191. "'I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God.'" This symbolically means that the truths they possess, springing from goodness derived from the Lord, sustain the Lord's church in heaven.

A temple symbolizes the church, and the temple of My God symbolizes the Lord's church in heaven. It is apparent from this that a pillar symbolizes what sustains and stabilizes the church, and that is the Divine truth in the Word.

In the highest sense, a temple symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, particularly in respect to Divine truth. In a representative sense, however, a temple symbolizes the Lord's church in heaven, and so also the Lord's church in the world.

That a temple in the highest sense symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, and particularly in respect to Divine truth, is apparent from the following passages:

(Jesus said to the Jews,) "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." ...He was speaking of the temple of His body. (John 2:19, 21)

I saw no temple in (the New Jerusalem), for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. (Revelation 21:22)

Behold..., the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire. (Malachi 3:1)

I will bow myself toward Your holy temple... (Psalms 138:2)

...I will look again toward Your holy temple... And my prayer went to You, to Your holy temple. (Jonah 2:4, 7)

Jehovah is in His holy temple. (Habakkuk 2:20)

The holy temple of Jehovah or of the Lord is His Divine humanity, for it is to this that people bow, look to, and pray, and not to the temple merely, as the temple is not, in itself, holy. It is called a holy temple, because holiness is predicated of Divine truth (no. 173).

"The temple that sanctifies the gold" in Matthew 23:16-17 means nothing else than the Lord's Divine humanity.

[2] That a temple in a representative sense symbolizes the Lord's church in heaven, is apparent from the following passages:

(The) voice (of Jehovah) from the temple...! (Isaiah 66:6)

...a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven... (Revelation 16:17)

The temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. (Revelation 11:19)

...the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And out of the temple came the seven angels... And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God... (Revelation 15:5-6, 8)

I called upon Jehovah, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple... (Psalms 18:6)

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty, and His skirts filled the temple. (Isaiah 6:1)

[3] That a temple symbolizes the church in the world is apparent from these passages:

Our holy... temple... has become a conflagration... (Isaiah 64:11)

I will shake all nations..., that I may fill this house with glory... The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former... (Haggai 2:7, 9)

The new temple in Ezekiel 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48 describes a church to be established by the Lord. A church is also meant in Revelation 11:1 by the temple that the angel measured. So likewise elsewhere, as in Isaiah 44:28, Jeremiah 7:2-4, 9-11, Zechariah 8:9.

...the disciples (of Jesus) came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ."..Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left... upon another, that shall not be demolished." (Matthew 24:1-2)

The temple here symbolizes the church today; and its demolition means, symbolically, that not one stone would be left upon another. This symbolizes the end of that church, when not any truth would remain. For when the disciples spoke with the Lord about the temple, the Lord foretold the consecutive states of this church, even to its last one, or the end of the age; and the end of the age means the final period of the church, which is the one that exists today. This was represented by the destruction of that temple to its foundations.

[4] A temple has these three symbolic meanings, namely the Lord, the church in heaven, and the church in the world. Because these three are bound up together, they cannot be separated. Consequently one cannot be meant without the other. Therefore anyone who divorces the church in the world from the church in heaven, or the one or the other from the Lord, is without the truth.

The temple here means the church in heaven, because reference to the church in the world follows after this (no. 194).

1155. And horses and carriages signifies profaned worship from truths and goods that are from a rational origin. This is evident from the signification of "horses," as being things intellectual (See n. 355, 364, 372, 373, 381, 382, 575, 923), thus also truths that are from a rational origin, for things of the understanding belong to truth and reason. Also from the signification of "carriages" as being goods from a rational origin, because they are drawn by horses, which signify truths from that origin; for carriages are a kind of chariot, and "chariots" signify doctrinals (See n. 355), and when these are drawn by truths, as chariots are by horses, they are goods, for doctrines teach both truths and goods.

[2] "Carriages" have a like signification in Isaiah:

Then shall they bring all your brethren out of all nations a present unto Jehovah, upon horses and upon the chariot, and upon covered carriages, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to the mountain of My holiness, Jerusalem (Isaiah 66:20).

"Horses, chariot, covered carriages, mules, and swift beasts" mean in the spiritual sense things of doctrine, and thus of the church, for this treats of a new church to be established by the Lord. For "horses" signify intellectual things, "chariot" doctrine, "covered carriages" doctrinals of good, "mules" things rational, and "swift beasts" things rational as to good; "the brethren" whom they will bring signify all who are in the good of charity, and "Jerusalem the mountain of holiness" signifies the church in which charity reigns. These things profaned are here signified because they belong to Babylon, which signifies the profanation of truth and good.

(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)

[3] 6. The sixth law of the Divine providence is, That man is not reformed by external means but by internal means; by external means miracles and visions, also fears and punishments are meant. By internal means truths and goods from the Word and from the doctrine of the church, and looking to the Lord, are meant; for these means enter by an internal way, and cast out the evils and falsities that have their seat within; but external means enter by an external way, and do not cast out evils and falsities, but shut them in. Nevertheless, man may be further reformed by external means when he has previously been reformed by internal means. This follows from the above mentioned laws, namely, that man is reformed by means of freedom, and not without freedom, also that to compel oneself is from freedom, but to be compelled is not, and man is compelled by miracles and visions, and also by fears and punishments; but miracles and visions compel the external of his spirit, which consists in thinking and willing; and fears and punishments compel the external of his body, which consists in speaking and doing. This may be compelled, because man nevertheless thinks and wills freely; but the external of his spirit, which consists in thinking and willing, must not be compelled, for thus perishes his internal freedom by which he is reformed.

[4] If man could have been reformed by miracles and visions, all in the whole world would have been reformed. It is therefore a holy law of the Divine providence that internal freedom should in no way be violated; for by that freedom the Lord enters into man, even into the hell where he is, and by it leads him while in hell, and if he is willing to follow, leads him out of hell and leads him into heaven, and nearer and nearer to Himself in heaven. In this and in no other way is man led out of infernal freedom, which regarded in itself is slavery, because it is from hell, and is led into heavenly freedom, which is freedom itself, becoming by degrees more free, and at length most free, because it is from the Lord who wills that man should not be in the least compelled. This is the way of man's reformation, but this way is closed by miracles and visions.

[5] Nor is the freedom of man's spirit ever violated, to the end that his evils, both hereditary and actual, may be removed; which can be done only when man compels himself, as has been said above. These evils are removed by the Lord by means of the affection of truth inspired in man from which he has intelligence, and by means of the affection of good through which he has love. So far as a man is in these affections, so far he compels himself to resist evils and falsities. And this way of reformation is closed by miracles and visions, for they persuade and compel belief, and thus send the thoughts bound as it were to prison; and when freedom has thus been taken away there can be no ability from the interior to remove evils, for nothing of evil is removed except from the interior. Thus evils remain shut in, and from their infernal freedom, which they love, they continually act against those truths and goods that miracles and visions have repressed, and at length dissipate them, calling miracles the interior operations of nature and visions the deliriums of fantasy, and truths and goods fallacies and mockeries; for such is the action of the evils that are shut in upon the externals that shut them in. And yet superficial thought may lead a man to believe that miracles and visions, although they persuade, do not take away freedom of thinking; but with those not reformed they do take it away, while with the reformed they do not take it away, for with such they do not shut evils in, but with those not reformed they do.