2335. 'For we will spend the night in the street' means that He was willing, so to speak, to judge from truth. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'the street' and from the meaning of 'spending the night'. 'Street' is mentioned in various places in the Word, and in the internal sense has a similar meaning to 'a way', namely, truth; for a street is a way within a city, as will be clear from the places quoted in the next paragraph. That here 'spending the night' is judging may become clear from the meaning of 'the night'. It has been shown above in 2323 that 'the evening' means the penultimate state of the Church when faith is starting to be no more. It also means the visitation which takes place prior to judgement. From this it is evident that night which follows is the last state when faith is no more, and also when judgement takes place. From this it is plain that in the internal sense 'spending the night in the street' means judging from truth.

[2] As for judgement it is twofold, that is to say, there is judgement from good and judgement from truth. People who have faith are judged from good, but those who do not have it are judged from truth. The fact that those who have faith are judged from good is quite clear in Matthew 25:34-40, while those who do not have it are judged from truth, in verses 41-46. Those judged from good are saved since they have accepted good, but those judged from truth are condemned because they have rejected good. Good is the Lord's, and those who acknowledge this in life and faith are the Lord's, and are therefore saved; but those who do not acknowledge it in life, nor consequently in faith, cannot be the Lord's nor thus be saved. They are judged therefore according to the actions done in their life and according to their thoughts and ends in view. And when judged according to these they are inevitably condemned, for the truth is that of himself man can do, think, and intend nothing but evil, and of himself rushes towards hell insofar as he is not held back from that place by the Lord.

[3] The situation with regard to judgement from truth is this: The Lord never judges anyone except from good, for His will is to lift all men, however many these may be, up to heaven, indeed if it were possible, up to Himself. For the Lord is mercy itself and good itself, and mercy itself and good itself cannot possibly condemn anyone. It is man who, in rejecting good, condemns himself. As a person has fled habitually from good during his lifetime, so in the next life he flees from it, and therefore from heaven and the Lord. For the Lord cannot be present except within good. He is present in truth as well, but not in truth separated from good. That the Lord does not condemn anyone, that is, does not judge them to hell, He Himself declares in John,

God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world but that the world might be saved through Him. This is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, but men preferred darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:17, 19.

And in the same gospel,

If anyone hears My words, yet does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. John 12:47.

[4] See in addition what has been said already on these matters in 223, 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 2258. When judgement was dealt with above in 2320, 2321, it was shown that all judgement belongs to the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy proceeding, according to the Lord's words in John,

The Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgement to the Son. John 5:22.

Now however it is said that the Lord does not judge anyone by condemning him. This shows the nature of the Word in the letter - that unless understood from a sense other than the letter, namely from the internal sense, it would be unintelligible. The internal sense alone shows what is really involved in judgement.

592. 'Jehovah said, I will wipe out man' means that man would bring about his own end. This is clear from what has been stated already, that is to say, about statements made to the effect that Jehovah or the Lord punishes, tempts, does evil, wipes out or slays, and curses; for example, the statement that Jehovah slew Er, Judah's firstborn, and Onan, Judah's second son, Genesis 38:7, to; or the statement that Jehovah smote all the firstborn of Egypt, Exodus 12:10, 29. Also in

Jeremiah,

Those whom I smote in My anger, and in My fierce anger. Jeremiah 33:5.

In David,

He let loose on them His fierce anger, exceeding anger, and rage, and distress, a mission of evil angels. Psalms 78:49.

In Amos,

Will evil befall a city, and Jehovah has not done it? Amos 3:6.

In John,

Seven golden bowls full of the anger of God who lives for ever and ever. Revelation 15:1, 7; 16:1.

All of these qualities are attributed to Jehovah when in fact He is quite the reverse of them. They are attributed to Him for the reason already given, and also so that people may grasp first of all the very general idea that the Lord rules over and disposes every single thing there is. Then after that they may grasp the idea that the Lord never does evil, let alone slays anyone, but that instead it is man who brings evil upon himself, destroys, and slays himself. In one sense it is not man who does so but the evil spirits who incite him and lead him on. Yet in reality it is the man, for what else does he believe than that he himself does what he does? So then it is here said of Jehovah that He would wipe out man, though in fact it was man who would destroy himself and bring about his own end.

[2] The situation in this matter becomes particularly clear from those in the next life who are living in torment and in hell. They are constantly complaining and ascribing to the Lord all the evil that punishes. And so do evil spirits in the world of evil spirits who take delight, indeed it is their chief delight, in hurting and punishing others. And those who are being hurt and punished assume that it is sent by the Lord. They are told and shown that not a hint of evil comes from the Lord, but that they bring the evil upon themselves. For in the next life all is counterbalanced in such a way that evil recoils on the one who commits it, and becomes evil that punishes. Punishment is therefore inevitable. It is said to be permitted for the sake of correcting evil; yet all the time the Lord is converting all evil that punishes into good, with the result that nothing but good ever comes from the Lord. What permission is however nobody as yet knows. What is permitted is considered to be something done by Him who permits simply because He does permit it. But in reality the situation is altogether different, a subject which in the Lord's Divine mercy will be dealt with later on.