39. And all the tribes of the earth shall wail over him. That this signifies that the falsities of the church will resist, is evident from the signification of wailing, as denoting to lament, to grieve, to be indignant, to be angry, to be averse from, thus also to resist; and from the signification of tribes, as denoting all truths and goods in the aggregate, and, in the opposite sense, all falsities and evils in the aggregate, concerning which we shall speak in what follows; and from the signification of the earth, as being the church (on which see above, n. 29). By all the tribes of the earth, therefore, is signified the whole church, and by their wailing over Him, is signified that truths and goods are no more, because falsities and evils are about to dominate and resist. For what the state of the church will be at its end is treated of in general in this verse, when there will be no longer any faith because no charity; that is, that the Lord will then reveal Himself, and that all will acknowledge Him who are in truths from good, and that those also shall see Him who are in falsities from evil, but that the falsities of the church will resist. (That the Apocalypse does not treat of the successive states of the church, but of its last state, or when it is at its end, may be seen above, n. 5; and that its end is when there is no faith because no charity, may be seen in the small work, The Last Judgment 33-39, and following numbers. When there is no faith because no charity, then falsities from evil reign, which offer opposition to truths from good.)

[2] Tribes are often mentioned in the Word, because the Israelitish people were divided into twelve tribes; and he who is ignorant of the internal sense of the Word supposes, that by tribes are meant the tribes of Israel; nevertheless, by tribes are not meant tribes, nor is Israel meant by Israel; but tribes mean all those who are in truths from good, and Israel means the church of the Lord. He who does not know this, will easily accept the common belief that the children of Israel were chosen before all others on the whole earth, and also that they will be introduced at last into the land of Canaan. Indeed, he will believe that heaven will consist chiefly of them; although, by the names of those tribes in the Word they are not meant, but those who are in truths from good, that is, those who belong to the church; by the twelve tribes, all, and by each one of them, some special truth and good pertaining to those who belong to the church.

[3] These things being understood, it is evident what is meant by these words in the Apocalypse:

"I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the sons of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Naphtali were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zebulun were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand" (7:4-8).

In this passage those who belonged to the Israelitish nation are not meant, but all those, however many they may be, who are in truths from good; for all these are sealed for heaven. The numbers one hundred and forty-four thousand and twelve thousand, also signify all, and each tribe signifies all those who are in that truth or good which is signified by its name.

(As may be evident from what is shown in Arcana Coelestia in regard to the following: what good and truth are signified by Judah, n. 3881, 6363; what by Reuben, n. 3861, 3866, 4605, 4731, 4734, 4761, 6342-6345; what by Gad, n. 3934, 3935; what by Asher, n. 3938, 3939, 6408; what by Naphtali, n. 3927, 3928 what by Manasseh, n. 3969, 5354, 6222, 6231, 6238, 6267, 6296 what by Simeon, n. 3869-3872, 4197, 4502, 4503, 5482, 5626, 5630; what by Levi, n. 3875, 3877, 4497, 4502, 4503; what by Issachar, n. 3956, 3957; what by Zebulun, n. 3960, 3961, 6383; what by Joseph, n. 3969, 3971, 4669, 6417; and what by Benjamin, n. 3969, 4592, 5411, 5413, 5443, 5639, 5686, 5688, 5689, 6440.

That all numbers in the Word signify things, see n. 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175, 9488, 9659, 10217, 10253.

That twelve signifies all, and all things as to truths from good, see n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913; also, the numbers 72, 144, 12,000, 144,000, because they arise from the number 12 by multiplication, n. 7973.

That numbers multiplied signify the same as the simple numbers from which they are produced by multiplication, see n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973.)

[4] He who does not know that numbers signify things, what the numbers twelve, one hundred and forty-four, and twelve thousand signify, and also what tribes and apostles signify, cannot know what is signified by those passages in the Apocalypse, where it is said, that the holy city, New Jerusalem,

"had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and names written which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; and the wall had twelve foundations, in which were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The wall was a hundred and forty and four cubits, and the length and the breadth of the city twelve thousand furlongs" (21:12, 14, 16, 17).

The signification of all these things may be seen explained in the little work, The New Jerusalem and its Doctrine, n. 1; where it is shown, that by Jerusalem is signified the church as to doctrine; by the wall, its truths of defence; by the gates, introductory truths; by the foundations, the knowledges upon which doctrine is founded; by twelve angels, and by twelve tribes, all truths and goods collectively; the same by the twelve apostles; and by the numbers twelve, one hundred and forty-four, and twelve thousand, all things and all persons.

