house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches." Thus, therefore, there were among the Israelites, as among all other nations, and especially in our magnetic phenomena, visions, in dreams or the language of a dream, or dark words and symbols, as is particularly the case in the lower stages of sleep-walking; but in the highest state of vision in the purest minds, as Moses', it is a direct contemplation of truth.

In the oral intercourse of the Lord with Moses, and the vision of his form as Biblical expressions, we must not take the letter but the meaning of the Scriptures. For the Lord speaks in revelation as by light, and not with a mouth; neither is he visible to corporeal eyes. Thus the Lord says at another place, "He who beholds me cannot live." This language is the expression or impression of the divine words and the reflection of the eternal light; it is the spiritual communication and revelation of the divinity to mankind, which, according to the degree of illumination, is variously accepted and understood by men: as in material nature light produces various effects according as it falls upon near or distant, dense or thin, hard or soft, substances. This language was understood by the prophets and inspired men of all ages, who were certainly unable to render the received light otherwise than in the language of the lips, although that which they felt was simpler, more impressive and spiritual, than any such interpretation could be. The influence or word of God consists in an influence of the divine light by which the soul through which it penetrates is as it were electrified. God, as the centre, only influences the centre of all things,—that is, the soul and the outward manifestations follow naturally. Not less remarkable is it that the bite of the serpents was cured by looking upon a brazen serpent: we find, Numb. xxi. 4—9, as follows,-" And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way, and the people spake against God and Moses. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned; pray unto the Lord that he take the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses,

Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live."

The visions and prophecies of Balaam the son of Beor, to whom Balak sent messengers that he should curse Israel, are very remarkable. "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more,"-Numb. xxii. 18. The most remarkable of his predictions is that of the star of Jacob (Numb. xxiv. 4, 10, 16, 17, 19), in which he foretells the advent of Christ. "And the spirit of God came upon him, and he took up his parable and said: Balaam the son of Beor hath said. He hath said, which hath heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open,-I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion." That not alone the sacred seers had visions is shown by the history of Balaam. Balak, the king of the Moabites, wished, through fear of the Israelites, to join the Midianites. But, as neither of the allies had any desire to fight, they wished to have recourse to magic; and as they themselves had no soothsayer they sent to Balaam at the water of Pethor, who was celebrated for his powers as a soothsayer and magician. The messengers came to Balaam with the reward of the soothsayer in their hands, and we may therefore suppose that it was customary to pay for his predictions, and begged him to curse the strange nation. Balaam told them to remain overnight; and in the morning he announced to the messengers that God had not permitted him either to curse the people or to go with them to their country, for that that people had been sent by God. Balak, in the belief that he had not sent sufficient presents, sent others still more magnificent, that Baalam might be prevailed upon to go to him and curse the people. Balaam, a mixture of faith and vacillation, of love of truth and avarice, of true prophecy and the black art, said to the servants of Balak,—“If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go

beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more." And yet, after he had communicated with the Lord during the night, he arose and saddled his ass, to go to the prince of the Moabites; and at a later time he gave to these enemies of Israel the counsel how they could lead them to idolatry. Now follows the history of the perfectly somnambulic Balaam. He, being inclined to inward visions, became at variance with himself, wishing to serve God and mammon. His conscience racked him. "And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against them." The ass, seeing the angel with the drawn sword standing in the way, turned aside into the field, and being forced by Balaam crushed his foot against the wall,-upon which he struck him ; and there being no room to turn aside to the right or left, the ass fell, and Balaam's anger being roused he struck her with his staff the third time. Lastly, the ass spoke to him, upbraiding him with his treatment, and he so far recovered himself that he, instead of the ass, saw the angel. But his conscience tortured him; he acknowledged his sin, and wished to return: but the angel permitted his journey with the condition that he should not speak otherwise than as the Lord placed in his mouth: this he kept against all promises and attempts of Balak, so that "he went not as at other times to seek for enchantments, but he set his face towards the wilderness," and according to his inspiration blessed the people of Israel instead of cursing it; foretelling its increase, and afterwards prophesying the star of Jacob.

This false prophet had no genuine inspiration, but he was and acted like one of our magnetic seers. For he always went on one side in silence when he wished to prophesy, that he might concentrate his thoughts inwardly without outward distraction, which true prophets do not. 2. The inward eye was open, while the outward senses were closed-"the man whose eyes are open;" for evidently the Angel with the sword was a vision, and the speaking ass was nothing wonderful to him, which certainly could not be the case in the usual waking state. According to the Arabic, Balaam means "the man with the closed eyes," which occasioned Tholuck to compare Balaam's visions with magnetic ecstasy. 3. Balaam was so little able to distinguish

his subjective visions from the objective reality, that the speaking ass did not surprise him; and he, when he had recovered himself, saw the angel standing before the ass, and bowed his countenance before him. 4. He used certain means of producing ecstasia which true prophets do not; for he secluded himself, and must have been well aware of the influence of locality, as he was led by different places to produce visions which should be acceptable to Balak. He must even have been accustomed to use magical means;" for it is said that "when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not as at other times to seek for enchantments, but he set his face towards the wilderness." 5. Lastly, Balaam's ecstasies were uncertain and various, like those of magnetism; their ideas and expressions often symbolical,-as, for instance, we find, "He crouched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion.” The false prophet then returned home, and appears at a later time in the Midianite camp, where he at length fell by those Israelitish bands who were sent by Moses against them.

During the age of the Judges and Kings, dreams and prophetic visions were synonymous.

In Numb. xxvii. 18-21, we find that when Moses prayed for a worthy successor, "The Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hands upon him, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and Eleazar shall ask counsel for him." I have already quoted many passages from the Bible in which the dreams and prophetic visions were synonymous; they even understood under the term dreamer, a prophet, so well known and important were their dreams. "And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by visions, nor by the prophets" (I. Sam. xxviii. 5, 6.)

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"If there arise among you a prophet or dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and he sayeth, Let us go after other gods, thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul"—(Deut.

xiv. 1-3.) From this we may conclude that others had prophetic dreams, who were no prophets, and were not pure in heart.

It would occupy too much space to enumerate all the visions and actions of the prophets. Yet some of them cannot be passed over in silence. In I. Samuel, chap. xvi. we find the history of Saul, who, after the spirit of the Lord had departed from him, became melancholy and troubled, and could only be relieved by music. "But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's servants said unto him: Behold, now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. Let our Lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, send me David thy son. When the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took an harp, and played with his hand so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him."

When Saul saw the host of the Philistines his heart failed him, and he called upon the Lord, and the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by illumination, nor by prophets. "If there arise among you prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, thou shall not hearken unto the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams." Saul was seeking after signs and wonders; asking Samuel concerning his lost ass; seeking the witch of Endor, and consulting deceitful dreams. Samuel said to him, "Wherefore dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee? moreover the Lord will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines."

In the Books of Samuel, who even as a boy had ecstatic visions, we find several prophetic visions. Those of Samuel and David were the most remarkable. And Saul also prophesied till the spirit of the Lord departed from him. The history of David, who when in years could not become warm, although he was covered with clothes, has been already mentioned. A virgin was obliged to sleep in the king's arms, and caress him, by which means the old king was warmed (I. Kings, i. 1.)