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])

1555. “从南地来到伯特利” 表从觉性之光进入智慧之光. 这从 “南地” 和 “伯特利” 的含义清楚可知, “南地” 表觉性之光, 或也可说, 表内层的光之状态, 如前所述 (1458节); “伯特利” 表源于认知的属天之光, 如前所述 (1453节). 所谓的觉性之光是指通过对信之真理与良善的认知所获得的光; 而智慧之光是指通过觉性之光所获得的生命之光. 觉性之光涉及心智的理性部分, 或认知; 而智慧之光涉及意愿部分, 或生命.

很少有人知道人如何被引向真正的智慧. 聪明并非智慧, 却通向智慧; 因为认知何为真与善并不能使人成为真与善, 但能使人成为智慧; 智慧只指向人的生命, 指向他是哪种人. 他通过逐渐认识和知道, 即知识和认知而被引向智慧或生命. 每个人的心智都分为两个部分: 意愿和认知; 意愿是首要部分, 认知是第二部分; 死后人的生命取决于其意愿部分, 而非其认知部分. 自幼年到童年, 意愿在人内被主形成, 这一切是通过被注入在他里面的天真无邪和对父母, 保姆, 同龄小孩子的仁爱, 他所不清楚的很多其它事, 以及属天之物而实现的. 除非人在婴幼儿和孩童时被注入这些属天之物, 否则, 他绝无可能成为真正的人. 第一层级就这样形成.

但是, 人若没有认知, 就不能成为人, 唯独意愿并不构成人, 而是认知和意愿一起构成人. 认知只能通过知识和认知获得, 故他必须自童年时就逐渐被赋予这些事物. 第二层级就这样形成. 一旦心智的认知部分具备了知识和认知, 尤其对真理和良善的认知, 那么他才第一次能经受重生. 当他经受重生时, 主会藉着认知将真理和良善植入在他自婴孩时就被主赐予的属天之物中. 结果, 其认知中的观念与属天之物合而为一. 一旦主将它们联结起来, 这人就有了仁爱, 他开始通过仁爱行事, 这仁爱便构成良知. 他以这种方式初次接受新生命, 这一切是逐步实现的. 这生命之光被称为智慧, 然后, 智慧起主导作用, 并被置于聪明之上. 第三层级就这样形成. 人在世时若成就这一切, 那么在来生, 他会继续得以完善. 这些考虑表明何为觉性之光, 何为智慧之光.