Doctrine of the Lord # 64
64. Jerusalem, in the Word, means the church in respect to doctrine, because the Temple, the Altar, the offering of sacrifices, thus Divine worship itself were there, in the land of Canaan, and nowhere else. The three annual feasts were therefore also celebrated there, and every male throughout the land was commanded to go to them. For that reason Jerusalem symbolizes the church in respect to its worship, and so also the church in respect to its doctrine. For worship is prescribed in doctrine, and is conducted in accordance with it. In addition, the Lord was active in Jerusalem and taught in its Temple, and afterward glorified His humanity there.
Furthermore, in the Word in its spiritual sense a city symbolizes doctrine. The Holy City therefore symbolizes a doctrine of Divine truth from the Lord. 1
[2] That Jerusalem means the church in respect to its doctrine is apparent also from other passages in the Word. For example, from the following:
In Isaiah:
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as a radiance, and her salvation as a burning lamp. Then the nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah will utter. You shall also be a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.... ...Jehovah will be well pleased by you, and your land shall be married.... Behold, your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with Him.... And they shall call them a holy people, the redeemed of Jehovah; and you shall be called a city sought, not forsaken. (Isaiah 62:1-4, 11-12)
This whole chapter deals with the Lord’s advent and a new church to be established by Him. The new church is the one meant by Jerusalem, which will be called “by a new name which the mouth of Jehovah will utter, ” which will be “a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of God, ” by which Jehovah will be “well pleased, ” and which will be called “a city sought, not forsaken.”
This cannot mean the Jerusalem inhabited by Jews when the Lord came into the world, for it was altogether of an opposite character. Rather it deserved to have been called Sodom, as it is in fact called in Revelation 11:8, Isaiah 3:9, Jeremiah 23:14, and Ezekiel 16:46, 48.
[3] Elsewhere in Isaiah:
...behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth; the former shall not be remembered.... ...be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; ...behold, I will create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem, and be glad over My people.... (Then) the wolf and the lamb shall feed together.... They shall not do harm...in all My holy mountain.... (Isaiah 65:17-19, 25)
The subject in this chapter as well is the Lord’s advent and the church that He will establish — a church that was not established among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but among surrounding peoples. Consequently it is this church that is meant by Jerusalem, which will be for the Lord a rejoicing, and whose people will be for Him a joy, and where the wolf and the lamb will feed together and not do harm.
Here, too, we are told, as we are in the book of Revelation, that the Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth, where they have a similar meaning. And we are also told that He will create Jerusalem.
[4] Elsewhere in Isaiah:
Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come into you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! ...My people shall know My name...in that day, for I am He who speaks. Behold, it is I.... ...Jehovah has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. (Isaiah 52:1-2, 6, 9)
In this chapter also the subject is the Lord’s advent and a church to be established by Him. Consequently the Jerusalem into which the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come, and which the Lord has redeemed, means the church; and Jerusalem, the holy city, means the church in respect to its doctrine received from the Lord.
[5] In Zephaniah:
Sing, O daughter of Zion! ...Be glad...with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! ...The King of Israel...is in your midst; fear evil no more.... He will be glad over you with joy, He will rest in your love, He will rejoice over you with jubilation.... ...I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth.... (Zephaniah 3:14-17, 20)
Here, likewise, the subject is the Lord and the church to be established by Him, over which the King of Israel, namely the Lord, will be glad with joy and rejoice with jubilation, in whose love He will rest, and to whom He will give fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth.
[6] In Isaiah:
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, and He who formed you..., who says to Jerusalem, “You shall be inhabited, ” and to the cities of Judah, “You shall be built.” (Isaiah 44:24, 26)
And in Daniel:
Know and understand that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks.... (Daniel 9:25)
Jerusalem here, too, means the church, as is apparent, since the Lord restored and rebuilt the church, but not Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews.
[7] Jerusalem means a church established by the Lord in the following places as well.
In Zechariah:
Thus said Jehovah: “I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. (Therefore) Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, the Holy Mountain.” (Zechariah 8:3, cf. 8:20-23)
In Joel:
Then you shall know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy.... And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk.... And...shall abide...Jerusalem from generation to generation. (Joel 3:17-20)
In Isaiah:
In that day the offshoot of Jehovah shall be beautiful and glorious.... And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy — everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:2-3)
In Micah:
...at the end of days the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on top of the mountains.... For out of Zion the doctrine shall go forth, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.... ...to you...the former kingdom shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1-2, 8)
In Jeremiah:
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations shall be gathered..., because of the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the confirmation of their evil heart. (Jeremiah 3:17)
In Isaiah:
Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feast; let your eyes behold Jerusalem, a tranquil home, a tabernacle that will not go away. Its stakes will never be removed, nor will any of its cords be torn away. (Isaiah 33:20)
And so on also elsewhere, as in Isaiah 24:23, 37:32, 66:10-14; Zechariah 12:3, 6, 8-10, 14:8, 11-12, 21; Malachi 3:2, 4; Psalms 122:1-7, 137:4-6.
[8] Jerusalem in these places means a church which the Lord will establish, and also one that He has established, and not the Jerusalem in the land of Canaan inhabited by Jews; and this can be seen as well from places in the Word where we are told that it has been utterly ruined, or that it will be destroyed. As, for example, in Jeremiah 5:1, 6:6-7, 7:17-18ff, 8:6-8ff, 9:11-12, 14ff, 13:9-10, 14, 14:16; Lamentations 1:8-9, 17; Ezekiel 4:1-17, 5:9-17, 12:18-19, 15:6-8, 16:1-63, 23:1-49; Matthew 23:37, 39; Luke 19:41-44, 21:20-22, 23:28-30. And many other places.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. [Swedenborg’s Footnote] To be shown that a city in the Word symbolizes the doctrine of a church and its religion, see the Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), nos. 402, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493. That the gate of a city symbolizes the doctrine by which one enters the church, nos. 2943, 4477, 4478. That the elders therefore sat at the gate of the city in judgment, ibid. That to go out of the gate is to depart from the doctrine, nos. 4492, 4493. That representational cities and palaces in heaven appear when angels are engaged in discussing doctrinal matters, no. 3216 there.
Published by the General Church of the New Jerusalem, 1100 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania 19009, U.S.A. A translation of Doctrina Novae Hierosolymae de Domino, by Emanuel Swedenborg, 1688-1772. Translated from the Original Latin by N. Bruce Rogers. ISBN 9780945003687, Library of Congress Control Number: 2013954074.
Joel 2
1
Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand:
2
A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.
3
A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.
4
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen, so do they run.
5
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
6
At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale.
7
They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don't swerve off course.
8
Neither does one jostle another; they march everyone in his path, and they burst through the defenses, and don't break ranks.
9
They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
10
The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
11
Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome, and who can endure it?
12
"Yet even now," says Yahweh, "turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning."
13
Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
14
Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.
15
Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly.
16
Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth from his room, and the bride out of her room.
17
Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, "Spare your people, Yahweh, and don't give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"
18
Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people.
19
Yahweh answered his people, "Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
20
But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise." Surely he has done great things.
21
Land, don't be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things.
22
Don't be afraid, you animals of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness spring up, for the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
23
"Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the former rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain, as before.
24
The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
25
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you.
26
You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and will praise the name of Yahweh, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed.
27
You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Yahweh, your God, and there is no one else; and my people will never again be disappointed.
28
"It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
29
And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.
30
I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.
31
The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
32
It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
