Read What the Word Says about the Holy City, New Jerusalem
Quotes about the Holy City, New Jerusalem
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The Old Testament
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| Zechariah 8:3,5 |
Thus says the Lord:
I will return to Zion,
And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem;
Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth….
The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls
Playing in its streets. |
| Psalm 87:3 |
Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! |
| Psalm 122:2-3 |
Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built as a city that coheres together. |
| Psalm 122:6-7 |
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces."
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| Isaiah 65:18, 25 |
[B]ehold I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and take joy in My people….
Then shall the wolf and the lamb feed together. |
| Isaiah 52:1 |
Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion;
Put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city! |
The New Testament
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| Matthew 5:14 |
"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden" |
| Revelation 3:12 |
He who overcomes…I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God |
| Revelation 21: 2-3, 6, 9-12, 18-19, 21-23 |
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people….I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give the water of life freely to him who thirsts…."
Then one of the seven angels…came to me…saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates….
The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones….The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
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| Revelation 22:14 |
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city |
The Heavenly Doctrines
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COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN
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| see Apocalypse Revealed 876 |
"And I John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven" means the New Church going to be set up by the Lord, and in companionship with the New Heaven it will be in Divine truths as to both doctrine and life
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| Doctrine of the Lord 63 |
By the "Holy City Jerusalem" is meant this New Church as to doctrine, and therefore it was seen coming down from God out of heaven, for the doctrine of genuine truth comes to us from the Lord through heaven, and from no other source
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| Apocalypse Revealed 912 |
"And the city was pure gold like unto pure glass" means that everything of that Church is the good of love flowing in together with light out of heaven from the Lord
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| Apocalypse Revealed 876 |
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold God's tabernacle is with men" means the Lord out of love speaking and declaring the glad tidings that He Himself is now going to be present with people in His Divine Human
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THE HOLY CITY NEW JERUSALEM
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| Arcana Coelestia 3858:2 |
The holy city, or New Jerusalem, is the Lord's New Church |
| Apocalypse Revealed 876 |
"And he carried me away in the spirit above a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God" means John transported into the third heaven, and his sight opened there, before whom was made manifest the Lord's New Church as to doctrine in the form of a city
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| Apocalypse Revealed 896 |
By "the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God" is signified the Lord's New Church. For this reason it is called "holy" and is said "to descend out of heaven from God." Its being seen in the form of a city, is because "a city" means doctrine, and the church is a church from doctrine, and from a life according to it. It was also seen as a city, that it might be described as to all its quality, and this is described by its wall, gates, foundations, and various measures. The church is described in a similar manner in Ezekiel…
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| see Doctrine of the Lord 64 |
The reason why "Jerusalem" means the church as to doctrine is that there and at no other place in the land of Canaan were the temple and altar and therefore the Divine worship…. Another reason is that the Lord was present in Jerusalem, taught in its temple, and afterwards glorified His Human there. Besides, "city" in the spiritual sense of the Word means doctrine, and therefore "holy city" means the doctrine of Divine truth from the Lord
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| Arcana Coelestia 5922:14 |
"The holy city Jerusalem" is the Lord's spiritual kingdom in heaven and His spiritual Church on earth, to both of which glory is attributed. Its light is truth radiating from the Divine |
| Apocalypse Revealed 876 |
"Having the glory of God, and the light thereof like a most precious stone as it were a jasper stone shining crystal clear" means that in that Church the Word will be understood, because it will be transparent by virtue of its spiritual sense
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| see Apocalypse Revealed 897 |
By "the glory of God" is meant the Word in its Divine light. "Shining like crystal," means the Word shining and translucent from its spiritual sense. By these words is described the understanding of the Word with those who are in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and in a life according to it. With these the Word shines as it were when it is read. It shines from the Lord by means of the spiritual sense, because the Lord is the Word, and the spiritual sense is in the light of heaven which proceeds from the Lord as a sun |
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WALLS
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| see Apocalypse Revealed 898 |
"Having a great and high wall" means the Word in the sense of the letter from which is the doctrine of the New Church. That sense protects the spiritual sense, which lies hidden within, as the wall does a city and its inhabitants. The sense of the letter is the basis, the containant, and the support of its spiritual sense, and that this sense is the guard, lest the interior Divine truths, which are those of the spiritual sense, should be injured |
| see Apocalypse Revealed 911 |
"The construction of its wall was of jasper" means that every Divine truth in the sense of the letter of the Word with the people of that church is translucent from the Divine truth in the spiritual sense…. It is translucent because the Divine truth in the sense of the letter is in natural light and the Divine truth in the spiritual sense is in spiritual light, so when spiritual light flows into natural light with a person who is reading the Word, he is enlightened, and sees truths there. The more a person is enlightened by the influx of the light of heaven, the more he sees truths in their connection and thence in their form and the more interiorly his rational mind is opened, for the rational is the very receptacle of the light of heaven |
| see Apocalypse Revealed 906 |
"The length thereof is as large as the breadth" means that good and truth in that church make one, like essence and form. By "the length" of the city Jerusalem is signified the good of the church, and by its "breadth" is signified the truth of the church |
| Arcana Coelestia 3858:2 |
The gates, wall, and foundations of the city are nothing else than things of the church, which are those of charity and faith, for these constitute the church |
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GATES
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| Apocalypse Revealed 899 |
"Having twelve gates" means all the knowledges of truth and good by which a person is introduced into the church |
| see Apocalypse Revealed 916 |
"And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was of one pearl" means that the acknowledgment and knowledge of the Lord, conjoins into one all the knowledges of truth and good, which are from the Word, and introduce into the church. The reason why "each of the gates was of one pearl" is because all the knowledges of truth and good, which are symbolized by "gates" and by "pearls" relate to one knowledge-the knowledge of the Lord. The knowledge of the Lord is the universal of all things of doctrine and thence of all things of the church. From it all worship derives its life and soul, for the Lord is the all in all of heaven and the church, and thence in all things of worship
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FOUNDATION
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| Apocalypse Revealed 915 |
"And the wall of the city having twelve foundations" means that the Word in the sense of the letter contains all the things of the doctrine of the New Church.
