The articles contained herein are not an exhaustive exposition of the subject, but rather a companion to and illustration of the works such as Phanerosis and Eureka, Vol. I.

This booklet will be found to contain a reproduction of the “Deity Manifest in the Flesh” illustration, together with three articles of explanation. To lay a sound foundation for the subject at hand, we must first clearly understand what flesh is; therefore, you will find an extract from a letter by Bro. Thomas reproduced on the facing page in which he was moved to counsel restraint and moderation to his friend and disciples, and to turn to what the Bible says about ‘flesh’. The three articles mentioned are A letter to bro. Coffman written some three months prior to the doctor’s death, An exposition by bro. C.C. Walker, and the work of sis. Lasius (bro. Thomas’ daughter). This helps to amplify the significance of the colours used in the chart, which sis. Lasius jotted from an address given by bro. Coddington in America.

May all true servants of Yahweh labour toward that time when the Father shall be manifested in the earth in Christ and his brethren as the “Mighty Ones” of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

----- Compilers-----

“I would suggest that discussion of the very knotty and intricate subject of the quo modo of the manifestation of Deity in flesh be suspended among you, till each member of the ecclesia be furnished with a copy of my forthcoming Pictorial Illustration and explanatory key. In the meantime, it may not be amiss for our metaphysical friends to see if they can agree among themselves with regard to the more simple, proximate, and primary question, ‘What is flesh?’

Before they undertake to speculate dogmatically concerning the manifestation of Deity in flesh, Who is spirit.

You will excuse me, perhaps, just reminding you here that metaphysics are of a very unsubstantial and shadowy nature. As a system, it is a science so-called that treats of things immaterial, and therefore, intangible and ethereal, or visionary, and which may be considered quite beyond the sphere of all profitable inquiry by plain, unphilosophical men, whose faith is based upon the revealed testimony of God, and not upon the modus in quo, or manner in which essences are generated; and how entities and quiddities are induced. We can believe the testimony of John, that Deity can of stones raise up children to Abraham, with a true and valid faith, which is not at all impaired by our metaphysical inability to explain the process by which He is able to arrive at such a result; for the faith which saves men is the belief of testimony divinely given, not a metaphysical or scientific comprehension of process.

Metaphysics are capital things for ‘doubtful disputation’ and admirably adapted to the development of ‘sounding brass and tinkling cymbals’. Let our friends, therefore, who would crow in knowledge of God, and in His favour, eschew metaphysics, by which they be neither enlightened nor improved; for as they say in Scotland, which has been befuddled and befooled by the science falsely so-called: --

“Metaphysics is when twa men talk thgither, and the ane who hears disna ken what the ither says: and the ane who speaks disna ken what he says himsel.”

To give our friends a start, then, toward the solution of the primary and proximate question of ‘What is flesh?’ they will, perhaps, allow me to direct their attention of what He who made all flesh says it is. The Spirit in David testifies (Psa. 78:39) that “flesh is spirit that passeth away, and cometh not again.” The common version says ‘flesh’ is ‘mind’; but in the Hebrew the word is ruach, which in Gen. 1:2 is translated spirit, as also in a multitude of other places. Flesh, then, is spirit, if we are to believe The Word. Hence Peter, all of whose ideas that were really good, came from the Spirit, styles the dead antediluvians, who were flesh in common with ourselves, ‘spirits in prison’. But if you and I, and all mankind, and other beasts in general, be spirit, what is the most obvious difference in view of the divine testimony between man and angels, who are incorruptible and deathless? Men and angels are both spirit in a certain sense; for in Scripture they are both styled spirits, only the one class ‘a little lower than’ the other; what, then, is the most obvious or striking difference between the two kinds of spirit, or nature the human and angelic? It is this: human nature in general is ‘spirit that passeth away, and cometh not again;’ while angelic, or divine nature or substance, is ‘Spirit that doth not pass away’, and is, therefore, incorruptible and immortal.

There is, of necessity, an essential difference between these two kinds of spirits, which constitutes the one kind transitory, and the other permanent. This difference is not obvious. It is beyond the ken of the generality. There is a constitutional difference made between them by the Creator and upon such a basis that the one can readily and instantaneously be transformed or made to pass into the other. This is a question, act of essence, but of organization, that which metaphysicians and theosophists have not been able to expound.