[5] Moreover, he who knows that such things are signified by the twelve tribes may see the mystery involved in the names of the twelve tribes being engraved upon the precious stones of the Urim and Thummim, and also the signification of the breast-plate (Exodus 28:21; 39:10-15). (This arcanum may be seen unfolded in Arcana Coelestia 3858, 6335, 6640, 9863, 9865, 9873, 9874, 9905.) He may also see what is the signification of the twelve apostles sitting upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28), namely, that the Lord alone will judge every one by truths from good (n. 2129, 6397); also what things are meant by the predictions of Israel the father, concerning his sons (Gen. 49); and also the meaning of many other passages in the Word where the tribes are mentioned (as in Isaiah 19:13; 49:6; 63:17; Jeremiah 10:16; Ezekiel 48:1, and following verses; Psalm 122:3-5; Deuteronomy 32:8; Numbers 24:2; Apoc. 5:9; 7:4-9; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6; and elsewhere).

[6] And again, the meaning of the Lord's words about the consummation of the age and His coming, may be seen:

"After the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and much glory" (Matthew 14:29, 30).

(These words may be seen explained in detail in the work, Heaven and Hell 1; and in the following passages in Arcana Coelestia, where it is shown that the twelve tribes of Israel represented, and thence signified, all truths and goods collectively, thus all things of faith and love, n. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335; that similar things are signified by the twelve apostles, n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397; and that they have various significations according to the order in which they are named, n. 3862, 3926, 3939, 4603, 6337, 6640, 10335.)

9863. 'And you shall adorn it with settings of stones' means the actual truths in their proper order, all springing from the one same good. This is clear from the meaning of the breastplate, to which 'it' refers here, as Divine Truth shining forth from the Lord's Divine Good, dealt with in 9823; from the meaning of 'settings of stones' as truths in their proper order. For the breastplate was adorned with stones in accord with the names of the sons of Israel, and in a general sense truths on the lowest level of order are meant by 'stones', 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, and truths shining forth from good by 'precious stones' such as those in the breastplate, 9476. The expression 'springing from the one same good' is used because there is just one good that all the truths spring from. This good is the good of love within the Lord, thus is the Lord Himself, and is consequently the good of love from the Lord, which is the good of love to the Lord. For the good which flows in from the Lord and resides with man, spirit, or angel, has all the appearance of being theirs; and so it is that love to the Lord is love received from the Lord. This good is the one and only good from which all the truths spring, and from which the order among them begins; for the truths are outward forms of the good.

[2] The fact that the precious stones in the breastplate meant Divine Truths springing from Divine Good is clear from places in the Word where precious stones are mentioned, such as in John's Revelation,

The foundations of the wall of the city, the new Jerusalem, were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. Revelation 21:19-20.

These precious stones mean the Church's truths, which are God's truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'the city, the new Jerusalem', 'the wall of it', and 'the foundations of the wall'. 'The new Jerusalem' means a new Church which will take the place of the one that is ours at the present day; for the Book of Revelation deals with the state of the Church that exists now, through to its end, and then with a new Church, which is the holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. 'The wall of it' means the truths of faith that serve to defend it, and 'the foundations' truths that spring from good. Those actual truths in their proper order are specified by the precious stones mentioned by name there. Anyone may see that no Jerusalem is going to come down out of heaven or that anything else mentioned there is literally going to take place, but that this description in every detail means such things as have to do with the Church. The fact that the truths of faith are meant by the foundations of its wall is clear from the consideration that they are the things which guard the Church from every attack, as walls do a city.

'Jerusalem' is the Church, see 2117, 9166.

'Walls' are the truths of faith guarding the Church, 6419.

'Foundations' are truths springing from good, 9643.

[3] In Ezekiel,

Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty, you were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering - ruby, topaz, and diamond; tarshish, shoham, and jasper; sapphire, chrysoprase, and carbuncle - and gold. You were on the mountain of the holiness of God, you walked in the midst of stones of fire. Ezekiel 28:12-14.

Here also precious stones mean truths springing from good. For 'Tyre' in the representative internal sense is one who has intelligence and wisdom arising from cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, 1201. This is why its king is said to be 'full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty'. 'Wisdom' has regard to good, and 'beauty' to truth; for all wisdom in heaven is derived from good, and all beauty there is derived from truths springing from good. 'The garden of Eden' means intelligence composed of good, 100, 'garden' meaning real intelligence, 100, 108, 2702. From this it is evident that the stones there mentioned by name mean truths springing from good.

[4] But precisely which truths springing from good are meant by each of the stones in the breastplate will be clear from what is to follow. The fact that they mean all truths and forms of good in their entirety is clear from the following considerations: They were twelve and had the names of the sons of Israel or the tribes inscribed on them, the forms of good and the truths of heaven and the Church in their entirety being meant by the twelve tribes, 3858, 3926, 3939, 4060, 6335, 6337, 6397; they therefore meant heaven and all the communities there, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997; the meaning of them varied, depending on the order in which they are mentioned in the Word, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4303, 6337, 6640; and 'twelve' means all, 3272, 3858, 7973.