3900. Then if anyone says to you, Behold, here is the Christ! or There! do not believe it means a warning to beware of what they teach. 'The Christ' refers to the Lord as regards Divine Truth, and therefore to the Word and to doctrine from the Word. But here the contrary is clearly meant - Divine Truth falsified, or doctrine that teaches what is false. For 'Jesus' means Divine Good and 'Christ' Divine Truth, see 3004, 3005, 3008, 3009.

[2] For false Christs and false prophets will arise means the falsities taught by that doctrine. 'False Christs' means matters of doctrine from the Word that have been falsified, that is, truths that are not Divine, as is evident from what has been stated immediately above; see also 3010, 3732 (end). And 'false prophets' means those who teach those falsities, 2534. In the Christian world those who teach falsities are in particular those who have self-aggrandizement and also worldly wealth as their end in view. Indeed they twist the truths of the Word to suit themselves. For when self-love and love of the world is the end in view, nothing else is contemplated. These are the 'false Christs and false prophets'.

[3] And they will show great signs and wonders means proofs and convincing reasons that are based on outward appearances and on illusions by which the simple allow themselves to be led astray. The meaning of 'signs and wonders' will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown elsewhere.

[4] So as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect means those who lead lives that are good and true and who therefore abide in the Lord. These are the ones who in the Word are called 'the elect'. They are rarely present in a group of those who cloak worship that is profane with outward reverence; or if they are present there they go unrecognized because the Lord hides them and so protects them. Until they have been made strong by Him, they easily allow themselves to be led astray by external practices expressing reverence; but once they have been made strong they are not deceived. For though they are not aware of it, they are kept by the Lord in the company of angels, when it is impossible for them to be led astray by that unspeakable crew.

[5] Behold, I have told you beforehand means an exhortation to be shrewd, that is, to be on their guard, since they are among false prophets who appear in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves, Matthew 7:15. Those false prophets are the sons of the age who are more shrewd, that is, more cunning, in their own generation than the sons of light, referred to in Luke 16:8. For this reason the Lord warns them as follows,

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. Matthew 10:16.

[6] If therefore they say to you, Behold, He is in the wilderness! do not go out; Behold, He is in the inner rooms! do not believe it means that what they say about the truth, what they say about good, and many other things, are not to be believed. Nobody can see that this is the meaning of these words except one who is acquainted with the internal sense. They contain an arcanum within them, as one may see from the fact that the Lord spoke them and that without some other sense concealed within them interiorly they would not amount to anything. That is to say, the injunctions not to go out if they said that Christ was in the wilderness and not to believe it if they said that He was in the inner rooms would not amount to anything. But truth that has undergone vastation is what 'the wilderness' means, and good that has undergone vastation, what 'the inner rooms' or inward parts means. The reason why truth that has undergone vastation is meant by a wilderness is that when the Church has undergone vastation, that is, when there is no Divine truth there any longer because no good exists there any longer, that is, no love to the Lord or charity towards the neighbour, it is called a wilderness or said to be in the wilderness. For the word wilderness is used to mean everything that is uncultivated or uninhabited, 2708, and also to mean that which has little life to it, 1927, as is the case at that time with truth in the Church. From this it is evident that 'the wilderness' here means a Church in which truth does not exist.

[7] 'The inner rooms' or inward parts however in the internal sense means the Church as regards good, and also simply that which is good. A Church in which good is present is called 'the House of God', 'the inner rooms' in this case being forms of good, as also are the contents of that house. For 'the House of God' means Divine good, and 'a house' in general means good that flows from love and charity, see 2233, 2234, 2559, 3142, 3652, 3720. The reason why what they say about truth and what they say about good is not to be believed is that they call falsity the truth and evil good. Indeed people whose end in view is self and the world do not understand anything else by truth and good than that they themselves should be adored and they themselves should receive benefits. And if they give the impression that they are devout it is so that they may be seen dressed in sheep's clothing.

