Joshua 13: The start of the tribal territory allocations.

Now that Israel had conquered the land of Canaan, the Lord commanded Joshua to divide the land between the twelve tribes. The next seven chapters tell how the the land of Canaan was divided (see Swedenborg’s work, Arcana Caelestia 1413, to read more about the spiritual meaning).

Chapter 13 deals with the territories given to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and one half of Manasseh, all of which are on the other side of the river Jordan. Reuben was given the southern lands; Gad was given the extensive middle region, much of which is an area called Gilead; and half the tribe of Manasseh received the northern land which is on the other side of the Jordan.

It is also worth noting that the first few verses say much of the land remained to be conquered. However, at the end of chapter 11, we read that Joshua took the whole land as the Lord had commanded Moses.

This may seem contradictory, but spiritually it fits very well. In our regeneration, we aim to conquer our self-centred nature, and allow the Lord to rule us with his truth. This is spiritually ‘conquering the whole land’. But even so, our natural thoughts and desires sometimes rise up to trouble us, and these times are like the parts of the land that remain to be conquered. This is why we must recognize our complete dependence on the Lord (Arcana Caelestia 8326).

The Lord giving land as inheritance to each of the twelve tribes represents the way that He gives us our spiritual life. As we do the work of spiritual ‘conquering’ - living by our purpose to serve the Lord - we feel more and more that we can use our understanding of God and His Word in our actions every day.

The twelve tribes stand for the whole spectrum of what spiritual life involves, and each tribe relates to a specific quality of our spiritual living (Arcana Caelestia 3858). For example, we need to be discerning, positive, respectful of others, and so on. Each tribe has a sizeable area of the land, and is part of the integrity of the whole nation.

The territories given to Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh are not part of Canaan, but they are linked to it. These areas represent our outward life: the way we work, live, rest, and relate with other people. This is the ‘casing’ of our spiritual life, and it is essential.

The tribe of Reuben – the eldest son of Jacob – stands for our initial need to see the truths from the Lord in the Word. By ‘seeing’ we mean meeting them, looking carefully, being attentive, coming to understand what they ask of us, and realising how important they are. It is not a vague impression that the Lord’s teachings are important, but a real first step for us (Arcana Caelestia 3866).

The tribe of Gad stands for our ability to see that knowledge and truth need to be used to perform good works. Gad’s name means ‘a troop,’ calling to mind soldiers marching in formation to go and sort things out properly. This is something we can apply to ourselves and to the world around us. We just need to watch that it doesn’t get too heavy-handed (See Swedenborg’s work, Apocalypse Explained 435[7]).

The tribe of Manasseh represents the spiritual good which supports our will to live a life which is just, fair and honourable because it is based on God. In fact, Manasseh – which means ‘forgetfulness’ – stands for our need to remember that ‘my will’ is really ‘the Lord’s will for me’. Our will needs to be focused on outward life and also inwardly open to the Lord, which is why half of Manasseh has land beyond the Jordan and half has land within Canaan (Arcana Caelestia 5353).

2435. 'That I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken' means that this being so he would not perish, that is to say, the person with whom the truth which has good within it is present. This is clear from the meaning of 'a city' as truth, dealt with in 402, 2268, 2428. From most ancient times men have argued about which is the firstborn of the Church, whether charity or faith. The reason is that man is regenerated and made a Church by means of the truths of faith. But people who have given preference to faith and made it the firstborn have all sunk into heresies and falsities, and at length have annihilated charity altogether. One reads of Cain, for example, by whom a faith such as this is meant, that he at length killed Abel his brother, who means charity. One reads after this of Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, by whom also faith is meant; but he defiled his father's couch, Genesis 35:22; 49:4, as a result of which he was disgraced and the birthright passed to Joseph, Genesis 48:15; 1 Chronicles 5:1.

[2] This was the origin in the Word of all the disputes, and also the laws concerning the birthright. The reason for this controversy was that people did not know, even as it is not known today, that the amount of faith a person has depends on the amount of charity there is in him, and while a person is being regenerated charity offers itself to faith, or what amounts to the same, good offers itself to truth, and implants and accommodates itself in every part of it, and also in so doing causes faith to be faith. This being so, charity is really the firstborn of the Church, though to man it seems to be otherwise; see also 352, 367. But because these matters are the subject in many places after this, more in the Lord's Divine mercy will be said when those places are reached.