4852. 'The wife of Judah' means the semblance of religion existing among the nation descended from Jacob, specifically that from Judah. This is clear from the meaning of 'the wife' as the Church, dealt with in 252, 253, 409, 749, 770, but here as a semblance of religion because the subject is the Jewish nation, among which no Church existed, only an external shell of a Church separated from anything internal, 4281, 4288, 4289, 4307, 4433, 4500, 4680, 4825, 4844, 4847 (this cannot be called anything else than the semblance of religion, for only external holiness completely devoid of any internal holiness could exist with them, 4293); and from the representation of 'Judah' as the nation descended from Jacob, and specifically that descended from Judah, dealt with above in 4815, 4842.

410. There are two kinds of vastation. The first is the vastation of people who know yet do not wish to know, or who see yet do not wish to see, as was characteristic of the Jews, and is characteristic of Christians at the present time. The second is the vastation of people who neither know nor see anything because they have no knowledge, as was characteristic of gentiles in the past and still is characteristic of them today. When the final point of vastation is reached with those who know and yet do not wish to know, or who see and yet do not wish to see, a Church rises up anew, not however among the same people, but among others whom they call gentiles. This was what happened to the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood, what happened to the Ancient Church after the Flood, and also what happened to the Jewish Church. The reason new light at that point starts to shine for the first time is, as has been stated, that it is then no longer possible for people to profane things that are revealed, since they do not acknowledge and believe that these are true.