"You Mighty Man of Valour"

This is part 1 of a 3-part series of sermons that follow the story of Gideon, one of the judges of Israel.

To understand the story of Gideon, it’s important to have some context. The book of Judges describes the period in Israel’s history after the children of Israel had been led out of slavery under the leadership of Moses, and had settled the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. For the next several centuries after Joshua’s death, the twelve tribes of Israel were led by judges whom the Lord appointed, who would liberate Israel from their enemies, settle disputes, and ensure that justice was done - but who did not rule over the people as kings.

If the children of Israel had kept Jehovah’s law, this would have been a period of peace and stability. But they did not consistently obey the Lord; instead, a pattern emerged, a cycle that repeated itself over and over again. First, the people would disobey God. As a result, they would be defeated by an enemy. They would cry out for help, and the Lord would raise a judge to save them. After learning their lesson, for a time, they would obey; but after the judge’s death, inevitably they would backslide, and the cycle would start again.

It is after this had already occurred several times that the story of Gideon begins, as recounted in the sixth chapter of the book of Judges. The chapter begins as so many in the book of Judges do:

“Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah” (Judges 6:1). The consequence of their evil, as always, was that they were conquered by an enemy; in this case, by the people of Midian, who would come down in raiding parties every time the children of Israel grew crops or bred livestock and take everything, leaving the Israelites hungry and poor. As a result, the children of Israel lived in a constant state of fear, hiding themselves in dens and caves of the mountains. When we first hear of Gideon, we find him threshing wheat in a winepress, trying to hide what little he has from the Midianites.

Let’s pause here and take a step back and ask a big question: what does all of this have to do with life here and now? In the New Church, we are taught that every part of the Lord’s Word describes an eternal spiritual reality. Everything in this story of Gideon represents something in our own spiritual lives.

According to the teachings of the New Church, the specific enemies that defeated Israel reflected the specific evils they had fallen into; so if we understand what Midian represents, we can understand what kind of spiritual state this story is all about. According to the book, Secrets of Heaven, the Midianites represented “truth which was not truth, because there was no good of life [attached to it]” (Secrets of Heaven 5955) - that is, a knowledge of truth divorced from any application to life. In particular, the Midianites are said represent a state where “the delight of pleasures,” rather than goodness of life, is regarded as the goal (Secrets of Heaven 7602). We're attacked and defeated by the Midianites, then, when we might know the truth, but we don’t particularly care about learning or applying it because we’re more concerned about just doing what feels good.

There’s an exercise you can do that may help you identify the Midianites in yourself. Listen to this statement, and pay attention to your response to it. Here’s the statement:

“I will set aside a significant amount of time every day to read the Lord’s Word and seriously reflect on how I can practically live by what it teaches me.”

Now, pay attention, and see if there is a part of yourself where your reaction to that statement is, “Ugh,” where that feels tedious and boring. That’s Midian.

Maybe for some of you, that response isn’t there at all. Maybe for others, you recognise it as being there, but also recognise part of yourself where you long for that time set aside. And maybe for some of you your reaction is, “What do you mean, the part of myself where my reaction is ‘ugh.’ That’s all of me!” If that’s you - you may have a Midianite problem.

And here’s the problem with the Midianites, which most of us have probably experienced. When we’re living exclusively for the sake of worldly things - food, pleasure, fun, entertainment, video games, TV, recreation, socialising, parties, etc. - even though we enjoy ourselves, after a while we realise there’s part of us that wishes there were something more, that even feels like it’s starving. Life starts to feel meaningless and flat. Those Midianites - that living for the sake of pleasure - are plundering the part of you that yearns for a life of depth and meaning.

But there is hope, because there is something in us that is represented by Gideon, too. As the story begins, Gideon is doing what he can with the little bit he has, threshing wheat in the winepress. That’s a picture of the part of us, that even when we’ve become obsessed with worldly things, is still trying to do a little bit to live by God’s Word. There’s power there - but it might not feel like it, and Gideon doesn’t know it yet.