That by "precious stones" in general are meant all the truths of doctrine from the Word translucent through the spiritual sense
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| Apocalypse Revealed 876 |
"The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst" means all the things of that doctrine derived from the sense of the letter of the Word in their order with those who approach the Lord directly and live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue by fleeing from evils as sins; for these and no others are in the doctrine of love directed to God and of love toward the neighbor, which two are the foundations of religion"
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PREPARED AS A BRIDE
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| see Apocalypse Revealed 881 |
John saw the church as a city representatively and as a bride spiritually. When "a city" is mentioned in the Word, the angels think about the church as to doctrine and if they pray to the Lord for it, they see it as a virgin whose beauty and clothing reflect the quality of the church
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| Apocalypse Revealed 876 |
"Prepared as a bride [adorned] for her husband" means that Church conjoined with the Lord by means of the Word
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| see Brief Exposition 101 |
The church is the Lord's, and from the spiritual marriage of good and truth, the Lord is called "the bridegroom" and "the Husband," and the church "the Bride" and "the Wife"
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| Doctrine of the Lord 63 |
The church is a "bride" when she is desirous to receive the Lord; and a "wife," when she does receive Him. That the Lord is meant by "her Husband" is evident; for it is said, "the bride the Lamb's wife"
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NO TEMPLE, SUN, OR MOON
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| Apocalypse Revealed 876 |
"And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb" means that in this Church there will not be any external separated from what is internal, because the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, from Whom is everything of the Church, is the only One being approached, worshipped and adored
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| Apocalypse Revealed 876 |
"And the city has no need of the sun and the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb" means that the people of that Church will not be in the love of self and in self-derived intelligence and consequently in natural light only, but in spiritual light out of the Divine truth of the Word from the Only Lord
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THE LORD'S SECOND COMING
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| True Christian Religion 116:4 |
[T]he whole of Revelation from beginning to end describes the present state of the Christian church, and prophesies the Lord's second coming, His conquest of the hells, the creation of a new heaven of angels and then the establishment of a new church on earth. All these things were there foretold, but they have not been revealed before the present time. The reason is that Revelation, like all the prophetical parts of the Word, was written purely in correspondences, and if these had not been revealed by the Lord, hardly anyone could have correctly understood a single verse
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| Coronis 0 |
The New Christian Church is not being established through miracles such as the Lord's birth on earth, but through revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word and teachings about life after death, and these surpass all miracles
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| Coronis 0 |
This New Church, truly Christian, which at this day is being established by the Lord, will endure to eternity…. In this New Church there will be spiritual peace, glory, and internal blessedness of life
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| True Christian Religion 776 |
The Lord's second coming, is not in person, but in the Word, which is from Him and which He is
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| True Christian Religion 779 |
This, the Lord's second coming, is taking place by means of a man, to whom He has shown Himself in person, and whom He has filled with His spirit, so that he may teach the doctrines of the new church which come from the Lord through the Word. I bear true witness that the Lord has shown Himself in the presence of me, His servant, and sent me to perform this function…. Equally, I assert that from the first day of my calling I have not received any instruction concerning the doctrines of that church from any angel, but only from the Lord, while I was reading the Word
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| True Christian Religion 791 |
After the completion of the book [True Christian Religion], the Lord called together His twelve disciples, who had followed Him in the world; and a day later He sent them all forth throughout the spiritual world to preach the Gospel, that the Lord God Jesus Christ is king, and His kingdom shall be for ever and ever…. This happened on the nineteenth of June in the year 1770
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