3854. 'Jehovah saw' means the Lord's foresight and providence. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' in reference to the Lord as foresight and providence, dealt with in the next verse where Reuben is the subject, who was so named from the expression 'to see' - 'Jehovah' being the Lord, see 1343, 1736, 1793, 2156, 2329, 2921, 3023, 3035.

[2] As regards foresight and providence in general, foresight has reference more to man, providence more to the Lord. The Lord foresaw from eternity what the human race was going to be like in the future and what every member of it was going to be like, and that evil was going to increase all the time, so that at length man, of himself, would rush headlong into hell. That being so, the Lord has provided not only the means by which He makes it possible for him to be diverted from hell and led towards heaven, but also does in His providence divert and lead him all the time. The Lord also foresaw that it would be impossible for any good to take root in man except in his freedom, for that which does not take root in freedom is dispelled at the first sign of evil and of temptation. This the Lord foresaw, as well as the fact that of himself, that is, from his own freedom, man would be inclined towards the deepest hell. That being so, the Lord provided that if he would not allow himself to be led in freedom towards heaven he could still be diverted towards a milder hell; but if he would allow himself to be led in freedom towards good then he could be diverted towards heaven. From these considerations one may see what foresight is and what providence is, and that appropriate provisions are made for things that are foreseen.

[3] From this it may be seen how far someone errs who believes that the Lord has not foreseen and does not see the smallest individual thing with man, or that within the smallest individual thing He does not foresee and lead, when in fact the Lord's foresight and providence are present within the tiniest details of all the smallest individual things with him, and in details so tiny that it is impossible to comprehend in any manner of thought one in many millions of them. For every smallest fraction of a moment of a person's life entails a chain of consequences extending into eternity. Indeed every one is like a new beginning to those that follow, and so every single moment of the life both of his understanding and of his will is a new beginning. And since the Lord foresaw from eternity what man was going to be like in the future and even into eternity it is clear that providence is present in the smallest individual things, and, as has been stated, is governing him and diverting him so that he may be such, this being achieved by constant re-shaping of his freedom. But this subject will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed further later on.

4599. 'And pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder' means more interior aspects of this. This is clear from the meaning of 'pitching a tent' as an advance in holiness, in this case towards more interior aspects - 'a tent' meaning holiness, see 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 3312, 4391; from the meaning of 'beyond the tower' as into more interior aspects, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'Eder' as the nature of the state, that is to say, the nature of the advance made in holiness towards more interior aspects. This tower possessed that meaning from of old, but because there is no further reference to it in the Word apart from Joshua 15:21, this cannot be proved from parallel passages in the way other names can. The reason 'beyond the tower' means towards more interior aspects is that things which are more interior are expressed as objects that are lofty and high - as mountains, hills, towers, housetops, and the like. The reason for this is that minds which form their ideas from natural objects in the world as perceived through the external senses see things of an interior nature as objects that are higher than others, 2148.

[2] That 'towers' means interior things may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill, ¹ which he surrounded [with an enclosure] and gathered out the stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it. Isaiah 5:1-2.

'A vineyard' stands for the spiritual Church, 'the choicest vine' for spiritual good, 'he built a tower in the midst of it' for the interior aspects of truth. Similarly also in the Lord's parable in Matthew,

A householder planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants. Matthew 21:33; Mark 12:1.

[3] In Ezekiel,

The sons of Arvad, and your army, were on your walls round about, and Gammadim were in your towers; they hung their shields on your walls round about; they made perfect your beauty. Ezekiel 27:11.

This refers to Tyre, by which are meant cognitions of good and truth, or people who possess these cognitions. 'Gammadim in its tower' stands for cognitions of interior truth.

[4] In Micah,

Jehovah will reign over them in Mount Zion, from now on and for ever. And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you will it come, and the former kingdom will return, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. Micah 4:7-8.

This describes the Lord's celestial kingdom. 'Mount Zion' describes the inmost part of it, which is love to the Lord; 'hill of the daughter of Zion' its immediate derivative, which is mutual love, called in the spiritual sense charity towards the neighbour; 'tower of the flock' describes its interior truths of good. The existence of a spiritual-celestial kingdom from this is meant by 'the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem'. In David,

Mount Zion will be glad, the daughters of Judah will be exultant, because of Your judgements. Encompass Zion, and go around her; count up her towers. Psalms 48:11-12.

Here 'towers' stands for interior truths which defend the things that constitute love and charity.

[5] In Luke,

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For who of you, when he wishes to build a tower, does not first sit down and work out the cost, whether he has the means to complete it? Or what king going to encounter another king in war does not first sit down and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? So every one of you who does not renounce all that is his own cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:27-28, 31, 33.

Anyone who is not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word can only suppose that here the Lord was using comparisons, and that the expressions 'building a tower' and 'going to war' were not used to mean anything more. He does not know that each comparison in the Word has a spiritual meaning, and is representative, and that 'building a tower' means acquiring interior truths to oneself and 'going to war' fighting from those truths. For the subject in this quotation is the temptations undergone by those who belong to the Church and are here called the Lord's disciples. Those temptations are meant by 'his own cross' which each of them has to carry; and the truth that they do not in any way conquer of themselves and from what is their own but from the Lord is meant by 'he who does not renounce all that is his own cannot be My disciple'. This is how these expressions hang together; but if the references to a tower and to war are understood to be simply comparisons without a more interior sense they do not hang together. From this one may see what light flows from the internal sense.

[6] The interiors of those who are governed by self-love and love of the world, and so the falsities from which they fight and from which they reinforce their kind of religion, are also expressed as 'towers' in the contrary sense, as in Isaiah,

The height of men (vir) will be brought low, and Jehovah alone will be exalted on that day, for the day of Jehovah Zebaoth will be against everyone that is lofty and high, and against everyone that is lifted up, and he will be humbled; and against all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up and against all the oaks of Bashan, and against all high mountains, and against all hills that are lifted up, and against every lofty tower and against every fortified wall. Isaiah 2:11-18.

Here the interior and exterior aspects of those loves are described by cedars, oaks, mountains, hills, a tower, and a wall - interior falsities being described by 'a tower'. Thus interior things are again described by objects that are 'high'. The difference however is this: People who are governed by these - by evils and falsities - believe that they themselves are high and above others, whereas those who are governed by goods and truths believe that they themselves are least and below others, Matthew 20:26-27; Mark 10:44. All the same, goods and truths are described as things that are 'high' because in heaven they are closer to the Most High, that is, to the Lord. Furthermore 'towers' is used in the Word in reference to truths, but 'mountains' to forms of good.

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