3652. The internal sense of these words is as follows:

When therefore you see the abomination of desolation means when the Church has undergone vastation, which is the situation when the Lord is acknowledged no longer, and therefore when there is no love of Him nor any belief in Him; also when there is no longer any charity towards the neighbour nor consequently any belief in what is good and true. When these conditions exist in the Church, or rather in the area where the Word is, that is to say, in the thoughts of the heart though not in the doctrine on the lips, it is a case of desolation, and the circumstances that have just been mentioned constitute 'the abomination of that desolation'. Consequently 'when you see the abomination of desolation' means when anyone witnesses such conditions. And what he is to do when he does witness them follows in verses 16-18.

[2] Spoken of by the prophet Daniel means, in the internal sense, spoken of by the Prophets, for when any prophet is mentioned by name in the Word it is not simply that prophet who is meant but the whole prophetical part of the Word, the reason being that names do not ever come through into heaven, 1876, 1888. Even so, one prophet does not have the same meaning as another. For what Moses, Elijah and Elisha mean, see the Preface to Chapter 18, and 2762. By 'Daniel' however is meant every prophetical statement concerning the Lord's coming and the state of the Church, in this case its final state. Much reference is made in the Prophets to vastation, and by the reference to it here in Daniel is meant in the sense of the letter the vastation of the Jewish and Israelitish Church, but in the internal sense the vastation of the Church in general, and thus also the vastation of it which is now at hand.

[3] Standing in the holy place means a vastation involving everything that forms part of what is good and true. 'The holy place' is a state of love and faith, for by 'a place' in the internal sense is meant a state, see 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387. The 'holy' element of that state consists in the good of love and in the truth of faith grounded in this. Nothing else is meant in the Word by the expression 'holy', for goodness and truth originate in the Lord, who is Holiness itself or the Sanctuary.

Let him who is reading this take note means that these matters are to be thoroughly understood by those within the Church, especially by those who have love and faith, to whom the present words refer.

[4] Then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains means that members of the Church are to fix their attention solely on the Lord and so on love to Him and on charity towards the neighbour. For 'Judea' means the Church, as will be shown below, while 'a mountain' means the Lord Himself but 'the mountains' love to Him and charity towards the neighbour, see 795, 796, 1430, 2722. According to the sense of the letter when Jerusalem was besieged, as was done by the Romans, they were not to resort to that city but to go onto the mountains, according to the following in Luke,

When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its devastation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee onto the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of it ¹ depart, but those who are out in the country let them not enter it. Luke 21:20-21.

[5] The same applies to this reference to Jerusalem; that is to say, in the sense of the letter it is the city of Jerusalem that is meant, but in the internal sense the Lord's Church, see 402, 2117. For every single thing mentioned in the Word concerning the Jewish and Israelitish people is representative of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church, as has been shown often. Consequently nowhere in the internal sense is 'Jerusalem' used to mean Jerusalem, or 'Judea' to mean Judea. But every single thing so mentioned was such that by means of it the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom were able to be represented. It was for the sake of what they represented that the events which have been recorded took place. Thus the Word was able to be written in such a way that it lay both within the mental grasp of people reading it, and within the understanding of angels who were present with them. This was also the reason why the Lord spoke in a similar way. Indeed if He had spoken in any other way it would not have come within the mental grasp of those reading it, especially at that time, nor simultaneously within the angels' power of understanding. Thus it would not have been accepted by man, nor understood by angels.

[6] Let him who is on the roof of the house not go down to take anything out of his house means that those in whom the good of charity is present should not therefore resort to matters of doctrine concerning faith. 'The roof of the house' in the Word means a person's higher state, and so his state as regards good, whereas what is below means a person's lower state, and so his state as regards truth. For what 'house' is, see 710, 1708, 2233, 2331, 3142, 3538. With regard to the state of a member of the Church, while he is undergoing regeneration he is at that time learning truth for the sake of good; for he possesses an affection for truth for the sake of that good. But once he has been regenerated truth and good are the basis of his actions. Once he has reached this state he ought not to go back to the previous state, for if he did he would then reason from truth about the good which is present with him and in so doing would pervert his present state. For all reasoning does and must come to an end when a person's state is one in which he wills what is true and good, for in that case the will and therefore conscience are the source of his thought and action, and not the understanding, as it had been previously. If he went back to the understanding as the source of his thought and action he would encounter temptations in which he would go under. These are the considerations meant by the statement 'let him who is on the roof of the house not go down to take anything out of his house'.

