1. CONCERNING THE WHITE HORSE as described in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 19.

In the writings of John, in the Book of Revelation, the following is a description of the Word in its spiritual sense, in other words the sense contained within it, or its 'inner meaning:'

I saw heaven standing open, and behold, a White Horse. And the one sitting on the White Horse was called faithful and true, judging and fighting in righteousness. His eyes were a flame of fire, and on His head were many jewels. He had a name inscribed that no one knew but He Himself. And He was dressed in a garment dyed with blood, and His name is called the Word of God. The armies that followed Him in heaven were on white horses, they themselves dressed in clean white linen. On His garment and on His thigh was written a name, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Revelation 19:11-14, 16.

No one can have a clear idea of what each of the details in this description entails except by way of its 'inner meaning." It is obvious that each particular detail must represent or signify something, as follows:

Heaven which was standing open; a horse which was white; the one seated on it was called faithful and true, ¹ judging and fighting in righteousness; His eyes a flame of fire; and many jewels ² on His head; having a name inscribed that no one knew but He Himself; and dressed in a garment dyed with blood; and the armies that followed Him in heaven were on white horses, they themselves dressed in clean white linen; ³ on His garment and on His thigh He has written a name.

It is stated plainly that the one seated on the White Horse is the Word, and He is the Lord who is the Word, for what is said is that His name is called The Word of God; and then, He has written on His garment and on His thigh the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

From the interpretation of each individual phrase or statement it is clear that all this serves to describe the spiritual sense or internal meaning of the Word. The phrase heaven which was standing open' represents and signifies that the inner meaning of the Word is seen by those in heaven, and consequently also by those on earth for whom heaven stands open. 'A horse which was white' represents and signifies an understanding of the Word as regards its inner meanings. ⁴ That the 'white horse' means what I have said will be clear from what follows.

It is clear that 'the one seated on it' means the Lord in His capacity as the Word, and thus means the Word itself, for it is stated that 'His name is called the Word of God;' and he is called 'faithful' and 'judging in righteousness' because of His goodness; and 'true' and 'fighting in righteousness' because of His truth, for the Lord Himself is righteousness. 'His eyes a flame of fire' signify divine truth radiating from the divine good flowing from His divine love. The 'many jewels on His head' signify all the good and true properties of faith. Having a 'name written which no one knew other than He Himself' signifies that no one sees what is the nature of the Word in its inner meaning except Himself, and one to whom He reveals it.

Dressed in a garment dyed with blood' signifies the violence done to the Word in its literal meaning. ⁵ 'The armies in heaven which followed Him on white horses' signifies those who understand the Word as regards its inner meanings.' 'Those dressed in clean white linen' signifies the same people who are endued with truth arising from what is good. 'On His garment and on His thigh a name written ⁶ ' signifies what is true and what is good and their specific qualities.

From all these verses, and from those which come before and after them, it is clear that they serve to foretell that the spiritual or internal sense of the Word will be laid open at around the final time of the Church; and what will happen at that time is also described there, Revelation 19:17-21. There is no need to show here the things which are signified by these words since they are individually shown in Arcana Caelestia. The Lord is the Word because He is the divine truth: 2533, 2803, 2894, 5272, 8535; ⁷ the Word is the divine truth: 4692, 5075, 9987; He is proclaimed to be sitting on a horse judging and fighting in righteousness because the Lord is righteousness. The Lord is proclaimed to be righteousness from the fact that by His own power He has saved the human race: 1813, 2025-2027, 9715, 9809, 10019, 10152. Righteousness is a merit belonging to the Lord alone: 9715, 9979. 'His eyes a flame of fire' signify divine truth radiating from the divine good flowing from His divine love, because 'eyes' signify the understanding and truth of faith: 2701, 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 6923, 9051, 10569; and 'a flame of fire' signifies the good of love: 934, 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832; the 'jewels on His head' ⁸ signify all the good and true properties of faith: 114, 3858, 6335, 6640, 9863, 9865, 9868, 9873, 9905.