While Gideon was there threshing wheat, suddenly the angel of Jehovah appeared to him. This angel was a manifestation of God Himself. And his first words to Gideon were shocking: “Jehovah is with you, you mighty man of valour!” Both parts of that statement were shocking: Gideon - hiding out in a winepress - certainly didn’t feel like a mighty man of valour. And it certainly didn’t feel like Jehovah was with him. If Jehovah was with him, why were things so bad? He said to the angel, “If Jehovah is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt?’

When we’re in states where we’ve gotten totally wrapped up in worldly things, we might have similar feelings. When we hear the Lord say in His Word, “I am with you always,” our response might be pretty similar to Gideon’s. Really? Because it sure doesn’t feel like it. In these states, it’s difficult to believe that there’s anything beyond the physical world, let alone the kind of powerful, loving, personal God that we’ve heard people talk about and maybe even have a dim memory of experiencing ourselves. If the Lord is with us, why does it feel like He is so completely absent as to be non-existent?

We might expect here a note of reassurance from the angel, some comforting explanation of why God feels absent. But that’s not what Gideon was given. Instead, Jehovah said something even more startling: “Go in this power of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” Not, “Don’t worry, I will save you.” No. “You, Gideon - you’re going to save Israel, because I’ve told you to. Go, do it.”

Gideon protests, as we all probably would: “Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my thousand are the poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” As we might say, “Really Lord? I’m nobody! I think you’ve got the wrong guy.” There’s truth in Gideon’s confession, and it’s important. Any of us who have tried and failed to make a change in our lives know how weak we are of ourselves. Acknowledging that weakness is the first step toward asking for the Lord’s power in place of our own. And as Jehovah reveals, it is because of His power that Gideon will be able to succeed; he said to Gideon, “Surely I will be with you.”

But even having said this, He continued to focus on Gideon’s part; he said, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” It’s still Gideon doing it. And this “you” here in Hebrew is singular - not “you, the Israelites” shall defeat the Midianites. No, “you, Gideon.” You personally. Because of My presence with you, yes - but you’re still the one who is going to do it.

Gideon cannot believe it, and he challenges the angel to prove he is who he says he is. And we’ll see several more times that Gideon is faltering and uncertain, in constant need of reassurance that he can do this. And it seems that maybe his responses, although they contain a healthy humility, also contain an unhealthy element of fear and avoidance. In some ways, it seems like Gideon’s doing everything he can to get out of the job he’s been called to do. He’d asked where the God was who’d performed miracles in Egypt, and quite possibly he was expecting a miraculous, instantaneous salvation from the Midianites. Instead, it turns out that he himself is going to have to work hard for it. It might not be exactly the rescue he’d had in mind.

The same thing can be true for us in our path of regeneration or rebirth. It really is true that the Lord does everything for us, that all power comes from Him. But that’s not how we experience it, especially not at first. Even if intellectually we’ve been taught that everything good we do is from God, we’re not really going to get what that means until we’ve done a fair amount of fighting that feels like work we’re doing from our own power. Gideon wants a miracle, and he does get several of them, but only with his own participation - miracles that still require him to act.

The first miracle - the confirmation that he has been speaking with God - occurs when he brings food to his guest. He brings out a young goat as an offering, along with unleavened bread and broth. He puts them down on a rock. According to the teachings of the New Church, these things represent the ingredients we need to recognise that God really is present, even when He feels absent. That rock represents God’s Word, the truth. The young goat represents innocence, a willingness to simply do what God says. And the unleavened bread represents a desire for goodness.

So what does this all mean in the context of oppression by Midian? Well, think of those states of mind, where it seems like God is absent. The first thing we’re called to do is to make a humble, innocent decision - I’m going to start following God even if I don’t feel like He’s real. I’ll try to build my life on the rock - laying down that sacrifice before the Lord. And in making that decision, we might notice a shift in ourselves. This is something different from the life of pleasure that we’ve been living. Maybe there is a different kind of life, where we experience power beyond our own. That’s represented by the angel reaching out that staff. And maybe there is a deeper kind of love than the surface-level interactions we’ve been having. That love is represented by the fire from heaven consuming the offering.