Now, in illustration of this, let us consider the relations of steam power and the metal iron. Look abroad, and behold the almost infinite diversity of results operated by steam-power through iron. If the iron be in the state of ore, bar, or pig, steam-power develops nothing, and for obvious reason that the iron is in a raw, crude, and unorganized condition. But suppose that by the wisdom and science of the artificer, the iron is made to assure the form of the machinery of an ocean steamer, and steam-power be applied, what then? The iron fabric is set in motion, and the vessel is propelled by the steam-power through the deep.

Now, the steam-power will spin and weave cotton, print newspapers, and grind corn, but will the steam-power spin, weave, print, and grind by setting in motion the machinery of a steamship? Why not; it is an iron machinery and steam-power? True; but the artistic organization of the metal is not adapted to such results. Steam-power and iron will spin, weave, print, grind, and do anything else, if the power be applied to iron properly and scientifically organized.

Thus much by way of illustration. Now, for steam-power let us substitute divine creative power, and for iron ore the dust of the ground. This abstract relation of elements develops no spiritual or mental and physical phenomena. Why? There is the wisdom and power that can do all things, and there is the material for developments! True, but the dust of the ground is not organized. It must be artistically developed into diversities of machinery, that each diversity may give development to diversity of results if the creative Power, which is spirit, organize the dust of the ground into different kinds of living machines or organisms. These are spirit forms, which become capable of giving expression to an almost infinite variety of operations.

These spirit forms are styled by Moses ‘the spirit of all flesh’, to which Adam gave appropriate names, when the creating Power, in Whom they ‘lived and moved and had their being’, caused them to pass in review before him. One of these spirits was a lion, another an elephant, a third a horse, and so forth. We all know what sort of spirit-manifestation can be displayed through the high-mettled spirit form conventionally termed horse; why cannot the same results be operated through a sloth or an elephant? It is the same power that works in them all to do or act. Because the animal machine termed elephant is a dust-of-the-ground organization of a peculiar contrivance, designed for elephantine and not equine manifestations. It is the Creator’s artistic organization of the dust of the ground that gives diversity of expression or manifestation to His power, on which account He is styled by Moses ‘the Elohim of the Spirits of all flesh’.

According to the constitution of the organism, so is the manifestation of results. Divine Power has made spirit out of the dust of the ground, and called it man. He has so made or organized it, that if not further interfered with by His power, it may pass away. This is called flesh, or spirit that passeth away; and, under ordinary conditions, cometh not again. The human organism is the most perfect of all animal machines; hence, its mental or spiritual manifestations are of a higher and more perfect order than all the rest. His more perfect cerebral organization is the long sought for, but hitherto never found boundary line between instinct and reason. The transforming energy of divine power will convert spirit that passeth away into spirit that passeth not away. They who may be the subject of this operation will be exalted to equality with the angels, whose substance doth not waste nor pass away….”

“And with this sentence, appropriate to be his last, the Doctor laid down his pen to lift it no more in the arduous work in which he has spent his life, and spent it not in vain.” **

**[Extract from His Life and Work, page 232]

The chromo-lithograph, illustrating ‘The Manifestation of Deity in the Flesh’, which was the last work of Dr. Thomas, has just been republished; and it may not be out of place to devote a little space to a brief exposition of the matter, as represented in the illustration, a rough photographic facsimile of which appears on the opposite page.

The wonderful divine phenomenon which is the subject of this illustration, and so much divine testimony in the Scriptures of truth, was by the Father exhibited in the land of Palestine now about 1900 years ago [and as of this typing - now 2000 years], and continued about the space of 33 ½ years.

The time had been appointed of the Father: “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” (Gal. 4:4) The angel Gabriel had spoken to the prophet Daniel of this time, as we read in the 9^th chapter of Daniel’s book. The pictorial representation of this division of time is indicated in the lines at the head of the chart running across the buff-colored around against which the converging and diverging rays of light shine. There are “the times of the prophetic oracles” before the manifestation of the Man, Yahweh’s fellow, and on the right hand, after his appearing, the “days of the ministry of John and Jesus Christ.”

Over all is the superscription in Christ’s words: “This is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus the Christ, whom Thou has sent.” A neglected truth is thus well insisted on; for apart from an intelligent and affectionate understanding of these great truths, eternal life is impossible. It is an apostolic doctrine that ignorance alienates from the life of God (Eph. 4:18) which is but the converse of Christ’s own statement. Well placed therefore, is this headline over all.

