4720. And the man said, They are departed hence, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. That this signifies that they betook themselves from generals to special things of doctrine, is evident from the signification of “departing,” as being to betake themselves; and from the signification of “from Shechem,” which is the place they departed from, as being from the generals of doctrine (n. 4707, 4716); and from the signification of “Dothan,” as being the special things of doctrine. That “Dothan” is the special things of doctrine cannot so well be confirmed from other passages in the Word, because it is mentioned in the second book of Kings only (2 Kings 6:13), where it is related that the king of Syria sent chariots and horsemen and a great army to Dothan to take Elisha, and that they were smitten with blindness and led by Elisha to Samaria.

[2] As all the historicals of the Word are representative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord’s kingdom, so also is this, and by the king of Syria are represented those who are in the knowledges of truth (n. 1232, 1234, 3249, 3664, 3680, 4112); here in the opposite sense those who are in the knowledges of what is not true; by Elisha is represented the Word of the the Lord, (n. 2762); by Dothan, doctrinals from the Word; by the chariots and horsemen and the great army which the king of Syria sent, are signified falsities of doctrine; by the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha, which his young man saw, are signified the good and true things of doctrine from the Word (n. 2762); by the blindness with which those were smitten who were sent thither by the king of Syria, are signified the falsities themselves (n. 2383); and by their being led by Elisha to Samaria, where their eyes were opened, is signified instruction by means of the Word. Such things are involved in this history, in which by Dothan, where Elisha was, are signified doctrinal things of good and truth from the Word. Its signification in the present verse is similar, the special things of doctrine being nothing else; but here the special things of false principles are signified, because the subject treated of is the church that begins from faith, which it thus separates from charity from the very beginning. All the doctrinals which are then formed savor of the general principle, thus of faith without charity; whence come the falsities which are the special things of the false principles.

[3] Every church in its beginning knows only the generals of doctrine, for it is then in its simplicity, and as it were in its childhood; but in the course of time it adds particulars, which in part are confirmations of the generals, and in part additions (which, however, are not contrary to the generals), and also explanations to reconcile plain contradictions and to avoid violence to the dictates of common sense. All these things are nevertheless the special things of false principles; for all things of every doctrine which recognize the general principle as father, have relation to one another as in a kind of fellowship, and are conjoined as if by relationships of blood and of marriage. It is plain from this that when the general principle is false, all things savor of falsity.

2495. CHAPTER 20

That the Word contains within it an internal sense that is not apparent in the letter has already been stated and shown in many places, and the nature of this internal sense appears from all that has thus far been unfolded, beginning with the first chapter of Genesis. Nevertheless as the few who at this day believe in the Word do not know that there is such a sense, it may be well to confirm it further.

[2] The Lord describes the Consummation of the Age, or the last period of the church, as follows:

Immediately after the affliction 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 (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24).

That in this passage the “sun” does not mean the sun, nor the “moon” the moon, nor the “stars” the stars; but that the “sun” signifies love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; the “moon” the faith of love and charity; and the “stars” the knowledges of good and truth, was shown above (n. 31, 32, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2120, 2441); so that by these words of the Lord there is signified that in the consummation of the age (or last period of the church) there will no longer be any love, or charity, nor therefore any faith.

[3] That this is the meaning is evident from similar words of the Lord in the Prophets, as in Isaiah:

Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, to make the earth a solitude; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it; for the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (Isaiah 13:9-10); where also the last period of the church, or what is the same, the consummation of the age, is treated of.

In Joel:

A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity, before Him the earth quaked, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining (Joel 2:2, 10);

with a similar meaning. Again in the same:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes (Joel 2:31).

And again in the same:

The day of Jehovah is near, the sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining (Joel 3:14-15).

In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all the luminaries of light in the heavens will I make dark, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7-8).

So too in John:

I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and behold there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell unto the earth (Revelation 6:12-13).

The fourth angel sounded, so that the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, and the third part of them was darkened (Revelation 8:12).

[4] From these passages it is evident that the Lord’s words in the Evangelists involve much the same as His words in the Prophets, namely, that in the last times there will be neither charity, nor faith; and that this is the internal sense; as also is still further evident in Isaiah:

The moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, for Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem (Isaiah 24:23).

That is to say, faith, which is the “moon,” shall blush; and charity, which is the “sun,” shall be ashamed, because they are such; for it cannot be said of the moon and the sun that they shall blush and be ashamed. And in Daniel:

The goat’s horn grew toward the south, and toward the east, and grew even to the army of the heavens, and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth and trampled upon them (Daniel 8:9-10); where it is plain to everyone that the “army of the heavens” does not signify an “army,” nor the “stars” stars.