Now here’s the thing - even though it was blindingly obvious in the story as it happened, it might not be so obvious to us that we really have caught a glimpse of God. We’ll think maybe we saw something, and maybe we didn’t. Even Gideon, who did see this miracle, asked again later for another confirmation. The state of mind represented by the Midianite oppression is murky and unclear - that’s why we see so many images of caves and darkness and night throughout the story. We're not going to be sure of ourselves until those Midianites are gone. Until then, we’re going to be wavering and in the dark.

But even in the dark, Gideon did go through with what he was called to do. The first thing he was called to do was to tear down the idols of his father’s household, effectively declaring war on the false god that had led to their enslavement by Midian. And this is the first step in taking up arms against the spiritual Midianites that beset us now - to make a commitment to shape our lives around what the Lord calls us to in His Word, to make a commitment to living for more than our own pleasure, to look at concrete steps we can take to bring our lives more into alignment with what the Lord wants us to do. It’s a commitment to do that daily work, to say, “I will set aside time every day to read the Lord’s Word and seriously reflect on how I can practically live by what it teaches me.” It is a commitment to reject behaviour that is forbidden in the Word. If we’ve never done this, it can be a scary thing, since we don’t really know what we’re doing. Do I have to become one of those religious people? Do I have to go to church every Sunday? Do I have to be serious all the time? And yet, despite the fact that we can’t see clearly, we know we have to do something.

Above all, here’s what we can’t do: we can’t sit idly by and hope for inspiration, to hope that a sudden bolt of divine intervention will shake us out of our pleasure-seeking sedation. That’s not the way it works: we have to do the hard work of compelling ourselves before we start to experience the presence of the Lord. It was only after Gideon - at night, confusedly, fumblingly, of his own power - knocked down his father’s idol that the spirit of God came over him. Self-compulsion doesn’t feel like it brings freedom, and it doesn’t feel like it brings the presence of God - but after we’ve done it, in hindsight, we recognise that this is exactly what it does. Listen to this passage from Secrets of Heaven:

They who have compelled themselves to resist what is evil and false - although at first they supposed that this was from themselves or from their own power, but were afterwards enlightened to see that their effort was from the Lord, even to the least of all the particulars of the effort - these in the other life cannot be led by evil spirits, but are among the happy. Thus we may see that a person ought to compel himself to do what is good and to speak what is true. (Secrets of Heaven 1937)

This dynamic is summed up in the Lord’s own words: “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The abiding in the Word, the discipleship comes first; the sight of truth, the sense of freedom, only comes afterward.

This is only the beginning of the story, though. Gideon has a success. When we make that commitment to topple the false God of pleasure, to live for something more, we can feel a sense of accomplishment, a new clear-sightedness - we know who the enemy is, and we are ready to go into battle against it. Gideon blows the trumpet and rallies the tribes around him. And yet - things are still not entirely clear. Gideon still asks for another sign, which the Lord graciously grants, the sign of the fleece. Even after that initial sense of progress, we will start to feel unsure of ourselves again, and the Lord understands that - and He asks us to trust that if we keep following, He’ll keep giving us signs that He’s there. Making that commitment to a spiritually-focused life does not mean the battle is won; but it does mean that there is a battle, that we recognise two sides within us now, that there is more than Midian. We will strive against Baal, and Baal against us. We’ll do that by compelling ourselves away from evil and toward goodness.

But that is starting to get ahead of ourselves - that is the battle, the story for next week. For this week, if nothing else, take away this: you have great power when the Lord is with you, and the Lord is with you. Act from your power which He gives you. Don’t wait for Him to flow in and take over your life - start doing what He says, and give Him a good vessel to work with. Compel yourself to set aside time to focus on spiritual things. Commit yourself to entering that spiritual battlefield, to toppling the false gods you’ve set up. Know that you will stumble, and things will not always be clear. But know this: you are a mighty man or woman of valour, because the Lord is with you. Go now, in this your power, and overcome the enemy.