The division of the chart into two portions representing time is also a statement of the truth as against Trinitarianism on the one hand, and Unitarianism on the other. The pre-existence here indicated, and revealed in all the Scriptures, is that of the Father-Spirit who created the earth for His good pleasure and glory, and who for it appointed a Head, a King, a Son of God, raised up in Israel by the operation of the Holy Spirit upon a virgin of the house of David. The opposing doctrine of the Apostasy, which finds full and formal expression in Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, makes the Son the Pre-existence, and represents him as in converse with the Father in heaven in the days of Adam and Eve before the Fall. According to this, Jesus is the manifestation of an eternally pre-existent Son and not of the Father, which is as absurd and impossible as it is unscriptural.

The Sun at the left hand of the chart represents the Father before manifestation in the flesh. The symbol is not unscriptural. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield.” (Psa. 84:11) The sun as the proximate source of light and life for things terrestrial is a fitting figure of God, who is light, and with whom is no darkness at all (I John 1:5), and who is the great fountain of Life (Psa. 36:9), out of whom are all things (I Cor. 8:6). Over the Sun is the legend expressive of this doctrine: “From everlasting to everlasting Thou art AIL.” (Psa. 90:2) Ail, or El as it is most frequently transliterated, is the Hebrew word that stands for God in this place. It denotes power. Power, light, and life, inherent and not derived, are the attributes of the Father who is Spirit. (John 4:24) The lighter-colored star superimposed on the Sun is formed of a double square, as it were, the Israelitish associations of which will occur to attentive students of the Mosaic economy, and of the Messianic revelations in the last book of the Bible. The testimony of Paul in I Tim. 6:16 draws attention to the unapproachable light and glory of the Father in heaven. The Hebrew word transliterated EHYEH, and translated I WILL BE, is that found in Ex. 3:14 where we are told that at the burning bush God said unto Moses, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh”, translated in the Authorized Version I AM THAT I AM, but more correctly in the margin of the Revised Version I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. Many years ago those conversant with Hebrew challenged the translation of the Authorized Version upon the basis of the fact the EHYEH was found in Hosea 14:5, importing and unmistakable future: thus “I will be (Ehyeh) as the dew unto Israel.” Dr. Thomas’ judgment endorsed this, and now many years afterward, the Revised Version, in the margin, justifies it. The necessities of the case obviously demand it, for the Memorial Name is not merely a reminder of the Father’s existence, or of any then existent manifestation of His power, but rather of His purpose in Israel to be manifested in Christ and his brethren as Elohim (Mighty Ones) of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

From the Sun representing the Father before the Manifestation in the Flesh, many rays of light converge upon the central figure of the chart. These are the Spirit and Life Words of the Father in the “times of the prophetic oracles” converging upon the future manifestation of the Father in Jesus, who was “The Word made flesh”. They are affirmative of two great principles - namely, the absolute and underived life and power of the Father, and His purpose to be manifested in a Son whose name should be Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace, and who should be in the time appointed a Man of War, and by who the whole earth should be filled with Yahweh’s glory.

Beneath the Sun, and these converging words, is the representation of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, a type that Jesus appropriated to himself in his discourse with Nicodemus, and that imports that Jesus, though the manifestation of the Eternal in Israel, nevertheless partook of flesh and blood in the mortality that came by the serpent-suggested sin.

On either side of the central figure are divine allusions to Jesus, conveying the truth concerning his relation to God and man. Thus “Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root and Offspring of David”, gives us the idea of a Son of God by the Spirit and a Son of Man by Davidic extraction; while the legend, “The veil, that is to say, this flesh” is a brief statement of the truth so often insisted upon by Jesus, that he was the manifestations of the Father in Israel - Emmanuel, God with us, God veiled in flesh, as it were; so that as Jesus said, he that saw him saw the Father, and not merely a son of David. This is fatal to the antagonistic speculations of those who declare him to have been merely a son of Joseph, and thereby make God a liar.

