Jerusalem
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])
属天的奥秘 # 2632
2632. “亚伯拉罕给他的儿子以撒行了割礼” 表理性的洁净. 这从 “行割礼” 的含义和 “以撒” 的代表物清楚可知: “行割礼” 是指洁净 (参看2039节); “以撒” 是指神圣理性 (参看2630节).
主的第一理性出生的方式和其他人的一样, 也就是说, 是通过知识和认知出生的, 这在前面论述以实玛利的地方已说明, 以实玛利就代表主的第一理性. 由于该理性和其他人的一样, 都是通过知识和认知, 因而通过外在途径, 就是感官途径出生的, 故它里面不可避免地含有很多来自外在世界的东西, 因为理性观念就是通过它们获得的. 对主来说, 由于祂从母亲所得来的遗传之物, 情况尤其如此. 主从祂的理性中逐渐剔除的, 正是这些世俗之物和这种遗传物, 直到这理性能接受神性为止 (2624, 2625节). 主的神圣理性就是在这个时候出生的, 由 “以撒” 来代表 (2630节), 但不是象祂的第一理性那样通过外在途径, 就是感官途径出生, 而是通过内在途径从神性本身出生 (2628, 2629节). 这一过程不是立刻, 而是逐渐实现的 (1690, 2033节), 所以这理性被洁净, 并不断得以洁净. “亚伯拉罕给他的儿子, 就是满八天的儿子行了割礼” 就表示这种洁净. 主逐渐使祂的理性变成神性, 并不断洁净它, 这一点也清楚可见于约翰福音:
耶稣说, 父啊, 荣耀你的名. 当时就有声音从天上来: 我已经荣耀了, 还要再荣耀. (约翰福音 12:28)
在古教会, 割礼只代表和表示人当从我欲和物欲中洁净, 并非别的什么, 这种洁净是逐渐并持续进行的 (参看2039, 2046末尾, 2049, 2056节); 尤其在人已新生或重生之时. 因为那时, 主正通过内在途径, 即经由形成良知的良善而流入进来, 逐渐并不断将由于遗传之恶和实际罪恶而粘附于人的事物分离出去.
