9338. And inherit the land. That this signifies until in good, and thus regenerate, is evident from the signification of “inheriting,” as being to receive as an heir (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “the land,” here the land of Canaan, as being the kingdom of the Lord, thus heaven (see n. 1413, 1437, 1607, 1866, 3038, 3481, 3686, 3705, 4240, 4447). Therefore by “inheriting the land” is signified receiving heaven as an heir. By “an heir,” when said of heaven, is especially meant a man who has the Lord’s life (n. 2658, 2851, 3672, 7212), thus one who is in good from the Lord, and consequently who is regenerate. (That when a man is in good from the Lord, he is in heaven, thus regenerate, see n. 9274, and the passages there cited.)

[2] That this is signified by “inheriting,” when said of heaven, is plain in Matthew:

Then shall the King say to those on His right hand, Come ye blessed of My Father, possess as an inheritance the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and ye gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me to drink. Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye did it unto Me (Matthew 25:34-35, 40);

here “to possess as an inheritance the kingdom of the Lord,” that is, heaven, is said of those who are in good; the very goods of charity are also enumerated in their order; and finally it is said, “inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye did it unto Me.” Those are called the Lord’s “brethren” who are in good (n. 6756); thus also those who do what is good, for good is the Lord with man. Therefore it is said, “inasmuch as ye did it unto one of [the least] of these brethren;” but not “to one of the brethren.”

[3] In Revelation:

He that overcometh shall receive by inheritance all things; and I will be his God, and be shall be My son (Revelation 21:7);

speaking of those who overcome it is said they “shall receive by inheritance all things,” and they are called “sons,” because heirs; “to overcome” denotes to fight from good and truth; for evil is overcome by means of good; and falsity by means of truth.

[4] In David:

God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah; and they shall dwell there, and possess it by inheritance. The seed also of His servants shall inherit it; and they that love His name shall dwell therein (Psalms 69:35-36); where “to possess by inheritance” is predicated of those who are in celestial good; and “to inherit” of those who are in spiritual good. Celestial good is the good of love to the Lord, and spiritual good is the good of charity toward the neighbor (n. 9277).

In Isaiah:

He that confideth in Me shall inherit the land, and shall possess by inheritance the mountain of My holiness (Isaiah 57:13).

[5] From all this it is evident what is signified by the land of Canaan being distributed into twelve inheritances for the twelve tribes of Israel (Josh. 14 to 19; and Ezekiel 47:13-22; also Ezekiel 48); for by “the land of Canaan” was signified the kingdom of the Lord, or heaven (n. 1413, 1437, 1607, 1866, 3038, 3481, 3686, 3705, 4240, 4447); by the “twelve tribes” were signified all goods and truths in general and in particular (n. 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060, 6335, 6337, 6397, 6640); thus by the twelve inheritances was signified heaven with all the heavens and the societies therein, distinct in respect to the goods of love and the derivative truths of faith (n. 7836, 7891, 7996); thus in the abstract sense the goods themselves which are from the Lord, consequently which are the Lord in heaven.

[6] For heaven is nothing else than the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord’s Divine good. The angels of heaven are recipients of truth in good; and insofar as they receive this, so far they make heaven. And-this is a secret-the Lord does not dwell with an angel except in His own with him. In like manner He dwells with a man; for the Divine must be in what is Divine, and not in what belongs to any man. This is meant by the words of the Lord concerning the union of Himself with those who are in the good of love, in John:

In that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. He that loveth Me keepeth My word, and We will come unto him, and make our abode with him (John 14:20, 23).

The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them; that they may be one; as We are one; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:22, 26).

3481. I have very frequently spoken with the Jews in the other life. They appear in front, in the lower earth, beneath the plane of the left foot. I once spoke to them concerning the Word, the land of Canaan, and the Lord: concerning the Word, that there are in it deepest arcana which are not manifest to men; and this they affirmed; then, that all the arcana which are therein treat of the Messiah and His kingdom which also they were willing to allow: but when I said that Messiah in the Hebrew tongue is the same as Christ in the Greek, they were not willing to hear. Again, when I said that the Messiah is most holy, and that Jehovah is in Him, and that no other is meant by the Holy One of Israel and by the God of Jacob; and that because He is most holy, none can be in His kingdom but those who are holy, not in external form but internal, thus who are not in the unclean love of the world, and in the exaltation of themselves against other nations, and in hatred among themselves, this they could not hear.

[2] Afterwards when I told them that according to the prophecies the Messiah’s kingdom must be eternal, and that they who are with Him will also inherit the earth forever; and that if His kingdom were of this world, and they were to be introduced into the land of Canaan, it would only be for the few years which are of a man’s life; besides that all those who died after they were driven out of the land of Canaan would not enjoy such blessedness and that from this they might know that by the land of Canaan is represented and signified the heavenly kingdom; and especially as they now know that they are in the other life, and are to live forever, so that it is manifest that the Messiah has His kingdom there; and that if it were given them to speak with angels they might know that the universal angelic heaven is His kingdom; and moreover that by the new earth, the New Jerusalem, and the new temple in Ezekiel, nothing can be signified but such a kingdom of the Messiah-to these things they could make no reply, except merely that they who were to be introduced into the land of Canaan by the Messiah, and were to die after so few years and leave the blessedness which they were to enjoy there, would weep bitterly.