52. And issuing from His mouth a sharp two-edged sword. This symbolizes a dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of the Word and doctrine drawn from it.

Swords are often mentioned in the Word, and they symbolize nothing else than truth combating falsities and destroying them. In an opposite sense they also symbolize falsity combating truths. For wars in the Word symbolize spiritual wars, which are those of truth against falsity, and of falsity against truth. Therefore the weapons of war symbolize the means by which the combat is carried on in these wars.

It is apparent that the sword here means a dispersion of falsities by the Lord, because it was seen to issue from His mouth, and to issue from the Lord's mouth is to do so from the Word, for the Lord spoke it with His mouth. Furthermore, because the Word is understood by means of doctrine drawn from it, this too is symbolically meant.

It is called a sharp two-edged sword because it pierces the heart and soul.

[2] To show that the sword here means a dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of the Word, we will cite some passages which mention a sword, from which the reality of this can be seen. Namely:

A sword against... Babylon, ...her princes and her wise men! A sword against the liars, that they may become fools! A sword against her mighty men, that they may be dismayed! A sword against her horses and her chariots...! A sword against her treasures, that they may be plundered! A drought upon her waters, that they may be dried up! (Jeremiah 50:35-38)

The subject here is Babylon, and by it are meant people who falsify and adulterate the Word. Consequently the liars who are to become fools, the horses and chariots with a sword upon them, and the treasures that will be plundered symbolize their doctrinal falsities. The waters that will have a drought upon them that they may be dried up symbolize truths, as may be seen just above in no. 50.

[3] ...prophesy and say..., "A sword... is sharpened and also polished! Sharpened to make a great slaughter... Let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain, a sword for a great slaughter, piercing the innermost recesses, that... stumbling blocks may be multiplied." (Ezekiel 21:9-15, 19-20)

A sword here means also the laying waste of truth in the church.

Jehovah will contend... with His sword against all flesh, and the slain by Jehovah shall be multiplied. (Isaiah 66:16)

Here and elsewhere in the Word, the slain by Jehovah are what people are called who perish as a result of falsities.

On all the desolate heights in the wilderness the plunderers have come, ...the sword of Jehovah devouring from one end of the land to the other. (Jeremiah 12:12)

At the peril of our lives we bring in our bread, because of the sword in the wilderness. (Lamentations 5:9)

Woe to the worthless shepherd who deserts the flock! A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye. (Zechariah 11:17)

The sword against the shepherd's right eye is falsity in his intellect.

...the sons of men are set on fire..., their tongue a sharp sword. (Psalms 57:4)

Behold, they belch with their mouth; a sword is in their lips. (Psalms 59:7)

(The workers of iniquity) sharpen their tongue like a sword... (Psalms 64:3)

A sword has similar symbolic meanings elsewhere, as in Isaiah 13:15; 21:14-15; 37:6-7, 38; 31:7-8, Jeremiah 2:30; 5:12; 11:22; 14:13-18, Ezekiel 7:15; 32:10-12.

[4] It can be seen from this what the Lord meant by a sword in the following places:

(Jesus said that He did not come) to bring peace on the earth... but a sword. (Matthew 10:34)

(Jesus said,) ."..he who does (not) have a purse... and... knapsack..., let him sell his garments and buy (a sword)...." (The disciples) said, "Lord, look, here are two swords." And He said..., "It is enough." (Luke 22:36, 38)

...all who take the sword will perish by the sword. (Matthew 26:51-52)

Regarding the end of the age, Jesus says,

They will fall by the edge of the sword, and be taken captive among all the nations. And (finally) Jerusalem will be trampled... (Luke 21:24)

The end of the age is the final period of the church. The sword is falsity destroying truth. The nations are evils. The Jerusalem which will be trampled is the church.

[5] It is apparent from this, now, that a sharp sword issuing from the mouth of the Son of Man symbolizes a dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of the Word.

So, too, in the following places in the book of Revelation:

...to the one who sat on (the fiery red horse)...there was given... a great sword. (Revelation 6:4)

From the mouth (of Him who sat on the white horse) came a sharp sword, that with it He might strike the nations... ...the rest were killed with the sword... of Him who sat on the horse. (Revelation 19:15, 21)

He who sat on the white horse means the Lord in relation to the Word, something that is openly stated there in verses 13 and 16.

