1413. The symbolism of to the land that I show you as spiritual and heavenly traits that would be presented to view is established by the symbolism of the land (§§662, 1066). ¹ Here it is established by the symbolism of the land of Canaan, which represents the Lord's kingdom, as can be seen from many places in the Word. ² This is why the land of Canaan is called the Holy Land, and the heavenly Canaan. ³ Because it represented the Lord's kingdom, it also represented and symbolized spiritual and heavenly qualities of the Lord's kingdom and, here, of the Lord himself.

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5136. From the land of the Hebrews means by the church—that is, heavenly qualities were banished by the church, owing to evil. This can be seen from the symbolism of the land of the Hebrews as the church. The land of the Hebrews here is the land of Canaan, since that is where Joseph was taken from.

The reason the land of Canaan in the Word means the church is that the church had been there since very ancient times. First there was the earliest church, which came before the Flood, then the ancient church, which came after the Flood, then the second ancient church, called the Hebrew church, and finally the Jewish religion. In order for the Jewish religion to be established there, Abram was commanded to go there from Syria, and there he received the promise that his descendants would be given that land as an inheritance. That is why land in the Word symbolizes the church. For the same reason, the whole earth (a phrase that occurs in many places) symbolizes the whole church, and a new heaven and new earth symbolize a new inner and outer church.

[2] Here is why the church maintained its presence there from earliest times: The people of the earliest church, who were heavenly, were the kind who saw a representation of the Lord’s kingdom in each and every object in the world and on earth. To them, worldly and earthly objects were means of thinking about heavenly subjects. This was the source of all the representative and symbolic lore later possessed by the ancient church, because the people meant by Enoch gathered it together and preserved it for the use of later generations (§§519, 521, 2896). A consequence was that in the land of Canaan, where the earliest people lived, individual places, including individual mountains and rivers, came to represent something. So did all the surrounding nations. The Word could be composed only with the use of representation and symbolism—involving places, among other things—so it was for this purpose that the church was preserved in a series of forms in the land of Canaan. After the Lord’s Coming, though, it was transferred elsewhere, because those representations were then done away with.

Plainly, then, the land of Canaan (here called the land of the Hebrews) symbolizes the church.

[3] However, see the evidence offered previously on these topics. The earliest church, which came before the Flood, existed in the land of Canaan: 567, 3686, 4447, 4454. Part of the ancient church, which came after the Flood, was located there (3686, 4447), as was the second ancient church, called the Hebrew church (4516, 4517). That is why Abram was ordered to go there and why it was given to his descendants: 3686, 4447. For this reason the land of Canaan represented the Lord’s kingdom: 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705, 4240, 4447. Consequently in the Word the land symbolizes the church: 566, 662, 1066, 1068, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 at the end, 3355, 4447, 4535.

662. All that is on the earth will pass away symbolizes the people who were part of that church and who adopted its nature. As demonstrated earlier [§§566-567, 620], the earth does not mean the whole inhabited world, only the part that constituted the church. So the verse is not referring to any kind of flood, let alone a worldwide one. It is talking about the death, the "drowning," of those in the church who were cut off from the remnant within them and consequently from any comprehension of truth or will to do good; which is to say that they were cut off from the heavens.

Scriptural passages quoted earlier attest to the symbolism of the earth or land as the area where the church existed, and so as the inhabitants of that area. ¹ The following verses also confirm the symbolism. In Jeremiah:

This is what Jehovah has said: "The whole earth will be stripped bare, yet I will not make a full end. Because of this the earth will mourn and the heavens above will be draped in black." (Jeremiah 4:27-28)

The earth stands for residents in the area where the church, which had been devastated, existed. In Isaiah:

I will shake heaven, and the earth will quake out of its place. (Isaiah 13:13)

The earth here stands for an individual in the church's territory who is to suffer devastating experiences. In Jeremiah:

The people stabbed by Jehovah will on that day reach from the ends of the earth to the ends of the earth. (Jeremiah 25:33)

The ends of the earth here do not mean the entire globe but only the tract of land where the church was. So they symbolize the people who belonged to the church. In the same author:

I am calling for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the land. Upheaval has come all the way to the ends of the earth, because Jehovah has a quarrel against the nations. (Jeremiah 25:29, 31)

Again it is not the whole globe that is meant but only the territory of the church and so the inhabitant there, that is, a person who belongs to the church. In this passage the nations stand for falsities. In Isaiah:

Watch: Jehovah is leaving his place to exact punishment for wickedness in the inhabitant of the land. (Isaiah 26:21)

The meaning here is similar. In the same author:

Are you not listening? Has it not been pointed out to you from the beginning? Do you not understand the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21)

In the same author:

Jehovah is creating the heavens; he is God, forming the earth and making it; he is also establishing it. (Isaiah 45:18)

The earth stands for a member of the church. In Zechariah:

This is the saying of Jehovah as he stretches out the heavens and founds the earth and forms the human spirit in the middle of it. (Zechariah 12:1)

Plainly the earth stands for a person in the church.

The earth (or land) is distinguished from the ground, just as a person in the church is distinguished from the church itself, or as love is distinguished from faith.

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