[8] What is more, the Word which the Lord has spoken contains more in it than anyone can calculate, and 'the wilderness' is an expression that has a wide range of spiritual meanings. As everything uncultivated or uninhabited is called 'the wilderness' and all things that are interior are called 'the inner rooms', therefore 'the wilderness' also means the Old Testament Word since this is considered to be superseded, while 'the inner rooms' means the New Testament Word since this teaches about interior things, that is, it is concerned with the internal man. The Word as a whole is likewise referred to as 'the wilderness' when it no longer serves to supply matters of doctrine, and 'inner rooms' is the name given to human practices which, being departures from the commands and ordinances of the Word, turn the Word into a wilderness. This is also well known in the Christian world, for people whose worship is outwardly holy but inwardly profane owing to the introduction of novelties which have as their end in view pre-eminence over all others and becoming wealthier than all others set aside the Word. Indeed they go so far as not to allow others to read it. And even in the case of those whose worship is not profane as just described and who do regard the Word to be holy and do allow it a place among ordinary people, they nevertheless bend and explain everything in accordance with their own teachings. And this turns the rest of the Word which does not accord with their own teachings into a wilderness, as becomes quite clear from those who focus salvation on faith alone and show contempt for the works of charity. They turn so to speak into a wilderness everything which the Lord Himself has stated in the New Testament, and so many times in the Old, about love and charity. And everything to do with faith without works is turned so to speak into inner rooms. From this it is evident what is meant by, If they say to you, Behold, He is in the wilderness! do not go out; Behold, He is in the inner rooms! do not believe it.

[9] For as the lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be means that internal worship of the Lord will be like lightning which is instantly dispersed. For 'lightning' means that which is a manifestation of heavenly light and thus that which has reference to love and faith since these are the components of heavenly light. 'East' in the highest sense means the Lord, in the internal sense good that flows from love, charity, and faith received from the Lord, see 101, 1250, 3249. 'West' in the internal sense however means that which has gone down or ceased to be, and so means the non-acknowledgement of the Lord or of good that flows from love, charity, and faith. Accordingly 'the lightning which comes from the east and is seen as far as the west' means dispersal. The Lord's coming does not consist, as the letter has it, in His appearing once again in the world, but in His presence within everyone. He is present there as often as the gospel is preached and that which is holy is contemplated.

[10] For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together means that confirmations of falsity by means of reasonings will be multiplied in the Church that has undergone vastation. When the Church is devoid of good and as a consequence devoid of the truth of faith, that is, when it has undergone vastation, it is called dead, since good and truth are the source of its life. And so when it is dead it is compared to 'the carcass'. Reasonings to the effect that goods and truths are nothing except insofar as they can be grasped mentally, and confirmations of evil and falsity by means of those reasonings, are meant by 'the eagles', as may be seen from what follows immediately below. The fact that 'the carcass' here means the Church when devoid of the life of charity and faith is evident from the Lord's words where the close of the age is the subject, in Luke,

The disciples said (referring to the close of the age or the Last Judgement), Where, Lord? Jesus said to them, Where the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. Luke 17:37.

'The body' is used here instead of the carcass, it being a dead body that is understood in this case, which means the Church. For it is clear from many references in the Word that the House of God - that is, the Church - is where the Judgement begins. These then are the details meant in the internal sense by the Lord's words which have been introduced and explained above. The most wonderful flow of ideas, though barely visible at all in the sense of the letter, may be seen by anyone who thinks about them in the connected sequence explained above.

3540. 'And she put the skins of the kids of the she-goats' means the external truths clothing homeborn good. This is clear from the meaning of 'skins' as external things, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'the kids of the she-goats', coming as they did from the flock bred within the homestead, as the truths which clothe homeborn good, dealt with in 3518, 3519, where it is also evident what homeborn good is and what truths from that source are. Any good whatever has its own truths, and any truths whatever have their own good. And they must be joined together - good to truths - if anything at all is to exist. The reason why 'skins' means external things is that the skin is the outer covering of an animal to which its exterior parts extend, even as the skin or the cuticles is such with a human being. The latter receives its spiritual meaning from what is representative in the next life, where there are people who belong to the province of the skin. These will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described at the ends of chapters below where the Grand Man will be presented as a separate subject. They are people in whom none but external good and the truths which go with this are present. This is why the skin, human or animal, means things that are external. The same is also evident from the Word, as in Jeremiah,

On account of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts have been uncovered, your heels have suffered violence. Can the Ethiopian change his skin and the leopard its spots? Also are you able to do good, having been taught to do evil? Jeremiah 13:22-23.