430. A hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe [of the sons] of Israel.- That this signifies all who are in truth from good, and therefore in the church of the Lord, is evident from the signification of "a hundred and forty and four thousand," as denoting all things, and because it is stated of those who are in truths from good, of which signification we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the tribes of Israel, as denoting those who are in truths from good, and who are therefore in the church of the Lord, for tribes signify truths from good, and Israel signifies the church. That the tribes of Israel have this signification, will be seen in the following article. The reason why "a hundred and forty and four thousand" signifies all things and all persons, and is stated of truths from good, is, that this number arises out of the number twelve, which signifies all things and all persons, and is used in reference to truths from good. For the larger numbers, and those formed from the smaller, have the same signification as the smaller numbers and the simple ones from which they result by multiplication. Upon this fact see Arcana Coelestia 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). For example, a hundred and forty-four, as well as a hundred and forty-four thousand, signify the same as twelve, for a hundred and forty-four is the result of twelve, multiplied into itself, and 144,000 of 12,000 multiplied into twelve. ¹

[2] There are simple numbers whose signification is higher than others, and from these the larger numbers derive their significations, namely, the numbers two, three, five, and seven. Two signifies union, and is used in reference to good; three signifies what is full, and is used in reference to truths; five signifies much and some, and seven signifies what is holy. From the number two the numbers 4, 8, 16, 400, 800, 1600, 4000, 8000, 16,000 result, and these have the same signification as two, because they result from this simple number multiplied into itself, and then multiplied into 10. From the number three result 6, 12, 24, 72, 144, 1440, 144,000, and these also have the same signification as three, because they arise from this simple number by multiplication. From the number five arise 10, 50, 100, 1000, 10000, 100,000, and these also have the same signification as the number five, because they are the result of multiplication. From the number seven arise 14, 70, 700, 7000, 70,000, and these results have a similar signification. Because the number three signifies what is full, and full denotes all, therefore from this the number twelve derives its signification of all things and all persons. The reason why it is used of truths from good is, because it is the result of three multiplied into four, and three is used of truths and four of good, as stated above.

[3] He who does not know that the number twelve signifies all things, and that the numbers which arise from it by multiplication have a similar signification, and that each tribe signifies something that is a universal and an essential of the church, merely knows that only 12,000 out of every tribe of Israel were sealed, and that these therefore were received, or were to be received into heaven, when yet by the 12,000 are not meant 12,000, nor by the tribes named there the tribes of Israel; but by 12,000 are meant all, and by the tribes of Israel, those who are in truths from good, and therefore all who form the church of the Lord in whatever part of the earth they may be. Every one who thinks intelligently may understand that such things are signified; for where are those tribes now, and where were they when John wrote this? Were they not, except the tribe of Judah, dispersed throughout a large part of the globe? And where is known to no one. And yet it is said that they were to be sealed, in order that they might be introduced by the Lord into heaven, and be with Him, as is clear in the Apocalypse (chap. 14:1, 3, 4). Besides, it is well known that eleven of the tribes there named were banished from the land of Canaan because of their idolatries and other abominations; similarly the Jewish nation, whose character is described in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248). It is evident therefore that 12,000 does not mean 12,000, nor do tribes mean the tribes of Israel, but all who are in truths from good, thus all who are of the church of the Lord. This will be further seen from the signification of each tribe in the spiritual sense; for each tribe signifies something that is a universal or an essential of the church, in which those are who belong to the church. The universal of each has reference also to truths from good, and these are manifold. For all who are in the heavens differ from one another in regard to good, and therefore in regard to truth, because every living truth in a man and in an angel is from good, and is according to it. Besides, all those who are of the church of the Lord are in truths from good, for those who are in truths and not in good, are not of the church; since as was just stated, every living truth in a man and in an angel is from good. Concerning this see above (n. 6, 59, 136, 242, 286, 292); and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 11-27). That goods and truths thence are of infinite variety, may be seen in Heaven and Hell 56, 71, 405, 418, 486, 588), and in the small work The Last Judgment 13); also in Arcana Coelestia 684, 690, 3241, 3267, 3470, 3519, 3744-3746, 3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263, 5598, 6917, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002. The reason why goods and the truths from them are of infinite variety, is because every angel, and every man in whom is the church, is his own good, and consequently his own truth; therefore the whole heaven is arranged according to the affections that pertain to love to the Lord, and to charity towards the neighbour, and faith thence; and all good pertains to those affections.

