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])

6559. “照着我们从前待他一切的恶, 足足地报复我们” 表应受的惩罚因此即将来临。这从 “照着我们从前待他一切的恶, 足足地报复” 的含义清楚可知, “照着我们从前待他一切的恶, 足足地报复” 是指应受的惩罚; 因为向某人所行之恶的返回就是那应受的惩罚。有必要阐述一下何为恶的返回, 或在灵界, 惩罚是何性质, 因为这会表明此处这些话的内义。在灵人界, 如果恶灵所行之恶超出了他们通过在世的生活所吸收的邪恶, 实施惩罚者立刻到来, 并完全照着他们越界的程度严惩他们。因为来世的法则是, 人不可变得比在世时更坏。那些受到惩罚的恶灵根本不知道实施这些惩罚的人是如何知道他们所行之恶超出了他们在世所吸收的。但他们被告知, 在来世, 秩序具有这样的性质: 邪恶自带惩罚, 以至于所犯的邪恶与作为惩罚所受的邪恶完全绑在一起, 也就是说, 对邪恶的惩罚就在邪恶本身里面。因此, 回以惩罚的人立刻到来是符合秩序的。

在灵人界, 这就是当恶灵行恶时所发生的情形。但在他们自己的地狱, 他们会照着他们通过自己在世的行为所吸收的邪恶而彼此惩罚; 因为这邪恶是他们自己带入来世的。由此可见当如何理解 “照着我们从前待他一切的恶, 足足地报复我们” 所表示的这句话, 即: 应受的惩罚因此即将来临。至于善灵, 他们若偶然说了坏话, 或行了恶, 不会受到惩罚, 却得赦免, 也不受责备; 因为他们不是有意说坏话, 或行恶。他们知道这类坏话、恶行是由地狱在他们里面所激起的, 因此不是他们自己的过错。这一事实也能从他们抵制邪恶的行为和随后的悲伤看出来。