Having a name written which no one knew other than He Himself' signifies that no one sees what is the nature of the Word in its inner meaning except Himself, and one to whom He reveals it, because a name signifies the nature of a thing: 144-145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3237, 3421, 6674, 9310. 'Dressed in a garment dyed with blood' signifies the violence done to the Word in its literal meaning because a garment' signifies truth, which clothes what is good: 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536; especially truth in its outermost form, and thus the Word in its literal meaning: 5248, 6918, 9158, 9212; and because 'blood' signifies violence done to truth by what is false: 374, 1005, 4735, 5476, 9127. 'The armies in heaven which followed Him on white horses' signify those who understand the Word as regards its inner meanings because 'armies' signify those who are equipped with the truth and goodness of heaven and the Church: 3448, 7236, 7988, 8019; and the horse' signifies understanding: 3217, 5321, 6125, 6400, 6534, 7024, 8146, 8381; and 'white' means the truth which the light of heaven has within itself thus, the inner truth: 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319.

Those dressed in clean white linen' signify the same people who are endued with truth arising from what is good because 'linen' or 'a garment of linen' signifies truth from a heavenly sourcewhich is truth from what is good: 5319, 9469. 'On His garment and on His thigh a name written' signifies what is true and what is good, and their specific qualities, because 'a garment' signifies truth, and 'a name' signifies its nature, as above, and 'thigh' signifies the good properties of love: 3021, 4277, 4280, 9961, 10488. 'King of Kings and Lord of Lords' is the Lord as regards divine truth and divine good; the Lord is called King by virtue of His divine truth: 3009, 5068, 6148, and He is called Lord by virtue of His divine good: 4973, 9167, 9194.

From all this it is clear what the nature of the Word is in its spiritual or inner sense, and that there is no single word within it which does not have some spiritual meaning relating to heaven and the Church.

Footnotes:

239. And blind and naked. That this signifies that they are without the understanding of truth, and without the understanding and the will of good, is evident from the signification of blind, as being those who are without the understanding of truth, as will be explained in what follows; and from the signification of naked, as being those who are destitute of the will of good, thus also of the understanding thereof, which will also be explained presently. That those who hold the doctrine of faith alone and of justification thereby are without the understanding of truth is evident from this, that faith alone, or faith without charity, resides wholly in the memory, and nothing of it in the understanding; therefore they remove the understanding from the things of faith, saying that such things are to be believed, and that the understanding has nothing to do with them; thus they can say whatever they will, be it ever so false, provided they know how to adduce something in confirmation thereof from the sense of the letter of the Word, of the spiritual sense of which they are ignorant. In this lies concealed something similar to the statute of the Popes, that everyone should depend on their utterances; thus persuading the people that they know and see all things, although they see nothing. Those therefore who do not see, that is, who do not understand, the things that they believe, are meant by the blind. It is also a consequence of this, that they cannot perfect the life by means of the things that must belong to faith; for the way of access to the life of man is through the understanding, and by no other way can man become spiritual. All in heaven see truths with the understanding, and thus receive them; but what they do not see with the understanding, they do not accept; and if any one say to them that they must have faith, although they neither see nor understand, they turn away, saying, How can this be? What I see or understand, that I believe; but what I do not see nor understand, that I cannot believe; possibly they are falsities, which may destroy spiritual life.

[2] That those who hold the doctrine of faith alone, and of justification thereby, are destitute of the understanding of good, because they are without the will of good, is evident from this, that they know nothing at all of charity towards the neighbour, and consequently nothing of good; for all spiritual good is from charity, and there is no good without it; therefore those who separate faith from charity, and assert that charity does not contribute anything to salvation, but that faith alone does, are entirely ignorant of what good is, because they are ignorant of what charity is, although spiritual good, with its affection, which is called charity, constitutes the very spiritual life of man, but not faith without it. Hence it is plain, that those who are in the doctrine of faith alone, are destitute of the understanding of good. The reason why this is the result of their being without the will of good is because they call themselves just, or justified, when they have faith, and by being justified, they understand that they are not liable to condemnation for any thing which they think and will, because they are reconciled to God; therefore they believe, because it follows from connection with their principle, that the evil may be saved equally with the good, if they only receive faith, although it should be in the last hours of their life.

The secret things of this doctrine consist in this, that they speak of progressive degrees of justification, arising not from anything of man's life, or from the affection of his charity, but from faith alone in the reconciliation of God the Father by the Son; this faith they call confidence, or trust, and saving faith itself. They do not know that there can be nothing of spiritual life, therein unless there be charity; that which is interiorly perceived, or appears, in the confidence which they profess, has nothing in it derived from spiritual affection, but springs from natural thought about the joy of deliverance from damnation.

