438. Of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand.- That this signifies charity towards the neighbour, and that all who are in it are in heaven, and come into heaven, is evident from the signification of the tribe of Asher, which denotes that spiritual affection, which is charity, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of twelve thousand sealed, as denoting those who are in heaven, and who come into heaven, as above (n. 433). That the tribe of Asher signifies love towards the neighbour, which is called charity, will be evident from what follows, and is also clear from this fact, that the twelve tribes taken together represented heaven and the church, and therefore signify these in the Word, and that each tribe represented, and therefore signifies, some universal essential which makes heaven and the church. There are in general three universal essentials which make these, that is, love to the Lord, charity towards the neighbour, and the obedience of faith. Love to the Lord is signified by the first three tribes, Judah, Reuben, and Gad, as shown above; charity towards the neighbour is signified by the following three tribes, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh; but the obedience of faith is signified by the three following, Simeon, Levi, and Issachar; the conjunction of all these with the Lord is signified by the last three tribes, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. This is the signification in brief of all the tribes named in the above order; for their significations are governed by the order in which they are named, as shown above (n. 431:12, 435, 436).

[2] Moreover the sealed mean those who are separated from the evil and are received into heaven. The first three tribes mean those who are received into the highest or third heaven, where all are in love to the Lord. The next three tribes, which are now the subject, mean those who are received into the middle or second heaven, where all are in charity towards the neighbour; but the three tribes which follow these mean those who are received into the ultimate or first heaven, where those are who are in obedience, which is called the obedience of faith. The last three tribes mean the reception of all these into the three heavens by the Lord. For there are three heavens which are distinguished one from another according to the degrees of the good of love. From these considerations, it is evident in the first place, that this second class of the tribes, that is, the three tribes, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh, mean those who are in charity towards the neighbour. The tribe of Asher denotes charity towards the neighbour; Naphtali, the regeneration of these; and Manasseh, their good of life.

[3] But it shall first be explained, what Asher signifies in the kingdom of the Lord, or in the church. Asher signifies the blessedness of spiritual affections, and thence spiritual affection itself. And because spiritual affection is that which is called love towards the neighbour or charity, therefore Asher here signifies charity, consequently, the twelve thousand of that tribe here signify all who are in charity, and therefore in the second or middle heaven.

[4] That Asher was named from what is blessed, or blessedness, is evident not only from the signification of that expression in the Hebrew, but also from these words spoken respecting him by Leah, the wife of Jacob, when he was born.

"Zilpah Leah's handmaid bare Jacob a second son. And Leah said, In my blessedness, for the daughters will call me blessed; and she called his name Asher" (Genesis 30:12, 13).

Here, the daughters who should call her blessed, signify those spiritual affections of truth which make the church from which all that internal blessedness, which is celestial, arises. In this blessedness are those who are in charity towards the neighbour, for charity towards the neighbour is the spiritual affection of truth, as said just above. To love truth in its essence, that is, to love truth because it is truth, is the spiritual affection of truth. The neighbour also, in the spiritual sense, is nothing else but good and truth, and charity is the love thereof. This may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, where the nature of love towards the neighbour, which is called charity, is shown (n. 84-107). The rest of the above passage may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia 3936-3940). That Asher signifies the blessedness of love and charity, is further evident from the blessing of Asher by Israel his father:

"From Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall give the delights of a king" (Genesis 49:20).

"From Asher" signifies from celestial and spiritual affections, which are those of love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. His bread shall be fat, signifies delight from good. And he shall give the delights of a king, signifies pleasantness from truth. For a further explanation of these things see Arcana Coelestia 6408-6410).

[5] The signification of Asher is similar in the blessing pronounced upon him by Moses, namely, the delight of the affection of truth from the Word. The blessing is as follows:

"And of Asher he said, Blessed above sons be Asher; let him be acceptable to his brethren, dipping his foot in oil. Thy shoe shall be iron and brass; and as the days thy fame" (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25).

In the blessing of the sons of Israel by Moses there are contained interior facts concerning the Word. Asher, who is there named last, signifies the spiritual affection of truth from the Word, wherefore it is said, "Blessed above sons be Asher, let him be acceptable to his brethren," sons signifying, truths, and brethren, the church thence, while blessed and acceptable are used in reference to the affection of these. The good of love, from which are the truths of the Word in the sense of the letter, is signified by dipping his foot in oil; the foot denotes truth in the ultimates, which is the truth of the sense of the letter of the Word, and oil signifies the good of love. That the ultimate of the Word is natural truth and good, is signified by, thy shoe shall be iron and brass; natural truth is signified by iron and natural good, by brass, and the ultimate, by the shoe. And as thy days thy fame, signifies that the Word shall endure to eternity. That iron signifies natural truth, may be seen above (n. 176) that brass signifies natural good, also above (n. 70); and that shoe signifies the ultimate of the natural, which is the sensual, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 1748, 2162, 6844).

