IN the Eden Allegory it is recorded that the first mortal concept was a belief of innocence and purity. This condition is not enduring, as with the first suggestion of evil, mortals are made aware of their false position. The reversion is decided in its scope. The belief of innocence and purity is dissipated and in its stead is the knowledge that mortals are not the expression of Good in its highest sense, and that mortality is effectually separated from immortality, also that this separation is perpetual. They find that the way of Life is guarded against the approach of any and all error, and by no possibility can error in any form or under any guise find lodgment in Good. If man believed himself to be mortal his condition would be hopeless in that belief. Here follows the first recorded prophecy. The edict of Wisdom against personified evil. "The seed of the woman . . .shall bruise thy head." At the first glance it would seem as though all claims and conditions of error were real and conclusive and that man was held by them, and that there was no way of escape. Yet notwithstanding the broad claim of error as to its power over man, there is given at this very hour the reassurance of the protecting care of Love. The experiences of each of us are similar in a large degree to those above referred to, and we naturally turn to the Scriptures for strength and comfort in the hour of need. We thus learn that with every temptation God has provided a way of escape. We learn to lean on the promises and prophecies as we prove the truth of some of them.
It is in this way that the teachings of prophecy become to us the real things of our very existence. The Scriptures teach largely through prophecy. First, as to what man believes himself to be Second, as to what he really is. We see a grand illustration of this in the record of Abram. Born in the belief of mythology, and all of its attendant error, he recognizes the voice of Wisdom, perhaps faintly at first, but by obeying his highest sense of Good, the Voice grows more audible until he finally comprehends the vast difference between the religion of his fathers and the true worship of the one God. As he progresses, prophecy becomes more clear, broad and comprehensive, until he sees but one course before him, which is to separate himself completely from all previous beliefs and surroundings. With each move in the right direction the way becomes clearer and the promises fuller, until he conceives man as the image of God, and that this idea shall multiply and fill the earth. Prophecy teaches that all this shall be accomplished without material methods, and the lesson to Abraham is the lesson to the race. We find further that the hopes of individuals and nations are based on the words of prophecy, although it is frequently taken to describe a future condition rather than the present. Jacob not realizing fully his present salvation, looks for a better condition in the far-off future and knows that there is a Redeemer, and redemption for the people. He speaks of the time when all shall be accomplished as the coming of Shiloh.
The Hebrew Children are in bondage in Egypt, yet the hope in the prophecies has so permeated their every thought that each Hebrew mother believes her male child is born to save the race; this continues until the mother of Moses gives birth to a son who eventually proves the realization of this hope which was born of prophecy. According to the record there were seemingly long periods in Egypt when there was no revelation to the people, but when Moses recognized the Principle of his Being, prophecy flows through him to the people. He becomes the interpreter of the divine message to the world. The message is always higher than the thought of the masses and may not be fully received by them, but where there are a few in a receptive state there is always a messenger with a message.
