Three Bodies, Page 12

Scriptures Indicative of Threefoldedness

41. Gen 14,24: Abram, immediately after his meeting with Melchizedek, says to the king of Sodom, “I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me; let Aner, Eshcol and Mamre take their share” (RSV; emphasis mine). See “Young Men” and the threefold “Young Men” discussed in “Naked” (in connection with the Mk 14,51-52 passage) to which reference is also made in Mt 19,16 below, noting that such threefoldedness was prefigured in this Abram-Melchizedek passage (discussed in “Spiritual Economy”).

Scholars seem to doubt the historical accuracy of this threesome as allies of Abram or that they were all included in an assumed, but lost, original writing. Each of the three is indicated to be the name of both a place and person, but with no seeming connection other than in this account. See 1 ABD 248, “Aner,” 2 ABD 617, “Eshcol,” and 4 ABD 492, “Mamre.” They are thought to have been put together by a later writer. These circumstances are typical of those indicating that perhaps even the original writer used historical names in a non-historical way to indicate deeper spiritual truth. In the ancient Mysteries, the truth was often preserved for those qualified to receive it in ways like this. Even early Church Fathers sometimes withheld deeper insights from their flocks, and Christ not only followed this principle of the Mysteries in speaking to the crowds in parables but also admonished his disciples to exercise similar caution by not throwing “pearls before swine” (Mt 7,6; cf. Heb 9,5b and Jn 16,12).

Moreover, though not included in category #1 above, the “Names” of these three themselves, particularly in association with Abram, may well be “indicative” of the three bodies and the fourfold human being:

The “Oaks of Mamre” may signify the earthly strength of the physical body. It is the earthly foundation or house, so to speak, of the fourfold human being. And the “Fatted Calf” is indicative of what belonged to the elder son but was sacrificed by the father for the Prodigal Son, in Luke’s parable (Lk 15,30, “But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf?”). We saw in “Spiritual Economy” that Melchizedek brought the etheric body of Shem, which still embodied an avatar, over from Atlantis as the common heritage of all the Semites (Shemites). The “Wine” that Melchizedek “brought out” (Gen 14,18) rings of this etheric body not only here but throughout the Eucharist itself (see the discussion of the “etherization of the blood” in “Second Coming”). Eshcol can easily be seen to represent the etheric body in this way. Aner is related to the temple. We have just seen in #40 above that this refers, particularly in Rev 11,1-2 and 21,22, to the astral body. This leaves the first patriarch to represent, of this foursome, the highest element, the Ego.

42. 1 and 2 Sam and 1 K: There were three kings of Israel before the division of the kingdom: Saul, David and Solomon. For a particular spiritual significance of the division of the kingdom into a male, kingly element and a female, priestly element, see “Widow’s Son,” fn 4 and related text through end of discussion on 1 K 11,26-31. From that we can see the necessity of the division if the nation of Israel was to fit the pattern divinely laid out for the human being itself, namely, that the “two will become one” only through the advent of the Christ, the true “I Am.” We saw this in “The Nativity,” where the kingly and priestly lines came together in Jesus of Nazareth. On the human level, not only must this happen through taking in the higher “I Am,” but the human being long divided into two sexes must again become one through the “Perfect(ion)” the higher “I Am” makes possible.

43. 2 Sam 23,8-12: David is said to have had “three mighty men,” namely, Joshebbasshebeth, Eleazar and Shammah, and the chapter also speaks of David goi ng i nto a “cave” (vs 13), a symbol of the initi ati on process. Then the “three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took and brought it to David” (vs 16). This last sentence (vs 16) itself reveals a larger threefoldedness. The very word “philistine” means one “guided by materialism” (MWCD), indicative of the physical body. “Water” from a “well,” particularly the “well of Bethlehem,” symbolizes the etheric body, and the “three mighty men” phrase intimates the qualities to which the higher “I Am” leads and is consistent with the charisma that installed David as the one from whom the Messiah was to descend.

44. Prov 30,15-31: Four pieces of fourfold wisdom are given, each with the same introductory motif:

1. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough” (vs 15).

2. Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand (vs 18).

3. Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up (vs 21).

4. Three things are stately in their tread; four are stately in their stride (vs 29).

In each a riddle-like illustration follows. Something of this nature, a threefold item along with an independent fourth, stressed four times, is surely indicative of the human being’s fourfold being (see I-9). Also, the fractal nature of creation is reflected. Each of the four is patterned after the sevenfold nature of each of the Conditions of Consciousness (see I-1). Three such Conditions preceded Earth and are thus distinct from the four which follow and about which not so much is yet understood. Consequently, deeper mystery exists about the four than the three in each case.

45. Isaiah: The Book of Isaiah is seen as being threefold (Is 1-39; 40- 55; 56-66), having emanated from three successive authors, namely, Isaiah and two others in his spiritual wake or school (3 ABD 472-506). In a way, it is central to a larger threefoldedness in Hebrew prophecy: 1. Elijah and the other early non-writing prophets; 2. the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel); 3. the “Twelve” “minor” prophets (Daniel through Malachi).

46. Ezek 14,12-20: Three times, the “three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job,” are referred to; each, perhaps more than coincidentally, is involved with “three men” elsewhere herein (see #s 25c, 15 and 2). In each instance, one of three scourges is mentioned, “Wild Beasts,” sword and pestilence, respectively, from which even these three men could deliver naught but themselves. Then in vs 21, a fourth scourge, famine, is added, to fulfill even more effectively judgment against sin. Yet if any survive, they are said to be vindication for all such judgment. But in what way vindicated? The traditional view seems to be that a small remnant of unrepentant sinners in Jerusalem would finally, having survived even famine, be sent into exile along with those who preceded them, and that the latter would, from the shameful character of these survivors, see that God had acted rightly in thus punishing them. Historically, the interpretation seems to fit with the facts. But if those were the historical facts, even though the prognostication came true, of what value is that as higher spiritual prophecy? Was there not also a Jeremiah, whose character was undiminished and who was not ever sent to Babylon? The famine may well represent, as perhaps in the Joseph years in “Egypt,” a darkening of the spiritual world (see “Fading Splendor”) during the ascendancy of the individual Ego. And those who survive without falling back into captivity also vindicate the punishments, for those who went to Babylon had again to return to Jerusalem to work on and on toward what was “promised.” Is this not how it is with the human being? An anthroposophical understanding of the heavenly law of “Karma and Reincarnation” shows us that indeed it is so.