783. The church is the Lord's, and the spiritual marriage between good and truth is the reason the Lord is called the bridegroom and husband, and the church the bride and wife. This is well known to Christians from the Word, especially the following passages: John said of the Lord:

He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the bridegroom's friend is he who stands and listens to him, and rejoices in the bridegroom's voice, John 3:29.

Jesus said, So long as the bridegroom is with them, the sons of the wedding cannot fast, Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35.

I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, Revelation 21:2.

The angel said to John, Come and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb; and from a mountain he showed him the holy city of Jerusalem, Revelation 21:9-10.

The time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and His wife has made ready. Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb, Revelation 19:7, 9.

I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright star of the morning. The spirit and the bride say, Come. Let him who is thirsty come, and let whoever will take the water of life without payment, Revelation 22:16-17.

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.