A Brief Exposition of New Church Doctrine # 100
100. BRIEF ANALYSIS
The reason the New Church is meant by the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, in Revelation 21, is that Jerusalem was the metropolis of the land of Canaan. The temple and the altar were there; there also sacrifices were offered. Thus, Divine worship itself was performed there, and every male throughout the land was commanded to come to this worship three times a year. A further reason is that the Lord was in Jerusalem and taught in its temple; afterwards glorifying His Human there; thence it is that Jerusalem signifies the Church. That the Church is meant by Jerusalem is clearly evident from the prophecies in the Old Testament concerning a New Church to be established by the Lord, and which is there called Jerusalem.
[2] The following passages only shall be cited, from which anyone possessed of interior reason may see that by Jerusalem is there meant the Church. Let these passages alone be taken from the prophets:
Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered. . . . I will create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy; that I may rejoice over Jerusalem and be joyful over My people. . . Then the wolf and the lamb shall feed together. . . they shall do no evil in all the mountain of My holiness.Isaiah 65:17-19, 25.
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof goes forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Then the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name. And thou shalt be a crown of beauty.. . and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God... Jehovah shall be well pleased in thee, and thy land shall be married . . . Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him . . . and they shall call them, The holy people, the redeemed of Jehovah; and thou shalt be called, sought out, a city not forsaken.Isaiah 62:1-4, 11-12.
Awake! awake! put on thy strength, O Zion; put on the garments of thy beauty, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem . . . The people shalt know My name in that day, for I am He that doth speak; behold, it is I. . .. Jehovah hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem.Isaiah 52:1-2, 6, 9.
Shout with joy, O daughter of Zion; be glad with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. . .. The King of Israel is in the midst of thee; fear not evil any more . . . He will be glad over thee with joy; He will rest in thy love; He will exult over thee with joyful shouting. . . will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth.Zephaniah 3:14-17, 20.
Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer . . . saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be inhabited. Isaiah 44:24, 26.
Thus saith Jehovah, I am returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; whence Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth, and the mountain of Jehovah Zebaoth, the mountain of holiness. Zechariah 8:3.
Then shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion, the mountain of holiness; and Jerusalem shall be holiness... .And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk... and Jerusalem shall abide from generation to generation. Joel 3:17-18, 20.
In that day shall the branch of Jehovah be beauty and glory. . . And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy; everyone that is written unto life in Jerusalem. Isaiah 4:2-3.
In the last days the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the head of the mountains ... for out of Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. Micah 4:1-2.
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all nations shall be gathered to Jerusalem because of the name of Jehovah; neither shall they go any more after the confirmation of their own evil heart. Jeremiah 3:17.
Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; let thine eyes see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; the stakes thereof shall never be removed, and the cords thereof shall not be broken. Isaiah 33:20.
Other passages are: Isaiah 24:23; 37:32; 66:10-14; Zechariah 12:3, 6-10; 14:8, 11-12, 21; Malachi 3:2, 4; Psalms 122:1-7; 137:4-6.
[3] That by Jerusalem in the above passages is meant a Church to be established by the Lord, and not the Jerusalem inhabited by the Jews, is plain from every detail of its description therein; as that Jehovah God was about to create a new heaven and a new earth, and Jerusalem also at the same time; that this Jerusalem would be a crown of beauty, and a royal diadem; that it is to be called holiness, and the city of truth, the throne of Jehovah, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; that the wolf and the lamb shall feed together there; that there the mountains shall drop with new wine, and the hills flow with milk; that it should abide from generation to generation; besides many other things respecting the people therein, that they should be holy, all written unto life, and should be called the redeemed of Jehovah.
Matthew 22
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Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying,
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"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son,
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and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come.
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Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast!"'
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But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise,
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and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them.
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When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
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"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren't worthy.
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Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.'
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Those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.
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But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn't have on wedding clothing,
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and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?' He was speechless.
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Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.'
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For many are called, but few chosen."
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Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk.
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They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter who you teach, for you aren't partial to anyone.
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Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"
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But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test me, you hypocrites?
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Show me the tax money." They brought to him a denarius.
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He asked them, "Whose is this image and inscription?"
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They said to him, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
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When they heard it, they marveled, and left him, and went away.
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On that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him,
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saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed for his brother.'
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Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no seed left his wife to his brother.
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In the same way, the second also, and the third, to the seventh.
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After them all, the woman died.
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In the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her."
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But Jesus answered them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.
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For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God's angels in heaven.
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But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven't you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying,
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'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?' God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
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When the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
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But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together.
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One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him.
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"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"
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Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
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This is the first and great commandment.
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A second likewise is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
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The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
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Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
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saying, "What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "A Psalm of David."
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He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,
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'The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?'
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"If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?"
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No one was able to answer him a word, neither did any man dare ask him any more questions from that day forth.
