Apocalypse Revealed # 883
883. "And He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. And He Himself will be with them their God." This symbolizes their conjunction with the Lord, which is of such a nature that the people are in Him and He in them.
His dwelling with them symbolizes a conjunction of the Lord with them, as we will see below. The people's being His people, and His being with them their God, symbolically means that they are the Lord's, and that He is their Lord. Moreover, because dwelling with them symbolizes conjunction, it symbolically means that they will be in the Lord and have the Lord in them. Otherwise there is no conjunction. That this is the nature of the conjunction is clearly apparent from the Lord's words in John:
Abide in Me, and I in you... I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)
And elsewhere:
At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (John 14:20)
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (John 6:56)
[2] The Lord's assuming a humanity and uniting it with the Divinity He had in Him from birth, which is called the Father, had as its goal a conjunction with people, as is apparent also in John:
For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth..., that they may be one as We are one: I in them, and You in Me. (John 17:19, 21-23, 26)
It follows from this that the conjunction is formed with the Lord's Divine humanity, that it is a reciprocal one, and that this is the only means of conjunction with the Divine called the Father.
[3] The Lord also teaches that the conjunction is formed by the Word's truths and by living in accordance with them (John 14:20-24; 15:7).
This, then, is what is meant by the Lord's dwelling with them and their being His people, and His being with them their God. So, too, elsewhere where the same words occur: Jeremiah 7:23; 11:4; Ezekiel 14:11; Jeremiah 24:7; 30:22; Ezekiel 11:20; 36:28; 37:23, 27; Zechariah 8:8; Exodus 29:45.
[4] To dwell with them symbolizes a conjunction with them because to dwell symbolizes conjunction out of love, as may be seen from many passages in the Word. It may be seen also from the abodes of angels in heaven. Heaven is distinguished into countless societies, all of them different from each other in accordance with the differences in their love's affections, in general and in particular. Each society embodies one particular variety of affection, and the people in it have dwellings distinct from each other, depending on how close or akin they are within that variety of affection, and those who are the most closely related dwell together in the same house. Dwelling together, therefore, when said of married partners, symbolizes in the spiritual sense conjunction by love.
It should be known that conjunction with the Lord is not the same as His presence. Conjunction with the Lord is possible only with people who turn to Him directly, His presence with everyone else.
Zechariah 8
1
The word of Yahweh of Armies came to me.
2
Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath."
3
Thus says Yahweh: "I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called 'The City of Truth;' and the mountain of Yahweh of Armies, 'The Holy mountain.'"
4
Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
5
The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets."
6
Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes?" says Yahweh of Armies.
7
Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
8
and I will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness."
9
Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who were in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of Armies was laid, even the temple, that it might be built.
10
For before those days there was no wages for man, nor any wages for an animal; neither was there any peace to him who went out or came in, because of the adversary. For I set all men everyone against his neighbor.
11
But now I will not be to the remnant of this people as in the former days," says Yahweh of Armies.
12
"For the seed of peace and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.
13
It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don't be afraid. Let your hands be strong."
14
For thus says Yahweh of Armies: "As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath," says Yahweh of Armies, "and I didn't repent;
15
so again have I thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Don't be afraid.
16
These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates,
17
and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor, and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate," says Yahweh.
18
The word of Yahweh of Armies came to me.
19
Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "The fasts of the fourth fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace."
20
Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "Many peoples, and the inhabitants of Many cities will yet come;
21
and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, 'Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of Armies. I will go also.'
22
Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Yahweh of Armies in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Yahweh."
23
Thus says Yahweh of Armies: "In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'"
