9741. 'And you shall make the court of the dwelling-place' means the lowest heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the court of the dwelling-place' as the external part of heaven, thus the lowest heaven; for there are three heavens, the inmost, the middle, and the lowest. The inmost was represented by the inmost part of the dwelling-place, where the ark of the Testimony was; the middle one by the dwelling-place outside the veil; and the lowest by the court, which is the subject now. This heaven is called the court because they who are there are those who are governed by the good of faith and not as yet by the good of charity towards the neighbour - they who are governed by the good of charity being those who are in the middle heaven. Those in the lowest heaven, which is called the court, are called angelic spirits; those in the middle heaven are called spiritual angels; but those in the inmost heaven are called celestial angels.

[2] The good of faith itself too, which is the good of the lowest heaven, is meant by 'the court', because it is through this good that a person is led on into the good of charity towards the neighbour, which is the good of the middle heaven. It should be remembered that the good present with a person constitutes his heaven and that the kind of heaven that is his is determined by the kind of good that is his. There are three kinds of good that follow one another in order - the good of faith, the good of charity towards the neighbour, and the good of love to the Lord. The good of faith constitutes the lowest or first heaven, as stated above; the good of charity towards the neighbour constitutes the middle or second heaven; and the good of love to the Lord constitutes the inmost or third heaven.

[3] A little more needs to be said to give people an even better knowledge of the arrangement of the heavens. The heavens are divided into two kingdoms, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom; and in each kingdom there is an internal part and an external. The internal part of the celestial kingdom is inhabited by those who are governed by the good of love to the Lord, and the external part of it by those who are governed by the good of mutual love; but the internal part of the spiritual kingdom is inhabited by those who are governed by the good of charity towards the neighbour, and the external part of it by those who are governed by the good of faith, see 9680. The external part of each kingdom ¹ is what is called the lowest or first heaven and was represented by the court. This explains why there were two courts around the temple, an outer and an inner, the outer court standing for those who inhabit the external parts of the spiritual kingdom and the inner court for those inhabiting the external parts of the celestial kingdom.

[4] Regarding these two courts of the temple in Jerusalem, see 1 Kings 6:3, 36; 2 Kings 21:5. Regarding the outer court of the new temple in Ezekiel, see Ezekiel 40:17, 31, 34; Ezekiel 42:1-end; and regarding the inner court there, Ezekiel 40:23, 28, 32, 44; 42:3; 43:5. From all this it is evident that the lowest heaven which was represented by the outer court of the temple is composed of the good of faith, and the lowest heaven which was represented by the inner court is composed of the good of mutual love. Those governed by the good of mutual love are governed by an affection for good for goodness' sake, whereas those governed by the good of faith are governed by an affection for truth for truth's sake. For good has dominion in the celestial kingdom, whereas truth has it in the spiritual kingdom.

[5] The fact that the lowest heaven is meant by 'the courts' is evident from places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Ezekiel,

The glory of Jehovah rose ² from above the cherub over the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud; and the cloud filled the inner court. ³ And the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah, and the sound of the wings of the cherubs was heard as far as the outer court. Ezekiel 10:3-5.

The court was representative of the lowest heaven, and that was why it was filled, as was the house itself, with the cloud and the brightness of the glory of Jehovah, for 'the cloud' and 'the glory' mean Divine Truth. As regards 'the cloud', that it has this meaning, see 5922, 6343 (end), 6752, 8106, 8443, and also 'the glory', 8267, 8427, 9429. 'The sound of the wings' means the truth of faith derived from good, 8764, 9514.

[6]In the same prophet,

The spirit lifted me up and led me into the inner court of the temple; and behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house. And I heard Him speaking to me from the house, saying, Son of man, [this is] the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I shall dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. Ezekiel 43:4-7.

Here the temple and the court are called 'the place of Jehovah's throne, and the place of the soles of His feet' because the temple and the court represented heaven, 'Jehovah's throne' being the spiritual heaven, 5313, 8625, 'the place of the soles of His feet' the lowest heaven.

[7] The lowest heaven is also meant by 'court' and 'courts' in the following places: In David,

Blessed is [anyone] whom You choose and cause to come near; he will dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, with the holiness of Your temple. Psalms 65:4.

'Dwelling in those courts', as is self-evident, means dwelling in heaven. In the same author,

A day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of My God rather than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalms 84:10.

In the same author,

Planted in the house of Jehovah, they will flourish in the courts of our God. Psalms 92:13.

In the same author,

Give to Jehovah the glory of His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Psalms 96:8.

