350. Verse 5. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand, signifies celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and this with all who will be in the Lord's New Heaven and 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 and the Word; and in the natural sense, the doctrine of the celestial church from the Word. But here by "Judah" is signified celestial love, which is love to the Lord; and because it is mentioned first in the series, it signifies that love with all who will be of the Lord's New Heaven and New Church; for the tribe first named is the all in the rest, it is as their head, and as a universal entering into all things that follow, collecting, qualifying, and affecting them. Such is love to the Lord. That "twelve thousand" signify all who are in that love, may be seen above (n. 348). [2] It is known that the twelve tribes of Israel, after Solomon's time, were divided into two kingdoms, the Jewish and Israelitish. The Jewish kingdom represented the Lord's celestial or priestly kingdom; and the Israelitish kingdom, the Lord's spiritual kingdom or royalty; the latter, however, was destroyed when there was nothing spiritual left among them; but the Jewish kingdom was preserved, on account of the Word, and because the Lord was to be born there. But when they had wholly adulterated the Word, and thus they could not know the Lord, then their kingdom was destroyed. From hence it may appear, that by "the tribe of Judah" is signified celestial love, which is love to the Lord; but because they were such as to the Word, and as to the Lord, therefore by "the tribe of Judah" is also signified the opposite love, which is the love of self, properly the love of dominion 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 to the Lord is evident from these passages:
Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee, the scepter shall not be removed from Judah until Shiloh come, and unto him is the adherence of the people; he bindeth his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washeth his garment in wine; his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk (Gen. 49:8-12). David shall be their prince forever; and I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be a covenant of eternity with them; and I will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for ever (Ezek. 37:26-27). Shout and be glad, O daughter of Zion; Jehovah will make Judah an inheritance to Himself, His portion upon the land of holiness (Zech. 2:10-12). O Judah, keep thy festivals, perform thy vows, because Belial shall no more pass through thee; everyone shall be cut off (Nah. 1:15). The Lord shall suddenly come to His temple; then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah as in the days of old (Matt. 3:1-4). Judah shall sit to eternity, and Jerusalem unto generation and generation (Joel 3:20). Behold, the days shall come, when I will raise up unto David a just offshoot; in His days Judah shall be saved (Jer. 23:5-6). I will bring forth a seed from Jacob, and from Judah an inheritor of my mountains, that the elect may possess it (Isa. 65:9). Judah was His sanctuary, and Israel His dominions (Ps. 114:2). 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. 31:31, 33). In those days shall ten men take hold of the skirt of a man, a Jew, saying, we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you (Zech. 8:23). As the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall stand before Me, so shall stand your seed and your name; the kings of the nations shall be thy nursing fathers, their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow themselves down to thee with their faces upon the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet (Isa. 66:22; 49:23). [4] From these and many other passages, too numerous to be adduced, it is very evident that by "Judah" is not meant Judah, but the church; as that the Lord would enter into a new and eternal covenant with that nation, and make them His inheritance and His sanctuary to eternity; and that the "kings of the Gentiles and their princes would bow themselves down to them, licking the dust of their feet," and such like. [5] That by "the tribe of Judah," regarded in itself is meant the diabolical kingdom which is of the love of dominion from the love of self, may appear from these passages:
I will hide My face from them, I will see what their latter end will be; it is a generation of perverseness, sons in whom there is no fidelity; a nation void of counsel are they; their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; its grapes are grapes of gall, clusters of bitterness are theirs; their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps; is this not* hidden with me, sealed up in my treasures (Deut. 32:20-34)? Know that not for thy justice and the uprightness of thy heart doth Jehovah give the land of Canaan, for thou art a people of stiff neck (Deut. 9:5-6). According to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem hast thou set altars for burning incense to Baal (Jer. 2:28; 11:13). Ye are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father ye will do (John 8:44). They are said to be full of hypocrisy, iniquity, and uncleanness (Matt. 23:27-28). An adulterous generation (Matt. 12:39; Mark 8:38). And Jerusalem, their dwelling place, is called "Sodom" (Isa. 3:9; Jer. 23:14; Ezek. 16:46, 48; Rev. 11:8). Besides other places, where it is said that that nation is utterly ruined, and Jerusalem to be destroyed; as in Jer. 5:1; 6:6, 7; 7:17, 18, and following verses; 8:6-8, and following verses; 9:10, 11, 13, and following verses; 13:9, 10, 14; 14:16; Lam. 1:8, 9, 17; Ezek. 4:1 to the end; 5:5 to the end; 12:18, 19; 15:6-8; 16:1-63; 23:1-49. * The original Latin has "omne" for "nonne;" "all" for "is this not."
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