Radiating from the central figure is the divine “light of life” (John 8:12) condensed from the Father in him. His words were so evidently superhuman that even his enemies were constrained to say: “Never man spake like this man.” In this they bore unwitting testimony to the fact that he was the promised prophet like unto Moses, speaking “God’s words”. Thus, as Paul afterward testified, God, who in times past spoke unto the fathers by the prophets, in the last days of the Mosaic economy spoke to Israel by a Son. (Heb. 1) His words are absolutely incomprehensible and inexplicable apart from the reception of the knowledge of “the only true God and Jesus the Christ.” Hence all the strife and blood shed among ignorant professors of Christ’s name. The “words of God” that Jesus spoke were such as the Father could not have spoken apart from manifestation in the flesh; and far less could a “son of man” have spoken them apart from the divine origin and paternity that Jesus claimed, and that the Father audibly and visibly attested on Jordan’s banks, and by the measureless gift of the Holy Spirit, and also by the inspired testimony of John the Baptist. In the lower right hand corner of the chart this “burning and shining light” figures with retrospective gesture pointing to the “man Yahweh’s fellow”; and his words of witness attest the superhuman status of the heavenly “bridegroom” - “Though born after me he was before me.” Jesus himself referred to John’s testimony when arguing his own divine origin and power not only to forgive sins on the earth; but hereafter to sit in judgment at resurrection for the final blotting out of sins in the bestowal of eternal life. (John 5) He then declared that no man could believe his words who was ignorant and faithless of Moses’ writings; and the truth has caused us to realize this intensely. His “hard sayings” are misunderstood by the world, because they perceive not the Father, who spoke and wrought in him. The truth has changed all that for us; and though we see not yet all things on earth put under him, we see Jesus glorified as Paul says. (Heb. 2) He is the King of Israel. He has ascended as he said he would; and he will come again as he has promised. “Blessed is he that watcheth” is a fitting conclusion to this representation of His spirit and life words.

“Dear Brother Roberts, --- It may probably be somewhat interesting to you, and to some of the ‘faithful ones’ ‘scattered abroad’, to hear something about our welfare here. Well, we are still struggling, toiling along the straight and narrow way, realizing truly, that it is the ‘Pilgrim’s pathway’. But the faith and the hope so precious to all true believers leads us to realize also that it is the only path that will eventually open out toward the Holy City.

The moral conflicts that fall to the lot of the Deity’s children, everywhere, have been of a peculiarly trying character with some of us here. Amid all the afflictions of the ‘furnace’, however, we are able to see many tokens of that grace, love, and mercy which flow out through Yahweh’s name, toward those who put their trust in Him.

On occasional Sundays during the winter a few of us have met for worship in the Doctor’s old home. In the morning our usual memorial service around the Breaking of Bread was attended to. And in the afternoon, a few believers in our vicinity have come in to hear words of truth concerning the Kingdom of God, and the Name of Jesus Christ. Some of our alien neighbours came on two occasions only.

The subjects presented in Brother Coddington’s discourses were of a character that could not fail to nourish the spiritual life of the believer. One of the auditors, and old friend of the Doctor’s and formerly worker for the truth in these parts, tendered his thanks for the opportunity he had enjoyed of hearing those things brought forward. The subjects were elucidated upon the basis of the Pictorial Illustration of Deity Manifested in the Flesh; together with the expositions contained in the Eureka.

The speaker endeavored to show that the Chart simply and beautifully illustrated the Doctor’s teachings as set forth in his exposition of the Apocalypse and Phanerosis, and succeeded in elucidating many of the glorious truth that lie hidden within hit symbolism.

A few jottings of some of the principal themes, discoursed upon, may probably be welcome to you, as one of those who find pleasure in hearing that Christ is preached in any part of the earth. A little synopsis, or condensation of subjects, I have endeavored to present in the following pages in the hope that it may be useful in dispelling some misty conceptions that may have o’er clouded the spiritual horizon in the minds of many.”

