2401. 'And said, Rise up, go out of this place' means that they were not to remain in a state of evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'rising up' and 'going out', and also of 'place'. 'Rising up' occurs often in the Word, being one of the common expressions found there, but little thought is given to what else it may mean. In the internal sense however it entails, as it does here, being raised up from evil to good, for the mind is raised up when it draws back from evil, 2388. 'Going out' means drawing back or not remaining, while 'place' means a state of evil, 2393. From this it is evident what the meaning is here.

[2] The character of people who possess cognitions of truth but at the same time lead a life of evil has been stated frequently already - that as long as they lead a life of evil they believe nothing; for to will evil and consequently to do it, and at the same time in faith to acknowledge truth, is not possible. From this it is also evident that a person cannot be saved by thinking and speaking what is true, nor even what is good, if he wills nothing but evil, and as a consequence of what he wills does nothing but evil. Man's will itself is what lives on after death, and not so much his thinking apart from that which flows from his will.

[3] Since therefore a person's character after death is determined by what he wills, one can see what he is able to think about the truths of faith he has absorbed, indeed taught, seeing that these condemn him. He is in this case so disinclined to think from them that he avoids them altogether. Indeed insofar as he is allowed, he curses them, as the devil's crew do. People who have not been taught about the life after death may imagine that they will find it easy at that time to receive faith when they see that the Lord governs the whole of heaven, and when they hear that heaven is loving Him and the neighbour. But evil people are as far removed from being able to receive faith, that is, from having the will to believe, as hell is from heaven. They are in fact totally immersed in evil and in falsity derived from this. From their mere arrival itself or presence it is recognized and perceived that they are against the Lord and against the neighbour and so against what is good and consequently against what is true. There is an unmentionable sphere which emanates from the life of their will and so of their thinking, 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504.

[4] If it were possible for people to believe and become good merely by receiving instruction in the next life no one would be left in hell; for no matter how many, the Lord desires to raise them all up to heaven towards Himself. For His mercy is infinite since it is Divine mercy itself and is indeed directed towards the whole human race, and so towards the evil as well as the good.

1317. That 'this they have started to do' means that they are now starting to become different becomes clear from the train of thought. 'Having started to do' here means their thought or intention, and therefore their end in view, as is clear also from the statement that comes next -'and now they will not be held back from anything which they have thought of doing'. The reason why in the internal sense end in view is meant is that the Lord regards nothing else in man but the end he has in view. Whatever his thoughts and deeds may be, varying in countless ways, they are all good provided the end in view is good. But if the end is bad everything is bad. The end in view controls every single thing a person thinks or does. The angels present with man, being the Lord's, control nothing of the man except his ends. In controlling these they also control his thoughts and deeds, since all of these are determined by the end. A person's end in view is his very life. Everything he thinks and does receives its life from the end, for, as has been stated, it is determined by the end. As is a person's end in view therefore, so is the life within him. His end is nothing else than his love, for nobody can have as his end in view anything other than that which he loves. Even someone who thinks one thing but does another has that which he loves as his end. The presence, or the deceit, holds within itself that end, which is self-love or love of the world, and the resulting delight of his life. From these considerations anyone may deduce that a person's life is such as his love is. These then are the ideas meant by 'having started to do'.