Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, signifies the doctrine of love to the Lord, and how it governs your life. Jerusalem first comes to our attention in 2 Samuel 5, when King David takes the city from the Jebusites and makes it his capital. In the next chapter he brings the Ark of the Covenant there, and later it is where Solomon builds the temple, and his own palace. From then on Jerusalem is the center of worship of the Israelitish church. It is the place where the Lord was presented in the temple as a baby, where He tarried to talk to the priests at age twelve, where He cleansed the temple, had the last supper, was crucified and then rose. It is a central place in both the old and new Testaments. The city was built on Mount Zion, the highest point of the mountains of Judea. A city, in the Word, represents doctrine, the organized knowledge of the truths of the church. Mountains represent love of the Lord and the consequent worship. If you put those things together, Jerusalem on Mount Zion signifies the doctrine of love to the Lord, and how it governs your life. This is why David was led to make Jerusalem the most important city of the land, and why all worship was conducted there. And this is also why Jeroboam was condemned for introducing idol worship in Samaria. In the Book of Revelation, John's vision of the city New Jerusalem descending from God is a prophecy of a new dispensation of doctrine coming from the Lord.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 4539, 8938; The Apocalypse Explained 365 [35-38])

2590. 我从多方面得到指教, 外邦人若过着道德, 顺从, 彼此仁爱的生活, 并根据自己的宗教信仰接受某种良知, 在来世也被接纳. 在那里, 天使们怀着急切地渴望和关切教导他们信的良善与真理. 他们在被教导的过程中, 表现得谦逊, 聪明和智慧, 能轻易接受并吸收教导给他们的东西. 因为他们没有形成与信之真理相反, 必须被驱散的任何观念, 更没有形成接受主的任何障碍, 不象很多过着邪恶生活的基督徒. 而且, 这样的外邦人不仇恨他人, 或因为受到伤害而报复, 或图谋诡诈. 他们甚至会祝愿基督徒; 而另一方面, 基督徒却看不起他们, 并尽可能地向他们施暴. 不过, 主会把他们从那些基督徒的无情对待中解救出来, 并给予保护.

基督徒和外邦人在来世的情况是这样: 承认信之真理, 同时过着良善生活的基督徒会先于外邦人被接纳; 但如今这样的基督徒寥寥无几. 然而, 外邦人若过着顺从和彼此仁爱的生活, 会先于所过的生活不怎么良善的基督徒被接纳. 因为在全世界, 凡过着良善生活的人都会在主的怜悯下被接纳并得救; 接受真理的, 是良善本身. 生活中的良善就是接受种子, 即接受真理的土地本身; 而生活中的罪恶绝不可能接受它. 虽然那些沉浸于罪恶中的人得到上千种不同方式的教导, 甚至接受最充分的教导, 但信之真理在他们那里只能进入记忆, 无法渗透到内心情感中. 因此, 在来世, 他们记忆中的真理会被驱散, 变得无效.