Eusebia J. Lasius

Certain words and lines are written in black upon the chart. The name of Yahweh, when first manifested in the flesh, was made subject to the “furnace of affliction.” This appears to be illustrated by the letters in black. “This color,” says the Doctor, “indicates mourning, distress, intense depression of mind, from any kind of calamity that may befall. This appears from Job 30:26-31: “When I looked for good then evil came: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.” “The days of affliction prevented me: mourning (Heb. Kodair, darkening) I went without the sun…. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. My harp also is turned to mourning and my organ into the voice of them that weep.” We need not multiply examples. This from Job shows that the outside blackness is caused by the inner heat or burning or intense affliction.” [Eureka, Vol. II, pages 168-169]

Now the initiation of the plan of redemption for those guilty, though repentant ones, was to be brought about is most significantly symbolized in the scene of Moses’ ministration. He is represented there as proclaiming the Memorial Name to Israel: and also as elevating the brazen serpent in the wilderness. “Hear, O Israel, I will be, our mighty ones, is One who will be” is the Doctor’s rendering from the Hebrew of Deut. 6:4. This proclamation is represented on the chart as terminating with two hands: one pointing toward the symbol of the Memorial Name at the top, and the other toward the person of Jesus Christ. And in the scene where Moses stands forth ministering for Yahweh, the “proclamation” is placed in association with the symbol that prefigured the flesh when it should be made an offering for sin. When sin should be condemned in the same nature that the children have inherited from our first parents in the Garden of Eden. This is explained in the testimonies that were uttered by Christ: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the son of man be lifted up.” (John 3:14) “The bread I give for the life of the world is my flesh. (John 6) “My words are spirit and life: (or ‘spirit imparting life’).” “The flesh profiteth nothing.” “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30)

If there had been only the flesh and its sufferings shadowed forth in the types, it could not have been shown that the spirit power, word, and name of Yah, were to be manifested through the flesh; and to be the redeemer and saviour thereof. This, however, is illustrated in the symbols upon the chart. The flesh, apart from that manifestation of the spirit-power of Yahweh’s name, could not have been the saviour of his people from their sins.

Man cannot redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. (Psa. 49:7) “The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (said the Apostle John) “and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Jesus said unto them, “The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.” (John 14:10) “I am come in my Father’s name.” (John 5:43) “I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.” (John 8:16) “I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest me out of the world.” (John 17:6) “I have declared unto them They name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved me, may be in them and I in them.” (v.26) These testimonies shed light upon the representation of Moses’ ministry, pertaining to the name. And will be more fully elucidated in the following unfolding of testimonies concerning the memorial and its attributes.

We are led, therefore, to an understanding of the words of the Eternal AIL, uttered through the prophets, in the “Times of the Prophetic Oracles” when light is shed upon them through testimonies that were uttered by Jesus Anointed in the “days of his ministry” and the ministry of John the Baptist. So that when the memorial “Ehyeh, I will be” proclaimed through Moses came to be embodied in Jesus the Christ, its significance and power is revealed in all the attributes and official characteristics that belong to it.

When, therefore, we read the words of the Eternal Ail, through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “I am Ehyeh your Holy One, the Creator of Israel your King: and am Ehyeh” (or Yahweh) “there is none else: beside Me there is no Saviour.” (Isa. 43:11-15) we are led to apprehend the import of the words in the line of testimonies from the spirit of Christ as it reads, “I am Ehyeh the Saviour” (i.e., Jesus) “the anointed king of Israel.” The Holy Spirit-name of “Ehyeh” in his official character as “Creator of Israel”, “King”, and “Saviour” according to the testimonies give, finds complete manifestation in the person and character of the Christ - the anointed Jesus.

In the line of testimonies from the “Prophetic Oracles” the Eternal Ail saith, “I am the first one and the last ones.” An explanation of this is given in Eureka Vol. I, pages 112-113. One is represented as inquiring through the prophet saying, “Who hath wrought and done this, naming the generations from the beginning” (at the bush?). To which inquiries the Eternal Spirit answers, “I Yahweh, I who will be: THE FIRST ONE AND THE LAST ONES: I - Me.” (Isa. 41:4) In this passage “the last” is in the plural, but in Isa. 44:6 it is used in the singular, according to the formula “Thus saith YAHWEH Tzvaoth” (or He who will be of hosts) that is ‘commander’ of them. Chapter 1:4 “I THE FIRST ONE, AND I THE LAST ONE: and without me no ELOHIM…” The “last one” of the 44th chapter, which though expressed in the singular, clearly indicates a plurality by its association with the sentence “and without me no Elohim”. Without the Spirit which quickeneth there will be no glorified saints for “the flesh profits nothing”: they are “the people of Olahm” destined to reign with Christ a thousand years - Apoc. 20:6.