[4] That the number 144,000, or the number 12,000 multiplied into twelve, signifies all truths from good, in regard to their classes and species in their entirety, is evident from the use of the number 144 - which results from twelve multiplied into twelve - in other parts of the Apocalypse, where the city, New Jerusalem, is described by measurements in numbers. Concerning the dimensions of its wall, it is said,

"He measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel" (Apoc. 21:17).

The city Jerusalem here signifies the New Church to be established by the Lord, and its doctrine; therefore, all the things mentioned, as the wall, the gates, and the foundations, mean such things as relate to the church consequently spiritual things. And because the church and its doctrine are described in the sense of the letter by the city Jerusalem, and a city admits of measurement, therefore the spiritual things of that church are described by measurements in numbers, and its wall by the number 144, or twelve multiplied into twelve, by which number are signified truths from good in their whole extent, for a wall signifies truths defending against falsities and evils. That this number has such a signification, is plain from the statement that the measure of 144 cubits is the measure of a man, that is of an angel

No one can understand what this involves, unless it be known that measure, in the spiritual sense, has the same signification as number, namely, the quality of the thing treated of; and that man signifies the reception of truth from spiritual affection, that is, from good and intelligence thence. The signification of "an angel" is similar. For a man is an angel when he is in truths from good; he also becomes an angel after death. The number 144,000 has the same signification. For a larger or smaller number, if from the same origin, has a similar signification, a larger number being used when a great multitude is concerned, or when it embraces many classes at the same time, as in the case of 144,000, which embraces all the classes of truth from good, signified by twelve thousand sealed out of every tribe; and as is the case with the measure of the wall, which is said to be 144 cubits, because it includes both the gates and the foundations, which are twelve in number.

[5] Concerning the gates and the foundations of the New Jerusalem, it is said, "Having a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and above the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes [of the sons] of Israel. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." And the foundations consisted of twelve precious stones (Apocalypse 21:[12, 14,] 19-21). Will not he who knows that the New Jerusalem means a new church, be able to see that the number twelve so frequently mentioned means that chief and primary thing from which the church exists? And the chief and primary constituent of the church is truth from good, for everything pertaining to the church is from that, since truth pertains to its doctrine and good to life according to doctrine. But the particular signification of the gates and the foundations will be given in the explanation of that chapter.

[6] Because that number signifies all things, and is used in reference to truths from good, and the New Jerusalem signifies a new church, therefore the dimensions of the city itself are also stated in the following words by the same number multiplied,

"And the city lieth four square, and the length is as large as the breadth; and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal" (Apoc. 21:16).

What is signified in the spiritual sense by length, breadth and height, will be also explained hereafter. The City, in that sense, means the doctrine of the church; and by 12,000 [furlongs] are meant all its truths from good.

[7] The number twelve is also used of the fruits of the trees which were about the river in the following words, "In the midst of the street of it, and on this side of the river and on that side, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, and yielding its fruit every month" (Apoc. 22:2). Since truths of doctrine are signified by the streets of the city, since intelligence is signified by the river going forth thence, perception of truth from good from the Lord by the tree of life, and good from which are truths by fruits, it is therefore clear that twelve signifies truths from good, by means of which there is intelligence and from which the church exists.

