6044. 'And the men are shepherds of the flock' means that they lead to good. This is clear from the meaning of 'shepherds of the flock' as those who lead to good, dealt with in 343, 3795, 5201; for a shepherd or pastor is one who teaches and leads, and the flock one who is taught or led; but in the internal sense truths that lead to good are meant since the sons of Israel, to whom 'the men are shepherds of the flock' refers here, represent spiritual truths, 6040, and also since truths present with those who teach are what do the leading. It has been shown previously that truths, which are the essence of faith, lead to good, which is the essence of charity. This is also evident from the consideration that every single thing is related to an end and has that end in view, and that things which do not have an end in view cannot remain in being. For the Lord has never created anything for any other reason than its end in view. So true is this that one may speak of the end as the all in all created things. And created things exist within this state of order: Even as the end looks from Him who is the First through means to what is last, so the end within what is last looks to the end in Him who is the First. This is the way things link together. By virtue of its very own origin the end itself is nothing else than the Divine Good of Divine Love, thus the Lord Himself, which also is why in the Word He is called the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12; Revelation 1:8, 11, 17; 2:8; 21:6; 22:13.

[2] This being so, every single aspect of the life a person has looks to an end and has that end in view. Anyone who is at all rational can see that the factual knowledge a person has looks to truths as its end in view, and that truths look to forms of good as their end in view, and that forms of good look to the Lord as their last and first ends in view, their last when motivated by truths, their first when motivated by good. This is how it is with the truths the Church possesses, in that they lead to good, meant by 'the men are shepherds of the flock' and by 'they are keepers of livestock', as in what follows below.

8269. '[This is my God,] and I will establish a dwelling-place for Him' means that when He is within good, which originates in Himself, He will be as if in His heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'a dwelling-place', when it has reference to Jehovah or the Lord, as good. The reason why 'the Lord's dwelling-place' means good is that all good has its origin in the Lord; thus good is the Lord's, so completely that one may say it is the Lord. When the Lord dwells within it He dwells within His Divinity. Nor can He dwell anywhere else, according to the Lord's words in John,

Jesus said, If anyone loves Me He keeps My word, and My Father loves him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. John 14:23.

Good that springs from God is what 'loving the Lord and keeping His word' describes here; for good comes from love. 'With him', it says, 'They would make Their home', which means within good residing with him. The expression 'as in His heaven' is used because heaven is called God's dwelling-place; and it is called this because good, which originates in the Lord, exists there and constitutes heaven. The Lord is also within the individual person as in His heaven when He is within good there; for the heaven within a person is good, and through good a person is present with angels in heaven. From all this it is now evident that 'I will establish a dwelling-place for Him' means that when He is within good, which originates in Himself, He will be as if in His heaven.