[3] Besides, those who are ignorant of the good of charity have no will of good, and those who know nothing of this good, know nothing concerning evil, for good discovers evil; therefore neither can such persons explore themselves, nor see their own evils, and thus flee from, and be averse to them. Hence they relax all restraint on their thought and their will, only taking heed not to do evil, from the fear of the laws, of the loss of reputation, of honour, gain and life. This is why, when such persons become spirits, and those fears are removed, they associate themselves with devils; for they think and will as they do, because they had so thought in the world; for it is the spirit in man which thinks; the case, however, is different with those who have lived the life of charity.

[4] Moreover, those who believe themselves to be justified by faith alone, imagine that they are to be led by God, and do good thence. They say that all good is from God, and nothing from man; and that otherwise good would be merit-seeking; they do not know that there ought to be reception on man's part, and that reception is not possible if man does not attend to his thoughts and intentions, and thence to his deeds, and then desists from evils and does good, this being the case when he looks to the truths he has derived from the Word, and lives according to them. And, indeed, unless this takes place there is no reciprocation on his part, and hence no reformation: and in such case, of what use are all the precepts of the Lord in the Word? That a man can do this, is also from the Lord; for such power is given to every man from His Divine presence and His desire to be received. In a word, unless a man receives in his understanding and will, or in his thought and affection, or, what is the same, in his faith and love, there can be no reception on his part, consequently no conjunction with the Lord. Every one may know that the Lord is continually present with good, and desirous to be received, but that where all restraint on the thoughts is cast off, He cannot flow in: He can only do so where the thoughts and intentions of lust are restrained by means of truths from the Word.

[5] That the Lord is continually present with good, and desires to be received, He Himself teaches in the following words of this chapter, where He says,

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (ver. 20).

To open the door, denotes reception on man's part as just stated. The Lord teaches the same also in other parts of the Word, as in John:

"He that loveth me keepeth my words, and my Father will love him; and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my words" (14:23, 24).

In Matthew:

"He that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word and understandeth it, which beareth and bringeth forth fruit" (13:23).

In Mark:

"These are they which received the seed into good ground, such as hear the Word and receive it, and bring forth fruit" (4:20).

Because it is reception on man's part that conjoins him with the Lord, and thus makes him spiritual, therefore, when the Lord uttered those things, He cried, saying,

"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 13:9; Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8).

[6] That the blind signify those who have no understanding of truth, and that the naked signify those who have no understanding of good, because they are not in the will thereof, is evident from many passages in the Word; of which I desire to adduce a few, as a means also of showing that the Word internally is spiritual, but that in the letter it is natural, consequently that the sense of the letter, which is natural, has a spiritual sense treasured up within it.

That the blind signify those who have no understanding of truth is clear from the following passages. In Isaiah:

"Then in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness" (29:18).

In this passage, the re-establishment of the church is treated of: and by the deaf who shall hear the words of the book, are understood those who are willing to obey truths, and therefore to live in the practice of good, but cannot because they have not the Word. And by the blind, whose eyes shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness, are meant those who have not the understanding of truth because they are in ignorance, and that they shall then understand. That the deaf and the blind are not meant literally is evident.

[7] Again:

"Behold, your God will come to vengeance; he will come to the retribution of God, and will save you; then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened; waters shall break out in the desert, and rivers in the plain of the desert" (35:4-6).

These things are spoken of the Lord's advent, to show that at that time those who believe in Him will be saved. That those who are destitute of the understanding of truth shall then understand is signified by the eyes of the blind being opened; and that those who have not the perception and will of good, shall then obey and live in good, is signified by the ears of the deaf being opened. It is therefore said that waters shall break out in the desert, and rivers in the plain of the desert: desert signifies where there is no good, because there is no truth; and waters signify truths, and rivers intelligence from truths.

[8] Again:

"I will give thee for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the bound from the prison. I am Jehovah; that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another". (42:6-8).

These things also are said of the Lord, and the establishment of a church from Him among the nations. That those who were before in ignorance should then understand truths is signified by the blind eyes which the Lord should open; and that they should be led out from ignorance and from falsities is meant by His bringing the bound out of prison. That the Divine himself would assume the Human is meant by, I am Jehovah; that is My name; and My glory will I not give to another.

[9] Again:

"I will lead the blind into a way which they have not known; I will lead them into paths which they have not known; I will make their darkness light" (42:16).

The blind here also denote those who are without any understanding of truth; the truths and goods of truth which they should receive are signified by their being led into a way, and into paths which they have not known; the dissipation of the falsity of ignorance, and enlightenment, are signified by I will make their darkness light.

