3861. And called his name Reuben symbolizes its nature, which is then delineated. This is established by the symbolism of a name and calling a name as the quality (discussed in §§144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421). The specific nature is delineated in the words that Jehovah has seen my affliction, and now my husband will love me, which is what Reuben means.

It has been shown frequently that scriptural names always have symbolic meaning (see §§1224, 1264, 1876, 1888) and that the names given by the ancients symbolized states (§§340, 1946, 2643, 3422). It will be seen that the names of all Jacob’s sons symbolize universal qualities in the church. The quality itself was also incorporated into the name of each son, but no one can know just what quality it is without also knowing what the words used for naming each son enfold in an inner sense. For instance, one needs to know the inner meaning of seeing, the word used in Reuben’s name; that of hearing, the word used in Simeon’s; that of clinging to, used in Levi’s; and that of acclaiming, used in Judah’s. And so on with the words used in the rest of the names.

2776. Offer him as a burnt offering means that he would consecrate this rationality to his divine side. This can be seen from the fact that to the Hebrew nation and the Jewish religion a burnt offering represented the holiest element of their worship. There were burnt offerings and there were sacrifices; for what these represented, see §§922, 923, 1823, 2180. It was by means of burnt offerings and sacrifices that they consecrated things, so offering as a burnt offering here symbolizes being consecrated to the Divine. The Lord consecrated himself to his divine side, which is to say that he made his humanity one with his divinity by fighting and winning in his times of trial; see §§1663, 1690, 1691 at the end, 1692, 1737, 1787, 1812, 1813, 1820.

[2] Most people today believe that the burnt offerings and sacrifices symbolized the Lord's final suffering, and that by suffering as he did, the Lord atoned for the wickedness of us all. They even think that he shifted our wickedness onto his own shoulders and in this way removed it from us. So they consider themselves absolved and saved-no matter how they have lived throughout the entire course of their life-as long as they embrace the thought, even in the last hour before death, that the Lord suffered for them. This is not the case, however. The Lord's suffering on the cross was the final crisis by which he finished uniting his humanity with his divinity, and his divinity with his humanity, and in this way glorified himself. That union itself is the means by which people can be saved, when they believe in him because they love their neighbor. [At that time,] you see, the Supreme Divine itself was no longer able to reach through to the human race, which had so thoroughly cut itself off from the heavenly qualities of love and the spiritual qualities of faith that it no longer even acknowledged their existence, let alone perceived them. To enable the Supreme Divine to come down to such a race, then, the Lord came into the world and made humanity one with divinity in himself. The only way the two could be united was by the most intense struggles and victories in his times of trial and eventually by the final trial, which was the one on the cross.

[3] That is why the Lord in his divine humanity can now enlighten the minds even of people fairly distant from the heavenly qualities of love, as long as they have the faith that comes of charity. In the other world, the Lord appears as a sun to heavenly angels, and as a moon to spiritual angels (§§1053, 1521, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495). That is where all of heaven's light comes from. The light of heaven by its very nature gives light to the intellect of spirits and angels at the same time it gives light to their eyes. This mental light is within the visual light, so that the more outward light anyone in heaven has, the more inner light, or understanding, that person has. It is plain, then, how heavenly light differs from worldly light. The Lord's divine humanity is what enlightens both the eyesight and the intellect of spiritual people, which would not be possible if the Lord had not made his human nature one with his divine nature. If he had not united them, people in the world (and even spiritual angels in heaven) would no longer have been able to understand or perceive goodness and truth. So they would have had no blessings or happiness and therefore no salvation. It stands to reason, then, that the human race could not have been saved had not the Lord adopted a human side and glorified it.

[4] From this you can now judge for yourself the validity of the idea that we are saved as long as some inward stirring prompts us to think that the Lord suffered for us and took away our sins, no matter how we have lived. You can compare this to the reality that heaven's light, radiating from the Lord's divine humanity, cannot shine through to any but those who live lives of religious goodness, or love for others-in other words, who have a conscience. The actual platform on which that light can operate, or the vessel that receives it, is religious goodness, or love for others, and therefore conscience.

For the idea that the salvation of spiritual people lies in the Lord's divine humanity, see §§1043, 2661, 2716, 2718.