And here the Reader is requested to bear in mind that the titles and expressions by which the ETERNAL POWER designates Himself in the Scriptures of the prophets are all reproduced in the New Testament and the Apocalypse, and therein applied to Jesus and his brethren when “perfected in Spirit” or “glorified together” - Rom. 8:7 Thus the prophetic YAHWEH ELOHIM styles Himself the first and the last; so doth the symbolical Son of Man (see Apoc. 1:17). The words of Jesus Christ “unto his servant John” saying, “I am the first and the last.” Also the testimony in v. 8 that is recorded upon the Chart: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending saith the Lord, Who is, Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty.” YAHWEH says He is the only Rock. Paul, speaking of the Rock, terms it Christ: YAHWEH styles Himself King of Israel.

Christ Jesus calls himself the same: YAHWEH declares that He is the Saviour, and that there is none beside Him: the Word made flesh, was called Jesus, because he should save his people, or be their Saviour. “I, even I, YAHWEH, and there is o Saviour beside me.” (Isa. 43:11)

In reference to those words of Christ, saying, “The bread I give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6) an explanation is given in Vol. 1 as follows: “For the bread of the Deity is He, who descending out of heaven, and giveth life to the Kosmos.” This was as much as to say that the manna was representative of a life-imparting agent from heaven: even the Logos speaking by Jesus. ‘In him’ - the Logos ‘was life’, says John, ‘and the life was the light of men.’ It was this Logos who said, ‘I am the Way, and the Truth; the Resurrection and the Life’: ‘I am the Bread of Life’ or the manna: ‘I came down from heaven’: ‘this is the bread which descendeth from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die….’ ‘If any man eat of this bread that I’ (the Logos) ‘will give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the Kosmos.’”

“Thus spake the Logos, who was in the beginning the Deity. He promised to give ‘his flesh’ for the sustenance of the Kosmos. This flesh was the Son of Mary and David, named Jesus: and the Logos appointed that Jesus should be eaten, and his blood drunk in the even, by all who would become the subjects of resurrection to the life of the Aion. ‘Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you’ … The Christ, then, or the Logos became flesh is the ‘spiritual meat’, represented by the flesh and manna in the wilderness ….

It was typically necessary that Israel see the Glory of Yahweh before they eat heaven’s flesh at even, and eat from the manna in the morning; That they eat the first; That they eat the bread afterward;

4. That they eat before they obtain Aion possession of the land promised to Abraham and his seed.

Under the first head, I remark that Jesus anointed was the Glory of Yahweh. This is proved by John’s testimony that, ‘the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us (Israelites) and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace: for the law was given through Moses; the grace and the truth (represented by the law) came through Jesus Anointed’. This glory for the Father was seen by ‘Judah and his companion’ in the evening of the Mosaic Aion” and he was seen in the wilderness as Isaiah had predicted, saying, ‘The voice of him that proclaimeth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of Yahweh, make straight in the desert a highway for our Elohim.” [Eureka, Vol. 1, pages 310-312]

In subsequent discourses, the speaker drew our attention to the study of the top-most symbol upon the Chart. Observing first its resemblance to an orb of light: a star, or a sun. Around its outer circle are inscribed the words, “from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art Ail” (Psa. 90:2). “Dwelling in the light, which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen”. (I Tim. 6:16) The greatness, power, and majesty of the Eternal Deity is conveyed in these testimonies: also the unending continuity of existence which belongs to Him. Thus God is the supreme idea presented to the minds of those who desire to know Him: and to obtain eternal life. And that His dwelling place is the center of light, unapproachable by man. That His existence is “from everlasting to everlasting”. According to the word through the prophet, and recorded upon the Chart saying, “Before me there was no God” (Ail) “formed, neither shall there be after me.” (Isa. 43) That He is omniscient and omnipotent in all ages, and everywhere by His spirit.

