"Seek ye first the kingdom of the heavens and its righteousness, and all these things (which are recounted), shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)

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Comparison of the kingdom of God:

1. With the human body from inmosts to outmosts; and therefore concerning that society wherein the Messiah is the Soul, and which shall form one body as one man.

2. With the kindred in the house of Abraham and Nahor.

3. With the land of Canaan and its bordering countries.

4. With the Paradise of Eden.

5. With a marriage and a feast.

[For the above comparisons, see:

(1) n. The Word Explained 596 seq.

(2) n. 567-568.

(3) n. 477 seq.

(4) n. 498 seq.,

(5) n. 586.]

Men are men only so far as they walk in the way of truth. But so far as they turn aside therefrom, they approach to the nature of a beast.

497. But it is also said: I will give it to thy seed. What is meant by the seed of Abraham and Isaac has been told above very frequently, namely, in the more interior sense, all that posterity which will inherit the kingdom of God. But here, by the seed of Jacob are not meant those who are meant by Jacob himself. This is clearly manifest from the words of the text; for it is said, I will give to thee and to thy seed; thus they are two distinct things. From the series it manifestly appears that here his seed refers to all those who will dwell round about this place, that is, round about the very center of the land of Canaan or kingdom of God; for the text immediately goes on to say of this seed that it will spread out in every direction (vs. 18).