[6] Because Asher signifies the delight of affections, such as those have who are in truths from the sense of the letter of the Word, therefore that tribe, together with the tribe of Dan, and the tribe of Naphtali, encamped to the north (Num. 2:25-31). The encampments of the sons of Israel in the wilderness, represented the arrangement of the angelic societies in the heavens (see above, n. 431:12-13), and those dwell in the heavens to the north who, from the good of charity, are in the affection of spiritual knowledges.

[7] That Asher signifies spiritual blessedness, which is blessedness from love and charity, is also evident in Ezekiel, where a new earth and a new city are treated of, and the land said to be distributed as an inheritance among all the tribes of Israel. The city is also stated to have twelve gates, one for each tribe. The inheritance of Asher is there treated of, chapter 48:1-3; and concerning the gates in these words:

"The corner towards the sea four thousand and five hundred; the gates of the city three; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali. The circuit eighteen thousand; and the name of the city from that day, Jehovah Shammah" (chap. 48:34, 35).

The land distributed among the tribes for an inheritance, signifies the church; the sons of Israel, amongst whom it was to be distributed, signify all the truths of the church which are from good collectively. The city signifies the doctrine of truth from the good of love, therefore it was called, Jehovah Shammah, Jehovah is there; the gates signify introductory truths, which are doctrinals; the number four thousand and five hundred also signify all truths from good, and eighteen thousand, all the truths of doctrine encompassing and defending. From these things it is evident, that not only all the particulars there mentioned, even to the numbers, signify things of the church, but also that not any tribe of Israel is there meant, but instead of the tribe named, some universal essential of the church. It is also evident there that Asher signifies the spiritual affection of truth, which makes one with charity towards the neighbour. That Asher, in the highest sense, signifies eternity, in the internal sense, felicity of life from the blessedness of the affections of love and charity, and in the external sense, natural delight therefrom, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 3938, 3939, 6408).

5084. 'Of the house of the chief of the attendants' means the things that are first and foremost in explanations. This is clear from the meaning of 'the chief of the attendants' as the things which are first and foremost in explanations, dealt with in 4790, 4966. The meaning here therefore is that both kinds of sensory impressions were cast aside by the things which are first and foremost in explanations, that is to say, by those which belong to the Word in the internal sense. Sensory impressions are said to be cast aside when the things that are first and foremost in explanations place no reliance on them; for they are indeed sensory impressions, and impressions received by the mind directly through the senses are illusions. The senses are the source of all the illusions that reign in a person, and they are the reason why few have any belief in the truths of faith and why the natural man is opposed to the spiritual man, that is, the external man to the internal. Consequently if the natural or external man starts to have dominion over the spiritual or internal man, no belief at all in matters of faith exists any longer, for illusions cast a shadow over them and evil desires smother them.

[2] Few know what the illusions of the senses are and few believe that these cast a shadow over rational insights and most of all over spiritual matters of faith - a shadow so dark that it blots them out. This happens especially when at the same time what a person delights in is the result of desires bred by a selfish and worldly love. But let examples be used to shed some light on this matter, first some examples of illusions of the senses which are purely natural ones, that is, illusions about things within the natural creation, then some examples of such illusions in spiritual things.

I. It is an illusion of the senses - a purely natural one, or an illusion about the natural creation - to believe that the sun is borne round this globe once a day, and that the sky too and all the stars are borne round at the same time. People may be told that it is impossible and therefore inconceivable that so vast an ocean of fire as the sun, and not only the sun but also the countless stars, should revolve once a day without undergoing any changes of position in relation to one another. They may be told in addition that one can see from the planetary system that our own globe performs a daily movement and an annual one, by rotations on its axis and by revolutions. This can be recognized from the fact that the planets are globes like ours, some of which have moons around them and all of which, as observation shows, perform daily and annual movements like ours. But for all that they are told, the illusion the senses prevails with very many people - that things really are as the eye sees them.

[3] II. It is an illusion of the senses - a purely natural one, or an illusion about the natural creation - that the atmosphere is a single entity, except that it becomes gradually and increasingly rarified until a vacuum exists where the atmosphere comes to an end. A person's external senses tell him nothing else than this when their evidence alone is relied on.

