439. Of the tribe of Naphtali were sealed twelve thousand. That this signifies regeneration and temptation, is evident from the representation, and thence the signification of Napthali and his tribe, as denoting temptation, and also the state that follows it. And because temptations take place for the sake of regeneration, regeneration also is signified by Napthali. That those who are being regenerated undergo temptations, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 187-201). That Napthali, and consequently the tribe named from him, signify temptation, and the state that follows it, and therefore also regeneration, is clear from these words of Rachel, when Bilhah her handmaid bare him:

"And Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, With wrestlings of God have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed; and she called his name Naphtali" (Genesis 30:7, 8).

The wrestlings of God signify spiritual temptations. And because Rachel represented the internal church, which is spiritual, and Leah, the external church, which is natural, it is evident that by Rachel wrestling with her sister and prevailing signifies combat between the spiritual man and the natural, in which all temptation consists. For the spiritual man loves and wills the things pertaining to heaven, because he is in heaven, while the natural man loves and wills the things pertaining to the world, because he is in the world, and therefore the desires of each are opposite; for this reason there is a collision or combat which is called temptation.

[2] That Naphtali here signifies temptation, and the state which follows it, and thence regeneration, is further evident from the following passages; thus from the blessing by his father Israel:

"Naphtali is a hind let loose; giving goodly words" (Genesis 49:21).

Naphtali here signifies the state after temptation, which state is full of joy from affection because the spiritual and the natural and good and truth are conjoined; for they are conjoined by temptations. A hind let loose, signifies the freedom of natural affection; giving goodly words, signifies gladness of mind. For a further explanation of these things, see Arcana Coelestia 6412, 6413, 6414),

[3] and also from the blessing pronounced on Napthali by Moses:

"And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full of the blessing of Jehovah; possess thou the west and the south" (Deuteronomy 33:23).

Here also the state after temptation is described, or that state in which man is filled with all the good of love, and with truths therefrom. For after temptations he is filled with joy, and the fructification of good, and the multiplication of truth then take place with him. To be filled with the good of love, is meant by being satisfied with the favour of Jehovah; and to be filled with truths thence, is signified by being full of the blessing of Jehovah; the resulting enlightenment and affection for truth, are signified by "possess thou the west and the south"; the affection of truth is signified by the west, and enlightenment by the south. It is said, "possess thou the west and the south" because those who are elevated into heaven, after instruction, are carried through the west to the south, thus through the affection for truth into the light of truth.

[4] The same is signified by Naphtali, in the song of Deborah and Barak, in the book of Judges:

"Zebulun, a people that devoted the soul to die, and Naphtali upon the high places of the field" (5:18).

These were the two tribes which fought against Sisera, the captain of the army of Jabin, king of Canaan, and conquered, the other ten tribes remaining at rest; and by this was represented spiritual combat against the evils which infest the church, as is also evident from the prophetic song of Deborah and Barak, in which that fact is treated of. The tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali alone fought, because Zebulun signifies the conjunction of good and truth, which makes the church, and Naphtali, combat against the evils and falsities that infest it, and resist the conjunction of good and truth, and therefore by both are signified reformation and regeneration. The heights of the field, signify the interior things of the church, from which there is combat. Zebulun and Naphtali together, also signify reformation and regeneration by means of temptations, in Isaiah (8:22; 9:1); and thence in Matthew (4:12-16).

[5] But in the highest sense, Zebulun and Naphtali signify the union of the Divine and Human in the Lord, for in the highest sense the subject is the Lord alone in regard generally to the glorification of His Human, the subjugation of the hells, and the arrangement of the heavens by Him. In this sense Zebulun and Naphtali are mentioned in David:

"They have seen thy steps, O God; the steps of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. The singers went before, the players on instruments after, in the midst of virgins playing with timbrels, Bless ye God in the congregations, the Lord from the fountain of Israel. There is little Benjamin their ruler, the princes of Judah their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. Thy God hath commanded thy strength; shew thyself powerful, O God; this thou hast wrought for us out of thy temple at Jerusalem. Kings shall bring presents unto thee. Rebuke the wild beast of the reed, the congregation of the mighty among the calves of the peoples, trampling down pieces of silver, he scattered the people, they desire wars. Fatlings shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands unto God" (Psalm 68:24-31).

The subjects treated of here in the spiritual sense, are, the coming of the Lord, the glorification of His Human, the subjugation of the hells, and consequent salvation. The celebration of the Lord, on account of His coming, is described in these words: "They have seen thy steps, O God; the steps of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. The singers went before, the players on instruments after, in the midst of the virgins playing with timbrels. Bless ye God in the congregations, the Lord from the fountain of Israel." This may be seen explained in detail above (n. 340:4). There is little Benjamin their ruler, signifies the innocence of the Lord, by which He wrought and performed all things. The princes of Judah their council, signifies the Divine Truth from the Divine Good. The glorification or union of the Divine and Human, by His own power, is signified by the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. Thy God hath commanded thy strength; shew thyself powerful, O God; this thou hast wrought for us out of thy temple at Jerusalem, signifies that hence Divine power belongs to the Lord's Human. The temple signifies the Divine Human of the Lord, and Jerusalem the church for which He did this. Rebuke the wild beast of the reed, the congregation of the mighty among the calves of the peoples, trampling down pieces of silver, he scattered the people, they desire wars, signifies the subjugation of the hells. The wild beast of the reed and the congregation of the mighty, denote the Scientific of the natural man perverting the truths and goods of the church; the calves of the peoples denote the goods of the church; the pieces of silver the truths of the church; he scattered the people, they desire wars signifies to pervert the truths of the church and to reason against them.