[10] Again:

"I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; every one that is called by my name I have created, I have formed, yea, I have made him. Bring forth the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears" (43:5-8).

The establishment of the church by the Lord among the nations is here treated of. To bring seed from the east, the west, the north, and the south denotes all of whatever religion they be; for the east and west signify respectively where the good of love is clear and obscure; and the north and the south, where the truth of faith is in obscurity and in brightness. Here those who are in obscurity from ignorance are meant, for it is said, "Bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth:" those are called sons who receive truths, and those who receive good, daughters; from far, and "from the ends of the earth," signify those who are remote from the truths and goods of the church. That all will be received and reformed by the Lord who acknowledge Him, is signified by I have created, I have formed, I have made every one that is called by my name. These then are those who are meant by the blind who have eyes, and by the deaf who have ears.

[11] Again:

"We look for light, but behold darkness; in thick darkness we walk, we grope for the wall as the blind, and we grope as they that have no eyes, we stumble in the noon-day as in twilight, among the living we are as dead" (59:9, 10).

Here also the blind denote those who are without the understanding of truths; darkness and thick darkness denote falsities; to stumble at noonday as in twilight denotes to err in falsities, although they may be in light from the Word.

[12] Again:

"His watchmen are all blind; they are shepherds who know not to understand" (56:10, 11).

Here also the blind denote those who do not understand truths, although they have the Word. That such are signified by the blind is evident; for it is said they know not, and know not to understand.

[13] In Jeremiah:

"Behold, I bring them from the land of the north, the blind and the lame amongst them; with tears they shall come, and with prayers I will bring them; I will lead them to fountains of waters in the way of right" (31:8, 9).

Here by the land of the north, is denoted where the falsity of ignorance prevails; those who are in it are called blind; their being led to fountains of waters in the way of right, denotes their being led into truths.

[14] In Lamentations:

"Jehovah hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof, for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests; they have wandered in the streets as the blind, they are polluted with blood, the things which they cannot, they touch with their garments" (4:11, 13, 14).

Zion here denotes the church; by the fire which is said to devour her foundations is meant the love of self, which will disperse all the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth; the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, signify the perversities of those who teach truths and goods: and that consequently they understand nothing of truth is signified by their wandering in the streets as the blind. The blood with which they are polluted, denotes the falsification of truth and the adulteration of good in the Word: the profanation of good, and of truth therefrom, by evils and falsities, is meant by the things which they cannot, they touch with their garments.

[15] In Zechariah:

"In that day I will smite every horse with astonishment, and the horseman with madness: I will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness" (12:4).

Horse signifies the Intellectual, and a horseman, one who is intelligent; hence it is evident what is signified by smiting every horse with astonishment, and every horse of the people with blindness, also the horseman with madness. (That a horse signifies the Intellectual, may be seen in the small work, The White Horse 1-6.)

[16] In David:

"Jehovah looseth the bound, Jehovah openeth the blind eyes" (Psalms 146:7, 8).

Those are called bound who are in falsities and desire to be loosed from them; the blind are those who are consequently without the understanding of truth; to open their eyes is to make them to understand.

[17] In John:

"Esaias said, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart" (12:39, 40).

That to blind their eyes that they should not see with their eyes, denotes not to understand truths, is evident.

[18] Again:

"Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they who see not might see; and that they who see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth" (9:39-41).

By those who do not see are meant those who are outside the church, and do not know truths because they have not the Word, thus the Gentiles; but by those who see are meant those who are within the church, and have the Word, thus the Jews; concerning the latter it is said that they should be made blind, but concerning the former, that they should see. The reason why their sin remains is because they said that they are not blind, but that they see; for they were in the church where the Word is, and yet were not willing to see and acknowledge truths, thus neither the Lord. This is why the Scribes and Pharisees with the Jews are called by the Lord

"blind leaders of the blind" (Matthew 15:14; Luke 6:39); also "blind guides, fools and blind" (Matthew 23:16, 17, 19, 24).

[19] In John:

Jesus "saw a man which was blind from birth. He said to the disciples, As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing" (9:1, 5-7).

