434. Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand sealed, signifies the light of truth from that love, and that all who are in that light are in heaven and come into heaven. This is evident from the signification of "the tribe of Reuben," as being those who are in the light of truth (of which presently); from the signification of "twelve thousand," as being all things and all persons (of which above, n. 430, here all who are in the light of truth from the good of love to the Lord, which love is signified by "the tribe of Judah" (as was just shown above, n. 433; also from the signification of "the sealed," as being those who are in heaven and who come into heaven (of which also above, n. 427, 433). It has been said before, that the twelve tribes of Israel represented and thence signify in the Word all things of the church, that each tribe signifies some universal essential of the church, and that "Judah" signifies love to the Lord; but that "Reuben" signifies light from that love will be seen in what follows.

[2] "Reuben," and thence the tribe named from him, signifies in the highest sense the Lord in respect to foresight or foreknowledge; in the internal sense spiritual faith and the understanding of truth; and in the external sense, sight; and as "Reuben" in the internal sense signifies faith and understanding he also signifies the light of truth, for faith exists from the light of truth, and the understanding is illustrated by it; for where there is the light of truth there is understanding and there is faith.

[3] "Reuben," or the tribe of Reuben, has the same signification as "Peter" the apostle; for the twelve apostles in a similar manner as the twelve tribes of Israel, represented all things of the church, and each apostle some universal essential of the church; and as Peter had a similar representation with Reuben, therefore was he the first of the apostles, as Reuben was the first of the sons of Jacob. (That "Peter" signifies truth in the light, and faith, see above, n. 9, 411.)

[4] Reuben was the first of the sons of Jacob, and thence the tribe called from him is named in the first place in most passages of the Word, because he was the firstborn; and "firstborn" in the Word signifies truth from good, or what is the same thing, truth in light, and thus faith from charity. For truth and what is of faith appears to man to be first, for it enters by the hearing into the memory and is called forth therefrom into the thought; and that which a man thinks he sees and perceives by interior sight, and that which is first in sight and perception is first, but merely in appearance, not actually. Actually, good is the firstborn, or the first constituent of the church, since truth exists from good, for good forms itself in truths, and by means of truths presents itself to be seen, therefore truth is good in form. This is why truth is said to be from good and faith from charity, for that which is from anything is that thing imaged forth; and [truth] viewed in itself is good formed and born; such therefore is the meaning of "firstborn" in the spiritual sense of the Word. Moreover, with infants the good of innocence is what is first imparted by the Lord, and it is from this that man first becomes a man; and because good is of love, and man does not reflect about his love but about his thought from the memory, and because good has no quality until it is formed into truths, and without quality nothing is perceived, so it is not known that good is first, and is the firstborn; for it is good that is first conceived from the Lord with man, and it is brought forth through truths, in which good is in its own form and effigy.

[5] It is to be noted, furthermore, that the truths that man in his infancy and childhood imbibes from the Word and from doctrine therefrom, and from preaching, although they appear as truths, still they are not truths with him, they are only like shells without kernels, or like the form of the body or of the face without soul and life. These do not become truths until they are received in the will, for thus they are first received by the man and begin to live with him; for the will is the man himself, and all good is of the will, and all truth of the understanding therefrom. From this it can be seen why the tribe of Judah, which signifies the good of love to the Lord, is here named in the first place, and then the tribe of Reuben, which signifies truth in light from that good.

[6] It should be known that all light in which truth is seen is from the light of heaven which is from the Lord; the light of heaven is from the Divine good of the Lord's Divine love; the light of heaven is Divine good in form. In heaven these two are one, and are received by the angels as one, and should be received by man as one that he may have communion with the angels. (But these things may be seen more fully explained in the Arcana Coelestia, as follows: When man is regenerating, truth is in the first place and good in the second, not actually but apparently, but when he is regenerated, good is in the first place and truth in the second actually and perceptibly, n. 3324, 3325, 3330, 3336, 3494, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4243, 4245, 4247, 4337, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6273, 8516, 10110; thus good is the first and the last of regeneration, n. Arcana Coelestia 9337. Since truth appears to be in the first place and good in the second when man is regenerating, or what is the same, when he is becoming a church, because of this appearance it was a matter of controversy among the ancients whether the truth of faith or the good of charity is the firstborn of the church, n. Arcana Coelestia 367, 2435.

The good of charity is the firstborn of the church actually, and the truth of faith only apparently, n. 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 8042, 8080.

And the "firstborn" in the Word signifies the first constituent of the church, which has priority and superiority, n. 3325.

For this reason the Lord is called "the Firstborn," because in Him and from Him is all the good of love, of charity, and of faith, 3325)

[7] As truth is apparently in the first place, so Reuben was the firstborn, and was named from sight, as is evident in Moses:

Leah conceived and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, Jehovah hath seen my affliction; for now my man will love me (Genesis 29:32).