We are, then, led to understand that the Deity has formed a plan from the beginning. A plan and purpose, in reference to the manifestation of Himself, and His name upon the earth. And that this plan and purpose has certain arrangements with reference to certain ages, or periods of time. From the testimony we learn that Christ is the object and center of the whole plan and arrangement. It is “for, or on account of him He hath constituted the ages.” (Heb. 1)

Our attention is next drawn to the fact which is significantly represented on the Chart, that the typical foreshadowings of the Deity’s plan, purpose, and arrangement were unfolded through His servant Moses. And His name formed a fundamental element in that purpose and plan. This was shown to Moses at the bush: where Ail Shaddai made Himself known through His Angel messenger to Moses by His memorial “Ehyeh”, “I will be”. In Phanerosis, the Doctor says, “In this memorial the Eternal Spirit is the ‘I’, and the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the who of whom it is memorialized they ‘shall be’.” It may be proper to observe, just here, that the ‘Ehyeh’ is in other passages pronounced Yahweh and Jehovah. Concerning this, the Doctor remarks that the pronunciation of these letters does not affect the meaning of the word.

The figure place over the face of the star, or sun, is that of a double square in which the memorial is inscribed. For the signification of this we are referred to the exposition contained in Eureka Vol. II, page 312, where it reads thus:

“It is the square of twelve, and as the symbol of a commonwealth, polity, or city, applicable only to a community all of whose citizens are based upon a square root of twelve. In the Apocalypse this root is doubled in chapter 4:4, there being twenty-four elders: and in chapter 21:12 there being twelve gates and twelve angels at the gates. The reason of this is that the holy square, styled Jerusalem, ‘holy’, and ‘new’, and above the ‘mother of us all’, both Jews and Gentiles in Christ, consists of two classes: the one based upon the prophets, and circumcised of the flesh, which made them citizens of the polity founded upon the twelve sons of Israel, their faith in the promises made and covenanted to the fathers giving them citizenship in the Holy Square; one twelve, therefore, is their symbol. The other class, without regard to the flesh, are adopted in the Four Square Polity, and partake of the square root 12 with those under the law; and are also based upon another 12, the Apostles of the Lamb with whom the believers before Christ came, as yet have had no acquaintance. Hence, to represent these two classes united in one and the same square, the square root is doubled in the elders, and the gates and their angels: and in Chronicles, both the root and its square, where the numbers are 24 and 288, the last being a double of 144.”

The “pattern of things” pertaining to that heavenly constitution of things were committed unto Moses; and a further descriptive explanation is given on the same page in the volume as follows:

“The Apocalyptic 144,000, 144 furlongs, and 144 cubits are the breastplate of judgment: that is, the thing signified in that splendid decoration worn on the breastplate of Aaron in the Holy Place, is fulfilled in these who are the units of the Holy Square.”

“To understand this, the Reader must first comprehend the Aaronic symbol itself. The first place mention is made of it is in Ex. 28:15. It was not a plate of metal, but a texture wrought of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. It was four-square and of equal sides. It was filled in with settings of precious stones; four rows of them, and three in a row; each stone set in gold. Upon these twelve stones were engraved, as upon a seal, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, thereby showing that these tribes were represented by them: so that symbolically speaking, the whole nation of Israel was contained in the square ornament, and borne upon the breast, or heart, of the High Priest in the Holy Place. Having prepared the foursquare texture, Moses was commanded to put into it the Urim and the Thummim: that is the 12 precious stones, not that the stones abstractly were the Urim and the Thummim, but were indispensable to its manifestation. The Urim were the glistering if the stones - the lights refracted and reflected from their cut and polished surfaces, and developing lights of divers colors. These were styled Urim lights: and the twelve stones themselves, Thummim fullness: that is of number and measure, - fullness of number and fullness of measure: or 144,000 - and 144 cubits and furlongs, because these are the perfections, or square of 12.” [Eureka Vol. II, pages 313-314]

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After reading from the expositions in Eureka, the speaker amplified upon nearly every topic: elucidating by corresponding testimonies from the Word much of the hidden wisdom contained in the symbols and the reading. To illustrate more fully the idea of union of measure, and solid density, and symmetrical proportion that is comprehended with the double square, he used the figure of a cube: because a cube contains many cubits. All the parts thereof, having been subjected to the numbering, sealing, and measuring processes that belong to Deity’s plan, the whole is made to answer to the description given by prophets and apostles in the Scriptures - “Jerusalem which is above, the mother of us all.” (Eph. 2)

“Jesus Christ, himself, being the chief corner stone”: this is the stone that was rejected by the builders of the Jewish nation, and over which they stumbled. But chosen of Yahweh, and “precious”: according to the Word through the prophet Isaiah, saying, “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation,” etc. (Isa. 28) The Spirit through the Psalmist, prophesying concerning the Christ also said, “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.” (Psa. 118:18-22) To this testimony, Jesus called the attention of the chief priests and Pharisees, and said unto them, “Did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? (Mat. 21:42)