[7] And let him who is in the field not turn back to get his clothing (or tunic) means that neither should those in whom good that resides in truth is present forsake such good and resort to doctrine concerning truth. 'The field' in the Word means this state of man as regards good; for what 'field' means, see 368, 2971, 3196, 3310, 3317, 3500, 3508. And 'clothing' or tunic means that which clothes good, namely doctrine concerning truth, such being like clothing for good; for 'clothing' has that meaning, see 297, 1073, 2576, 3301. Anyone may see that deeper things lie concealed in these words than are visible in the letter; for the Lord Himself spoke them.

Poznámky pod čarou:

3316. 'Jacob boiled pottage' means matters of doctrine when massed together. This is clear from the representation of 'Jacob' as the doctrine of natural truth, dealt with in 3305, and so as matters of doctrine within the natural man, and from the meaning of 'pottage' as a massing together of such matters of doctrine. Indeed 'boiling pottage' is massing together; for the verb in the original language is strictly speaking the noun for 'pottage' - as if you were to say 'he pottaged pottage', that is, he massed it together. It is the first state in the joining together of good and truth that is described in this verse and in those that follow to the end of the chapter. The first state of one who is being regenerated - that is, with whom truth is being joined to good - is a state in which first of all matters of doctrine regarding what is true are massed together, without any definite order, in his natural man, that is, in the storehouse there called the memory. The matters of doctrine present there at that time may be compared to the undigested particles of some ingredient, not compounded with anything else but massed together, and may be compared to a kind of chaos. But the chaos exists to the end that they may be brought into an ordered condition; for with anything that is brought into an ordered condition chaos exists at first. This is what is meant by the pottage that Jacob boiled, that is, massed together. Those matters of doctrine are not brought into an ordered condition by anything within themselves but by the good that must enter into them; and the amount of good entering into them, also the essential nature of that good, determine how far they become ordered and the nature of their then ordered condition. When good first craves and desires matters of doctrine, to the end that they may be joined to itself, it is seen in the form of an affection for truth. These are the considerations meant by 'Esau said to Jacob, Let me sip now from the red [pottage], this red [pottage]'.

[2] Such considerations do indeed appear to be quite remote from the sense of the letter, but nevertheless when man reads these words and understands them according to the sense of the letter, the angels who reside with him at the time do not have any [natural] idea at all of pottage, or of Jacob, or of Esau, or of red, or of sipping from red [pottage]. Instead they have a spiritual idea of them, which is altogether different and remote from that natural idea. The idea of those persons and objects is instantly converted into a spiritual idea. And so it is with everything else in the Word, such as, for example, when one reads of bread there the angels do not perceive bread but instead of bread instantly perceive celestial love and things that belong to celestial love, which is love to the Lord. And when one reads in the Word of wine they do not perceive wine but instead of wine spiritual love and the things that belong to that love, which is love towards the neighbour. Accordingly when one reads of pottage or soup they do not perceive pottage or soup but matters of doctrine that are not as yet joined to good, and thus a disordered massing together of them. This shows the essence and character of angels' thought and perception, and how remote these are from man's thought and perception. If a person when in a holy frame of mind were to think as they do - such as during the Holy Supper - and instead of bread were to perceive love to the Lord, and instead of wine love towards the neighbour, his thought and perception would then be similar to the angels' who in that case would draw nearer to him till at length it would be possible for them to share their thoughts with him, though only insofar as good was at the same time present in that person.

[3] That 'pottage' or soup means a massing together may be seen also from what is said about the sons of the prophets and Elisha in the Book of Kings,

Elisha came again to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. And the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets. And one of them went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine, and gathered from it wild gourds his lap full, and came and cut them up into the pot of pottage, for they did not know [what they were]. And they poured out for the men to eat. And it happened, while they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, There is death in the pot, O man of God! And they could not eat it. And he said, Then bring flour. And he threw it into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people. And they ate, and there was no harm in the pot. 2 Kings 4:38-41.

In the internal sense these words have an altogether different meaning from what they do in the sense of the letter, that is to say, 'a famine in the land' means a dearth of cognitions of good and truth, 1460; 'the sons of the prophets' means those who teach, 2543; 'pottage' facts badly massed together; 'flour' truth which is obtained from good, or that which is spiritual obtained from that which is celestial, 2177. Thus the description of Elisha throwing the flour into the pot, at which point it ceased to contain anything harmful, means that those facts, massed together so, were put right by means of spiritual truth from the Lord's Word - for 'Elisha' represented the Lord as to the Word, 2762. Devoid of this spiritual sense the story about the pottage and the change effected by the flour would not have been worthy of mention in the most holy Word. As with the rest of the miracles in the Word, all of which conceal what is Divine within them, this miracle was performed for the sake of representing those things.