Arcana Coelestia # 4236
4236. And Jacob said when he saw them, This is the camp of God. That this signifies heaven, is because the “camp of God” signifies heaven, for the reason that an “army” signifies truths and goods (n. 3448), and truths and goods are marshaled by the Lord in heavenly order; hence an “encamping” denotes a marshalling by armies; and the heavenly order itself which is heaven, is the “camp.” This “camp” or order is of such a nature that hell cannot possibly break in upon it, although it is in the constant endeavor to do so. Hence also this order, or heaven, is called a “camp,” and the truths and goods (that is, the angels) who are marshaled in this order, are called “armies.” This shows whence it is that the “camp of God” signifies heaven. It is this very order, and thus heaven itself, which was represented by the encampments of the sons of Israel in the wilderness; and their dwelling together in the wilderness according to their tribes was called the “camp.” The tabernacle in the midst, and around which they encamped, represented the Lord Himself. That the sons of Israel encamped in this manner, may be seen in Numbers 1:1-54 33:2-56; as also that they encamped around the tabernacle by their tribes-toward the east Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; toward the south Reuben, Simeon, and Gad; toward the west Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin; toward the north Dan, Asher, and Naphtali; and the Levites in the middle near the tabernacle (2:2-34).
[2] The tribes signified all goods and truths in the complex (see n. 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060). It was for this reason that when Balaam saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, and the spirit of God came upon him, he uttered his enunciation, saying:
How good are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, thy dwelling places, O Israel, as the valleys are they planted, as gardens by the river (Numbers 24:5-6).
That by this prophecy was not meant the people named Jacob and Israel, but that it was the heaven of the Lord that was represented, is very manifest. For the same reason their marshallings in the wilderness, that is, their encampings by tribes, are called “camps” in other passages of the Word; and by a “camp” is there signified in the internal sense heavenly order; and by “encamping” a marshalling in accordance with this order, namely, the order in which goods and truths are disposed in heaven (as in Leviticus 4:12; 8:17; 13:46; 14:8; 16:26, 28; 24:14, 23; Numbers 2; 4:5-33; 5:2-4; 9:17 to the end; 10:1-10, 28; 11:31-32; 12:14-15; 31:19-24; Deuteronomy 23:10-14).
[3] That the “camp of God” denotes heaven may also be seen in Joel:
The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were blackened, and the stars withdrew their brightness, and Jehovah uttered His voice before His army, for His camp is exceeding many, for numerous is he that doeth His word (Joel 2:10-11).
In Zechariah:
I will encamp at my house from the army, on account of him who passeth by, and on account of him who goeth away, lest the extortioner should pass over them (Zech. 9:8).
In John:
Gog and Magog went up over the plain of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; but fire came up from God and consumed them (Revelation 20:9);
“Gog and Magog” denote those who are in external worship that is separated from internal and made idolatrous (n. 1151); the “plain of the earth” denotes the truth of the church (that a “plain” is the truth which is of doctrine may be seen above, n. 2450; and that the “earth” is the church, n. 556, 662, 1066, 1067, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355); the “camp of the saints” denotes the heaven or kingdom of the Lord on the earth, which is the church.
[4] As most things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so likewise has a “camp,” which then signifies evils and falsities, consequently hell; as in David:
Though the evil should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear (Psalms 27:3).
In the same:
God hath scattered the bones of them that encamp against me; thou hast put them to shame, because God hath rejected them (Psalms 53:5).
By the camp of Assyria, in which the angel of Jehovah smote a hundred and eighty-five thousand (Isaiah 37:36), nothing else is meant; and the same by the camp of the Egyptians (Exodus 14:20).
Numbers 13
1
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Send men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers, you shall Send a man, every one a prince among them."
3
Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Yahweh: all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
4
These were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
5
Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
6
Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
7
Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
8
Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.
9
Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.
10
Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.
11
Of the tribe of Joseph, [namely], of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
12
Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
13
Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.
14
Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.
15
Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
16
These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.
17
Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up this way by the South, and Go up into the hill country:
18
and see the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many;
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and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds;
20
and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes."
21
So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath.
22
They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23
They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two; [they brought] also of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
24
That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there.
25
They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.
26
They went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
27
They told him, and said, "We came to the land where you sent us; and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is its fruit.
28
However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, [and] very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
29
Amalek dwells in the land of the South: and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan."
30
Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."
31
But the men who went up with him said, "We aren't able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we."
32
They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature.
33
There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
