The Lord#64
64. The reason Jerusalem in the Word means the church in regard to its teachings is that that was the only place in the land of Canaan where the Temple was, where the altar was, where sacrifices were performed, and therefore where there was actual worship of God. That was also why the three annual feasts were celebrated there and why every male in the whole land was commanded to go there. This is why Jerusalem means the church in regard to worship and therefore also the church in regard to its teachings, since worship is defined by teachings and carried out in accord with them. It is also because the Lord was in Jerusalem and taught in its Temple and afterward glorified his human nature there.
Moreover, in the Word as spiritually understood a city means a body of teaching, so a holy city means a body of teaching based on divine truth that comes from the Lord. 1
[2] We can also see that Jerusalem means a church in regard to its teachings from other passages in the Word, such as this in Isaiah:
For Zion’s sake I will not be silent and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest until her justice goes forth like radiance and her salvation burns like a lamp. Then the nations will see your justice and all monarchs will see your glory, and a new name will be given you that the mouth of Jehovah will utter. And you will be a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah and a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of your God. Jehovah will be well pleased with you and your land will be married. Behold, your salvation will come. See, his reward is with him. And they will call them a holy people, the redeemed of Jehovah; and you will be called a city sought out, not deserted. (Isaiah 62:1-4, 11-12)
This whole chapter is about the Lord’s Coming and about the new church that he is about to establish. This is the new church meant by the Jerusalem that will be given a new name that the mouth of Jehovah will utter and that will be a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah and a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of God, with which Jehovah will be well pleased, and which will be called a city sought out, not deserted. This cannot mean the Jerusalem where Jews were living when the Lord came, because this was the opposite in all respects, more properly called “Sodom, ” as it is in Revelation 11:8, Isaiah 3:9, Jeremiah 23:14, Ezekiel 16:46, 48.
[3] Another passage from Isaiah:
Behold, I am creating a new heaven and a new earth; the former ones will not be remembered. Be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating. Behold, I am going to create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and her people as a gladness, so that I may rejoice over Jerusalem and be glad about my people. Then the wolf and the lamb will feed together; they will do no evil in all my holy mountain. (Isaiah 65:17-19, 25)
This chapter too is about the Lord’s Coming and the church that he is going to establish-a church that was not established among people in Jerusalem but among people who were outside it. This church, then, is meant by the Jerusalem that would be a rejoicing for the Lord and whose people will be a gladness for him, and where the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and where they will do no evil.
Here it is also saying, as it does in the Book of Revelation, that the Lord is going to create a new heaven and a new earth, meaning much the same thing; and it also says that he is going to create Jerusalem.
[4] Another passage from Isaiah:
Wake up! Wake up! Put on your strength, O Zion. Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, holy city. No more will the uncircumcised or the unclean come into you. Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, and sit [in a higher place], Jerusalem. The people will acknowledge my name on that day, because I am the one saying “Here I am!” Jehovah has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. (Isaiah 52:1-2, 6, 9)
This chapter too is about the Lord’s Coming and the church that he is going to establish. So the Jerusalem into which the uncircumcised or the unclean will no longer come, and which the Lord will redeem, means the church; and Jerusalem the holy city means the church’s teachings that come from the Lord.
[5] In Zephaniah:
Rejoice, O daughter of Zion! Be glad with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The King of Israel is in your midst. Do not fear evil anymore. He will be glad over you with joy; he will rest in your love; he will rejoice over you with singing. I will give you a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth. (Zephaniah 3:14-17, 20)
Again, this is about the Lord and the church from him, the church over which the King of Israel (who is the Lord) will rejoice with singing and be glad with joy, in whose love he will be at rest, and to whom he will give a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.
[6] In Isaiah:
Thus says Jehovah your Redeemer and your Maker, who says to Jerusalem, “You will be inhabited,” and to the cities of Judah, “You will be built.” (Isaiah 44:24, 26)
And in Daniel:
Know and understand: from [the time] the word goes forth that Jerusalem must be restored and built until [the time of] Messiah the Leader will be seven weeks. (Daniel 9:25)
We can see that here too Jerusalem means the church because this latter was restored and built up by the Lord, but Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews, was not.