The like is meant in the book of Psalms:

Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One... ride upon the word of truth... Your arrows are sharp... (Psalms 45:3-5)

The subject is the Lord. Moreover, elsewhere:

Let the saints exult... and let a two-edged sword be in their hand. (Psalms 149:5-6)

And in Isaiah:

(Jehovah) has made My mouth like a sharp sword. (Isaiah 49:2)

348. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand. (7:4) This symbolizes all people who acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth and are governed by truths of doctrine springing from the goodness of love, received from Him through the Word.

These are symbolized by the number 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel because the twelve tribes of Israel symbolize a church that consists of people who possess goodness and truth from the Lord and acknowledge Him as God of heaven and earth. The number 144,000 means all such. For that number has the same symbolism as the number twelve, since it is the product of twelve times twelve, which is then multiplied by 1000; and any number multiplied by itself and then by 10, 100, or 1000, has the same symbolism as the original number. Thus the number 144,000 has the same symbolism as 144, and this the same symbolism as twelve, as 144 is the product of twelve times twelve. Similarly, the product of the 12,000 sealed from each tribe times twelve is 144,000.

The number twelve means, symbolically, all, and is predicated of truths springing from goodness, because twelve is the product of three times four, and the number three symbolizes everything connected with truth, and the number four, everything connected with good. Thus the number twelve here symbolizes everything connected with truth that springs from the goodness of love.

[2] Numbers all symbolize additional properties of things that determine their quality or quantity, and this can be clearly seen from numbers in the book of Revelation, which in many places would not have any meaning unless they were symbolic.

From the foregoing it can now be seen that the 144,000 sealed, and the 12,000 from each tribe, mean not that these many were sealed or chosen from the tribes of Israel, but that all those were who are governed by truths of doctrine springing from the goodness of love received from the Lord.

This is the general symbolism of the twelve tribes of Israel, and also of the Lord's twelve apostles, but each tribe and each apostle individually symbolizes some truth springing from good. What each tribe symbolizes here, however, we will say in the following considerations.

Since the twelve tribes symbolize all doctrinal truths springing from the goodness of love received from the Lord, therefore they also symbolize all constituents of the church. Consequently the church was represented by the twelve tribes of Israel, and likewise by the twelve apostles.

[3] Because the number twelve is predicated of the church's truths and goods, therefore the New Jerusalem, meaning the Lord's New Church, is described in its individual parts by the number twelve. So for instance, the city had a length and breadth of 12,000 stadia. ¹ Its wall was 144 cubits ² (144 being twelve times twelve). It had twelve gates, and the gates consisted of twelve pearls. Over the gates were twelve angels, and on the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. It had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. These consisted also of twelve precious stones. Moreover, the city had in it the tree of life which bore twelve fruits, in correlation with the twelve months. All of this may be seen in Revelation, chapters 21, 22.

Out of the kind of people described here the Lord formed a new heaven and is in the process of forming a new church. For they are the same people mentioned in chapter fourteen and thereafter, where we read about them the following:

Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand... And they sang... a new song before the throne...; and no one could learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. ...they are virgins..., (and) follow the Lamb wherever He goes. (Revelation 14:1, 3-4)

[4] Since the twelve tribes symbolize the Lord's church in respect to all its truths and goods, therefore the number twelve became an ecclesiastical number, and one customary in its sanctities. So for example, on the breastpiece of judgment, containing the Urim and Thummim, there were twelve precious stones (Exodus 28:21). Twelve cakes of showbread were placed on the table in the Tabernacle (Leviticus 24:5-6). Moses built an altar at the foot of Mournt Sinai and set up twelve pillars. (Exodus 24bb4) Twelve men were sent to explore the land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 1:23). Twelve men carried twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan (Joshua 4:1-9, 20). At the dedication of the altar, twelve leaders brought twelve silver plates, twelve silver bowls, twelve gold censers, twelve young bulls, twelve rams, twelve lambs, and twelve goats (Numbers 7:84, 87). Elijah took twelve stones and built an altar (1 Kings 18:31, 32). Elijah found Elisha when Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was the twelfth, and Elijah then threw his mantle over him (1 Kings 19:19). Solomon placed under the bronze sea twelve oxen (1 Kings 7:25, 44). He made a throne, and standing on its steps twelve lions (1 Kings 10:19, 20). On the head of the woman clothed with the sun was a crown of twelve stars (Revelation 12:1).

It can now be seen from this that 144,000 sealed, 12,000 from each tribe, means not this number of Jews and Israelites, but all who, as part of the new Christian heaven and of the New Church, will be governed by truths of doctrine springing from the goodness of love, received from the Lord through the Word.

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