6396. 'Dan' means those who are guided by truth but not as yet by good. This is clear from the representation of 'Dan' as the good of life, dealt with in 3921, 3923, but here those who have some goodness of life, which is engendered by truth but not as yet by good. For the situation with a person who is being regenerated by the Lord is that at first truth resides with him but no goodness of life engendered by that truth. Then such goodness of life engendered by truth, though not as yet by good, does reside with him; and after that, once he has been regenerated, goodness of life engendered by good comes to reside with him, at which stage he discerns truth from the vantage point of good and multiplies that truth residing with him. These are the degrees of regeneration, and 'Dan' is used to mean those with whom goodness of life resides which is engendered by truth but not as yet by good. The good that resides with them still lies deeply concealed within that truth; yet it provides them with an affection for truth and impels them to lead a life in accordance with the truth. Such people are in the Lord's kingdom, but because they are led to do good not by good but by truth, that is, not by anything of a new will but by the understanding - thus not by love but by obedience because they are commanded so to act - they are among those in the Lord's kingdom who inhabit the first or lowest heaven. These are the people whom 'Dan' represents, for in the internal sense of the prophetic declarations made here by Israel his twelve sons serve to describe in general the essential natures of all who are in the Lord's kingdom.

[2] The habitation by those meant by 'Dan' of the lowest heaven or lowest level of the Lord's kingdom because they are guided by truth but not as yet by good was represented by the falling of the lot last for Dan when the land of Canaan was shared out as an inheritance among the tribes, Joshua 19:40-48, and by the allotment at that time of an inheritance to them in the remotest part of the land, Judges 18. For the lot was cast before Jehovah, Joshua 18:6, and therefore fell for each tribe in accordance with its representation. The land of Canaan represented the Lord's kingdom, see 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705, 3686, 4447, 4454, and all its boundaries were therefore representative, 1607, 1866, 4116, so that the outermost parts of that land represented the lowest parts of the Lord's kingdom, 4240. 'Dan' consequently represented the inhabitants of those lowest parts, for before truth has become joined to good it resides on the lowest level of that kingdom. But if truth has become entirely separated from good it does not reside within any boundary of the Lord's kingdom but is outside it.

[3] The fact that Dan's inheritance was the outermost part of the land of Canaan is clear from the fact that whenever the full extent of that land was described the expression from Beersheba even to Dan was used, 2 Samuel 3:10; 17:11; 24:15; 1 Kings 4:25. In this expression Beersheba means the inmost part of the land, for the reason that it was the place where Abraham and Isaac lived, that is, before Jerusalem and Zion had become the inmost parts of the land.

[4] The essential nature of those guided by truth but not as yet by good was also represented by the Danites who were to spy out the land in which they were to live, Judges 18. It was represented by their removal of the Levite from Micah's house and their making off with the ephod, teraphim, and carved image, by which objects is meant the worship of those guided by truth but not as yet by good. For those people venerate things of an external nature but have no interest in those of an internal nature; for things of an internal nature are discerned by none but those who are guided by good. This is what the Danites under consideration here represented, as becomes clear from the consideration that all the historical incidents in the Word, both those in the Books of Moses and those in the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, are representative of the celestial and spiritual realities of the Lord's kingdom, including therefore this incident in the Book of Judges involving the Danites. As regards anything further concerning the essential nature of those guided by truth but not as yet by good, this is described in the internal sense of the things said about Dan that come next.

3481. I have quite often been in conversation with Jews in the next life. They appear in a forward position on the lower earth below the level of the left foot, and on one occasion I also spoke about the Word, the land of Canaan, and the Lord. I said that the Word contained very deep arcana which are not visible to men. This point they agreed with. After that I said that all the arcana there deal with the Messiah and His kingdom. This also they assented to. But when I told them that Messiah in Hebrew is the same as Christ in Greek they would not listen. And again when I said that the Messiah was the Most Holy One, that Jehovah was within Him, that none other was meant by the Holy One of Israel and by the God of Jacob, and that seeing that He is the Most Holy One none can be in His kingdom except those who are holy not outwardly but inwardly - who are not accordingly under the influence of the filthy love of the world, or of a superior attitude towards other nations, or of hatred for one another - they could not listen to it.

[2] After that I said that the Messiah's kingdom according to prophecy was going to last for ever, and those with Him would also inherit the land for ever. If His kingdom were of this world and they were brought into the land of Canaan it would last only for the few years that constitute the human life-span. Besides, all who had died since the expulsion of the Jews from the land of Canaan would not enjoy such blessedness. From this, I said, they could recognize that the land of Canaan represented and meant the heavenly kingdom; indeed they would recognize it all the more easily, in that they now knew they were in the next life and were going to live for ever, from which it was evident that this next life was the place where the Messiah had His kingdom. And, I continued, if they were allowed to talk to angels they could know that the whole angelic heaven was the Lord's kingdom.

[3] I added that by the new earth, the new Jerusalem, and the new temple described in Ezekiel nothing else could be meant than such a kingdom of the Messiah. To all these points they were unable to make any response apart from weeping bitterly at the prospect of being led into the land of Canaan by the Messiah only to die after so few years and leave behind the blessedness they were to enjoy there.