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])

5138. “叫他们把我下在坑里” 表被抛弃在虚假当中. 这从 “坑” 的含义清楚可知, “坑” 是指虚假 (参看4728, 4744, 5038节). 前面论述的主题是邪恶, 也就是说, 邪恶使得属天事物变得疏远的事物 (5134, 5135节); 但此处论述的主题是虚假, 因为当这一个在圣言中被提及, 那一个也会被提及, 也就是说, 凡提及邪恶的地方, 也会提及虚假; 因为凡论述良善的地方, 也会论述真理, 以便圣言的每一个事物里面都存在一个婚姻. 天堂的婚姻是良善与真理的婚姻, 而地狱的婚姻是邪恶与虚假的婚姻. 因为邪恶在哪里, 虚假也在哪里, 虚假与邪恶如同妻子与她的丈夫那样相联结; 良善在哪里, 真理也在哪里, 因为真理与良善也如同妻子与她的丈夫那样相联结. 因此, 从人的生活就能看出他信仰的本质, 因为良善, 抑或邪恶是生活的内在本质; 真理, 抑或虚假是信仰的内在本质. 至于圣言的每一个事物里面都存在一个婚姻, 可参看前文 (683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712, 4137末尾节).