1023. The symbolism of And I — yes, I — am setting up my pact as the presence of the Lord in charity can be seen from the symbolism of a pact, given in §§ [665,] 666. That section showed that a pact symbolizes rebirth, and more especially the Lord's close connection with a regenerate person through love. It also showed that the heavenly marriage is the most genuine compact, and in consequence that the heavenly marriage inside everyone who has regenerated is such a covenant too.

The nature of this marriage — this covenant — has also been shown before [§§155, 162, 252].

[2] For the people of the earliest church, the heavenly marriage existed within the sensation that they had their own power of will. For the people of the ancient church, however, the heavenly marriage developed within the sensation that their power of understanding was their own. When the human race's willpower had become thoroughly corrupt, you see, the Lord split our intellectual sense of self off from that corrupted voluntary sense of self in a miraculous way. Within our intellectual selfhood he formed a new will, which is conscience, and into conscience he injected charity, and into charity innocence. In this way he joined himself to us or, to put it another way, entered into a compact with us.

[3] To the extent that our self-will can be detached from this sense of intellectual autonomy, the Lord can be present with us, or bind himself to us, or enter into a pact with us.

Times of trial and other similar means of regeneration suppress our self-will to the point where it seems to disappear and almost die out. To the extent that this happens, the Lord can work through the conscience implanted in charity within our intellectual selfhood. This, then, is what is being called a pact in the present verse.

253. Because of the heavenly, angelic sense of self, the Word calls the church a woman, a wife, and a bride, young woman, and daughter. ¹ It is called a woman in the Book of Revelation:

... a woman enveloped in the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and the dragon persecuted the woman who had given birth to the male. (Revelation 12:1, 4-5, 13)

Here the woman means the church, the sun means love, the moon means faith, and the stars mean religious truth, as stated before [§§30, 32]. These things the evil spirits hate and persecute with all possible energy. The church is called both a woman and a wife in Isaiah:

... because your husband, your maker — Jehovah Sabaoth is his name; and your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, is called God of the whole earth. For Jehovah has called you as a woman abandoned and afflicted in spirit and as the wife of his youthful days. (Isaiah 54:5-6)

Here plural forms are used [in the original] for the husband/maker, because human selfhood is involved too. ² A woman abandoned and the wife of his youthful days stand specifically for the ancient church and the earliest church. Likewise in Malachi:

Jehovah has stood as witness between you and the wife of your youthful days. (Malachi 2:14)

The church is called a wife and bride in the Book of Revelation:

I saw the holy city Jerusalem coming down from God out of the sky, prepared as a bride dressed up for her husband. "Come, I'll show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." (Revelation 21:2, 9)

As for identifying the church as a young woman and a daughter, the prophets do this often. ³

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