A "house" is essentially a container -- for a person, a family, several families or even a large group with shared interests (think of the term "houses of worship.") In the Bible, a "house" is also a container, but for spiritual things rather than natural things. In various uses a "house" can represent part of the mind, the whole mind, a whole person or even a church. The other nuance to the word "house" is that it is generally used in regards to our affections and desires rather than our thoughts and principles. This makes sense; we tend to engage our thoughts and rationality when we are out in the world doing our work, but when we are inside our houses we are driven most by love for our families and the desire to be good to those we love. So "house" tends to represent the things we want and care about -- which are ultimately the things that define us.

7689. 'And they devoured every plant in the land' means that it consumed every known fact about truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'devouring' as consuming; and from the meaning of 'a plant in the land' as a known fact about truth. For 'a plant in the field' means a truth that the Church possesses, 7571, because 'the field' is the Church, but 'a plant in the land' means a known fact about truth, because 'the land' here is the natural mind, and truth as it exists in the natural mind is factual knowledge. Furthermore the evil are not in possession of any truth of faith, only of knowledge about the truth of faith. Some evil people within the Church are convinced that they do possess the truth of faith, but they do not; they are ruled by falsity and opposed to the truth of faith. The falsity they are ruled by is deeply hidden within them as long as they are in the world, but that deeply hidden falsity emerges and reveals itself in the next life when they undergo vastation of the truths of faith they had known.