THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE

ACCORDING TO WHAT HAS BEEN HEARD FROM HEAVEN

WITH AN INTRODUCTION CONCERNING THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)

1413. 'To the land which I will cause you to see' means the spiritual and celestial things that were to be brought to view. This is clear from the meaning of 'a land', 662, 1066, and indeed from the meaning here of 'the land of Canaan' which represents the Lord's kingdom, as becomes clear from many places in the Word. For this reason the land of Canaan is called the Holy Land, and also the heavenly Canaan. And since it represented the Lord's kingdom, it also represented and meant the celestial and spiritual things that belong to the Lord's kingdom, and here those that belong to the Lord Himself.

6005. 'For I will make you into a great nation' means that truths will be made into good. This is clear from the representation of Jacob, about whom these words were spoken, as natural truth, dealt with above in 6001; and from the meaning of 'a nation as good, dealt with in 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849 In the Word nations and peoples are referred to frequently but in every place with this difference, that forms of good or of evil are meant by 'nations' and truths or falsities by 'peoples'.