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])

4956. 对邻之仁的本质就是对良善与真理的情感, 以及对自我是邪恶与虚假的承认. 事实上, 邻舍是良善与真理本身, 对这些有一种情感就是拥有仁爱, 而邻舍的反面是邪恶与虚假, 凡拥有仁爱的人都远离它们. 因此, 凡拥有对邻之仁的人都被良善与真理感动, 因为它们出于主, 这种人远离邪恶与虚假, 因为这些出于自我. 当如此行时, 他就出于自我承认而处于谦卑的状态; 当处于谦卑状态时, 他便处于接受来自主的良善与真理的状态. 仁爱的这些基本要素就是主的这些话在内义上所传达的信息, 即: 我饿了, 你们给我吃; 渴了, 你们给我喝; 我作客旅, 你们留我住; 我赤身露体, 你们给我穿; 我病了, 你们看顾我; 我在监里, 你们来看我. 若不藉着内义, 没有人知道这些话含有仁爱的基本要素在里面. 拥有仁爱教义的古人知道这些事; 但如今像这样的事似乎太过牵强, 以至于若有人说这些话含有仁爱的基本要素在里面, 人人都会感到惊讶. 此外, 与人同在的天使并不以其它任何方式来理解这些话, 因为他们将 “饥饿的人” 理解为那些出于情感渴望良善的人, 将 “口渴的人” 理解为那些出于情感渴慕真理的人; 将 “客旅 (或寄居的)” 理解为那些愿意被教导的人; 将 “赤身露体的人” 理解为那些承认自己里面毫无良善与真理的人; 将 “患病的” 理解为那些承认自己里面只有邪恶的人; 将 “被捆绑的” 或那些 “在监里” 的人理解为那些承认自己里面只有虚假的人. 这些事若化为一个意思, 就表示刚才所描述仁爱的各个方面.