know that by the land of Canaan the church is signified; by Jerusalem, the same as to doctrine; by Israel, those that are of the spiritual church; and by Judah, those that are of the celestial church; and that where their introduction into the land of Canaan is referred to by the prophets, the introduction of the faithful into heaven and into the church is meant. This introduction even took place when the Lord came into the world; for then all those who lived in the good of charity, and worshipped God under the human form, were introduced into heaven,—who were reserved under heaven until the Lord's coming, and introduced after He had glorified His Human. These are they who are meant, in many places in the prophetic Word, where the captivity of the children of Israel and Judah and the bringing of them back into the land are spoken of. They also are meant who were to be introduced from the earth into the church, and thence into heaven, after the coming of the Lord; not only where the Christian religion is received, but also everywhere else.
The two following passages may be taken as an example of those from which the Jews persuade themselves, and also Christians believe, that the Jewish nation will return into the land of Canaan, and be saved in preference to others. In Isaiah: "Then they shall bring all your brethren out of all nations for an offering unto Jehovah, upon horses, and in chariots, and in carriages, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah. . . . For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain" (lxvi. 20, 22). By the new heaven and the new earth are meant the heaven and the church from those who would be saved by the Lord after the glorification of His Human. In the same prophet: "I will lift up Mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up My standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters they shall carry upon the shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet" (xlix. 22, 23). This whole chapter relates to the coming of the Lord, and to the salvation of those who receive Him,—as is very manifest from verses 6-9; and therefore not to the salvation of the Jews, still less to their restoration to the land of Canaan. That the Jewish nation was not meant in the passages adduced is evident also from the fact that it was the worst nation at heart, and was idolatrous; and that they were not led into the land of Canaan on account of any goodness and uprightness of heart, but because of the
