposes practice, for as we have often heard, "Practice makes
perfect." Ability is not handed to us on a platter, as convenient as it
may be to believe it at times! Practice prior to birth could only have
been in a previous life, so by implication, and by using logic and reason
as guides, we find that the doctrine of rebirth is taught in the cases we
have mentioned. It may also be observed that there are other passages in
the Bible, the first Psalm, for instance, which can be sensibly
interpreted only by using a belief in rebirth as a basis.
Law of Cause and
Effect
Working along with the Law of Rebirth
to bring about the perfect justice becoming to an all-wise Creator is the
Law of Cause and Effect, or the Law of Consequence. The Law of
Compensation or Retribution, it is also often called. The occult
investigator finds that this law works perfectly on all planes, bringing
to fruition exactly what we have sown--in thought, word and deed.
In the 6th Chapter of Galatians,
7th to 9th verses, we are told: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
"For he that soweth to his flesh shall
of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of
the spirit reap life everlasting."
"And let us not be weary in well doing;
for in due season we shall reap."
In 2nd
Corinthians, 9th Chapter, 6th verse, St. Paul tells us again: "He
which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth
bountifully shall reap also bountifully."
In the 9th Chapter of St. John's
Gospel we find an interesting parable which teaches the working of
this law. It reads as follows:
"And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man
which was blind from birth. And His disciples asked him, saying, Master,
who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
"Jesus answered, Neither hath this man
sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest
in him."
In this passage Christ Jesus endeavors
to make clear that the law back of all physical limitation is not
punishment, but enlightenment. Here we find the perfect justice of the Law
of Causation which underlies all disease and deformity. When an Ego breaks
a law of Nature in one life, it returns in another life to face the
limitation which results as a violation of that law. Transgressions of
divine laws upon the mental and moral planes of action are quite as
responsible for physical disorders as the hidden side of the Moon is
effective in producing the tides. Through the sorrow and suffering which
accompany limitation, the Spirit learns its lesson and the infirmity is
removed.
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