443. Verse 7. Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand sealed, signifies obedience, and that all who are in obedience are in heaven, and come into heaven. This is evident, from the representation and consequent signification of "the tribe of Simeon," as being obedience (of which presently); and from the signification of "twelve thousand sealed," as being all who are in heaven and who come into heaven (of which above). The tribes of Simeon, Levi, and Issachar, which are now mentioned, and which constitute the third class of the sealed, signify those who are in the first or lowest heaven, and who come into that heaven. For, as was said above, all who are in heaven, and who come into heaven are here treated of; and as there are, three heavens, the third or inmost, the second or middle, and the first or lowest, those who are in the third, in the second, and in the first are separately treated of. Those who are in the third or inmost heaven and who come into that heaven are signified by "Judah, Reuben, and Gad," these constituting the first class of those sealed; those who are in the second or middle heaven and who come into that heaven are signified by "Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh," these, therefore, constituting the second class of those sealed; but those who are in the first or lowest heaven and who come into that heaven are signified by "Simeon, Levi, and Issachar," these constituting the third class of those sealed.

[2] Those belonging to this first or lowest heaven are all obedient in doing the truths and goods that are commanded in the Word or in the doctrine of the church in which they were born, or that they have heard from some master or religious teacher, from whom they have heard that this or that is true and good, and ought to be done. Most of these are not in truths themselves, but in falsities from ignorance, nevertheless these falsities are accepted by the Lord as truths because they have the good of life for their end, and by this the evils that usually cling to falsities are removed (respecting these falsities, and those who are in them, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21). Such, then, are in the lowest or first heaven. But in the second or middle heaven are all such as are in the spiritual affection of knowing and understanding truth and good, and in the affection of doing it; while in the third or inmost heaven are all such as are in love; but these two classes have already been spoken of above.

[3] "Simeon" and his tribe signify those who are in obedience, because Simeon, the father of the tribe, was named from the word that means "to hear," and "to hear" signifies to obey. This can be seen from the words of Leah his mother when she bare him, which are these:

And Leah conceived again and bare a son, and said, Because Jehovah hath heard that I was hated He hath therefore given me this one also; and she called his name Simeon (Genesis 29:33).

(For explanation of these words see Arcana Coelestia 3867-3872; and that "to hear" signifies to obey there, n. 2542, 3869, 4653-4660, 5017, 5471, 5475, 7216, 8361, 8990, 9311, 9397, 9926, 10061; and above, n. 14, 108, 249.) Because "Simeon" signifies obedience he also signifies faith, for faith becomes faith in man when he obeys and does the commandments; before this is done the knowledge of such things as man has drawn from the Word, from the doctrine of the church and from preaching, appears as faith, but this is not faith until man does these things; until then it is merely a matter of thought from the memory, in which there is nothing of the will, consequently nothing of the man, for the will is the man himself; it is therefore when a man does this, that is, obeys, that it enters the will, thus the man himself and becomes faith.

[4] This faith, which is obedience, is signified also by Peter, when he is called "Simon;" and the faith that is the affection of truth is signified by Peter when he is called "Simon son of Jonah" (as in Matthew 16:17-19, et seq.; Mark 1:16-18, 36; 14:37, 38; Luke 5:3-11; 7:40-43; 22:31-33, et seq.; Luke 24:34; John 1:40-42; 21:15-21). Because "Simeon" in the Hebrew signifies hearing and hearkening, and thence obedience, as was said above, and "the son of Jonah" signifies truth from good, but "Peter" truth itself, Peter is called by the Lord sometimes "Peter," sometimes "Simon Peter," and sometimes "Simon son of Jonah." That these names have such a signification anyone can see from Peter's having been called by the Lord now "Peter," now "Simon," now "son of Jonah," which was not done without cause or meaning. What was said to him at the time makes clear what is meant; thus when he confessed that the Lord was the Son of God, and in consequence the keys of the kingdom of the heavens were given to him, he is called "Simon son of Jonah" (Matthew 16:17, et seq.) and is also called a rock (petra), as the Lord Himself often is in the Prophets. Again, he is called "Simon son of Jonah" when the Lord said to him, "Lovest thou Me," and he answered, "I love Thee;" but when he presently turned himself away from the Lord and was indignant because John, who signifies the good of charity, was following Jesus, he is called "Peter" (John 21:15-21), "Peter" here signifying truth without good, or faith separate from charity.

