9338. 'And inherit the land' means when governed by good, thus when regenerated. This is clear from the meaning of 'inheriting' as receiving as an heir, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the land', at this point the land of Canaan, as the Lord's kingdom, thus heaven, dealt with in 1413, 1437, 1607, 1866, 3038, 3481, 3705, 3686, 4240, 4447, so that 'inheriting the land' means receiving heaven as an heir to it. The proper way to understand the word 'heir', when used in reference to heaven, is a person who has life from the Lord, 2658, 2851, 3672, 7212, thus who is governed by good received from the Lord, who therefore has been regenerated. The fact that a person is in heaven, and so has been regenerated, when he is governed by good received from the Lord, see 9274 and the places referred to there.

[2] The fact that 'inheriting' has this meaning, when used in reference to heaven, is evident in Matthew,

Then the King will say to those who are at His right hand, Come, O blessed of My Father, possess as an inheritance the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink. Insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me. Matthew 25:34-35, 40.

'Possessing as an inheritance the Lord's kingdom (or heaven)' is said here in regard to those governed by good; and the actual forms of the good of charity in their proper order are also enumerated. Finally it is said, 'Insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me'. People are called the Lord's brothers if they are governed by good, 6756, thus also if they practise good; for good is the Lord present with a person. And this is why it says, 'Insofar as you did it to one of [the least of] these My brothers' (not simply 'brothers').

[3] In Revelation,

He who overcomes will receive all things by inheritance, and I will be his God and he will be My son. Revelation 21:7.

It says here of those who overcome that they will receive all things by inheritance; and because they are heirs they are called 'sons'. 'Overcoming' means using good and truth to fight with, for evil is overcome by means of good, and falsity by means of truth.

[4] In David,

God will save Zion and will build the cities of Judah; and they will dwell there and possess it by inheritance; and the seed of His servants will inherit it, and those loving His name will dwell in it. Psalms 69:35-36.

Here 'possessing by inheritance' has regard to those governed by celestial good, and 'inheriting' to those governed by spiritual good. Celestial good is the good of love to the Lord, and spiritual good is the good of charity towards the neighbour, 9277. In Isaiah,

He who trusts in Me will inherit the land, and will possess by inheritance My holy mountain. Isaiah 57:13.

[5] From all this it is evident what was meant by the division of the land of Canaan into twelve inheritances for the twelve tribes of Israel, in Chapters 14-19 of Joshua, and in Chapter 47:13-end and Chapter 48 of Ezekiel. For 'the land of Canaan' meant the Lord's kingdom, or heaven, 1413, 1437, 1607, 1866, 3038, 3481, 3686, 3705, 4240, 4447, and 'the twelve tribes' meant all forms of good and all truths in general and in particular, 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060, 6335, 6337, 6397, 6640. 'Twelve inheritances' accordingly meant heaven with all its heavens and communities, which divide off one from the next on the basis of forms of the good of love and consequently of truths of faith, 7836, 7891, 7996, so that in the abstract sense [without reference to persons] those inheritances mean forms of good themselves which originate in the Lord and therefore are the Lord in heaven.

[6] For heaven is nothing other than Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good. The angels there are recipients of truth in good; and in the measure that they receive it they constitute heaven. Also - and this is an arcanum - the Lord dwells with an angel, and similarly with man, only in that which is His own with the angel or man; for the Divine must dwell in what is of God, not in what is of the self with anyone. This is meant by the Lord's words regarding His union with those governed by the good of love, in John,

On that day you will know that I am in the Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who loves Me keeps My word, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. John 14:20, 23.

And elsewhere in the same gospel,

The glory which You have given Me I have given to them that they may be one even as We are one, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:22, 26.

4234. 'Jacob went on his way' means the progression of truth so that it might be joined to spiritual and celestial good. This is clear from the representation of 'Jacob' at this point as the truth of the natural. What 'Jacob' represented has been stated already, namely the Lord's Natural. And because the subject in the internal sense where the historical narrative has to do with Jacob is the Lord and how He made His Natural Divine, Jacob therefore first represented truth within that Natural and then truth to which the parallel good meant by Laban had been allied. And once this good had been allied to it Jacob represented that kind of good. That kind of good is not however Divine good within the Natural but intermediate good by means of which He was able to receive Divine good. Jacob represented such intermediate good when he departed from Laban, though essentially that good is truth, which by virtue of being intermediate has the capacity to join itself to Divine good within the Natural. It is that kind of truth that Jacob represents now.

[2] The good however to which that truth was to be joined is represented by 'Esau' - 'Esau' being the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Natural, see 3300, 3302, 3494, 3504, 3527, 3576, 3599, 3669, 3677. It is the actual joining together of the two - the joining of the Divine truth to the Divine good of the Lord's Divine Natural - that is the subject now in the highest sense. For once Jacob has departed from Laban and come to the Jordan, and so to the place of entry into the land of Canaan, he comes to represent that conjunction; for in the internal sense the land of Canaan means heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord's Divine Human, 3038, 3705. This explains why the words 'And Jacob went on his way' mean the progression of truth so that it might be joined to spiritual and celestial good.

[3] But these matters are such that a full and intelligible explanation of them cannot be given at all, for the reason that not even the learned in the Christian world possess the vaguest notions on the subject. For scarcely any knowledge exists of what man's natural is, or of what his rational is, or of the fact that the two are altogether distinct and separate from each other. Nor is there much knowledge of what spiritual truth is or of the good which goes with that truth, or of the fact that these likewise are distinct and separate. Still less is it known that when a person is being regenerated truth is joined to good, in one distinct and separate way in the natural, in another in the rational, and by means that are countless. In fact it is not even known that the Lord made His Human Divine according to the same order as that by which He regenerates man.

[4] Since therefore not even the vaguest notions exist about these matters, any statements made about them are bound to seem obscure. Nevertheless such statements must be made because the internal sense of the Word cannot be explained in any other way. If nothing else they will show what angelic wisdom is and the nature of it, for the internal sense of the Word is primarily for angels.