8559. 'According to their travels' means according to the order of life for receiving the life of heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'travels' as further development of spiritual life, dealt with just above in 8557, thus the order of that life, 1293. The reason why it is for the purpose of receiving the life of heaven is that temptations, which the travels of the children of Israel in the wilderness depict, are the means by which the Lord imparts that life to a person. The life of heaven consists in being led by the Lord through good; and if a person is to attain that life, good must be implanted through truth, that is, charity through faith. As long as this is being done a person is on the road to heaven, but is not as yet in heaven. In order that the truths of faith may be corroborated and also linked to good, a person is pitched into temptations, for these serve as the means by which goodness and truth are joined together. When therefore a person is governed by good, that is, by an affection for doing good for its own sake, and so for his neighbour's sake, he is raised into heaven, since the order of heaven governs him and he is being led by the Lord through good. All this makes clear what one should understand by the life of heaven.