880. Jerusalem in the Word means the church because the Temple and altar were there in the land of Canaan and nowhere else, and sacrifices were made there. Thus it was the focus of Divine worship. The three annual feasts were accordingly also celebrated there, and every male throughout the land was commanded to attend them. For that reason Jerusalem symbolizes the church with respect to worship, and so also the church with respect to doctrine, inasmuch as worship is prescribed by doctrine and is conducted in accordance with it.

Jerusalem means the church, too, because the Lord was there and taught in its temple, and later glorified His humanity there.

That Jerusalem means the church with respect to its doctrine and consequent worship is apparent from many passages in the Word. As for example, from these verses in Isaiah:

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as a radiance, and her salvation as a burning lamp. Then gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall also be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will proclaim. And you shall be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal jewel ¹ in the hand of your God... ...Jehovah will delight in you, and your land shall be married.

Behold, your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with Him... And they shall call them a holy people, the redeemed of Jehovah; and you shall be called a city sought out, not forsaken. (Isaiah 62:1-4, 11-12)

[2] The subject in that chapter is the Lord's advent and a new church to be established by Him. This new church is the church meant by Jerusalem, which shall be called by a new name that the mouth of Jehovah will proclaim; which will be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah and a royal jewel ¹ in the hand of God; in which Jehovah will delight; and which shall be called a city sought out and not forsaken. This does not mean the Jerusalem inhabited by Jews when the Lord came into the world, for that Jerusalem was of a totally opposite character. It was rather to be called Sodom, as it also is called in Revelation 11:8, Isaiah 3:9, Jeremiah 23:14, and Ezekiel 16:46, 48.

[3] Elsewhere in Isaiah:

...behold, I am creating a new heaven and a new earth; the former shall not be remembered... Be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating. ...behold, I am creating Jerusalem to be an exultation, and her people a joy, that I may exult over Jerusalem and rejoice over My people... Then the wolf and the lamb shall feed together... They shall not do evil... in all My holy mountain... (Isaiah 65:17-19, 25)

In this chapter, too, the subject is the Lord's advent and a church to be established by Him, one that was not established among the people in Jerusalem but among people elsewhere. Consequently that church is the one meant here by Jerusalem, which will be an exultation to the Lord and whose people will be a joy to Him, where the wolf and lamb will feed together, and the people will not do evil.

As in the book of Revelation, we are told here also that the Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth, and that He will create Jerusalem, which have similar symbolic meanings.

[4] Elsewhere in Isaiah:

Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! ...Therefore My people shall know My name... in that day; for it is I who speaks: behold, it is I. ...Jehovah has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. (Isaiah 52:1-2, 6, 9)

The subject in this chapter is also the Lord's advent and the church to be established by Him. Therefore the Jerusalem into which the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come, and which the Lord will redeem, means the church, and Jerusalem, the holy city, means the church with respect to doctrine from the Lord and concerning the Lord.

[5] In Zephaniah:

Shout, O daughter of Zion! Be glad... with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! ...The King of Israel... is in your midst; fear evil no longer! ...He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will rest in your love, He will exult over you with exultation... ...I will give you a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth... (Zephaniah 3:14-17, 20)

Here likewise the subject is the Lord and a church established by Him, over which the King of Israel, namely the Lord, will rejoice with gladness and exult with exultation, and in whose love He will rest, who will give them a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.

[6] In Isaiah:

Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer and your Former..., who says to Jerusalem, "You shall be inhabited," and to the cities of Judah, "You shall be rebuilt."... (Isaiah 44:24, 26)

And in Daniel:

Know and perceive: from the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks... (Daniel 9:25)

It is apparent that Jerusalem here also means the church, since it was the church that the Lord restored and rebuilt, and not Jerusalem, the Jewish capital.

[7] Jerusalem means a church established by the Lord also in the following passages. In Zechariah:

Thus said Jehovah, "I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, and the mountain of Jehovah Zebaoth a holy mountain." (Zechariah 8:3, cf. 8:20-23)

In Joel:

Then you shall know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy... And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk..., and Jerusalem (shall abide) from generation to generation. (Joel 3:17-21)

In Isaiah:

In that day the offshoot of Jehovah shall be beautiful and glorious... And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy - everyone recorded among the living in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:2-3)

In Micah:

...in the latter days the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on top of the mountains... For out of Zion doctrine shall go forth, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem... ...to you... the former kingdom shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1-2, 8)

In Jeremiah:

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations shall be gathered..., because of the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem. No more shall they go after the justification of their evil hearts. (Jeremiah 3:17)

In Isaiah:

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; let your eyes see Jerusalem, a tranquil habitation, a tabernacle that will not vanish; its stakes will never be removed, nor any of its cords be broken. (Isaiah 33:20)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 24:23; 37:32; 66:10-14; Zechariah 12:3, 6, 8-10; 14:8, 11-12, 21; Malachi 3:2, 4; Psalms 122:1-7; 137:4-6.

[8] Jerusalem in these places means a church which the Lord would establish, and not Jerusalem in the land of Canaan inhabited by Jews. This can be seen from passages in the Word which say that Jerusalem was completely ruined and would be destroyed, as in Jeremiah 5:1; 6:6-7; 7:17-18; Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-22; 23:28-30; and in many other places.

Fußnoten:

951. 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have their power in the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. This symbolically means that eternal happiness awaits those who live in accordance with the Lord's commandments, in order that through love, and in His New Church through concepts of Him, they may be in the Lord and have the Lord in them.

The blessed symbolize people who possess the felicity of eternal life (nos. 639, 852, 944). To do the Lord's commandments means, symbolically, to live in accordance with His commandments. That they may have their power in the tree of life means, symbolically, in order that through love, that is, for the Lord's sake, they may be in the Lord and have the Lord in them, which we explain below. To enter through the gates into the city means, symbolically, that they may be in the Lord's New Church through concepts of Him. The gates in the wall of the New Jerusalem symbolize concepts of goodness and truth from the Word (nos. 899, 900, 922), and because each gate consisted of a single pearl, the gates symbolize principally concepts of the Lord (no. 916). The city, that is, Jerusalem, symbolizes the New Church together with its doctrine (nos. 879, 880).

[2] That they may have their power in the tree of life means, symbolically, in order that through love, that is, for the Lord's sake, they may be in the Lord and have the Lord in them, because the tree of life symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine love (nos. 89, 933). And the power in that tree symbolizes power from the Lord, because they are in the Lord and have the Lord in them. The symbolic meaning of this is similar to that of the declaration that they will reign with the Lord (nos. 284, 849).

That people who are in the Lord and have the Lord in them possess all the power needed to be able to do whatever they will, the Lord Himself says in John:

He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing... If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (John 15:5, 7)

Something similar is said about this power in Matthew 7:7, Mark 11:24, Luke 11:9-10. Indeed, we read in Matthew:

Jesus... said..., ."..if you have faith..., ...if you say to this mountain, 'Raise yourself up... cast yourself into the sea,' it will be done. (Indeed,) everything you ask..., believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:21-22)

This describes the power those people have who are in the Lord. They do not wish for and so do not ask for anything that does not come from the Lord; and whatever they wish for and ask from the Lord, this comes to pass, for the Lord says, "without Me you can do nothing. Abide in Me, and I in you." Such is the power that angels in heaven have, that they have only to wish for something in order to obtain it. But still they wish only for things that may be of useful service, wishing this as though of themselves, but in fact from the Lord.