8899. 'Which Jehovah your God gives you' means where the Divine is, and influx from Him. This is clear from the consideration that these words are spoken in regard to heaven, meant here by 'the land', 8898, so that 'Jehovah God' is the Divine there, and 'giving' is influx; for heaven with all people in general and with each person in particular consists in the reception of influx from the Divine. It may seem strange that such things are meant by the commandment about honouring parents, for they are remote from the literal meaning. But it should be recognized that the Ten Commandments are rules both for those in the world and for those in heaven. The literal or external sense is for those in the world, the spiritual or internal sense for those in heaven; and this being so, both senses - the external and the internal - are for those who while in the world are also in heaven, that is, those leading a good life in conformity with the truths of religious teachings. The fact that the Ten Commandments are also for those in heaven is evident from the internal sense of all that is in the Word, and especially from the consideration that things spoken by Jehovah God, that is, the Lord Himself, are not only for men or the world but also for angels, indeed for the whole of heaven. For Divine Truth which goes forth from the Lord flows through heaven; it passes right through to man. This is so with these Ten Commandments which the Lord Himself spoke from Mount Sinai.

[2] Since these commandments were declared not only for those in the world but also for those in heaven they could not be understood in the same way in both places. That was so with this commandment that they should honour father and mother, in order that their days might be prolonged on the land that Jehovah God would give them. For in heaven parents and children do not come together as on earth; therefore the Lord is in place of 'father' there, and His kingdom in place of 'mother'. Nor can it be said of those in heaven that their days would be prolonged, since they live there forever. Neither can 'land' there be taken to mean the land of Canaan, as it is in this commandment, but the heavenly Canaan instead which is heaven. Since 'father and mother' means the Lord and His kingdom this commandment is fourth in order, surpassing in holiness those that come after it. The commandment regarding the worship of Jehovah, that is, the Lord, is the first and second, because it is the holiest. After it comes the commandment regarding the sabbath, because in the highest sense the union within the Lord of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human is meant by it. Then follows the commandment about honouring parents, because love of the Lord is meant by it, and consequently the love of goodness and truth that come from the Lord. Since these things are meant by this commandment, treating parents with contempt is listed among the crimes meant by 'shedding blood', Ezekiel 22:6-7; and disobedient and stubborn sons were to be stoned, Deuteronomy 21:18-21.

289. 'Wife' is used to mean the Church, in the universal sense the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth. This too has been shown already, while the fact that 'mother' as well has the same meaning follows from this. In the Word the Church is commonly called 'mother', as in Isaiah,

Where is your mother's bill of divorce? Isaiah 50:1.

In Jeremiah,

Your, mother has been utterly shamed, she who bore you is covered with shame. Jeremiah 50:12.

In Ezekiel,

[You are] your mother's daughter who loathes her husband and her sons. Your mother is a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Ezekiel 16:45.

Here 'husband' (vir) stands for the Lord and everything celestial, 'sons for truths of faith, 'Hittite' for falsity, and 'Amorite' for evil. In the same prophet,

Your mother was like a vine in your likeness, planted beside the waters, fruitful, full of branches by reason of many waters. Ezekiel 19:10.

Here 'mother' stands for the Ancient Church. The Most Ancient Church is pre-eminently called a 'mother' because it was the first Church, and the only one to be celestial. For that reason it was the Lord's beloved more than any other.