350. [verse 5] 'Out of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed' signifies celestial love, which is love directed to the Lord, and this with all who will be in the New Heaven and in the Lord's New Church. By 'Judah' in the highest sense is signified the Lord as to celestial love, in the spiritual sense the Lord's celestial kingdom, also the Word, and in the natural sense the celestial doctrine of the Church out of the Word. Here, however, by 'Judah' is signified the celestial love that is love directed to the Lord; and because it is named first in the series, it signifies that love with all who will be in the New Heaven and in the Lord's New Church; for the tribe named in the first place is everything in the rest. It is as a head to them; and, as a universal entering into all the things that follow, it gathers, qualifies and modifies (afficere) them. This is love directed to the Lord. That 'twelve thousand' signify all who are in that love may be seen above (n. 348). [2] It is well known that the twelve tribes of Israel were, after [the time of] Solomon, divided into two kingdoms, the Jewish and the Israelitish. The Jewish kingdom used to represent the celestial kingdom, or the Lord's Priesthood, and the Israelitish kingdom the spiritual kingdom, or the Lord's Royalty. The latter, however, was destroyed when there was not anything spiritual remaining with them; but the Jewish kingdom was preserved on account of the Word, and because the Lord would be born there. When, however, they had altogether adulterated the Word, and so were not able to get to know (cognoscere) the Lord, then their kingdom was destroyed. From these considerations it can be established that by 'the tribe of Judah' is signified the celestial love that is love directed to the Lord; but because as regards the Lord and the Word they were such [as described above], by 'the tribe of Judah' is also signified the opposite love, which is the love of self, properly the love of domineering derived from the love of self which love is called diabolical love. [3] That by 'Judah' and his tribe is signified the celestial kingdom and its love, which is love directed to the Lord, is established from these passages:-
Judah, thy brethren shall celebrate thee; the sceptre shall not be removed from Judah until Shiloh come, and there is an adhering of the peoples to him; he binds his little she-ass to the vine, and his ass's colt to the choice vine; he washes his garment in wine; with eyes red from wine, and teeth white from milk Gen. xlix 8-12.
David shall be a prince for them to eternity, and I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be a covenant of eternity with them, and I will set the sanctuary in the midst of them for ever Ezek. xxxvii 25, 26.
Shout and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; Jehovah shall make Judah an inheritance for Himself His portion upon the land of holiness Zech. ii 10-12 [H.B. 14-16]
O Judah, keep thy festivals, perform thy vows, because never again shall belial* pass through thee, every one shall be cut off Nah. i 15 [H.B. ii 1]
The Lord shall suddenly come to l{is temple, then shall the minchah** of Judah and Jerusalem be sweet according to the days of an age Mal. iii 1, 4.
Judah shall remain seated for ever, and Jerusalem unto generation and generation Joel iii 18-20 [H.B. iv 18-20].
Behold the days shall come when I will raise up unto David a just offshoot; in His days shall Judah be saved Jer. xxiii 5, 6.
I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah the heir of My mountains, that the chosen may possess it Isa. lxv 9.
Judah was made into His sanctuary, and Israel into His dominions Ps. cxiv 2.
Behold the days shall come in which I will make a new covenant with the house of Judah; this shall be the covenant, I will give My law in the midst of them, and write it upon their heart Jer. xxxi 27, 31, 33, 34.
In those days shall ten men take hold of the skirt of a man that is a Judaean, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard God is with you Zech. viii 22, 23.
As the new heavens and the new land that I am going to make shall stand before Me, so shall your seed and your name stand Isa. lxvi 20, 22.
The kings of the nations shall be thy nourishers (nutritii), their princes [thy] wet nurses (lactatrices); they shall bow down their faces to thee upon the land, and lick the dust of thy feet Isa. xlix 22, 23.
[4] From these and many other passages, which there is not time to quote because of their abundance, it can be manifestly established that by 'Judah' it is not Judah but the Church that is understood; as that the Lord is going to make a new and eternal covenant with that nation, to make them His heir, and His sanctuary for ever, while the kings of the nations and their princes are going to bow themselves down to them, licking the dust of the feet thereof, besides more. [5] That by 'the tribe of Judah' regarded in itself is understood the diabolical kingdom, which is the love of domineering out of the love of self, can be established from these passages:-
I will hide My faces from them, I will see what their posterity will be;
they are a generation of perversity, sons in whom there is no fidelity; they are a nation devoid of counsel; their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah, its grapes are grapes of gall, clusters of bitternesses to them; their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps: is not*** this hidden with Me, sealed up in My treasures? Deut. xxxii 20-34.
Know that not for thy justice and the uprightness of thy heart does Jehovah give thee the land of Canaan, because thou art a stiffnecked people Deut. ix 5, 6.
According m the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem hast thou set up altars for offering incense to Baal Jer. ii 28; xi 13.
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do John viii 44.
They are said to be 'full of hypocrisy, iniquity and uncleanness' (Matt. xxiii 27, 28), 'an adulterous generation' (Matt. xii 39; Mark viii 38); and Jerusalem, their habitation, was said to be 'Sodom' (Isa. iii 9; Jer. xxiii 14; Ezek. xvi 46, 48; Rev. xi 8); besides in other places, where it is said that that nation was altogether ruined, and Jerusalem destroyed, as Jer. v 1; vi 6, 7; vii 17, 18 seq.; viii 6-8; ix 10, 11, 13 seq.; xiii 9, 10, 14; xiv 16; Lam. i 8, 9, 57; Ezek. iv 1 to the end; v 5 to the end; xi i 18, 19; xv 6-8; xvi 1-63; xxiii 1-49. * A Hebrew word meaning 'what is worthless'. ** A Hebrew word meaning 'an offering'. *** Reading nonne instead of omne (all).
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