Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, signifies the doctrine of love to the Lord, and how it governs your life. Jerusalem first comes to our attention in 2 Samuel 5, when King David takes the city from the Jebusites and makes it his capital. In the next chapter he brings the Ark of the Covenant there, and later it is where Solomon builds the temple, and his own palace. From then on Jerusalem is the center of worship of the Israelitish church. It is the place where the Lord was presented in the temple as a baby, where He tarried to talk to the priests at age twelve, where He cleansed the temple, had the last supper, was crucified and then rose. It is a central place in both the old and new Testaments. The city was built on Mount Zion, the highest point of the mountains of Judea. A city, in the Word, represents doctrine, the organized knowledge of the truths of the church. Mountains represent love of the Lord and the consequent worship. If you put those things together, Jerusalem on Mount Zion signifies the doctrine of love to the Lord, and how it governs your life. This is why David was led to make Jerusalem the most important city of the land, and why all worship was conducted there. And this is also why Jeroboam was condemned for introducing idol worship in Samaria. In the Book of Revelation, John's vision of the city New Jerusalem descending from God is a prophecy of a new dispensation of doctrine coming from the Lord.

(Mga Sanggunian: Arcana Coelestia 4539, 8938; The Apocalypse Explained 365 [35-38])

9528. “用皂荚木” 表出于怜悯. 这从 “皂荚木” 的含义清楚可知,

“皂荚木” 是指唯独属于主的功德之善 (参看9472, 9486节); 由于功德之善是怜悯, 所以 “皂荚木” 也表示怜悯. 因为出于纯粹的爱, 因而出于纯粹的怜悯, 主取得人身, 经受最严厉的试探, 最终经受十字架受难, 以便祂可以拯救人类; 功德和公义由此变成祂的. 由此明显可知, 功德之善在于怜悯. 怜悯就是对那些陷入痛苦悲惨状态之人的神性之爱. 主经受最严厉的试探, 由此使天堂和地狱变得井然有序; 祂出于神性之爱进行争战, 以拯救那些以爱和人来接受祂的人 (参看1266, 1663, 1668, 1676, 1690, 1691节的末尾,1737, 1787, 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820, 1921, 2083, 2159, 2574, 2649, 2776, 2795, 2813, 2816, 3318节的末尾,4180, 4286, 4295, 5078节).