The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James
Biographical Gospel of the Lord
- Chapter 238 -
The Interpretation Of The Poor Meal
WHEN ALL HAD STILLED their hunger with the well-prepared fish on Joseph's table
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and the meal was over, Joseph asked James if he could give him a possibly prophetic reason for the at first meager and finally ever so tasty meal?
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And James answered in a most humble and unassuming manner,
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'Oh yes, dear father Joseph, insofar as the Lord will give it to me, to that extent will I faithfully tell you what this meal means.
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So I would ask you to listen attentively!'
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All now directed their attention toward James, and he began to speak as follows:
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The poor and meager meal exemplified that future time in which the word of the Lord will be misrepresented.
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At that time His servants will keep the best part for themselves and will feed their congregations with the husks as the heathen feed their swine.
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'The Jews will be like the fried sea onion;
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for although it is a root which grows luxuriantly by the ocean of divine grace and is now being fully roasted at the fire of divine love,
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it will, for all that, be a poor food and a most scanty fare at the table of the Lord, and no one will reach for it.
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'The monotonous milk dish will be the Greeks. These will indeed preserve the Lord's word in its true form more than anyone else;
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but since they will lead only an outward but not an inward life according thereto, they will be lukewarm, unscentedqnd tasteless like this cooked dish which, although it contains the best, life-giving ingredients, is cool and poorly cooked, and thus makes a poor showing on the Lord's table also;
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for it has no pleasant odor and thus, as in effect raw, also has no pleasant taste for the Lord's palate.
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'The melon is Rome. This fruit grows on a creeping stem winding in all directions,
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on which many barren blossoms come forth; but a fruit appears behind only a few.
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And although the fruit is there and ripens to maturity, and in fact has a pleasant scent that is quite strong -
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still when it is cut open and the inner meat is savored, the taste is far inferior to the scent.
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If seasoned honey is not eaten with it, nausea to the point of vomiting quickly follows,
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yes, even death can easily result from partaking of this fruit!
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This is the way it will be with Rome for a considerable time, and many will eat themselves to death at this fare. This fruit will also be present as a bad dish on the Lord's table and will not be touched by Him.
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'Now we still have bread, butter, some honey and a few lean fish.
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These foods are naturally somewhat better, are noticeably separated from the others and appear to be quite acceptable;
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but there is no warmth in them either, for they have not all been seasoned with the main ingredient, the fire, therefore they also stand here on the Lord's table and are not praised.
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The fish, of course, were at the fire, but they had too little fat, consequently they are as tough as straw and the Lord cannot partake of them either.
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'These foods denote certain sects which will separate themselves from the former and will indeed have faith,
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but it will not be possible to discover any or at least very little love in them, hence they also will not be pleasing to the Lord.
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That in short is the meaning of this meal. I have imparted everything made known to me, and since I received nothing more, I shall say no more!' - This explanation caused a great stir, but no one understood it.