No one can understand why the Lord thus acted, unless he knows the internal or spiritual sense of the Word; in which sense, by the man who was blind from his birth, are meant those who are born out of the church, and hence can know nothing concerning the Lord, nor be instructed from the Word. By the clay which the Lord made from the spittle on the ground is signified reformation by means of truths from the sense of the letter of the Word. The ground denotes the church where the Word is; the clay the ultimate Divine, forming. To anoint the eyes of the blind with clay denotes to impart thereby the understanding of truth; the pool of Siloam also signifies the Word in the letter, to be washed therein denotes to be purified from falsities and evils. That these things are meant in the above passage has been hitherto hidden. (That ground signifies the church, may be seen,Arcana Coelestia 566, 10570: that clay signifies good from which is truth, thus good forming, see n. 1300, 6669; that the pool of Siloam signifies the Word in the sense of the letter is evident in Isaiah 8:6; and in general the pools that were in Jerusalem, Isaiah 22:9, 11.)

[20] In Mark:

Jesus "cometh to Bethsaida; where they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly" (8:22-27).

What these words involve can be understood only from the internal or spiritual sense of the Word; if this is not understood, nothing can be seen but the transaction itself, and the thought concerning it will, perhaps, be entirely from the senses: but all things which the Lord spoke and did in the world contained spiritual things in order, from highest to ultimates, thus fully, as do also all the miracles and the descriptions of them. The blind whom the Lord restored to sight signified the spiritually blind, who are those who do not know and understand truths. The reason why the blind man here mentioned was led out of the town of Bethsaida was, because Bethsaida signified damnation on account of non-reception of the Lord; the spitting on his eyes has a similar signification with the making clay of spittle, mentioned above; the Lord afterward touching his eyes, signifies that He enlightened him from the Divine; hence it is that the blind man first saw men as trees, walking; by which is signified a general and obscure perception of truth from the sense of the letter. By trees also are signified knowledges, and by walking is signified living. By his seeing every man clearly after the Lord put His hands on him again is signified that, after instruction and enlightenment from the Lord, he understood truths; this meaning is contained in these words, and is perceived by the angels.

[21] (That Bethsaida signifies damnation on account of non-reception of the Lord is evident in Matthew 11:21, and in Luke 10:13; that touch signifies communication and transfer, but here enlightenment, because the eyes were touched, may be seen above, n. 79. That trees signify knowledges, see in Arcana Coelestia 2722, 2972, 7692: that to walk signifies to live, see n. 519, 1794, 8417, 8420; and above, n. 97.)

Moreover, by all the blind whom the Lord restored to sight, are meant those who are in ignorance, and yet receive Him, and are enlightened by the Word from Him; and in general all the miracles of the Lord signified things that concern heaven and the church, that is spiritual things; for this reason His miracles were divine; for it is divine to act from primaries, and to manifest those things in ultimates. From these considerations it is clear what is signified by the blind whom the Lord restored to sight (concerning whom see Matthew 9:27-31; 12:22; 20:29 to end; 21:14; Mark 10:46 to end; Luke 7:21, 22; 18:35 to end).

[22] Because by the blind are signified those who have not the knowledges of truth, and consequently do not understand truth, it was amongst the laws and statutes given to the sons of Israel, that the blind of the sons of Aaron and of the Levites should not draw near to offer the bread of his God, that is, to offer sacrifice (Leviticus 21:18; Deuteronomy 15:21); also that what was blind should not be offered (Leviticus 22:22; Deuteronomy 15:21); similarly that they should not put a stumbling-block before the blind (Leviticus 19:14); that he who made the blind to go astray from the way should be cursed (Deuteronomy 27:18). The reason why these laws were enacted was that the church instituted amongst the Jews was a representative church, in which all the observances represented spiritual things, because they corresponded to them. Therefore also the following curse is pronounced upon those who do not keep the commandments:

"If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all his commandments, Jehovah shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart. And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness" (Deuteronomy 28:15, 28, 29).

By these words is also meant that those will be smitten with spiritual blindness and astonishment who do not obey the voice of the Lord, in doing the things which He has commanded in the Word. Spiritual blindness of the eyes, and spiritual astonishment of the heart denote no understanding of truth, and no will of good; to grope at noonday is to be of such a character in the church, where the light of truth is given by the Word. (That noonday signifies where truth is in light may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9642; and in the work, Heaven and Hell 148, 149, 151.)

