December
5

“He Will Shepherd His Flock”

Behold, the Lord Jehovih with firmness shall come, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with° Him, and His work before Him. Like a shepherd He shall shepherd His flock; in His arm He shall gather up the young lambs, and shall carry them in His bosom; and He shall guide the sucklings°. (Isaiah 40:10–11)

This treats of the Lord’s coming; the “flock that He shall feed as a shepherd,” signify those who are in the good of charity; and the “lambs that He shall gather into His arm,” signify those who are in love to Him. It is this love that, viewed in itself, is innocence. (Apocalypse Explained 314:20)

[He who considers] the nature of hell … and as to the height to which hell had risen, and how it had overflowed the entire world of spirits at the time of the Lord’s coming, also with what power hell was then cast down and dispersed by the Lord … can see clearly this must have been a work of the omnipotent God. … By a like Divine power the Lord fights at this day against hell in every man who is being regenerated; for hell attacks all such with diabolical fury, and unless the Lord resisted and tamed that fury man could not but succumb. (True Christian Religion 123)

Divine Providence … [is a] sphere of protection and support of those who cannot protect and support themselves; for it is provided from creation that things created shall be preserved, guarded, protected, and supported, otherwise the universe would go to ruin. … this cannot be done by the Lord immediately; therefore it is done mediately through His love implanted in fathers, mothers, and nurses. [That love] is in them from the Lord. (Conjugial Love 391)

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