Although these are historical facts, they nevertheless contain a spiritual sense; for every and each thing that is in the Word is from the spiritual world, because it is from the Lord; when these [spiritual] things are let down out of heaven into the natural world they are clothed with a correspondent natural sense, such as the sense of the letter of the Word is; therefore the nativities of the sons of Jacob signify spiritual nativities, which describe how good and truth are born in man when the Lord is regenerating him. This is why spiritual conception and birth are signified by "Leah conceived and bare a "she called his name Reuben" signifies its quality; "she said, because Jehovah hath seen" signifies in the highest sense foresight, in the internal sense faith, in the interior sense the understanding, and in the external sense sight, here faith from the Lord; "mine affliction" signifies the state of attaining to good; "for now my man will love me" signifies that the good of truth is therefrom. (But this may be seen explained in Arcana Coelestia 3860-3866.)

In the original language Reuben signifies sight, and in the spiritual sense "sight" signifies the understanding of truth and faith, in the highest sense Divine foresight (as can be seen from what is shown respecting the signification of seeing and sight in the Arcana Coelestia, as follows:

"sight" in the highest sense, which has reference to the Lord, signifies foresight, n. 2807, 2837, 2839, 3686, 3854, 3863, 10428;

"sight" in the internal sense signifies faith, because spiritual sight is sight from faith, and the things that pertain to faith are the objects of sight in the spiritual world, n. 897, 2325, 2807, 3863, 3869, 5400, 10705;

also "to see" signifies to understand and perceive truth, n. 2150, 2325, 2807, 3764, 3863, 3869, 10705;

the internal sight is the understanding, and this sees through the eyes of the body; and the sight of the understanding is from the light of heaven, n. 1524, 3138, 3167, 4408, 5114, 6608, 8707, 9128, 9399, 10569).

[8] That "Reuben" signifies truth from good, or faith from charity, is evident also from the "mandrakes" that he found in the field and gave to his mother, respecting which it is thus written in Moses:

Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken away my man? and wilt thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee tonight for thy son's mandrakes. And Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou shalt come in unto me; because hiring I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. And she conceived, and bare Jacob a son, Issachar (Genesis 30:14-18).

One who does not know what is signified by "mandrakes," also what was represented by "Reuben," "Jacob," "Leah," and "Rachel," must be wholly ignorant of why such things occurred, and why they have been recorded in the Word; but it can be seen that there is something Divine in them that is not apparent in the sense of the letter, because they are in the Word, and in it each and everything is Divine. The spiritual sense of these things makes evident the Divine that is contained in them; in that sense "mandrakes" signify the marriage of good and truth; "Reuben" represents truth from good; "Jacob" the church in respect to truth; "Leah" and "Rachel" the church in respect to good, but "Leah" the external church, and "Rachel" the internal church; therefore the "mandrakes" found by Reuben signify the conjugial [conjugiale] of truth with good; and as that conjugial is between truth and good in the internal or spiritual man, which constitutes the internal church, and yet that truth is first given in the external or natural man, which constitutes the external church, therefore the mandrakes were found by Reuben, who represented truth from good, and were first given to Leah his mother, who represented the external church, but still Leah afterwards gave them to Rachel, who represented the internal church, that Leah might be permitted to lie with Jacob. (But this may be seen more fully explained in Arcana Coelestia 3940-3952.)

[9] Because "Reuben" represented truth from good, or faith from charity:

It was he who exhorted his brethren not to kill Joseph, wishing to deliver him out of their hand; and was greatly grieved when Joseph was not found in the pit (Genesis 37:21, 22, 29, 30).

(This may be seen explained in Arcana Coelestia 4731-4738, and n. 4761-4766.)

[10] Because "Reuben" or his tribe signified truth from good, or faith from charity:

The camp of that tribe in the wilderness was to the south, and the camp to the south was called the camp of Reuben (Numbers 2:10-16);

for the encampments of the tribes of Israel represented the arrangements of the angelic societies in heaven, and the angelic societies have their dwelling places in quarters according to their states in respect to good and truth (See above, n. 422), and in the southern quarter there those dwell who are in the light of truth from good; and because the tribe of Reuben represented truth from good or truth in light, it encamped on the south.

[11] Because truth from good, which the tribe of Reuben represented, is in the natural man, to the tribe of Reuben an inheritance beyond Jordan was given (See Numbers 32, Deuteronomy 3:12-20; Joshua 13 end; Leviticus 18:7); for by "the land of Canaan" the church was represented and thus signified in the Word, that region of it beyond Jordan signifying the external church, the region on this side, Jordan the internal church, and the river Jordan the boundary between them; and it is truth from good, or faith from charity that constitutes the church, truth from good in the natural man constituting the external church; and because the tribe of Reuben represented this constituent of the church, therefore to that tribe an inheritance beyond Jordan was given. Why inheritances beyond Jordan were given also to the tribe of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh will be told in what follows.

