5279. 'And the famine will consume the land' means even to the point of despair. This is clear from the meaning of 'famine' as an absence of religious knowledge or cognitions and a consequent deprivation of truth, dealt with above in 5277, 5278; and from the meaning of 'the land', in this case the land of Egypt, as the natural mind, also dealt with above, in 5276, 5278. The reason even to the point of despair is meant is that the words 'the famine will consume the land' are used. Since 'the land' means the natural mind, and 'famine' the deprivation of truth, nothing else than despair is meant, for at that time, in a spiritual manner, a consuming takes place. The description here is of a state of desolation owing to a deprivation of truth, the final stage of that state being despair. The reason despair is the final stage of that state is that despair is the means by which the delight that belongs to self-love and love of the world is removed, and the delight connected with the love of what is good and true is instilled in place of it. The despair experienced by those who are to be regenerated has to do with the attainment of spiritual life and with being deprived of truth and good. For when such people are deprived of truth and good they are in despair about the attainment of spiritual life; consequently they have feelings of delight and bliss when they come out of their despair.

A "field" in the Bible usually represents the Lord's church, and more specifically the desire for good within the church. It's where good things start, take root, and grow. When you have a desire to be a good person and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?", "What should I do?", "What can I do?". You look for ideas, concepts, direction. Once you figure out something you want to do or a change you want to make in yourself, you seek specific knowledge. If you want to volunteer at a food pantry, say, you'd need to know whom to call, when they need help, where to go, what to bring. Armed with that knowhow, you're ready to get to work. That process could be compared to food production. You start with a field -- which is that desire to be good. Then you plant seeds -- those ideas and concepts. Those seeds sprout into plants -- the specific facts and knowledge needed for the task (easily seen in the food pantry example, but also true with deeper tasks like "being more tolerant of my co-workers" or "taking more time for prayer," or "consciously being a more loving spouse"). Finally, those plants produce food -- the actual good thing that you go and do. The Writings also say that in a number of cases a "field" represents the doctrine, or teachings, of the church. This sounds markedly different. The desire for good is emotional, a drive, a wanting; doctrine is a set of ideas. But for a church to be true, its doctrine must be centered on a desire for good, and must lead people toward doing what is good. So sound doctrine is actually closely bound up with the desire for good.