Peter, in his first epistle, speaking of Christ saith, “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious: ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (Chapter 2)

We are led, then, to apprehend this grand truth, that Aaron, when invested with the holy garments belonging to the high priestly office, bore upon his person the Pattern or symbol of the plan, or foundation, of that which has been and that which will be fulfilled in the person of Christ: who is High Priest, after the order of Melchizedec. Therefore, the pattern, or symbol, stands as a shadow of the manifestation of Yahweh’s glorious name, in and through Christ and his brethren when “perfected in the spirit”, or “glorified together.” “For”, saith the Apostle Paul, “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (I Cor. 3:2) “For by grace are ye saved of God … for we” (brethren and sisters in Christ) “are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:8-10) Abraham looked forward to the manifestation of this “spiritual house”. “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Heb. 11:10) Upon these foundations, the “City” will be an impregnable fortification: having endured through all the windy tempests and storm floods of ages: because it is founded upon “the Rock”: even the spirit-word, power, and name of Yahweh Elohim, manifested in and through the flesh. Through all the “Oracles” of the Deity, therefore, given in the form of types and symbols and in the plain, literal testimonies of the prophets, and Christ, and the apostles, it is found to be declared what Yahweh “will be” in “a generation of the race.” “Therefore,” saith Paul, “being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:1-2)

“Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” (II Tim. 1:9-10) The “purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” - embraced within its manifold significance, the essential principle of the resurrection of the dead. And this was conveyed in the announcement of the memorial name, unto Moses at the bush. As we are taught by the testimony of Jesus, through Mark, where he said: “And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.” (Mark 12:26-27) And through the record of John he said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad. (John 8:56)

Referring to the bush itself, all aglow with spirit-fire, in which the angel messenger of Yahweh was concealed - we are shown by the light of other testimonies, that it is a beautiful type or shadow. Christ compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a tree, which, in its beginning, is “the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree…” etc. (Mat. 13) Also, “the preserved of Israel”, nationally, are likened to a “good olive tree”. (Rom. 11) And in the time of restoration, the word through the prophet Ezekiel compares the nation to a goodly cedar tree. “Thus saith the Lord God: I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it: I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent. In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing: in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.” (Ezek. 17)

The “highest branch” of the national cedar, styled a “tender one”, points evidently to the Christ. The prophet Zechariah testifies concerning this branch saying, “Thus speaketh Yahweh of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of Yahweh: and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne: and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” (Zech. 6:12-13)

The High Priesthood belongs alone to him who bears the name of Yahweh: and in the future Aion of glory, Israel nationally, will become the recipients of the benefits and blessings which can only be enjoyed through the Mediatorial office of the Name-bearer.

One of the grand, essential elements belonging to this office is mercy. This was revealed to Moses in the proclamation of Yahweh’s name, in the top of Mount Sinai. There the voice of the Eternal spake to him and said, “Yahweh-Ail: merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth: keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty or ‘disobedient’.” (Ex. 34)

In order that Christ should be able to fulfill the functions of this priestly name, in relation to the people for whom he ministered, it was necessary that he should partake of the nature that is common to them. The Apostle Paul plainly testified concerning this: “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” (Heb. 2:13-18) In another place the same apostle says, “Christ glorified not himself to be made a high pries, but He that said unto him, thou art My son, today have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” (Heb. 5:5-10)

The “being made perfect” is shown to have been accomplished through much suffering of the flesh. Obedience unto death, even the ignominious death of the cross involved the crucifixion of every natural desire belonging to the human mind. Through the strength and the power which he received of the Father, he was enabled to attain the perfect standard required for the Saviour of men. In view of the glorious victory to be won over the “power of darkness”, the Spirit through the Psalmist sings prophetically, saying, “I will sing of the mercies of the Yahweh for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations” …. The Yahweh saith, “My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted” … “Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.” (Psa. 89)

Extract from “The Christadelphian”,

September and October 1887

Noted by Sis. Lasius.

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This ends “God Manifestation”. Inside the front and back covers are these quotes from Dr. Thomas.

“The Deity in a multitude is a conspicuous element of apostolic