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.)

756. 'All the fountains of the great deep were split open' means the full extent of temptation involving things of the will. This becomes clear from what has been stated already about temptations being of two kinds, the first involving things of the understanding, the second those of the will, and about the latter being severe in comparison with the former. It is clear as well from the fact that up to now temptation involving things of the understanding has been the subject. It is similarly clear from the meaning of 'the deep' as evil desires and derivative falsities, as shown already in 18, and also in the following in the Word: In Ezekiel,

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, When I make you a city laid desolate, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall cause the deep to come up over you, and many waters have covered you. Ezekiel 26:19.

Here 'the deep' and 'many waters' stand for the full extent of temptation.

In Jonah,

The waters closed around me, even to my soul, the deep surrounded me. Jonah 2:5.

Here similarly 'the waters' and 'the deep' stand for the full extent of temptation.

In David,

Deep is calling to deep at the noise of Your waterspouts; all Your breakers and all Your waves have gone over me. Psalms 42:7.

This plainly stands for the full extent of temptation. In the same author,

He rebuked the Sea Suph and it became dry; He caused them to go through the deeps, as in a desert, and He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and He delivered them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their adversaries. Psalms 106:9-11.

Here 'the deep' stands for temptations in the wilderness.

[2] In early times 'the deep' meant hell, and delusions and persuasions of falsity were likened to waters and streams, and also smoke, pouring out of it. This is also what the hells of some people look like, that is to say, like deeps and like seas. These in the Lord's Divine mercy will be described later on. The evil spirits who are responsible for man's vastation, and also for temptation, come from these places. And their delusions which they infuse, and the desires with which they inflame man, are like deluges and vapours pouring out of there. For, as has been stated, man is joined to hell through evil spirits, and to heaven through angels. Consequently when 'all the fountains of the deep' are said to have been 'split open' matters of that kind are meant. The fact that hell is called the deep, and the foul things that come from there are called streams, is clear in Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih, On the day he went down into hell, I made him mourn, I covered the deep over him, and I restrained its streams, and the great waters were stayed. Ezekiel 31:15.

Hell is also called 'the deep' in John, in Revelation 9:1-2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3.