[6] By the subjugation of the hells is meant the subjugation of the natural man. For in the natural man there are evils from hell, because therein are the delights of the loves of self and of the world, and the scientifics that confirm them; and these delights, when they are regarded as ends and rule, are contrary to the goods and truths of the church. That the natural man, when subjugated, supplies concordant scientifics and the knowledges of good and truth, is signified by "fatlings shall come out of Egypt"; Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands unto God. Egypt denotes the natural man in regard to scientifics, and Ethiopia, the natural man in regard to the knowledges of truth and good. From these few instances it is evident that Napthali and his tribe in the Word, signify in the highest sense, the Lord's own power, from which He subjugated the hells, and glorified His Human; in the internal sense, temptation, and the state after temptation; and in the external sense resistance from the natural man; therefore Napthali also signifies reformation and regeneration, because these are the effects of temptations.

3986. 'And Jehovah has blessed you since I set foot here' means resulting from the Divine endowment which the natural possessed. This is clear from the meaning of 'Jehovah blessing' as being endowed with good, dealt with in 3406, and as a joining together, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584. 'Jehovah blessing' accordingly means being endowed with Divine good by means of a joining together, at this point a joining to the good of the natural represented by 'Jacob', the natural being meant by 'the foot'. As regards 'the foot' meaning the natural, see 2162, 3147, 3761; and this will be clear in addition from the correspondence of the Grand Man with every part of the human being, the subject in the sections at the ends of chapters. From this it is evident that 'Jehovah has blessed you since I set foot here' means originating in the Divine which the natural possessed.

[2] The arcanum which lies concealed in these words and in those immediately before them is known to few, if any, and is therefore to be revealed. The goods present with people both inside the Church and outside it vary in every case. They vary so much that no one person's good is ever exactly like another's. These variations arise out of the truths to which those goods are joined, for the nature of every type of good is received from truths, and truths derive their essential nature from goods. Such variations also arise out of the affections that belong to each person's love, and which become rooted in a person and are made his own through the life he leads. Few genuine truths exist even with someone inside the Church, and fewer still with one outside. Consequently affections for genuine truth seldom exist with anyone.

[3] All the same, people who lead good lives, that is, who live in love to God and in charity towards the neighbour, are saved. The reason they are able to be saved is that the Lord's Divine is present within good that stems from love to God and within good that stems from charity towards the neighbour. And when the Divine is inwardly present everything is being arranged into order so that it can be joined to genuine goods and genuine truths which exist in the heavens. The truth of this may be proven from the communities constituting heaven, which are countless. Every single community varies as regards good and truth, and yet all of them taken together form one complete heaven. They are like the members and organs of the human body which, though varying in every case, still constitute one complete human being. For no complete whole is ever made up of any identical or entirely similar individual parts, but of varying parts harmoniously joined together. Varying parts joined together harmoniously present a single whole. The same applies to goods and truths in the spiritual world. Although these vary so much as never to be exactly similar with one person as with another, nevertheless from the Divine through love and charity they make one since love and charity are spiritual conjunction. Their variation is a heavenly harmony which produces such accord that they are one in the Divine, that is, in the Lord.

[4] Furthermore, however much truths may vary, and however much affections for truth may do so, good that stems from love to God and good that stems from charity towards the neighbour are nevertheless capable of receiving genuine truth and good, as they are not so to speak hard and resistant but soft and yielding. They allow themselves to be led by the Lord and in so doing to be turned towards good, and through good to be turned towards Him. It is different with those in whom self-love and love of the world reign. They do not allow themselves to be led and turned by the Lord towards the Lord but strongly resist, since each wishes to be his own leader, even more so when they have become subject to false and firmly established assumptions. As long as they are such they do not allow the Divine to come in.

[5] These considerations now make clear what is meant in the internal sense by these words which Jacob addressed to Laban, for 'Laban' means the kind of good which is not genuine because it does not have genuine truths planted within it but is nevertheless capable of having these joined to it and of having the Divine present within it. This kind of good is what normally exists with young children before they have received genuine truths. It is also the kind of good present with simple people within the Church who know few truths of faith but who nevertheless lead a charitable life. It is in addition the kind of good present with upright gentiles who offer holy worship to their gods. By means of such good, genuine truths and goods are able to be introduced, as may be seen from what has been stated about young children and simple people inside the Church in 3690, and about upright gentiles outside the Church in 2598-2603.