349. Sealed out of every tribe of Israel. This symbolizes the heaven and Lord's church formed from those people.

A tribe symbolizes religion as regards goodness of life, and every tribe symbolizes the church in respect to every good of love and every truth springing from that good, which produces goodness of life. For there are two elements which form the church: the goodness of love and doctrinal truth. The marriage of these two constitutes the church. The twelve tribes of Israel represented and so symbolized the church with respect to that marriage, and each tribe represented and so symbolized some universal truth accompanying goodness or some goodness accompanying truth present in that marriage.

But what each tribe symbolized has not been revealed previously to anyone, nor could it have been revealed, lest an ill-connected exposition profane the holiness that lies within these things when joined together, since their symbolism depends on their conjunction.

[2] They have one symbolism in the order in which they are listed according to their births (Genesis 29, 30, 35:18). The order there is: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin.

They have another symbolism in the order in which they are listed when they went into Egypt, namely, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali (Genesis 46:8-25).

Still another symbolism in the order in which they were blessed by their father Israel, namely, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, Benjamin (Genesis 49).

Still another symbolism in the order in which they were blessed by Moses, namely, Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Ephraim, Manasseh, Zebulun, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, Asher (Deuteronomy 33) - Ephraim and Manasseh being listed there, and not Simeon or Issachar.

[3] Still another symbolism in the order in which they encamped and set out, namely, the tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun on the east side, the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad on the south side, the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin on the west side, and the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphtali on the north side, with the tribe of Levi in the middle (Numbers 2:1-34).

And still another symbolism in the order in which they are listed elsewhere, as in Genesis 35:23-26, Numbers 1:5-16; 7:1-89; 13:4-15; 26:5-57; 34:17-28, Deuteronomy 27:12-13, Joshua 15; 16; 17; 18; 19, Ezekiel 48:1-35.

Consequently, when Balaam saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, he said, "How good are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel" (Numbers 24:1-4ff.).

[4] On the breastpiece of judgment, namely, the Urim and Thummim, containing twelve precious stones according to the names of the children of Israel (Exodus 28:15-21), the symbolism of the tribes in their arrangement depended on the inquiry to which they provided a response.

But what they symbolized in the order in which they are mentioned here in the book of Revelation, which is still another order, will be told in what follows.

Tribes symbolize religion, and the twelve tribes the church and everything pertaining to it, because "tribe" and "scepter" are, in Hebrew, the same word, ¹ and a scepter means a kingdom, and the Lord's kingdom is heaven and the church.

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790. 18:20 "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has visited your judgment on her!" This symbolically means, so that angels in heaven, and people in the church who possess goods and truths from the Word, now rejoice at heart that those caught up in the evils and falsities of the Roman Catholic religion have been removed and cast out.

Rejoice over her, O heaven, symbolically means, so that angels in heaven now rejoice at heart, for rejoicing is a joy of the heart. And you holy apostles and prophets means, symbolically, together with them, also people in the church who possess goods and truths from the Word - apostles symbolizing people who possess the church's goods and consequent truths from the Word, and abstractly the church's goods themselves and consequent truths themselves from the Word (no. 79), and prophets symbolizing truths springing from goodness from the Word (nos. 8, 133). They are called holy because, as we said, apostles and prophets symbolize abstractly the Word's goods and truths, which in themselves are holy, being the Lord's (nos. 586, 666). For God has visited your judgment on her, symbolically means, because those caught up in the evils and falsities of the Roman Catholic religion have been removed and cast out. That no others are meant may be seen in no. 786 above.

The joy of angels in heaven over the removal and casting down of people caught up in the evils and falsities of the Roman Catholic religion is the subject of the next chapter, verses 1 to 9. Here they are only told to rejoice. The angels' joy, however, is not a joy because of these people's damnation, but because of the new heaven and new church, and the salvation of the faithful, which could not come into being before the aforesaid people were removed, whose removal is achieved and was achieved by a last judgment, something that will be seen in our exposition of verses 7 to 9 of the next chapter.

It can be seen from this that "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has visited your judgment on her!" symbolically means that angels in heaven, and people in the church who possess goods and truths from the Word, should now rejoice at heart that those caught up in the evils and falsities of the Roman Catholic religion have been removed and cast out.

Who cannot see that it is not the apostles and prophets found in the Word that are meant here? They were few in number and men no better than others. But the apostles and prophets meant here are all in the Lord's church who possess goods and truths from the Word, as are meant also by the twelve tribes of Israel, as explained in no. 349 above. The apostle Peter means the church's truth or faith; the apostle James the church's charity; and the apostle John the charitable works of the people in the church.