3858. Since the subject in the verses that follow now is the twelve sons of Jacob, and since the twelve tribes of Israel were named after them as their fathers, let an introductory statement be made here about what the tribes mean and why there were twelve. Nobody as yet has known the arcanum lying within these considerations, for people have believed that the historical descriptions of the Word are purely history and hold nothing more of the Divine within them than their ability to be made to apply to matters of a holy nature when these are under discussion. Consequently they have also believed that the twelve tribes meant nothing else than the divisions of the Israelitish people into so many separate nations or general families, when in fact Divine realities are implied in those tribes. That is to say, those tribes mean so many universal divisions of faith and love and so mean things that constitute the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth, each tribe in particular meaning some universal division. But what exactly each tribe means will be evident from the verses that follow directly after this, where the subject is the sons of Jacob after whom the twelve tribes were named. In general the twelve tribes meant everything constituting the doctrine of truth and good, that is, of faith and love; for these - that is to say, truth and good, or faith and love - constitute the Lord's kingdom, since what are essentially matters of truth or faith constitute the whole of thought there, and what are essentially matters of good or love constitute the whole of affection. And because the Jewish Church was established so as to represent the Lord's kingdom the divisions of that people into twelve tribes therefore meant those things of His kingdom. This is an arcanum which has not previously been disclosed.

[2] Twelve means all things in general, as shown already in 577, 2089, 2129, 2130 (end), 3272, while 'tribes' means matters of truth and good, or of faith and love, so that 'the twelve tribes' means all of these. Let this meaning of 'the twelve tribes' be substantiated here from the Word before each one is dealt with individually. In John,

The holy city New Jerusalem, having twelve gates, and above the gates twelve angels, and names written which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. He measured the city with the measuring rod, twelve thousand stadia. And he measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Revelation 21:12, 14, 16-17, 21.

'The holy city', or the New Jerusalem, means the Lord's new Church, as is evident from each detail of this description. Previous chapters refer to what the condition of the Church was going to be like before its end; this chapter refers to a new Church. That being so, 'the gates', 'the wall', 'the foundations' mean nothing else than things constituting the Church, which are those of charity and faith since these constitute the Church.

[3] From this it may be clear to anyone that 'twelve' used so many times in that description, also 'tribes', and 'apostles' too, are not used to mean twelve, or tribes, or apostles, but that 'twelve' is used to mean all things in their entirety; see what has been shown in 577, 2089, 2129, 2130 (end), 3272. The same is true of the number 'a hundred and forty-four', for this is twelve twelves. And since 'twelve' means all things it is evident that 'the twelve tribes' means all things constituting the Church, which, as stated above, are truth and good, or faith and love. The same is also true of 'the twelve apostles' who as well represented all things constituting the Church, that is, all things of faith and love, see 2129, 3354, 3488, 3857. That number is therefore called 'the measure of a man, that is, of an angel', by which is meant a state of truth and good. For 'measure' means state, see 3104, and 'man' means that which constitutes the Church, as is evident from things said about the meaning of 'man' in 478, 479, 565, 768, 1871, 1894, and also from the fact that the Lord's kingdom is called the Grand Man, which it is called by virtue of good and truth which come from the Lord, dealt with at the ends of chapters in 3624-3649, 3741-3750. And 'angel' has the same meaning, 1705, 1754, 1925, 2821, 3039.

[4] As in John, so also in the Prophets, in the Old Testament Word, is the new Jerusalem referred to, where in a similar way the Lord's new Church is meant, as in Isaiah 65:18-19, and following verses; in Zechariah 14; and in particular in Ezekiel, Chapters 40-48, where the new Jerusalem, the new Temple, and a new earth describe in the internal sense the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. The contents of those chapters, plainer than anywhere else, show what 'earth', 'Jerusalem', 'Temple', and everything in them meant, and also what 'the twelve tribes' means. For the subject of those chapters is the division of the land and the inheritance of it according to tribes, as well as the city and its walls, foundation, and gates, and everything that was to go with the Temple there. From those chapters let simply matters relating to the tribes be quoted here,

The Lord Jehovih said, This is the boundary of your inheritance of the land, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. You shall divide this land according to the tribes of Israel. But you shall divide it by lot as an inheritance, and for sojourners sojourning in your midst. They shall cast lots with you for an inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel. Ezekiel 47:13, 21-23.

As regards the land, it will be for the prince as a possession in Israel. And the princes will no longer oppress My people, and the land they will give to the house of Israel according to their tribes. Ezekiel 45:8.

Concerning inheritances and how they were assigned to individual tribes which are also referred to there by name, see Ezekiel 48:1 and following verses; and concerning the gates of the city which are named after the tribes of Israel, verses 31-34 of the same chapter.