III. It is an illusion of the senses, a purely natural one, that the power which seeds have to grow into trees and flowers and to reproduce themselves was conferred on them when creation first began, and that that initial conferment is what causes everything to come into being and remain in being. People may be told that nothing can remain in being unless it is constantly being brought into being, in keeping with the law that continuance in being involves a constant coming into being, and with another law that anything that has no connection with something prior to itself ceases to have any existence. But though they are told all this, their bodily senses and their thought that is reliant on their senses, cannot take it in. Nor can they see that every single thing is kept in being, even as it was brought into being, through an influx from the spiritual world, that is, from the Divine coming through the spiritual world.

[4] IV. This gives rise to another illusion of the senses, a purely natural one, that single entities exist called monads and atoms. For the natural man believes that anything comprehended by his external senses is a single entity or else nothing at all.

V. It is an illusion of the senses, a purely natural one, that everything is part of and begins in the natural creation, though there are indeed purer and more inward aspects of the natural creation that are beyond the range of human understanding. But if anyone says that a spiritual or celestial dimension exists within or above the natural creation, this idea is rejected; for the belief is that unless a thing is natural it has no existence.

VI. It is an illusion of the senses that only the body possesses life and that when it dies that life perishes. The senses have no conception at all of an internal man present within each part of the external man, nor any conception that this internal man resides in the inward dimension of the natural creation, in the spiritual world. Nor consequently, since they have no conception of it, do the senses believe that a person will live after death, apart from being clothed with the body once again, 5078, 5079.

[5] VII. This gives rise to the further illusion of the senses that no human being can have a life after death any more than animals do, for the reason that the life of an animal is much the same as that of a human being, the only difference being that man is a more perfect kind of living creature. The senses - that is, the person who relies on his senses to think with and form conclusions - have no conception of the human being as one who is superior to animals or who possesses a life superior to theirs because of his ability to think not only about the causes of things but also about what is Divine. The human being also has the ability to be joined through faith and love to the Divine, as well as to receive an influx from Him and to make what flows in his own. Thus because of his response to such influx from the Divine it is possible for the human being to receive it, which is not at all the case with animals.

[6] VIII. This gives rise to yet another illusion, which is that what is actually living in the human being - what is called the soul - is merely something air-like or flame-like which is dispersed when the person dies. Added to this is the illusion that the soul is situated either in the heart, or in the brain, or in some other part of him, from where it controls the body as if this were a machine. One who relies on his senses has no conception of an internal man present in every part of his external man, no conception that the eye sees not of its own accord, and that the ear hears not of its own accord, but under the direction of the internal man.

IX. It is an illusion of the senses that no other source of light is possible than the sun or else material fire, and that no other source of heat than these is possible. The senses have no conception of the existence of a light that holds intelligence within it, or of a heat that holds heavenly love within it, or that all angels are bathed in that light and heat.

X. It is an illusion of the senses when a person believes that he lives independently, that is, that an underived life is present within him; for this is what the situation seems to be to the senses. The senses have no conception at all that the Divine alone is one whose life is underived, thus that there is but one actual life, and that anything in the world that has life is merely a form receiving it, see 1954, 2706, 2886-2889, 2893, 3001, 3318, 3337, 3338, 3484, 3742, 3743, 4151, 4249, 4318-4320, 4417, 4523, 4524, 4882.

[7] XI. The person who relies on his senses can be misled into a belief that adulterous relationships are allowable; for his senses lead him to think that marriages exist merely for the sake of order which the upbringing of children necessitates, and that provided this order is not destroyed it makes no difference who fathers the children. He can also be misled into thinking that the married state is no different from having sex with someone, except that it is allowable. That being so, he also believes that it would not be contrary to order for him to many several wives if the Christian world, basing its ideas on the Sacred Scriptures, did not forbid it. If told that a correspondence exists between the heavenly marriage and marriages on earth, and that no one can have anything of marriage within him unless spiritual good and truth are present there, also that a genuinely conjugial relationship cannot possibly exist between one man and several wives, and consequently that marriages are intrinsically holy, the person who relies on his senses rejects all this as worthless.

[8] XII. It is an illusion of the senses that the Lord's kingdom, or heaven, is like an earthly kingdom, that joy and happiness there consist in one person holding a higher position than another and as a consequence possessing more glory than another. For the senses have no conception at all of what is implied by the idea that the least is the greatest and the last is the first. If such people are told that joy in heaven or among angels consists in serving the welfare of others without any thought of merit or reward, it strikes them as a sorrowful existence.

XIII. It is an illusion of the senses that good works earn merit and that to do good to someone even for a selfish reason is a good work.

XIV. It is also an illusion of the senses that a person is saved by faith alone, and that faith may exist with someone who has no charity, as well as that faith, not life, is what remains after death. One could go on with very many other illusions of the senses; for when a person is governed by his senses the rational degree within him, which is enlightened by the Divine, does not see anything. It dwells in thickest darkness, in which case every conclusion based on sensory evidence is thought to be a rational one.