432. Verse 5. Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand sealed.

5. "Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed," signifies love to the Lord, and that all who are in that love are in heaven, and come into heaven n. 433; "of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand sealed," signifies the light of truth from that good, and that all who are in that light are in heaven and come into heaven n. 434; "of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand sealed," signifies the consequent good of life (n. 435, 436).

3928. 'And she called his name Naphtali' means the essential nature of it, that is to say, of the temptation in which one overcomes and also of the resistance offered by the natural man. This is clear from the meaning of 'name' and of 'calling the name' as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3421. The particular nature is that which is meant by 'Naphtali', for the name Naphtali is derived from the word 'wrestlings'. And for the same reason 'Naphtali' represents this second general truth of the Church. Temptation is the means by which the internal man is joined to the external, for they are at variance with each other but are made to agree and to correspond by means of temptations. The external man is indeed such that of itself it does not desire anything except bodily and worldly things; these are the delights of the natural man's life. But the internal man - when opened towards heaven and desiring the things of heaven, as is the case with those who are able to be regenerated - takes delight in heavenly things. And when a person undergoes temptations these two types of delight conflict with each other. The person is not directly aware of the conflict, because he is not aware of what heavenly delight is and of what hellish delight is, let alone that they are so utterly contrary to each other. But celestial angels cannot be present at all with a person in his bodily and worldly delight until this has been made subservient, that is to say, until bodily and worldly delight is no longer regarded as an end in itself but something which is meant to be subservient to heavenly delight, as shown above in 3913. Once this has been achieved the angels are able to reside with that person in both; but in this case his delight becomes blessedness, and at length happiness in the next life.

[2] Anyone who believes that the delight of the natural man prior to regeneration is not hell-like, and that devilish spirits are not in possession there, is much mistaken. He is unaware of what the situation is with man - that prior to regeneration genii and spirits from hell have possession of his natural man, no matter how much he seems to himself to be like any other person, and also that he is able to participate with everybody else in what is holy and to reason about the truths and goods of faith, indeed is able to believe that he has become strong in these. If this person does not feel within himself some measure of affection for what is right and fair in his daily work, and for what is good and true in society and in life, let him recognize that his kind of delight in things is the kind that exists with those in hell, for his delight entails no other love than self-love and love of the world. And when these constitute his delight no charity or any faith is present within it. The only means that will weaken and dispel this delight once it has become predominant is the affirmation and acknowledgement of the holiness of faith and of the good of life, which is the first means meant, as shown above, by Dan, and after this by temptation, which is the second means and is meant by Naphtali; for this second means follows the other. Indeed people who do not affirm and acknowledge the goodness and the truth which constitute faith and charity are unable to enter any conflict brought about by temptation as there is nothing within to oppose the evil and falsity towards which natural delight gravitates.

[3] In other places in the Word where Naphtali is mentioned he means a person's state following temptations, as in the prophecy of Jacob, who by then was Israel,

Naphtali is a hind let loose, giving beautiful words. Genesis 49:21.

'A hind let loose' stands for the affection for natural truth in a state that is free, which arises following temptation. This state is also what is at stake within temptations, which are meant by 'Naphtali', for the battle fought in temptations is a struggle for freedom. Likewise in Moses' prophecy,

To Naphtali he said, Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of Jehovah, will possess the west and the south. Deuteronomy 33:23.

For the representations of Jacob's sons, and of the tribes, depend on the order in which they are mentioned, 3862. And in the prophecy of Deborah and Barak,

Zebulun is a people that consigned its soul to die, as did Naphtali, on the heights of the field. Judges 5:18.

This too refers in the internal sense to the conflicts brought about by temptations, and to a person's presence among those who do not fear anything evil because they are rooted in forms of truth and good, meant by 'being on the heights of the field'.

530. What follows will make it possible to see that it is not all that hard to lead a heaven-bound life.

Who can't lead a civic and moral life? After all, we are introduced to it in infancy and know it from living in the world. We do in fact lead this kind of life whether we are evil or good, since no one wants to be called dishonest or unfair. Almost everyone practices honesty and fairness outwardly, even to the point of seeming genuinely honest and fair, or seeming to act from genuine honesty and fairness. Spiritual people have to live in much the same way and can do so just as easily as natural people, the difference being that spiritual people believe in the Divine Being and act honestly and fairly not just because it follows civil and moral laws but also because it follows divine laws. In fact, since they are thinking about divine [laws] when they act, they are in touch with heaven's angels; and to the extent that they are, they are united to them, and their inner person - which is essentially a spiritual person - is opened. When this is our nature, the Lord adopts and leads us without our realizing it, and whatever things we do that are honest and fair - the deeds of our moral and civil life - come from a spiritual source. Doing what is honest and fair from a spiritual source is doing it from genuine honesty and fairness, or doing it from the heart.

[2] Outwardly, such honesty and fairness look just like the honesty and fairness of natural people or even evil and hellish people, but inwardly they are totally different. Evil people do what is fair and honest solely for the sake of themselves and the world. If they were not afraid of the law and its penalties, of losing their reputation, their wealth, and their life, they would act with utter dishonesty and unfairness. Since they have no fear of God or of any divine law, they have no inner restraint that keeps them in check; so to the extent that they can, they cheat and rob and plunder others just for the pleasure of it. Their inner nature is especially clear from people like them in the other life, when all people's outer natures are stripped away and their inner natures disclosed, the natures in which they will go on living to eternity (see above, 499-511). Since they are then acting without external restraints, which are (as just noted) fears of the law and of losing reputation, prestige, profit, and life, they act wildly and scoff at honesty and fairness.

[3] In contrast, people who have lived honestly and fairly because of divine laws act wisely when their outer natures are stripped away and they are left to their inner natures, because they are united to heaven's angels, who share their wisdom with them.

This enables us to gather initially that spiritual people can behave much the same as natural people in their civil and moral life, provided they are united to the Deity in their inner person, in their intent and thought (see above, 358-360).