[12] The conjunction of these two churches, namely, the external and the internal, which is like the conjunction of the natural and the spiritual man, was represented, and in the spiritual sense is described by:

The altar that the sons of Reuben, of Gad, and of Manasseh built beside the Jordan, about which there was a strife between these tribes and the other tribes; but it was said that the altar should be for a witness that although they dwelt beyond Jordan, they nevertheless served Jehovah in common with the rest; therefore they called that altar a witness between us that Jehovah is God (Joshua 22:9-34 to end).

For "the Jordan" signified the medium between the external and the internal of the church; "the land of Canaan on this side Jordan" signifying the internal church, and "the land beyond Jordan" the external, and this also was represented by the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, which had their inheritances there; while that altar signified the common worship of the two churches, and thus conjunction thereby.

[13] That "Reuben" signifies truth in the natural man is evident also from the prophecy of Deborah and Barak in the book of Judges:

In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of the heart. Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. Gilead dwelt ¹ beyond the Jordan (Judges 5:15-17).

This no one can understand unless he knows what the prophecy treats of, and what is signified by the "districts," "Reuben," "the campfires," "the whistling for the flocks," and "Gilead." This treats of the church among the sons of Israel in a state of vastation; and "the districts of Reuben" signify both all truths and all goods that are in the natural man; "the campfires" signify cognitions and knowledges there; "the whistling for the flocks" signify the perceptions and thoughts thereof; and "Gilead" signifies the natural man. When this is known, what these things mean in the spiritual sense becomes evident, namely, that when the church is destroyed the natural man with the things in it is separated from the spiritual man, whereas it ought to be conjoined to it; and when it is conjoined, there are truths there from good, by which truths there is a combat against the falsities from evil, for the natural man must combat against them from the spiritual man. "The statutes of the heart" and "the searchings of the heart" signify the truths from good, which are in the natural man from the spiritual man, "heart" signifying the good of love, and "the statutes and searchings of the heart" all things that are determined and arranged in the natural man from good in the spiritual man. This is said respecting Reuben because his tribe dwelt beyond Jordan in Gilead; and it was not conjoined with Deborah and Barak when they fought against Sisera, but only Issachar and Zebulun, "Sisera" in the spiritual sense meaning the falsity from evil destroying the church.

[14] "Reuben" signifies the light of truth, and the understanding of the Word therefrom, in Moses:

Let Reuben live and not die; yet his men shall be a number (Deuteronomy 33:6).

Here "Reuben" means the understanding of the Word illustrated by light from heaven; and because there are a few who receive such illustration it is said of Reuben, "Yet his men shall be a number," "number" signifying fewness and a few.

[15] That "Reuben" signifies truth from good, or faith from charity, is evident also from the contrary sense, in which he is also mentioned. In that sense "Reuben" signifies truth separate from good, or faith separate from charity; and truth without good is not truth except merely in respect to expression and sound, for it is merely a matter of knowledge, having its seat in the memory of the natural man, thus only in the entrance to man, and not within him in his life. The memory of the natural man is merely an entrance to him, and what is in it does not become truth in him until he wills it and does it; then it first enters and receives life; not till then does the light from heaven flow in and illustrate. It is similar with faith separate from charity, for truth is of faith, and good is of charity.

[16] That "Reuben" in the contrary sense signifies faith separate from charity can be seen from his adultery with Bilhah his father's concubine, which is thus described in Moses:

It came to pass while Israel dwelt in the land Ephrath Bethlehem, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard (Genesis 35:22).

"Ephrath Bethlehem" signifies the spiritual church, which is in truths from good, or in faith from charity; Reuben's adultery signifies the rejection of the good of charity from the truths of faith, for truth is profaned when it is not conjoined with its own good, which is the good of charity, since it is then conjoined with the love of self and the world, which is adulteration. All adulteries (of which many kinds are enumerated in Leviticus 18:6-23) correspond to the adulterations of good and truth. That the adultery committed by Reuben corresponds to faith separate from charity has been made known and testified to me by things heard and seen in the spiritual world, where such a sphere of adultery is perceived to go forth from those who have separated charity from faith in doctrine and life.

[17] Because this too was signified by "Reuben," the birthright was taken away from him by his father and given to Joseph and his sons. That it was taken from Reuben is evident from these words of his father:

Reuben my firstborn, thou art my power and the beginning of my might, excelling in eminence and excelling in strength. Light as water, thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, then profanedst thou it; he went up to my couch (Genesis 49:3, 4).

