487. [verse 2] 'And the court that is outside the temple, exclude, and measure it not' signifies that the state of the Church on earth, such as it is up till now, must be removed and not become known. By 'the court outside the temple' is signified the Church on earth because this is outside of heaven, which is 'the temple' (n. 486). By 'to exclude' is signified to remove, here to remove from heaven because such is its state; and by 'not to measure' is signified not to explore and get to know its quality (n. 486). There follows the reason- 'for it has been given to the nations, and they shall trample upon the holy community forty-two months'. By 'the court outside the temple' is here signified the Church on earth such as it is up till now. This is plain from the things following in this chapter, where this is described by the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, in which the Lord's two witnesses lay slain, and which presently fell in a great earthquake and in it were slain there seven thousand names of men, besides more there. [2] Sometimes by 'court' in the Word the external of the Church is signified; for there were two courts that used to be crossed over when they were going into the temple itself in Jerusalem; and because the Church as to its internal was signified by 'the temple', therefore the Church as to its external was signified by 'the courts'. In consequence of this, strangers who were of the nations [Gentiles] used to be admitted into the courts, but not into the temple itself. And as the external of the Church is signified by a 'court', therefore also by it is signified the Church on earth and also heaven in ultimates, because the Church on earth is the entrance to heaven and likewise heaven in ultimates. [3] This is signified by 'court' in these places:-
Blessed is he whom Thou choosest, he shall dwell in Thy courts; we shall he satisfied with the good of Thy house, with the holiness of Thy temple Ps. lxv 4 [H.B. 5].
Praise the Name of Jehovah, you who stand in His house, in the courts of the house of our God Ps. cxxxv 1, 2.
How deserving of love are Thy habitations, O Jehovah, indeed my soul is wasted away for the courts of Jehovah Ps. lxxxiv 1, 2 [H.B. 2, 3].
Enter into His gates in confession, into His courts in praise Ps. c 4.
The just shall flourish like the palm-tree; those planted in the house of Jehovah shall sprout forth in the courts of our God Ps. xcii 12, 13 [H.B. 13, 14].
A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand, I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of my God Ps. lxxxiv 10 [H.B. 11];
besides elsewhere, as Ps. xcvi 8; cxvi 19; Isa. i 12; lxii 9; Zech. iii 7; Ezek. x 3-5.
Concerning the courts of the Jerusalem temple 1 Kings vi 3, 36.
Concerning the courts of the new temple Ezek. xl 17-31-44; xlii 1-14; xliii 4-7.
And concerning the court outside the tabernacle Exod. xxvii 9-18. * Reading Domum (house) as in Hebrew instead of Formam (form), which the Original has here.
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