[7] Jerusalem means the church that comes from the Lord also in the following passages. In Zechariah:
Thus says Jehovah: “I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the city of truth, and the mountain of Jehovah Sabaoth will be called the holy mountain.” (Zechariah 8:3; see also 8:20-23)
In Joel:
Then you will know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy. And on that day it will happen that the mountains will drip with new wine and the hills will flow with milk; and Jerusalem will abide from generation to generation. (Joel 3:17-21)
In Isaiah:
On that day the branch of Jehovah will be beautiful and glorious. And it will happen that those remaining in Zion and those left in Jerusalem will be called holy-all who are written as alive in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:2-3)
In Micah:
At the very last of days the mountain of the house of Jehovah will be established on the top of the mountains. Teaching will go forth from Zion and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. To you the former kingdom will come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1-2, 8)
In Jeremiah:
At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all nations will gather at Jerusalem because of the name of Jehovah. They will no longer follow the stubbornness of their own evil heart. (Jeremiah 3:17)
In Isaiah:
Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem as a peaceful abode and as a tabernacle that will not be taken down; its tent pegs will never be removed and not one of its cords will be torn away. (Isaiah 33:20)
There are other passages elsewhere, such as Isaiah 24:23; 37:32; 66:10-14; Zechariah 12:3, 6, 9-10; 14:8, 11-12, 21; Malachi 3:2, 4; Psalms 122:1-7; 137:4-6.
[8] As for Jerusalem in these passages meaning the church that the Lord was going to establish and that has in fact been established, and not the Jerusalem in the land of Canaan that was inhabited by Jews, this too we can tell from the places in the Word where this latter city is described as totally lost and as destined for destruction, passages such as Jeremiah 5:1; 6:6-7; 7:17-18, and following; 8:6-8, and following; 9:10-11, 13, and following; 13:9-10, 14; 14:16; Lamentations 1:8-9, 17; Ezekiel 4:1; 5:9; 12:18-19; 15:6-8; 16:1-63; 23:1-49; Matthew 23:37, 39; Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-22; 23:28-30; and in many other places.
脚注:
1. [Swedenborg’s Footnote] A city in the Word means the teachings of a church and of a religion: see Arcana Coelestia 402, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492-4493. The gate of a city means the teachings through which we come into the church: 2943, 4477. That is why the elders sat in the gate of the city and gave judgment: 2943. Going out of the gate means departing from the teachings: 4492-4493. Representations of cities and palaces appear in heaven when angels are discussing specific teachings: 3216.
耶利米书第50章
2
你们要在万国中传扬报告,竖立大旗;要报告,不可隐瞒,说:巴比伦被攻取,彼勒蒙羞,米罗达惊惶。巴比伦的神像都蒙羞;他的偶像都惊惶。
3
因有一国从北方上来攻击他,使他的地荒凉,无人居住,连人带牲畜都逃走了。
4
耶和华说:当那日子、那时候,以色列人要和犹大人同来,随走随哭,寻求耶和华─他们的神。
5
他们必访问锡安,又面向这里,说:来罢,你们要与耶和华联合为永远不忘的约。
6
我的百姓作了迷失的羊,牧人使他们走差路,使他们转到山上。他们从大山走到小山,竟忘了安歇之处。
7
凡遇见他们的,就把他们吞灭。敌人说:我们没有罪;因他们得罪那作公义居所的耶和华,就是他们列祖所仰望的耶和华。
8
我民哪,你们要从巴比伦中逃走,从迦勒底人之地出去,要像羊群前面走的公山羊。
9
因我必激动联合的大国从北方上来攻击巴比伦,他们要摆阵攻击他;他必从那里被攻取。他们的箭好像善射之勇士的箭,一枝也不徒然返回。
10
迦勒底必成为掠物;凡掳掠他的都必心满意足。这是耶和华说的。
11
抢夺我产业的啊,你们因欢喜快乐,且像踹谷撒欢的母牛犊,又像发嘶声的壮马。
12
你们的母巴比伦就极其抱愧,生你们的必然蒙羞。他要列在诸国之末,成为旷野、旱地、沙漠。
13
因耶和华的忿怒,必无人居住,要全然荒凉。凡经过巴比伦的要受惊骇,又因他所遭的灾殃嗤笑。
14
所有拉弓的,你们要在巴比伦的四围摆阵,射箭攻击他。不要爱惜箭枝,因他得罪了耶和华。
15
你们要在他四围呐喊;他已经投降。外郭坍塌了,城墙拆毁了,因为这是耶和华报仇的事。你们要向巴比伦报仇;他怎样待人,也要怎样待他。
16
你们要将巴比伦撒种的和收割时拿镰刀的都剪除了。他们各人因怕欺压的刀剑,必归回本族,逃到本土。
17
以色列是打散的羊,是被狮子赶出的。首先是亚述王将他吞灭,末後是巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒将他的骨头折断。
18
所以万军之耶和华─以色列的神如此说:我必罚巴比伦王和他的地,像我从前罚亚述王一样。
19
我必再领以色列回他的草场,他必在迦密和巴珊吃草,又在以法莲山上和基列境内得以饱足。
20
耶和华说:当那日子、那时候,虽寻以色列的罪孽,一无所有;虽寻犹大的罪恶,也无所见;因为我所留下的人,我必赦免。
21
耶和华说:上去攻击米拉大翁之地,又攻击比割的居民。要追杀灭尽,照我一切所吩咐你的去行。
24
巴比伦哪,我为你设下网罗,你不知不觉被缠住。你被寻着,也被捉住;因为你与耶和华争竞。
25
耶和华已经开了武库,拿出他恼恨的兵器;因为主─万军之耶和华在迦勒底人之地有当做的事。
26
你们要从极远的边界来攻击他,开他的仓廪,将他堆如高堆,毁灭净尽,丝毫不留。
27
要杀他的一切牛犊,使他们下去遭遇杀戮。他们有祸了,因为追讨他们的日子已经来到。
28
(有从巴比伦之地逃避出来的人,在锡安扬声报告耶和华─我们的神报仇,就是为他的殿报仇。)
29
招集一切弓箭手来攻击巴比伦。要在巴比伦四围安营,不要容一人逃脱,照着他所做的报应他;他怎样待人,也要怎样待他,因为他向耶和华─以色列的圣者发了狂傲。
30
所以他的少年人必仆倒在街上。当那日,一切兵丁必默默无声。这是耶和华说的。
31
主─万军之耶和华说:你这狂傲的啊,我与你反对,因为我追讨你的日子已经来到。
32
狂傲的必绊跌仆倒,无人扶起。我也必使火在他的城邑中里起来,将他四围所有的尽行烧灭。
33
万军之耶和华如此说:以色列人和犹大人一同受欺压;凡掳掠他们的都紧紧抓住他们,不肯释放。
34
他们的救赎主大有能力,万军之耶和华是他的名。他必伸清他们的冤,好使全地得平安,并搅扰巴比伦的居民。
35
耶和华说:有刀剑临到迦勒底人和巴比伦的居民,并他的首领与智慧人。
36
有刀剑临到矜夸的人,他们就成为愚昧;有刀剑临到他的勇士,他们就惊惶。
37
有刀剑临到他的马匹、车辆,和其中杂族的人民;他们必像妇女一样。有刀剑临到他的宝物,就被抢夺。
38
有乾旱临到他的众水,就必乾涸;因为这是有雕刻偶像之地,人因偶像而颠狂。
39
所以旷野的走兽和豺狼必住在那里,鸵鸟也住在其中,永无人烟,世世代代无人居住。
40
耶和华说:必无人住在那里,也无人在其中寄居,要像我倾覆所多玛、蛾摩拉,和邻近的城邑一样。
41
看哪,有一种民从北方而来,并有一大国和许多君王被激动,从地极来到。
42
他们拿弓和枪,性情残忍,不施怜悯,他们的声音像海浪匉訇。巴比伦城阿,〔城原文作女子〕他们骑马,都摆队伍如上战场的人,要攻击你。
43
巴比伦王听见他们的风声,手就发软,痛苦将他抓住,疼痛彷佛产难的妇人。
44
仇敌必像狮子从约但河边的丛林上来,攻击坚固的居所。转眼之间,我要使他们逃跑,离开这地。谁蒙拣选,我就派谁治理这地。谁能比我呢?谁能给我定规日期呢?有何牧人能在我面前站立得住呢?
45
你们要听耶和华攻击巴比伦所说的谋略和他攻击迦勒底人之地所定的旨意。仇敌定要将他们群众微弱的拉去,定要使他们的居所荒凉。