6302. 'And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I am dying' means a perception which spiritual good received from the internal celestial regarding new life and regarding the end of the representation. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as perception, dealt with above in 6220; from the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good, also dealt with above, in 6225; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877; and from the meaning of 'dying' as awakening to life, dealt with in 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621, 6036, 6221, and also as the end of the former representation, 3257, 3259, 3276. That end is also meant here by 'dying', for when one who has been representing some aspect of the Church dies another takes his place to continue the line of representation. Thus after Abraham died the line of representation was continued in Isaac, then in Jacob, and after him in his sons. It was similar when Moses died; the sequence of representation continued in Joshua, and then in the judges one after another down to the kings, and so on.

6225. 'And Israel strengthened himself' means new powers received through spiritual good. This is clear from the meaning of 'strengthening oneself' as receiving new powers; and from the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good from the natural, dealt with in 4286, 4598, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833. The reason the new powers come through spiritual good is that in what has just been said Jacob is called Jacob but now he is called Israel; for this is what is said,

[Someone] told Jacob and said, Behold, your son Joseph has come to you; and Israel strengthened himself.

For 'Israel' is spiritual good from the natural, whereas 'Jacob' is the truth of the natural, and the truth of the natural, which is the truth of faith there, receives its strength through spiritual good, which is the good of charity. Also, 'Israel' is the internal aspect of the Church and 'Jacob' its external aspect, 4286, 4292, 4570. The external aspect of the Church derives its strength and receives its powers from nowhere else than its internal. The internal aspect of the Church exists among those governed by the good of charity, which is the good of faith, also the good of truth, and spiritual good as well, which are 'Israel'. But the external aspect of the Church exists among those governed by the truth of faith. They are not yet plainly governed by good; yet the truth they are governed by holds good within it, and this is 'Jacob'.