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.

2323. That 'evening' means the time when visitation takes place is clear from the meaning of 'evening'. In the Word states of the Church are compared both to seasons of the year and to times of day - the seasons of the year being summer, autumn, winter, and spring; the times of day, midday, evening, night, and morning. Such a similarity does indeed exist between the two. The state of the Church which is, called 'evening' is a state when charity starts to be no more and as a consequence faith to be no more - thus a state when the Church is ceasing to exist. This evening is that which is followed by night, see 22. But another state of the Church - when charity is shining and as a consequence faith, and so when a new Church is arising - is called 'evening'. By this is meant the twilight prior to the morning, see 883. Thus the word 'evening' means both these states. For when a Church is ceasing to exist the Lord provides for a new one to arise. These two processes take place simultaneously, for without a Church somewhere in the world the human race cannot remain in existence because it would have no conjunction with heaven, as shown in 468, 637, 931, 2054.

[2] In the present chapter both states of the Church are dealt with, that is to say, both the rise of a new Church represented by 'Lot' and the destruction of the old meant by 'Sodom and Gomorrah', as may be seen from the paragraphs above headed Contents. This is why it is said here that two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and why what happened in the evening is recorded, in verses 1-3, what happened during the night, in verses 4-14, what happened in the morning or at dawn, in verses 15-22, and what happened after sunrise, in verses 23-26.

[3] Since 'the evening' means these states of the Church it also means the visitation that takes place prior to judgement; for when judgement, that is, when the salvation of those who have faith and the condemnation of those who have no faith, is imminent, visitation takes place - such visitation being an examination of their character, that is, to see whether any charity or faith is there. This visitation occurs 'in the evening', which also is why visitation itself is called 'the evening', as in Zephaniah,

Woe to the inhabitants of the region of the sea, to the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will cause destruction in you until no inhabitant is left. The remnant of the house of Judah will pasture in the houses of Ashkelon, they will lie down in the evening, for Jehovah their God will visit them, and bring again their captivity. Zephaniah 2:5, 7.