[8] Because a representative church was to be established with the sons of Jacob, it was therefore provided by the Lord that he should have twelve sons (see Genesis 29:32-35; 30:1-25; 35:22-26), in order that collectively they might represent all things of the church, and individually something in particular; consequently twelve tribes sprang from them (Genesis 49:28), and these also signify all things of the church, while each tribe signifies some essential of the church. It is therefore said in what now follows that there were 12,000 sealed out of every tribe, by whom are signified all those who are in that essential of the church, or all those who are in that kind of truth from good; for truth from good makes the church with all, truth being of doctrine, and good of life, as stated above. What truth from good is, and its quality, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 24).

[9] Because the twelve tribes named after the twelve sons of Jacob represented the church, and everything belonging to it, therefore the number twelve, on account of such signification, was used in connection with various subjects. For example, it is said that the princes of Israel were twelve in number (Numbers 1:44); that these twelve princes brought to the dedication of the altar twelve silver chargers, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden spoons, twelve bullocks, twelve rams, twelve lambs, and twelve goats (7:84, 87). By each of the things which they brought are signified such things as relate to truths from good. So also twelve men were sent to explore the land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 1:23); for the land of Canaan signifies the church. Also twelve precious stones were set in the breast-plate of judgment, or in the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:21; 39:14); precious stones signify truths from good. Again, twelve cakes were placed upon the table in two rows, which were called the bread of faces (Leviticus 24:5, 6); the bread signifies the good of love, and the table its reception, so also truth in general, because this is the recipient of good. Again, Moses built an altar under Mount Sinai, and erected twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel (Exodus 24:4); for the altar signifies the good of the church, and the pillars, its truths; therefore by the altar and the twelve pillars are signified all truths from good, by means of which the church exists.

[10] So also twelve men carried twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, and set them up in Gilgal, that they might be for a memorial among the sons of Israel. Twelve stones were also placed in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests stood who bare the ark of the covenant (Josh. 4:1-9, 20). The Jordan in the Word signifies introduction into the church; the stones carried thence, and those [set up] in the midst of the river, signify the truths of the church, by means of which introduction takes place. Elijah also took twelve stones, and built an altar (1 Kings 18:31, 32); for an altar signifies the good of the church, and stones signify its truths.

[11] So again,

Moses chose twelve thousand of the sons of Israel, to fight against Midian under the command of Phinehas, and they returned with great spoil, without the loss of a single man (Numbers 31:5, 6, 49).

Midian signifies those who are in the knowledges of truth, but still not in a life agreeable to them, and therefore twelve thousand were sent against him; the great spoil taken from them, has the same signification as the raiment, the silver, and gold, which the sons of Israel took from the Egyptians (Exodus 3:22; 12:35, 36); and similarly the unjust mammon, of which the Lord told His disciples to make to themselves friends (Luke 16:9), which means the knowledges of truth, which they possess in doctrine and not in life.

[12] Solomon also placed the brazen sea which he made, upon twelve oxen (1 Kings 7:25, 44). The brazen sea signifies truth from good; the water in it, truth; and the brass of which the sea was made, good; while the twelve oxen signify all goods and the truths thence upon which they are founded. Also Solomon made a throne of ivory, with six steps up to it, and twelve lions standing upon them on both sides (1 Kings 10:18-20). The throne of Solomon signified judgment, this being from truths that are from good; it also represented Divine Truth from Divine Good. Lions signify the truths of heaven and of the church in their power; and twelve, all, as may be seen above (n. 253:6, 7).

[13] It is said concerning Ishmael, that he should be blessed and should increase, and that twelve princes should be born of him (Genesis 17:20; 25:16). This was said of Ishmael, because he signified the external church with all its truths from good. It is said of Elisha that he was found by Elijah ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he among the twelve; and that then he cast his mantle upon him (1 Kings 19:19). This was done and said because Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord as to the Word, in which are all truths from good; therefore when that representation was transferred from Elijah to Elisha, signified by his casting his mantle upon him, Elisha was seen ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself among the twelve, which signifies the formation of the church by means of truths from good from the Word, as may be seen above (n. 395:4).