In the same author,

Praise the name of Jehovah, praise [Him], O servants of Jehovah who are standing in the house of Jehovah, in the courts of the house of our God. Psalms 135:1-2.

In Isaiah,

They will collect the grain and new wine, they will eat [it] and praise Jehovah; and those who will have gathered it together will drink [it] in the courts of My holiness. Isaiah 62:9.

In these places 'courts' stands for the lowest heavens; for the more internal heavens are called Jehovah's house and His temple, 3720.

[8] In John,

The angel said, Rise and measure the temple and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations, ⁴ who will trample the holy city for forty-two months. Revelation 11:1-2.

'The temple and the altar, and those who worship in it' are the Church and its worship. 'The court outside the temple' is the good of mutual love, as stated above. 'The nations to whom the holy city has been given to trample' are the evils of self-love and love of the world, which destroy the Church, 6306. 'Forty-two months' is similar in meaning to six weeks, and 'six weeks' is similar in meaning to six days of a week; for six multiplied by seven makes forty-two. A week means a whole period, long or short, 2044, 3845; the six days which come before the seventh or sabbath mean a former Church through to its end, and the establishment of a new Church. For 'the sabbath' means goodness and truth joined together, and so means the Church, 8495, 8510, 8890, 8893, 9274.

Poznámky pod čarou:

2709. 'And was an archer' means the member of the spiritual Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'darts, arrows, or shafts' as truth, and from the meaning of 'a bow' as doctrine, dealt with above in 2686. The member of the spiritual Church was in former times called 'an archer' because such a member uses truths to defend himself, and discusses truths, unlike the member of the celestial Church who is protected by good and does not discuss truths, see above in 2708. The truths which the member of the spiritual Church uses to defend himself and which he discusses are derived from the doctrine he acknowledges.

[2] The fact that the spiritual man was in former times called 'an archer' and 'a bowman', and that doctrine was called a bow and a quiver, and the truths of doctrine, or rather matters of doctrine, were called arrows, darts, and shafts, is further clear in David,

The children of Ephraim who were armed (they were archers) turned back on the day of battle. Psalms 78:9.

'Ephraim' stands for the intellectual side of the Church. In the Book of Judges,

You who ride white she-asses, you who sit on Middin, ¹ and you who walk along the way, may you ponder. From the voice of the bowmen among those drawing water, there they will discuss the righteous acts of Jehovah, the righteous acts of His village in Israel. Judges 5:10-11.

In Isaiah.

Jehovah called me from the womb, from my mother's body ² He made mention of my name and set my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of His hand He hid me and turned me into a polished arrow; in His quiver He hid me, and He said to me, You are My servant Israel, for I will be glorified in you. Isaiah 49:1-3.

'Israel' stands for the spiritual Church.

[3] In David,

Like arrows in the hand of a powerful man so are the children of the days of one's youth. Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them. Psalms 127:4-5.

'A quiver' stands for the doctrine of good and truth. In Habakkuk,

The sun, the moon, stood still in their place. At the light of Your arrows they will go, at the flash of Your glittering spear. Habakkuk 3:11.

In the reference to Joash king of Israel who at Elisha's command shot the arrow from the bow through the window, with Elisha saying as he shot it, Jehovah's arrow of salvation, Jehovah's arrow of salvation against the Syrian, 2 Kings 13:16-18, arcana to do with the doctrine of good and truth are meant.

[4] Since most things in the Word also possess a contrary sense, darts, arrows, shafts, bows, and archers accordingly possess such. In that contrary sense they mean falsities, doctrine that teaches what is false, and those who are under the influence of falsity, as in Moses,

The son of a fruitful one is Joseph, the son of a fruitful one beside a spring, O daughters, ³ he trails over the wall; and they bitterly grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him did the archers. Genesis 49:22-23.

In Jeremiah,

They shot with their tongue, their bow is a bow of lies and not used for truth. Their tongue is a shaft extended; it speaks deceit. Jeremiah 9:3, 8.

In David,

They sharpened their tongue like a sword, they aimed their shaft, a bitter word, to shoot in secret places at the upright; they will shoot suddenly and will not fear him. They will make strong for themselves an evil matter; they will tell of laying snares secretly. Psalms 64:3-5.

In the same author,

Behold, the evil bend the bow, they make ready their shaft upon the string, to shoot in thick darkness itself at the upright in heart. Psalms 11:2.

In the same author,

His truth is a shield and buckler; you will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the shaft that flies by day. Psalms 91:4-5.

Poznámky pod čarou: