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Secrets of Heaven #1413

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Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

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.

Imibhalo yaphansi:

1. Sections 662, 1066 speak of "land" as symbolizing the area where the church existed. [LHC]

2. Biblical examples might be Genesis 17:7-8; 1 Chronicles 16:15-18. In Swedenborg's works there is some treatment of Canaan as representing the Lord's kingdom in §5136 and in the sections listed in subsection 3 there, as well as in §§1437, 1585, 6516. [LHC, JSR]

3. Though the Bible contains several mentions of land that is holy (for example, Zechariah 2:12), the reference here is to contemporary use rather than to biblical passages. Likewise in the case of "the heavenly Canaan," which is a very common phrase in Christian literature, though it is not found in the Bible. Compare New Jerusalem 5, where referring to heaven with this expression is said to be a "common practice in the church." [SS]

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

Many thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation and its New Century Edition team.

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Secrets of Heaven #5136

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Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

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.

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

Many thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation and its New Century Edition team.