Joshua 19: The last six tribes receive their territories, and Joshua his inheritance.

This chapter is the last of seven chapters detailing the division of the land of Canaan among the tribes. In this chapter, the remaining six tribes receive their portions.

Simeon received land very much in the south, below that of Judah, and Simeon’s territory was made a part of Judah. Simeon means ‘to hear’. To hear the Lord, and to hear the truth, means wanting to live in obedience with what the Lord teaches. Simeon was important in earlier biblical events, but is rarely mentioned later on; obeying the Lord can and should be a quiet affair (see Swedenborg’s work, Apocalypse Revealed 87).

The area given to Zebulun was modest and towards the north, between the Sea of Galilee and the coast. Zebulun’s name means ‘place of exaltation and honor’, and its spiritual meaning is just as glorious: it refers to honoring the Lord through the way we live our lives, both inwardly and outwardly (see Swedenborg’s Heaven and Hell 390).

Issachar’s territory was a small, fertile area in the north, next to the Jordan. The name “Issachar” means ‘a man of hire’ or ‘a hired man’. Spiritually, this is about wanting to serve the Lord, and dedicating our lives to this. Then we are ‘employed’ as servants of the Lord, and we are rewarded with spiritual strength, joy, and blessings (see Swedenborg’s Arcana Caelestia 6388).

Asher means ‘happy’ - a delightful name - and its territory was along the northern coastline, extending inland. It included Mount Carmel and the Plain of Sharon, which were both beautiful places. Spiritual happiness is quite deep, and is really a feeling of joy, contentment, and well-being. When we are spiritually happy, we feel glad to be alive, to know the Lord, and to do what is good because of God (Arcana Caelestia 6408).

Naphtali had territory going up from the Sea of Galilee to the northern border. Naphtali means ‘crafty and cunning’, which does not sound very heavenly. However, the idea is that we use our intelligence to bring heavenly results from the countless decisions we make each and every day. Earlier in the Bible, Naphtali is blessed and called ‘a deer let loose’, which would then be free to bound away (see Genesis 49:21, Arcana Caelestia 3928).

Dan had two small territories: one in the centre on the coast, and one in the far north near the source of the River Jordan. Dan means ‘to judge well’, and it stands for our need to treat people fairly because of our relationship with the Lord. Perhaps there are two territories because one is our mind (north), and the other is in life (center) (Arcana Caelestia 3923).

Finally, Joshua himself is given his inheritance, a place in Ephraim called Timnath Serah. The name means ‘an extra portion’, and this suggests that beyond everything Joshua has done, he is to be given something further. Spiritually, this could be the unexpected delight we get when we devote ourselves to serving the Lord (Arcana Caelestia 995[3]).

The spiritual meaning of receiving a portion of land is that we are able to experience blessings and goodness from the Lord, but only after we have ‘conquered the land’. This means working through our temptations and overcoming weaknesses during our natural life.

Since the land of Canaan stands for heaven – and also for the growth of heaven in us – each of the twelve tribes represent a part of heavenly life that needs to be active in us. We must learn hear the word of the Lord, judge well in our daily actions, and honor His name by the way we live.

3956. 'And Leah said, God has given me my reward, because I gave my servant-girl to my husband' in the highest sense means Divine Good wedded to Truth, and Truth wedded to Good; in the internal sense heavenly conjugial love; and in the external sense mutual love. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'reward'. 'Reward' is mentioned in various places in the Word, but few know what is meant there by 'reward'. It is well known in the Churches that man can merit nothing through the good deeds which he performs, for the good deeds which he performs are not his but the Lord's, and that merit-seeking or the earning of merit has man himself in view and so joins itself to self-love and to thought of superiority over others, consequently to contempt for others. Works therefore which are done for the sake of reward are not good in themselves since they do not spring from a genuine source, that is to say, out of charity towards the neighbour. Charity towards the neighbour holds within itself the desire that the neighbour will fare as well as oneself, and in the case of the angels the desire that he will fare better than themselves. Such is the nature of the affection that goes with charity. Consequently the affection that goes with charity loathes all idea of merit and so every good action done with a view to reward. Reward for people who have charity consists in their having the ability to do good, in being allowed to do it, and in the recipient's willing acceptance of it. This is the actual delight, indeed blessing, that is present with people with whom the affection that goes with charity exists.

[2] This shows what is meant by 'reward' which is mentioned in the Word, namely the delight and blessing belonging to the affection that goes with charity, or what amounts to the same, the delight and blessing belonging to mutual love, 3816, for the affection that goes with charity is one and the same as mutual love; see what has been stated already on these matters in 1110, 1111, 1774, 1835, 1877, 2027, 2273, 2340, 2373, 2400. From these paragraphs it is evident that at this point 'reward' in the external sense means mutual love. In the sense higher than this, which is the internal sense, 'reward' means heavenly conjugial love, as may be seen from what has been stated already about the heavenly marriage in 2618, 2739, 2741, 2803, 3024 (end), 3132, 3952 - that is to say, it is the joining together of good and truth, and mutual love is the offspring of that conjunction or marriage, 2737, 2738. From all this one may see that in the internal sense 'reward' means heavenly conjugial love.

[3] As regards 'reward' meaning in the highest sense Divine Good wedded to Truth, and Truth wedded to Good, this is evident from the fact that from these comes the heavenly marriage. For that union of the two exists within the Lord and proceeds from Him; and when it passes into heaven, the conjugial relationship between good and truth is effected, and through this relationship mutual love exists. From what has been stated here and in what has gone before one may see what is meant in the internal sense by these words spoken by Leah, 'God has given me my reward, because I gave my servant-girl to my husband'; 'a servant-girl' has meant an affirmative means that serves in the joining together of the external man and the internal man, 3913, 3917, 3931. So until those things meant by the sons of the servant-girls have been affirmed and acknowledged no joining together of good and truth, and so no mutual love, is able to come about, for those affirmations must of necessity come first. These are the considerations meant by these words.