These passages are saying that the land itself actually responded to what
was happening in it because of the representative relationship between the
Land of Canaan and its inhabitants, and the Lord’s kingdom. The rains came,
crops grew, flocks and herds, bees and honey multiplied not simply according
to the laws of nature but due to the influence of heaven.
The land of Canaan, therefore, with its physical features, flora and fauna,
and the patterns of its weather, takes on real importance in the stories of the
Word. When characters or groups move around in the land their names and
the names of the places are repeated over and over again.
The Christmas story itself dwells on these movements and the names of
the places involved. The angel Gabriel visits Mary in Nazareth in Galilee, she
then travels to the hill country of Judea; the census takes Joseph and Mary to
Bethlehem, where the Lord is born. The shepherds are in the same country,
but out in the fields with their flocks. The wise men from the East come to
Jerusalem, then Bethlehem, then to their own country by another way. Mary
and Joseph flee to Egypt until the death of Herod then return to Israel, and
end up in Galilee. Significance is attached to these names in the text, noting
prophecies that tell of Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth.
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.
Nazareth in Galilee, for example, describes a state of darkness and
ignorance, and a longing for the truth. (Apocalypse Explained 447.5) A virgin
there describes a pure love for the truth. (Arcana Coelestia 54) The journey to
Bethlehem is about your internal progression from external interests to more
interior ones. (Ibid. 4585) The escape
to Egypt is about your instruction.
(Apocalypse Explained 654.19) The
places stand for the spiritual journey
that is involved in the Lord’s birth with
every person – differently with each
one, yet described in a way that applies
to everyone.
Nazareth, the hill country of Judea,
Bethlehem and its surrounding fields,
Jerusalem and other places each played
their part in welcoming the Lord into
the world. The heavens were actually
near to those places as the Lord was
born, and in the events that preceded
and followed the event. The places
The places [in the
Christmas story] stand
for the spiritual journey
that is involved in the
Lord’s birth with every
person – differently
with each one, yet
described in a way that
applies to everyone.
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