[5] Quite plainly, when the tribes are spoken of here it is not the tribes who are meant, for by that time ten tribes had long since been scattered throughout the whole world, and had not subsequently returned. Nor can they possibly return, for they have become gentiles. And yet reference is made to each individual tribe, and to how it was to inherit the land and what its boundary was to be. What the boundary for the tribe of Dan was to be is stated in verse 2; what the boundary for the tribe of Asher was to be in verse 3; what those of Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah were to be, and concerning the inheritance of the Levites; and what the boundaries of Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad were to be in verses 4-29. In addition to all this that chapter declares that the city was to have twelve gates named after the tribes of Israel - three gates facing north, those of Reuben, Judah, and Levi; three gates facing east, those of Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan; three gates facing south, those of Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun; and three gates facing west, those of Gad, Asher, and Naphtali, in verses 31-34.

[6] From all this it is evident that 'the twelve tribes' means all things that belong to the Lord's kingdom, and so all that are matters of faith and love, for these constitute the Lord's kingdom, as stated above. Because the twelve tribes meant all things of the Lord's kingdom they also represented that kingdom by their encampments and by their travellings. In Moses it is said that they were to encamp according to the tribes around the Tent of Meeting - to the east, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; to the south, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad; to the west, Ephraim Manasseh, and Benjamin; and to the north, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, and as they were encamped so they travelled, Numbers 2:1-end. In all this they represented the Lord's kingdom, as is quite evident from Balaam's prophecy,

When Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling according to tribes, the Spirit of God came upon him and he delivered his utterance, and said, How good your tabernacles are, O Jacob; your dwelling-places, O Israel! They are like valleys that are planted, like gardens beside a river, like aloes Jehovah has planted, like cedars beside the waters. Numbers 24:2-3, 5-6.

The fact that Balaam received from Jehovah these words spoken by him is explicitly stated in Numbers 22:8, 18-19, 35, 38; 23:5, 12, 16, 26; 24:2, 13.

[7] From this also it is evident what the inheritances of the land of Canaan according to tribes represented, in connection with which it is said in Moses that he was to take a census of the congregation of the children of Israel, according to their fathers' houses; a census of those twenty or more years old, everyone going into the army of Israel. The land was to be distributed by lot; according to the names of their fathers' tribes they were to receive an inheritance, Numbers 26:2, 7-56; 33:54; 34:19-29. And Joshua's actual division of the land by lot according to tribes is described in Chapters 13, 15, 19 of the Book of Joshua. From these particular details it is evident that the Lord's kingdom was represented, as has been stated; for the land of Canaan meant that kingdom, see 1585, 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705.

[8] The reason why they are called 'armies' and why it is said that 'they encamped according to their armies and travelled according to their armies', Numbers 2:4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15, 19, 21-23, 26, 28, 30, is that 'an army' had the same meaning [as 'a tribe'], namely truths and goods, see 3448. And the Lord is called Jehovah Zebaoth or 'Jehovah of Armies (or Hosts)' 3448. They were for these reasons called 'the armies of Jehovah' when they departed from Egypt, as in Moses,

It happened at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on that same day it happened that all the armies of Jehovah were to come out of the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:41.

Anyone may recognize that such people in Egypt, and after that in the wilderness, were not called 'the armies of Jehovah' except in a representative sense, for no good or truth was present in them, the worst of all nations.

[9] From this it is also quite evident what was meant by the names of the twelve tribes on Aaron's breastplate, which was called the Urim and Thummim. Concerning the breastplate the following is said in Moses,

There shall be four rows in it and twelve stones. These stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names. The engravings of a signet, for each one over its name, there shall be for the twelve tribes. Exodus 28:17, 21; 39:14.

For 'Aaron' represented the Lord's Divine priesthood, and therefore all the vestments worn by him as high priest meant Divine celestial and spiritual things. But the exact meaning of those vestments will in the Lord's Divine mercy be clear where they are the subject. Since the breastplate itself was most holy, the names of it were representations of all the essential characteristics of love and faith in the Lord. These are the Urim and Thummim. The reason why the names were engraved on the precious stones was that 'stones' in general meant truths, 1298, 3720, and 'precious stones' truths shining through from good, 114. And because the name of each individual tribe meant some essential characteristic, a specific stone was also allocated for each tribe, Exodus 28:17-20; 39:10-13, which expressed by means of its colour and transparence the characteristic meant by that tribe. This was how Jehovah or the Lord gave answers by means of the Urim and Thummim.

