Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 3.pdf/328

 up children, and they have rebelled against me." The former heaven and the former earth passed away before the church—the New Church—could descend; and this was absolutely necessary, for into the evil loves and false doctrines which prevailed, nothing divine or heavenly could descend, nor could anything truly spiritual exist in them. The love of self, of fame, of pre-eminence, of rule and domination over others, is diametrically opposed to love of the Lord, as the contentious doctrines derived from them is to His truth. Hence, a new heaven must exist, new affections and feelings must be prepared, before a new and heavenly Church can be formed; and a new earth, new perceptions, new opinions, new actions, before it can descend, or be established outwardly.

ITH respect to the first of these passages, Egypt is representative of natural science; Assyria, the reasoning principle derived from that science; while Israel, and especially Jerusalem, is that divine and spiritual principle in which the Lord fixes His dwelling-place. The union of Egypt, Assyria,