'Land' in the Word, denotes the church, for the things which signify the church also signify the things relating to the church, for these constitute the church. The reason why 'land' denotes the church in the Word is because the land of Canaan was the land in which the church had been since the most ancient times. Hence, when 'land' is named in the Word, it means the land of Canaan, which then means the church. For when the expression 'the land' appears there, people in the spiritual world do not concern themselves with the idea of a land, only with the idea of the nation inhabiting it. And yet not with an idea of that nation but with an idea of the essential nature of it.

'Land' or 'earth,' as in Genesis 20:15, signifies the doctrine of love and charity.

'Land' signifies the celestial principle of love in Genesis 24:4.

In Genesis 26:12, 'land' signifies rational things.

In Genesis 28:13, this signifies the good of the natural.

The 'land' represents the divine of the rational principle in Genesis 30:25.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 5577)

25. 'Spreading out the earth and stretching out the heavens' is a common expression in the Prophets when the subject is man's regeneration, as in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, He who formed you from the womb, I am Jehovah who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens Alone, and who spreads out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.

Also, when it is speaking of the Lord's Coming,

A bruised reed He does not break off and a smoking wick He does not quench; He brings forth judgement towards truth; that is, He neither shatters man's illusions nor stifles his desires. Instead He bends them towards truth and good. This verse in Isaiah continues,

The God Jehovah creates the heavens and stretches them out: He spreads out the earth and what comes from it: He gives breath ¹ to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk on it. Isaiah 42:3-5.

Such phrases recur several times elsewhere.

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