[5] From this it can be seen that "Simon," when Peter is so named, has a similar signification as "Simeon" the son of Jacob, namely, obedience, the faith of charity, the affection of truth, and in general, truth from good; for in the Hebrew Simon means hearing, hearkening, and obedience, and Jonah in the Hebrew means a dove, which signifies in the spiritual sense the good of charity; and "the son of Jonah" signifies the truth of that good, or the faith of charity; while "rock" [petra], from which he is named Peter, signifies truth and faith, and in the contrary sense, falsity and absence of faith (See above, n. 411).

[6] That "Simeon" the son of Jacob, with the tribe named from him, signifies obedience, and truth in the will, and thence faith, can also be seen from the contrary sense, in which he signifies non-obedience, and falsity in the will, and thus faith separate from the will, which is no faith; for most things in the Word have also a contrary sense, in which they signify the opposite things. It is in this sense that Simeon is mentioned by Israel his father in the prophecy respecting his sons, where it is said:

Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of violence are their swords; into their secret let not my soul come; in their assembly let not my glory be united. For in their anger they slew a man, and in their good pleasure ¹ they houghed an ox. Accursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their fury, for it is hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:5-7).

"Simeon and Levi are brethren" signifies faith separate from charity; "instruments of violence are their swords" signifies that their doctrinals serve to destroy the works of charity, thus charity itself; "into their secret let not my soul come" signifies that spiritual good does not wish to know the evils of their will; "in their assembly let not my glory be united" signifies that spiritual truth does not wish to know the falsities of their thoughts; "for in their anger they slew a man" signifies that they have wholly turned themselves away from truths, and in their aversion have extinguished faith; "and in their good pleasure they houghed an ox" signifies that from their depraved will they have wholly disabled external good which is of charity; "accursed be their anger, for it is fierce" signifies a grievous aversion from good, and consequent damnation; "and their fury, for it is hard" signifies aversion from truth that is from good; "I will divide them in Jacob" signifies that this faith is to be exterminated from the external church; "and scatter them in Israel" signifies from the internal church also. (For fuller explanation of this see Arcana Coelestia 6351-6361.)

[7] The first three sons, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, were rejected and condemned by their father Israel because that prophecy describes the establishment of the church, and the church is not established by faith separate from charity, but by truth and good from the Lord; for the church, even at that time, had fallen into the error that merely knowing the Word, and saying that it is holy, is the essential of the church, and not life or charity, and that the God of heaven and earth is some other than the Lord. For this reason in that prophecy the three sons born first, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, were rejected, because "Reuben" there signifies faith alone, "Simeon" faith without charity, and "Levi" the absence of the good of charity; consequently these three in the series signify no church; for when faith alone is assumed as the essential of salvation, charity is immediately rejected and regarded as nonessential and of no value in respect to salvation; and because these three things were signified by these three sons, therefore they were rejected by Israel their father, who signified the church. Moreover, each of these three destroyed the representative of the church, Reuben:

By lying with Bilhah, the maidservant and concubine of his father (Genesis 35:22).

and Simeon and Levi:

By slaying Hamor, his son Shechem, and the whole city, which was the nation descended from Hamor, for no other reason than that Shechem loved their sister Dinah (Genesis 34 to the end).

This deed signifies in the spiritual sense that these two sons of Jacob, in other words, that constituent of the church which they represented, extinguished the truth and good of the Ancient Church, which church yet survived in the nation of Hamor; for this deed signifies in the spiritual sense that every truth and good of the church is extinguished by faith separated from charity. This, therefore, is what is meant in particular by the words of Israel, "into their secret let not my soul come; in their assembly let not my glory be united; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their good pleasure they houghed an ox;" for "man" [vir] signifies in the Word truth and intelligence, and "ox" moral and natural good. (For fuller explanation of this see Arcana Coelestia 4426-4522.)

[8] And for this reason Simeon was passed by in the blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33), and instead of him Ephraim and Manasseh are mentioned, by whom the truth and good of the church are signified. But although Simeon and Levi were such, yet elsewhere they signify the faith of charity and charity, "Simeon" the faith of charity, and "Levi" charity. Yea, the tribe of Levi was appointed to the priesthood; for it matters not of what quality the person is who represents, provided he is in external worship according to the laws and statutes; for representation does not regard the person, but only the thing, and nothing is required in the person except the external of worship. (On this see Arcana Coelestia 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3670, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4309, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806, 9229.) For this reason "the tribe of Simeon" in this passage of Revelation and elsewhere in the Word signifies obedience, the faith of charity, the affection of truth, and in general, truth from good, as has been said above. (That "Simeon" and his tribe, when mentioned in a good sense, signify in the highest sense providence, in the internal sense faith in the will, in the interior sense obedience, and in the external sense hearing, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 3869.)

