new church life: november/december 2016
The reason that all
of these things are
described in such
detail is not just that
they make a good
story, but because they
describe how the Lord
is born in His kingdom
and in your life.
important and powerful than people
would guess. Canaan was holy because
it represented the Lord’s kingdom, and
so this was where the Lord would be
born.
The events that happened in
Canaan and are recorded in the
Word stood for the progress of the
human race toward, or away from,
the happiness and peace of heaven.
Because of this all the parts of that land
were given names that related to that
progress, as we read:
From the most ancient times all the places
there – provinces, and cities, and mountains,
and rivers – had been representative of such things as belong to the Lord’s kingdom;
and the very names that were given them involved such things. For every name
given from heaven to any place, and also to any person, involves what is celestial
and spiritual; and when it has been given from heaven, it is perceived there. (Arcana
Coelestia 6516)
This passage says that the names in Canaan were actually given from
heaven. This meant that when these names were used, spoken, written or read,
they were, and are, perceived in heaven according to their meaning. So the
progress of the Children of Israel was perceived as the progress of the Church,
and the love to the Lord and the neighbor that the Church stands for.
The truly amazing part is that this set up a miraculous relationship
between heaven and the Holy Land. Heaven with its blessings drew near or
receded from the Children of Israel according to the angels’ perception of
what was happening in the land. The effect of this is seen throughout the Old
Testament. We read:
The state of the land of Canaan, as described in the Word, was that when the
children of Israel lived according to the commandments the earth yielded its
increase, likewise the flocks and herds; but when they lived contrary to the
commandments the ground was barren, and as it is said, accursed. (Divine Love and
Wisdom 345)
We also read that:
There was much honey in the land of Canaan at that time, because at that time
the Church of the Lord was there. For at that time correspondences exhibited
their effects outwardly, since all things of the Israelitish Church consisted of
correspondences, which represented and signified things celestial and spiritual.
(Apocalypse Explained 619.8)
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