438. Of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand.- That this signifies charity towards the neighbour, and that all who are in it are in heaven, and come into heaven, is evident from the signification of the tribe of Asher, which denotes that spiritual affection, which is charity, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of twelve thousand sealed, as denoting those who are in heaven, and who come into heaven, as above (n. 433). That the tribe of Asher signifies love towards the neighbour, which is called charity, will be evident from what follows, and is also clear from this fact, that the twelve tribes taken together represented heaven and the church, and therefore signify these in the Word, and that each tribe represented, and therefore signifies, some universal essential which makes heaven and the church. There are in general three universal essentials which make these, that is, love to the Lord, charity towards the neighbour, and the obedience of faith. Love to the Lord is signified by the first three tribes, Judah, Reuben, and Gad, as shown above; charity towards the neighbour is signified by the following three tribes, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh; but the obedience of faith is signified by the three following, Simeon, Levi, and Issachar; the conjunction of all these with the Lord is signified by the last three tribes, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. This is the signification in brief of all the tribes named in the above order; for their significations are governed by the order in which they are named, as shown above (n. 431:12, 435, 436).

[2] Moreover the sealed mean those who are separated from the evil and are received into heaven. The first three tribes mean those who are received into the highest or third heaven, where all are in love to the Lord. The next three tribes, which are now the subject, mean those who are received into the middle or second heaven, where all are in charity towards the neighbour; but the three tribes which follow these mean those who are received into the ultimate or first heaven, where those are who are in obedience, which is called the obedience of faith. The last three tribes mean the reception of all these into the three heavens by the Lord. For there are three heavens which are distinguished one from another according to the degrees of the good of love. From these considerations, it is evident in the first place, that this second class of the tribes, that is, the three tribes, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh, mean those who are in charity towards the neighbour. The tribe of Asher denotes charity towards the neighbour; Naphtali, the regeneration of these; and Manasseh, their good of life.

[3] But it shall first be explained, what Asher signifies in the kingdom of the Lord, or in the church. Asher signifies the blessedness of spiritual affections, and thence spiritual affection itself. And because spiritual affection is that which is called love towards the neighbour or charity, therefore Asher here signifies charity, consequently, the twelve thousand of that tribe here signify all who are in charity, and therefore in the second or middle heaven.

[4] That Asher was named from what is blessed, or blessedness, is evident not only from the signification of that expression in the Hebrew, but also from these words spoken respecting him by Leah, the wife of Jacob, when he was born.

"Zilpah Leah's handmaid bare Jacob a second son. And Leah said, In my blessedness, for the daughters will call me blessed; and she called his name Asher" (Genesis 30:12, 13).

Here, the daughters who should call her blessed, signify those spiritual affections of truth which make the church from which all that internal blessedness, which is celestial, arises. In this blessedness are those who are in charity towards the neighbour, for charity towards the neighbour is the spiritual affection of truth, as said just above. To love truth in its essence, that is, to love truth because it is truth, is the spiritual affection of truth. The neighbour also, in the spiritual sense, is nothing else but good and truth, and charity is the love thereof. This may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, where the nature of love towards the neighbour, which is called charity, is shown (n. 84-107). The rest of the above passage may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia 3936-3940). That Asher signifies the blessedness of love and charity, is further evident from the blessing of Asher by Israel his father:

"From Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall give the delights of a king" (Genesis 49:20).

"From Asher" signifies from celestial and spiritual affections, which are those of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. His bread shall be fat, signifies delight from good. And he shall give the delights of a king, signifies pleasantness from truth. For a further explanation of these things see Arcana Coelestia 6408-6410).

[5] The signification of Asher is similar in the blessing pronounced upon him by Moses, namely, the delight of the affection of truth from the Word. The blessing is as follows:

"And of Asher he said, Blessed above sons be Asher; let him be acceptable to his brethren, dipping his foot in oil. Thy shoe shall be iron and brass; and as the days thy fame" (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25).

In the blessing of the sons of Israel by Moses there are contained interior facts concerning the Word. Asher, who is there named last, signifies the spiritual affection of truth from the Word, wherefore it is said, "Blessed above sons be Asher, let him be acceptable to his brethren," sons signifying, truths, and brethren, the church thence, while blessed and acceptable are used in reference to the affection of these. The good of love, from which are the truths of the Word in the sense of the letter, is signified by dipping his foot in oil; the foot denotes truth in the ultimates, which is the truth of the sense of the letter of the Word, and oil signifies the good of love. That the ultimate of the Word is natural truth and good, is signified by, thy shoe shall be iron and brass; natural truth is signified by iron and natural good, by brass, and the ultimate, by the shoe. And as thy days thy fame, signifies that the Word shall endure to eternity. That iron signifies natural truth, may be seen above (n. 176) that brass signifies natural good, also above (n. 70); and that shoe signifies the ultimate of the natural, which is the sensual, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 1748, 2162, 6844).