"Reuben my firstborn" signifies faith, which is apparently in the first place, or truth born of good; "thou art my power and the beginning of my might" signifies that thereby good has its potency and truth has its first potency; "excelling in eminence and excelling in strength" signifies that from this is glory and power; "light as water" signifies that it is not so with faith separate from charity; "thou shalt not excel" signifies that such faith has neither glory nor power, "because thou wentest up to thy father's bed" signifies because the truth of faith separated from the good of charity has a filthy conjunction; "then profanedst thou it" signifies conjunction with the love of self and the world and with evil therefrom, which is a profane conjunction; "he went up to my couch" signifies the contamination of spiritual good in the natural. (This is fully explained in Arcana Coelestia 6341-6350.)

[18] That the birthright was therefore given to the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, is meant by these words of Israel the father to Joseph:

Now thy two sons born unto thee in the land of Egypt, before I came into Egypt, they are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine (Genesis 48:5).

And in the first book of Chronicles:

Reuben was the firstborn; but because he defiled his father's bed his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel (1 Chronicles 5:1, 2).

For "Ephraim" in the Word has a similar signification with "Reuben," namely, the understanding of truth, and truth in the light. It is said "Ephraim and Manasseh shall be the sons of Israel, even as Reuben and Simeon," because "Reuben" signifies the understanding of truth, and "Simeon" the will of truth, similar with "Ephraim" and "Manasseh." From this it can now be seen what universal essential of the church is signified in the Word by "Reuben."

Poznámky pod čarou:

8080. 'And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem, means that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but forms of the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn' as faith, dealt with in 352, 2435, 6344, 7035, 8042; from the meaning of 'sons' as truths, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373; and from the meaning of 'redeeming' as giving something else instead, as above in 8078, 8079. The fact that those truths of faith are not to be ascribed follows from the full message that is implied by these words, And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall not make over, that is, you shall not sacrifice, but you shall redeem', 'not making over' being not ascribing, as above in 8074, 8078. From this it is evident that 'all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem' means that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but something else instead. Proof that this something else is the good of faith is provided by the consideration that generally 'the firstborn' means the good of faith, as above in 8042, 8043. But since it speaks here about 'the firstborn of man among his sons', the truth of faith is meant; for there is the truth of faith and there is the good of faith.

[2] Further proof that the good of faith, which is charity, is this something else which is to be ascribed to the Lord instead of the truths of faith is provided by the fact that the firstborn of the children of Israel were not accepted but the Levites instead; and the reason for this was that 'Levi' represented the good of faith, or charity, 3875, 4497, 4502, 4503. With regard to the acceptance of the tribe of Levi instead of all the firstborn, see Numbers 3:12-13, 40-end; 8:16-18. Even more proof that the good of faith is the something else to be ascribed to the Lord is provided by the consideration that faith without charity is not faith, 654, 724, 1162, 1176, 2231, 2343, 2349, 2429, 2839, 2982, 3146, 3325, 3849, 3865, 4368, 5351, 7039, 7082-7084, 7342 (end), 7950, and also by the consideration that the good of faith in actual fact occupies first place, while the truth of faith merely appears to do so, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6272, 6273, so that charity is the firstborn, 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930.

[3] The reason why the truth of faith regarded in itself without the good of faith is not to be ascribed to the Lord, that is, not to be given to Him or acknowledged to come from Him, is that no truth of faith has any life within it until it becomes the good of faith; and the truth of faith becomes the good of faith through the willing and doing of it, 7835. When therefore it becomes the good of faith it is acknowledged by the Lord as being His, for the Lord imparts faith indirectly through the good of faith. Every truth of faith too that a member of the spiritual Church possesses becomes the good of faith when he is regenerated. Not till then does it become the Lord's.

[4] The law regarding the redemption of the firstborn of man was laid down to prevent them from sacrificing their sons, a practice that had come into use among gentiles with whom statutes of the Ancient Church - which was a representative Church - remained in force, but in a form that had been completely adulterated in the course of time. The consecration of the firstborn to God was one of those statutes of the Ancient Church; but by consecration they began to understand sacrifice. The descendants of Jacob leaned likewise towards the same practice, and therefore that law of redemption was marked out for them. And to prevent them from following that practice the Levites were adopted instead of the firstborn, as has been stated. The law was marked out in keeping with its corresponding meaning in the spiritual world, which is that the truths of faith are not holy, thus that these are not to be consecrated or ascribed to the Lord but forms of the good of faith. Later on that consecration to Him was taken to mean that they were to give or present the firstborn to Jehovah, and to offer a sacrifice for him, as the following stated in Luke shows,

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it has been written in the Law of the Lord, that every male opening the womb should be called holy to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice. Luke 2:22-24.