It is said in the Apocalypse that "a woman was seen clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (12:1).

This was seen because a woman signifies the church, and stars signify cognitions of truth; the good of these is signified by a crown, and intelligence by the head.

[14] The twelve apostles of the Lord, also, have a similar representation to that of the twelve tribes of Israel; collectively they represented the church, and individually, some essential of the church; for this reason they were twelve in number. From these considerations it is evident whence and why it is said that the New Jerusalem, by which are signified the church and its doctrines, had twelve gates, and above the gates twelve angels, and names written, which are those of the twelve tribes of Israel; that the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Apoc. 21:12, 14). Here by twelve angels, twelve tribes, and twelve apostles, are not meant angels, tribes and apostles, but all things of the church. Also, it is said that the apostles shall sit upon twelve thrones, and shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30). This does not mean that the apostles shall sit upon twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel, but that the Lord alone shall judge everyone by means of the Divine Truth from the Divine Good, as may be seen above (n. 9, 206, 253:6, 270, 297, 333).

[15] He who does not know that twelve signifies all things, cannot know the interior truth signified by the twelve baskets of fragments that remained over from the five loaves and the two fishes, with which the Lord fed five thousand men, besides women and children (Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:37-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:9-13); in these places every particular, even to the very numbers, is significative. The five thousand men, besides women and children, signify all those of the church who are in truths from good; the men, those in truths; and the women and children, those who are in good; the loaves signify the goods, and the fishes the truths of the natural man; and by their eating and being filled is signified spiritual nourishment from the Lord; the twelve baskets of fragments signify the cognitions of truth and good thence in perfect abundance and fulness.

[16] Because twelve signifies all things, and is used in reference to truths from good, which make the church, therefore the Lord, when He was twelve years old, left [His] father and mother, and tarried in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions (Luke 2:42-46); by which is meant the initiation and introduction of His Human into all things of heaven and of the church. Therefore also when found He said, "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" (verse 49). Since the number twelve signifies all things, and is used in reference to truths from good, therefore the Lord said, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not" (John 11:9). Day signifies enlightenment in truths from good, and the twelve hours of the day signify all things of truth from good, and walking signifies to live. Therefore these words, in the spiritual sense, signify that he who lives in any kind of truth that is from good is in enlightenment, and does not wander into falsities. Because twelve signifies all things therefore the Lord said, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall cause to assist Me more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53). The twelve legions of angels mean the whole heaven, and more than these signify the Divine Omnipotence.

From these things the signification of a hundred and forty-four thousand out of every tribe is now evident, namely, all who are in truths from good. The twelve thousand out of every tribe mean all who are in that kind of truth from good which is signified by the particular tribe mentioned. Therefore neither twelve thousand are meant nor those who were of the tribes of Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Napthali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Moreover, it should be understood that all these, or the hundred and forty-four thousand, mean those who were taken up into heaven before the Last Judgment. But by those afterwards mentioned from verse 9 to the end of this chapter, are meant those who were reserved by the Lord until the Last Judgment, and who were then first taken up into heaven; concerning, these see above (n. 391:1, 392:3, 394, 397). For those who were in truths from good were all received into heaven before the Judgment; but those who were in good, and not yet in truths, were reserved, and in the meantime instructed and prepared for heaven. We shall speak further of these in the following pages. Those taken up into heaven before the Judgment, are also meant by those of whom it is said in the Apocalypse, chapter 14:1: "The Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads." It is further said of these, that "no man could learn that song, but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were bought from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins bought from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and unto the Lamb" (verses 3, 4). The same are also meant by those who are of the first resurrection; and the rest those who are of the second resurrection (Apoc. 20:4-6).

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