[6] Because Asher signifies the delight of affections, such as those have who are in truths from the sense of the letter of the Word, therefore that tribe, together with the tribe of Dan, and the tribe of Naphtali, encamped to the north (Num. 2:25-31). The encampments of the sons of Israel in the wilderness, represented the arrangement of the angelic societies in the heavens (see above, n. 431:12-13), and those dwell in the heavens to the north who, from the good of charity, are in the affection of spiritual knowledges.

[7] That Asher signifies spiritual blessedness, which is blessedness from love and charity, is also evident in Ezekiel, where a new earth and a new city are treated of, and the land said to be distributed as an inheritance among all the tribes of Israel. The city is also stated to have twelve gates, one for each tribe. The inheritance of Asher is there treated of, chapter 48:1-3; and concerning the gates in these words:

"The corner towards the sea four thousand and five hundred; the gates of the city three; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali. The circuit eighteen thousand; and the name of the city from that day, Jehovah Shammah" (chap. 48:34, 35).

The land distributed among the tribes for an inheritance, signifies the church; the sons of Israel, amongst whom it was to be distributed, signify all the truths of the church which are from good collectively. The city signifies the doctrine of truth from the good of love, therefore it was called, Jehovah Shammah, Jehovah is there; the gates signify introductory truths, which are doctrinals; the number four thousand and five hundred also signify all truths from good, and eighteen thousand, all the truths of doctrine encompassing and defending. From these things it is evident, that not only all the particulars there mentioned, even to the numbers, signify things of the church, but also that not any tribe of Israel is there meant, but instead of the tribe named, some universal essential of the church. It is also evident there that Asher signifies the spiritual affection of truth, which makes one with charity towards the neighbour. That Asher, in the highest sense, signifies eternity, in the internal sense, felicity of life from the blessedness of the affections of love and charity, and in the external sense, natural delight therefrom, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 3938, 3939, 6408).

2025. That 'I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings' means that the Lord acquired to Himself by His own powers all things meant by 'the land of sojournings' is clear from the meaning of 'sojourning' as receiving instruction, dealt with in 1463. And because man acquires life to himself chiefly through instruction in facts, matters of doctrine, and cognitions of faith, sojourning is consequently the life so acquired. When applied to the Lord it is the life which He obtained for Himself through cognitions, through the conflicts that constituted temptations, and through victories in temptations; and because He obtained it by His own powers, this is what 'the land of your sojournings' means here.

[2] That the Lord obtained all things for Himself by His own powers, and by His own powers united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence and Divine Essence to Human Essence, and that He alone in this way became righteousness, is quite clear in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

Who is this coming from Edom, marching in the vast numbers of His strength? I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. I looked around and there was no one helping; and I was astonished that there was no one upholding; therefore My own arm brought Me salvation. Isaiah 63:1, 3, 5.

'Edom' stands for the Lord's Human Essence, 'strength' and 'arm' for power. Plain statements to the effect that He acted from His own power are contained in the phrases 'no one helping' and 'no one upholding', and in that about His own arm bringing Him salvation.

[3] In the same prophet,

He saw that there was no one, and wondered that there was nobody to intercede; and His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him. And He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head. Isaiah 59:16-17.

This similarly means that He acted by His own power, and in so doing became righteousness. That the Lord is righteousness is stated in Daniel,

Seventy weeks have been decreed to atone for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Daniel 9:24.

And in Jeremiah,

I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and He will reign as king and act with understanding, and He will execute judgement and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in confidence. And this is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16.

For this reason He is also called 'the Habitation of Righteousness' in Jeremiah 31:23; 50:7, and 'wonderful' and 'Hero' in Isaiah 9:6.

[4] The reason why the Lord so many times attributes to the Father that which is His own has been explained above in 1999, 2004; for Jehovah was within Him, and so within every single part of Him. Something similar in man may be used for illustration, although there can be no comparison. Within man is his soul, and because it is within him, the soul is within every individual part of him, that is to say, within every individual part of his thinking and every individual part of his activity. Anything that does not have his soul within it is not part of him. The Lord's soul was Life itself or Being (Esse) itself, which is Jehovah, for He was conceived from Jehovah; thus Life itself was present within every individual part of Him. And because Life itself, or Being (Esse) itself, which is Jehovah, belonged to Him in the way that the soul does to man, so that which was Jehovah's was His, which is what the Lord says in His statements about His being in the bosom of the Father, John 1:18, and about all things that the Father has being His, John 16:15; 17:10-11.

[5] From good which is Jehovah's He united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, and from truth united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, and so achieved every single thing all from Himself. Indeed His Human was left to Itself in order that of Himself He might fight against all the hells and overcome them; and because He had life within Himself, as stated, which was His own, He overcame them by His own power and strength, as is also clearly stated in the places quoted from the Prophets. So then, because He acquired all things to Himself by His own powers, He became Righteousness, cleared the world of spirits of hellish genii and spirits, and in so doing rescued the human race from destruction - for the human race is governed by means of spirits - and thus redeemed it. This is why the Old Testament Word speaks so often of Him as Rescuer and Redeemer, and also Saviour, as His name Jesus describes.