883. And He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He Himself shall be with them their God, signifies the conjunction of the Lord, which is such that they are in Him, and He in them. "He will dwell with them" signifies the conjunction of the Lord with them, as will be seen presently; "they shall be His people, and He Himself shall be with them their God" signifies that they are the Lord's, and the Lord theirs; and because by "dwelling with them" is signified conjunction, it signifies that they will be in the Lord and the Lord in them, otherwise no conjunction is effected; that this is the nature of conjunction appears clearly from the Lord's words in John:
Abide in Me, and I in you. I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:4-5). In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20). He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him (John 6:56). [2] That the assumption of the Human, and the uniting it with the Divine which was in Him by birth, and is called the Father, had for its end conjunction with men, appears also in John:
For I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth; that they may be one; as We are one, I in them and Thou in Me (John 17:19, 21-22, 26). From which it is plain, that there is a conjunction with the Lord's Divine Human, and that it is reciprocal, and that thus and not otherwise there is a conjunction with the Divine which is called the Father. [3] The Lord also teaches that conjunction is effected by the truths of the Word, and a life according to them (John 14:20-24; 15:7). This therefore is what is meant by "He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He Himself will be with them their God." In like manner in other places where the same words occur, as Jer. 7:23; 11:4; Ezek. 14:11; Jer. 24:7; 30:22; Ezek. 11:20; 36:28; 37:23, 27; Zech. 8:8; Exod. 29:45. [4] The reason why "to dwell with them" signifies conjunction with them is because "to dwell" signifies conjunction from love, as may appear from many passages in the Word; also from the habitations of the angels in heaven. Heaven is distinguished into innumerable societies, one from another according to the differences of the affections which are of love in general and in particular, each society constituting one species of affection, and they dwell there distinctly according to the degrees of relationship and affinities of that species of affection, and they who are in the closest relationship dwell in the same house; hence "cohabitation" when spoken of married partners signifies, in the spiritual sense, conjunction by love. It is known that conjunction with the Lord is one thing, and His presence another; conjunction with the Lord is not given except to those who approach Him immediately, and His presence to the rest.
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