Arcana Coelestia # 4594
4594. 'That is, Bethlehem' means a new spiritual of the celestial raised up in place of it. This is clear from the meaning of 'Bethlehem' as the spiritual of the celestial within the new state, for 'Ephrath' is the spiritual of the celestial within the initial state, 4585, while her burial there means the raising up of a new state, 4593. The fact that Bethlehem was the place where Rachel gave birth to her second son, Benjamin, and died in giving birth to him, also the place where David was born and where he was anointed king, and finally the place where the Lord was born, involves an arcanum which has not yet been revealed. Nor could it have been revealed to anyone who did not know what was meant by 'Ephrath' and by 'Bethlehem', and what was represented by 'Benjamin' and also by 'David'. Least of all could it have been revealed to anyone who did not know what the spiritual of the celestial was; for this is what was meant spiritually by those places and what was represented by those personages.
[2] The reason the Lord was born there and nowhere else was that He alone has been born a spiritual-celestial man. Everyone else has been born a natural man with the ability or capacity to become, through regeneration by the Lord, either celestial or spiritual. The Lord was born a spiritual-celestial man to the end that He might make His Human Divine, doing so according to order from the lowest degree to the highest, and so would bring order to everything in the heavens and everything in the hells. For the spiritual of the celestial is an intermediate part between the natural or external man and the rational or internal man, see above in 4585, 4592, so that below it there was the natural or external, and above it the rational or internal.
[3] Until he can grasp these things no one will ever come to understand in the light of any revelation at all why the Lord was born in Bethlehem. From most ancient times 'Ephrath' meant the spiritual of the celestial, as therefore did 'Bethlehem' subsequently. This now explains why the following words occur in David,
He swore to Jehovah, he made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob, If I enter the tent of my house, if I go up onto the couch of my bed, if I give sleep to my eyes, slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for Jehovah, dwelling-places for the Mighty One of Jacob. Behold, we heard of Him in Ephrath, we found Him in the fields of the forest; we will enter His dwelling-places, and bow down at His footstool. Psalms 132:2-7.
It is quite evident that these words are used to refer to the Lord. In the original language the pronoun 'Him' in 'we have heard of Him' and in 'we have found Him' is expressed by a letter added to the end of the verb - by the letter H, taken from the name Jehovah.
[4] And in Micah,
You, Bethlehem Ephrath, it is little that you are among the thousands of Judah; from you will come forth for Me one who will be ruler in Israel; and His origins are from of old, from the days of eternity Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:6.
From these prophecies it was well known to the Jewish people that the Messiah or Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, as is clear in Matthew,
Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people Herod inquired of them where the Christ (the Messiah) was to be born. They told him, In Bethlehem of Judea. Matthew 2:4-5.
And in John,
The Jews said, Does not the Scripture say that the Christ (the Messiah) is going to come from the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the city where David was? John 7:42.
His birth did in fact take place there, see Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4-7. For this reason also, and because He was descended from David, the Lord is called 'a shoot from the stem of Jesse', and 'the root of Jesse', Isaiah 11:1, 10. For Jesse, David's father, was a Bethlehemite, and David was born there and also anointed king there, 1 Samuel 16:1-14; 17:12, for which reason Bethlehem was called the city of David, Luke 2:4, 11; John 7:42. David in particular represents the Lord's kingship or Divine Truth, 1888.
Matthew 1
1
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2
Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers.
3
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram.
4
Ram became the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon. Nahshon became the father of Salmon.
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Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.
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Jesse became the father of King David. David became the father of Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
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Solomon became the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam became the father of Abijah. Abijah became the father of Asa.
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Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat became the father of Joram. Joram became the father of Uzziah.
9
Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah.
10
Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah.
11
Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12
After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel.
13
Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim. Eliakim became the father of Azor.
14
Azor became the father of Sadoc. Sadoc became the father of Achim. Achim became the father of Eliud.
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Eliud became the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan. Matthan became the father of Jacob.
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Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
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So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.
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Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
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Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.
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But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
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She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins."
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Now all this has happened, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
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"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son. They shall call his name Immanuel;" which is, being interpreted, "God with us."
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Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;
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and didn't know her sexually until she had brought forth her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.
