In many cases, the spiritual meaning of "own," both as a verb and as an adjective, is relatively literal. When people are described as the "Lord's own," however, it specifically means those people who know Him and have His Word. This has taken various forms since the dawn of humanity; in the prehistoric church known as the "Most Ancient Church" the Lord's truth -- the direct expression of His love -- flowed into people directly. In the Ancient Church the Lord's Word was recognized in nature and in the form of deeply representative stories, some of which were passed on to us in the early chapters of Genesis. Among the Children of Israel the Lord's Word was expressed through the Ten Commandments, the laws of Moses, the very history of the nation of Israel and the various psalms and prophecies. The early Christians had those stories along with the teaching and inspiration of Jesus himself. We now have the whole Bible, including the teachings of Jesus, and can understand the Bible's true meaning. Each of these churches, then, was at some point the Lord's own.

8769. 'For all the earth is Mine' means that all power is the Lord's in heaven and on earth. This is clear from the meaning of 'the earth' in the internal sense as the Lord's kingdom on earth and also the Lord's kingdom in heaven, 1413, 1607, 4447. The reason why the Lord is the One who has all power is that the Lord is meant in the Word by 'Jehovah', see 1343, 1736, 2921, 3035, 5663, 6281, 6303. The truth that the Lord has all power in heaven and on earth He Himself teaches in Matthew 28:16, 18. See also 8331.