AR 902
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations.
(Revelation 21:14)
. . . The wall of the city symbolizes the Word
in its literal sense,
and its twelve foundations
symbolize all of the doctrines of the church
—
its foundations symbolizing doctrines,
and the number twelve all.
The
church, moreover, is founded on doctrine,
for it teaches how a person
is to believe and live,
and its doctrine is to be drawn only from the
Word.
. . . For it is the Word itself
that provides a foundation for the church.
AR 903
And on them
the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
(Revelation 21:14)
. . . The foundations had the names
of the twelve apostles of the Lamb
written on them
because the twelve apostles
symbolize the Lord's church
and everything connected with it,
in this case the church
in respect to all of its doctrines,
because
their names
were written on the twelve foundations,
which symbolize all
of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem.
The twelve names symbolize its whole character,
and its whole character
has to do with
two elements in the doctrine and so in that church:
the
Lord
and living in accordance with His commandments.
Therefore these are
what are symbolized.
. . . They
are, indeed, two elements,
but one cannot be divorced from the other.
For to divorce them
would be like divorcing the Lord from mankind,
or
mankind from the Lord,
and in that case there would be no church.
. . . We say this to
make it known
that everything connected with
the doctrine of the New
Jerusalem
relates to love toward the Lord
and love for the neighbor.
To
love the Lord is to have faith in the Lord
and obey His commandments,
and to obey His commandments
is to love the neighbor,
since to obey the
Lord's commandments
is to be of useful service to the neighbor.
People
who love the Lord
are those who obey His commandments . . ..
And love toward the Lord and love for the neighbor
are the two commandments
on which hang the Law and the Prophets.
The Law and the Prophets
mean the Word in its entirety.
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