Here 'skirts' means external truths, 'heels' the lowest goods - 'the heel' and 'shoes' being the lowest natural things, see 259, 1748. And because those truths and goods, as it is said, spring from evil, they are compared to an 'Ethiopian', who was black, and his 'skin', and also to 'a leopard and its spots'.

[2] In Moses,

If you take your neighbour's clothing as a pledge you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down; for this is his only covering; it is his clothing for his skin, in which he will lie down. Exodus 22:26-27.

Inasmuch as all the laws contained in the Word, including civil and judicial ones, have a correspondence with laws in heaven concerning what is good and true, and from this correspondence came to be laid down, so it was with the law just quoted. For why else would it have ever been laid down that they were to restore clothing that had been pledged before the sun went down, and why else is it said that 'it is his clothing for his skin, in which he lies down'? The correspondence is evident from the internal sense, which is that people were not to cheat their neighbour of external truths, which are the matters of doctrine by which they conduct their lives, and also religious observances - 'clothing' meaning such truths, see 297, 1073, 2576, and 'the sun' the good of love or of life that ensues from those truths, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495. The prevention of that good from perishing is meant by the statement about the restoration of the pledge before the sun went down. And since the things laid down in those laws are the external coverings of interior things, or the outermost aspects of these, the words 'his clothing for his skin in which he lies down' are used.

[3] Because 'skins' meant external things it was commanded that there should be for the tent a covering made of red ram skins and over that a covering of badger skins, Exodus 26:14. For the tent was representative of the three heavens, and so of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom. The curtains enveloping it represented natural things, which are external, 3478; and these are the ram skins and the badger skins. And since external things are those which cover internal, or natural things are those which cover spiritual and celestial, in the way that the body does the soul, that command was therefore given. It was for a like reason commanded that when the camp was on the move Aaron and his sons were to cover the ark of the testimony with the veil and were to place a badger-skin covering over it. And over the table and what was on it they were to spread a twice-dyed scarlet cloth and then cover that with a badger-skin covering. They were likewise required to place the lampstand and all its vessels under a covering made of badger skin - also all the vessels for ministering they were to place under a violet cloth, and then cover them with a badger-skin covering, Numbers 4:5-6, 8, 10-12. Anyone who thinks about the Word in a devout way may see that Divine things were represented by all these objects, such as the ark, the table, the lampstand, and the vessels for ministering, also the coverings of twice-dyed scarlet and of violet, as well as the coverings of badger skin, and that these objects represented Divine things contained within external ones.

[4] Because the prophets represented those who teach, and therefore represented teaching from the Word concerning what is good and true, 2534; and because Elijah represented the Word itself, 2762, as also did John, who for that reason is called the Elijah who is to come, Matthew 17:10-13; and in order that these might represent the nature of the Word in its external form, that is, in the letter,

Elijah wore a skin girdle around his loins. 2 Kings 1:8. And John had a garment of camel hair and a skin girdle around his waist. Matthew 3:4.

Because animal 'skin' and human 'skin' means external things, which in relation to spiritual and celestial are natural things, and because it was customary in the Ancient Church to speak and to write by means of meaningful signs, reference is also made to both types of skin, and with the same meaning, in Job, a book of the Ancient Church. This becomes clear from a number of places in that book, including the following,

I know my Redeemer; He is alive; and at the last He will rise above the dust; and afterwards these things will be encompassed by my skin, and out of my flesh shall I see God. Job 19:25-26.

'Encompassed by skin' stands for the natural as it exists with someone after he has died, dealt with in 3539. 'Out of one's flesh seeing God' is doing so from a proprium made alive. For the proprium is meant by 'flesh', see 148, 149, 780; and the Book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church, a fact which is evident, as has been stated, from its style which draws on representatives and meaningful signs. It is not however one of the books called the Law and the Prophets, the reason being that it has no internal sense in which the one subject is the Lord and His kingdom. For it is this alone that determines whether any book is a Book of the true Word.