880. The reason why by 'Jerusalem' in the Word is understood the Church is because there in the land of Canaan, and nowhere else, was the temple, there was the altar, and the sacrifices used to be offered there, thus Divine worship itself For this reason also three feasts used to be celebrated there every year, and every male of the whole land was commanded to come up to them. It is as a result of this that by 'Jerusalem' is signified the Church as to worship, and consequently also the Church as to doctrine, for worship is prescribed in doctrine and is performed in accordance with it. Also it is because the Lord was in Jerusalem and taught in its temple, and afterwards glorified His Human there. That by 'Jerusalem' is understood the Church as to doctrine and the worship therefrom is plain from many passages in the Word, as from these words in Isaiah:-
For Zion's sake will I not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the justice thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp burns. Then the nations shall see thy justice and all kings thy glory; and a new name shall be called to thee, which the mouth of Jehovah shall declare; and thou shalt be a crown of comeliness in the hand of thy God. Jehovah shall be well pleased in thee, and thy hand shall be married. Behold thy Salvation shall come, behold His reward is with Him. And they shall call them the people of holiness, the redeemed of Jehovah; and thou shalt be called a city sought out, not forsaken Isa. lxii 1-4, 11, 12.
[2] In the whole of that chapter it treats of the Lord's coming, and of the New Church to be set up by Him. It is this New Church that is understood by the 'Jerusalem' to which a new name shall be called, which the mouth of Jehovah shall declare, and which shall be a crown of comeliness in the hand of Jehovah, and a mitre of royalty in the hand of God, in which Jehovah shall be well pleased, and which shall be called a city sought out and not forsaken. By these words there cannot be understood the Jerusalem in which the Jews were when the Lord came into the world, for it was in everything contrary. This was rather to be called 'Sodom', as also it is called (Rev. xi 8; Isa. iii 9; Jer. xxiii 14; Ezek. xvi 46, 48). [3] Elsewhere in Isaiah:-
Behold I am creating a new heaven and a new land; the former shall not be remembered. Rejoice and exult in the eternities that I am creating. Behold I am going to create Jerusalem an exultation and her people a joy, that I may exult over Jerusalem and rejoice over My people. Then shall the wolf and the lamb feed together. They shall do no evil in all the mountain of My holiness Isa. lxv 17-19, 25.
In this chapter also it treats of the Lord's coming and of the Church to be set up by Him, which was not set up among those who were in Jerusalem but among those who were outside it; and therefore this Church is understood by the 'Jerusalem' which shall be an exultation to the Lord, and whose people shall be a joy to Him; also where the lamb and the wolf shall feed together and where they shall do no evil. Here also it is said just as us the Apocalypse, that the Lord is going to create 'a new heaven and a new land', and also that He is going to create 'Jerusalem', by which similar things are signified. [4] Elsewhere in Isaiah:-
Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, put on the garments of thy comeliness, O Jerusalem the city of holiness; for henceforth [lit. = it shall not add that] there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust, arise, be thou seated, O Jerusalem. The people shall recognise My Name in that day, for I am He Who is speaking, behold Me. Jehovah has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem Isa. lii 1, 2, 6, 9.
In this chapter also it treats of the Lord's coming and of the Church to be set up by Him; and therefore by the 'Jerusalem' to which there shall no more come the uncircumcised and the unclean, and which the Lord has redeemed, is understood the Church; and by 'Jerusalem the city of holiness' the Church as to doctrine from the Lord and concerning the Lord. [5] In Zephaniah:-
Shout, O daughter of Zion, be glad with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem; the King of Israel is in the midst of thee; do not fear evil any more; He will rejoice over thee with joy, He will rest in thy love, He will exult over thee with shouting; I will give you for a name and a praise to all the peoples of the land Zeph. iii 14-17, 20;
here likewise concerning the Lord and the Church from Him, over which the King of Israel, Who is the Lord, will rejoice with joy, will exult with shouting, and in whose love He will rest, and Who will give them for a name and a praise to all the peoples of the land. [6] In Isaiah:-
Thus has said Jehovah thy Redeemer and thy Former, saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah, You shall be built Isa. xliv 24, 26;
and in Daniel:-
Know and perceive from the going forth of the Word until the restoring and building of Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, seven weeks Dan. ix 25.
It is plain that by 'Jerusalem' here also is understood the Church, since this was being restored and built from the Lord, but not Jerusalem the seat of the Jews. [7] By 'Jerusalem' is understood the Church from the Lord in the following passages also; in Zechariah:-
Thus has said Jehovah, I will return to Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; whence Jerusalem shall be called a city of the truth (veritas), and the mountain of Jehovah Zebaoth the mountain of holiness Zech. viii 3, 20-23;
in Joel:-
Then shall you know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion the mountain of holiness, and Jerusalem shall be holiness; and it shall come to pass in that day, the mountains shall drop new wine (mustum), and the hills shall flow with milk, and Jerusalem shall be seated to generation and generation Joel iii [H.B. iv] 17-21;
in Isaiah:-
In that day shall the offshoot of Jehovah be for ornament and glory; and it shall come to pass, the one left in Zion, and the one remaining in Jerusalem, shall be termed holy; everyone has been written unto life in Jerusalem Isa. iv 2, 3;
in Micah;_
In the extremity of days shall the mountain of the house of Jehovah be made to stand at the head of the mountains; for Out of Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the Word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem; to thee shall the former kingdom come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem Micah iv 1, 2, 8;
in Jeremiah:-
At that time shall they call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations shall be gathered together on account of the Name of Jehovah at Jerusalem, and they shall not go any more after the confirmation of their evil heart Jer. iii 17;
in Isaiah:-
Look at Zion the city of our set feast; let thine eyes see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be done away with; the stakes thereof shall not be removed forever, and all its cords shall not be pulled apart Isa. xxxiii 20;
besides also elsewhere, as Isa. xxiv 23; xxxvii 32; lxvi 10-14; Zech. xii 3, 6, 8, 9, 10; xiv 8, 11, 12, 21; Mal. iii 2, 4; Ps. cxxii 1-7; cxxxvii 5-7. [8] That by 'Jerusalem' in these passages is understood the Church which was to be set up by the Lord, and not the Jerusalem in the land of Canaan inhabited by the Jews, can be established from the passages in the Word where it is said of the latter that it has been entirely destroyed, and that it must be destroyed; as Jer. v 1; vi 6, 7; vii 17, 18 seq.; viii 6-8 seq.; ix 10, 11, 13 seq.; xiii 9, 10, 14; xiv 16; Lam. i 8, 9, 17; Ezek. iv 1 to the end; v 9 to the end; xii 18, 19; xv 6-8; xvi 1-63; xxiii 1-49; Matt. xxiii 37, 38; Luke xix 41-44; xxi 20-22; xxiii 28-30, and in many other places.