[10] The two shoham stones which were on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod had a similar representation but in a lesser degree than the twelve stones on the breastplate. For 'the shoulders' meant all power, and so the Lord's omnipotence, 1085, whereas 'the breast' or heart and lungs meant Divine celestial and spiritual love - 'the heart' Divine celestial love, 'the lungs' Divine spiritual love, see 3635 and the end of the present chapter where the Grand Man and its correspondence with the province of the heart and the province of the lungs is the subject. The two stones on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod are referred to in Moses as follows,

You shall take two shoham stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of the names on one stone and the remaining six names on the other stone, according to their births. You shall put two stones on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. Exodus 28:9-12; 39:6-7.

[11] Because 'the tribes' meant what are essentially matters of truth and good, or faith and love, and each tribe meant some universal aspect of these, and since the tribe of Levi meant love, as will be evident from the explanation at verse 34 below, one can therefore recognize what was meant by their placing rods, one for each tribe, in the Tent of Meeting and by Levi's rod alone blossoming with almonds. All this is described in Moses as follows,

He was told to take twelve rods, one rod for each head of their fathers' houses, and these were to be left in the Tent of Meeting, the name of Aaron being written on the rod of Levi. Aaron's rod was placed in the middle of them. And the next day, behold, Aaron's rod for the tribe of Levi had blossomed; it had produced buds, ¹ so that it flowered and produced almonds. Numbers 17:2-8.

These occurrences meant that love was the essential, also the first and foremost, thing of all in the Lord's kingdom and that love is the source of all fruitfulness. And the reason why Aaron's name was on the rod was that Aaron represented the Lord as regards His Divine priesthood. For by the Lord's priesthood is meant Divine Good, which essentially is His love and mercy, and by the Lord's kingship is meant Divine Truth which stems from Divine Good, see 1728, 2015 (end), 3670.

[12] From what has been introduced so far one may now see what 'tribes' and 'the twelve tribes' mean in the following places: In John,

I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed out of every tribe of Israel - twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Benjamin. Revelation 7:4-8.

In Moses,

Remember the days of old, understand the years of generation after generation.

When the Most High gave to the nations an inheritance, when He separated the sons of man, He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. Deuteronomy 32:7-8.

In David,

Jerusalem, built as a city which is closely compacted together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah, a testimony to Israel, to confess the name of Jehovah. Psalms 122:3-4.

[13] In Joshua, who was told,

The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass over before you into the Jordan. Take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. And it will happen when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. They will stand in one heap. Joshua 3:11-17.

And further,

Take out of the midst of the Jordan, from the places where the priests' feet stood, twelve stones which you are to prepare and carry with you. And let each man take a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, that it may be a sign that the waters of the Jordan were cut off. Moreover Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, beneath the places where the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant had stood. Joshua 4:1-9.

Also in the description about Elijah,

Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word had come, Israel shall be your name; and he built an altar to the name of Jehovah. 1 Kings 18:31-32.

[14] That 'the tribes' means the goods of love and the truths of faith is also clear from the Lord's words in Matthew,

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory. Matthew 24:30.

Here 'all the tribes of the earth will mourn' means that the acknowledgement of truth and the life of good will not exist any longer, for the subject in that chapter is the close of the age. Similarly in John,

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will wail over Him. Revelation 1:7.

What 'coming in the clouds of heaven' means, see Preface to Genesis 18. See in addition what I have been shown from experience about the number 'twelve', in 2129, 2130.

[15] The reason why all things of faith and love are called 'tribes' is that the same expression in the original language also means a sceptre and a rod. For 'a sceptre' and also 'a rod' mean power, as will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown elsewhere. For this reason the noun 'tribe' entails the idea that forms of good and truth possess within them all power from the Lord. And angels too are therefore referred to as 'powers' and also 'principalities', for 'princes' means the first and foremost aspects of charity and faith, such as the twelve princes descended from Ishmael, Genesis 25:16, see 2089, as well as the princes who were leaders of the tribes, Numbers 7; 13:4-16.

[16] From what has been said up to now about the twelve tribes one can recognize why the Lord's disciples, who later on were called apostles, were twelve in number, and that like the tribes they represented the Lord's Church as regards goods and truths, 2129, 3354, 3488, 3857. 'Peter' represented faith, 'James' charity, and 'John' the works that flow from charity, see the Prefaces to Genesis 18, 22, and also 3750. This is also quite evident from the things which the Lord said about them and to them.

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