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7051. People who know nothing at all about the internal sense of the Word cannot help thinking that the Israelite and Jewish nation was chosen in preference to every other nation and was therefore of superior quality to all the rest, as those who belonged to that nation also thought. And what is so astonishing, this is not only what that nation itself thinks but also what Christians think, no matter how well they know that this nation is eaten up by filthy kinds of love, by foul avarice, hatred, and pride, and in addition to this belittles and also loathes things of an internal nature that belong to charity and faith and are the Lord's. The reason why Christians also think that this nation was chosen in preference to others is that they think a person is chosen and saved as a result of mercy, irrespective of the life he leads, so that those who are criminal can be received into heaven just as well as the godly and upright. They give no consideration to the idea that choice or election is all-embracing, that is to say, that it includes all who lead a good life. Nor do they consider that the Lord's mercy is shown to every person who refrains from evil and wishes to lead a good life, and so who allows himself to be led by the Lord and to be regenerated, a process which is being effected throughout the course of his life.

[2] This goes to explain too why the majority of people in the Christian world also believe that that nation will again be chosen, and that when this happens they will be led back into the land of Canaan. And this belief is also in keeping with the sense of the letter, for example in the following places:

Isaiah 10:20-23; 11:11-12; Isaiah 29:14-end; 43:5, 6; 49:6-26; 56:8; 60:4; 61:3-10; 62;

Jeremiah 3:14-19; 15:4, 14; 16:13, 15; 23:7-8; 24:9-10; 31:31, 33; 25:29; 29:14, 18; 30:3, 8-11; 31:8-10, 17; 33:16, 20, 26;

Ezekiel 5:10, 12, 15; 16:60; 20:41; 22:15-16; 34:12-13; 37:21-22; 38:12; 39:23, 27-28;

Daniel 7:27; 12:7;

Hosea 3:4-5; Joel 2:32; 3; Amos 9:8-9 and following verses; Micah 5:7-8.

It is on the basis of these as well as other places that even Christians think that nation will again be chosen and led into the land of Canaan. They think this even though they know that nation is waiting for the Messiah who will then lead the nation in, and are at the same time aware that its waiting for Him is in vain, and that the Messiah's or Christ's kingdom is not of this world, which means that the land of Canaan into which the Messiah will lead them is heaven.

[3] Such people give no thought to the idea that the Word has a spiritual sense within it and that in that sense Israel is not meant by Israel, Jacob by Jacob, or Judah by Judah, but that the things which they represent are meant by them. Nor do they give any thought to what the historical sections record regarding that nation - what it was like in the wilderness and what it was like after that in the land of Canaan, namely that it was at heart idolatrous - or to what the Prophets say about it and about its spiritual whoredom and its abominations. What that nation is like is described in the following words contained in the Song in Moses,

I will conceal My face from them; I will see what their future will be, for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faithfulness. I would have said, I will expel them to the remotest corners, I will make the memory of them cease from mankind, except that enemies might say, Our hand is high, and not Jehovah has done all this. For they are a nation from whom counsel has perished, nor is there intelligence in them. From the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison, they have clusters of bitterness. The poison of snakes (draco) is their wine, and the cruel poison of asps. Is this not hidden away with Me, sealed up in My treasuries? Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; in time their foot will slip, for near is the day of their destruction, and the things to come upon them hasten on. Deuteronomy 32:20, 26-28, 32-35.

Jehovah gave Moses the words of this song, see Deuteronomy 31:19, 21. The Lord too spoke about what that nation was like, in John,

You are from your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth. John 8:44.

And many other places besides these show what that nation was like.

[4] The reason why, although they know these things, Christians believe that that nation will at length be converted to the Lord and at that time led into the land where they lived before is, as has been stated, that they have no knowledge of the internal sense of the Word. Another reason is their supposition that it makes no difference what kind of life a person leads, and that even evil which has become deeply rooted through repeated actions in no way prevents a person - through faith, even if it has existed for only one part of an hour - from being made spiritual, being regenerated, and so being accepted by the Lord. They also suppose that admission into heaven is solely a matter of mercy, and that this is shown towards one particular nation, thus not towards all in the whole world who receive the Lord's mercy. Those who think in that way do not know that it is altogether contrary to the Divine that some should be chosen and born to salvation and heaven, and others should not be chosen but born to damnation and hell. To think about the Divine in that kind of way would be shocking, for making such choices would show a complete lack of mercy, when in fact the Divine is Mercy itself. From all this it may now be recognized that the Israelite and Jewish nation was not and never will be the chosen nation; also that not a trace of the Church existed or could exist with that nation, only a representative of the Church; and that it was preserved right up to the present day because of the Old Testament Word, regarding which see 3479.