Rubén, en el sentido más elevado, significa la omnisciencia. En un sentido espiritual, significa la sabiduría, la inteligencia, la ciencia y la fe. En un sentido natural, significa la vista. En Apocalipsis 7:5, 'Rubén' significa sabiduría porque viene después de Judá, que significa el amor celestial, y el amor celestial produce sabiduría porque ningún amor existe sin su consorte, que es la ciencia, la inteligencia y la sabiduría. El consorte del amor natural es la ciencia, el consorte del amor espiritual es la inteligencia y el consorte del amor celestial es la sabiduría. Rubén" significa estas cosas porque fue nombrado por "ver" o "vista", y la vista espiritual-natural es la ciencia, la vista espiritual es la inteligencia, y la vista celestial es la sabiduría. Además, 'Rubén' era el primogénito de Jacob, y por eso fue llamado su 'poder, el principio de [su] fuerza, sobresaliendo en la eminencia, y sobresaliendo en el valor', en Génesis 49:3. Esta es la naturaleza de la sabiduría que se origina en el amor celestial. Como 'Rubén' era el primogénito, representa y significa la sabiduría del pueblo de la iglesia. Por eso instó a sus hermanos a no matar a José, y se afligió cuando no se encontró a José en la fosa, como en Génesis 37:21, 22. También por eso su tribu acampó en el sur, y fue llamada "el campamento de Rubén" en Números 2:10-16. El sur también significa la sabiduría que se origina en el amor, que es la gente en esta sabiduría en el cielo moran al sur. 'La tribu de Rubén' en sentido contrario simboliza la sabiduría divorciada del amor, y la fe divorciada de la caridad. Por eso su padre Israel lo maldijo en Génesis 49:3, 4. También fue privado de su primogenitura en 1 Crónicas 5:1. Por la misma razón la tribu recibió una herencia al otro lado del Jordán y no en la tierra de Canaán. Efraín y Manasés, hijos de José, también fueron reconocidos en lugar de Rubén y Simeón en Génesis 48:5. Sin embargo, sigue conservando la representación positiva y el consiguiente simbolismo de la sabiduría.

(Referencias: Apocalipsis Revelado 351)

24. Verse 6 And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let there be a distinguishing of the waters from the waters.

After the Spirit of God, which is the Lord's mercy, has brought out into the daylight cognitions of truth and good, and has shed the light of dawn to reveal that the Lord does exist, and that He is good itself and truth itself, and that no good or truth exists except from the Lord, a distinction is at that point made between the internal man and the external man, and so between cognitions which reside with the internal man and the facts which belong to the external man. The internal man is called 'an expanse, and the cognitions residing with the internal man are called 'the waters above the expanse', while the facts belonging to the external man are called 'the waters below the expanse'.

[2] Until his regeneration starts a person is not aware of even the existence of the internal man, let alone the identity of the internal man. Submerged in bodily and worldly concerns he imagines there is no difference between the two. Furthermore he has submerged in those same concerns the things that belong to the internal man and has made one thorough obscurity out of things that are distinct and separate. For this reason it is first said, 'Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters', and then, 'Let there be a distinguishing of the waters from the waters', and not a distinguishing of the waters. But this is followed immediately by the statement, Verses 7-8, And God made the expanse and He made a distinction between the waters that were under the expanse and the waters that were above the expanse; and it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven.

[3] The second thing therefore that a person notices when being regenerated is that he is starting to become aware of the existence of the internal man, or that what reside in the internal man are goods and truths which are the Lord's alone. And since the external man during regeneration is such as still imagines that he is the source of the good deeds he performs, or of the truth he utters, and since such a person, by means of them, is led by the Lord to do good and to speak truth as if they were his own, therefore the identification of those under the expanse comes first, and the identification of those above the expanse follows. It is also a heavenly arcanum that the Lord uses those things that are man's own - both his illusions of the senses and his desires - to lead and direct him towards the things that are goods and truths. Every single movement of regeneration is accordingly a progression from evening to morning - from external man to internal, that is, from earth to heaven. This is why the expanse, or internal man, is now called 'heaven'.