3653. From these considerations it may now be seen that these verses give a thorough description of the state of the Church when vastated as regards the goods of love and as regards the truths of faith. At the same time they urge what is to be done in those circumstances by those with whom such goods and truths are present. There are three kinds of people within the Church, namely, those who are moved by love to the Lord, those who are moved by charity towards the neighbour, and those who are moved by the affection for truth. Members of the first group - those moved by love to the Lord - are meant specifically in the injunction, Let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains. Members of the second group are those who are moved by charity towards the neighbour; and these are meant specifically in, Let him who is on the roof of the house not go down to take anything out of his house. Members of the third group are those who are moved by the affection for truth; and these are meant specifically in, Let him who is in the field not turn back to get his clothing. See what has been stated and explained already about these matters in Volume Two, in 2454, and also in the same paragraph what is meant by 'turning back' and 'looking back behind oneself'.

2053. 'My covenant shall be in your flesh' means conjunction of the Lord with man in his impurity. This is clear from the meaning of 'a covenant' as conjunction, dealt with above, and from the meaning of 'flesh' as man's proprium, also dealt with above, in 2041. How impure the proprium is has also been stated in that paragraph, and has been shown in Volume One, in 141, 150, 154, 210, 215, 694, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047. The implications of 'My covenant in your flesh' being the conjunction of the Lord with man in his impurity are as follows: No pure intellectual truth, which is Divine truth, resides with man. Instead the truths of faith residing with man are appearances of truth to which illusions of the senses attach themselves, and to these in turn falsities, belonging to the desires that go with self-love and love of the world. Such are the truths that reside with man. And how impure they are becomes clear from the fact that such illusions and falsities attach themselves to them.

[2] Nevertheless the Lord joins Himself to man within those very impurities, for with innocence and charity He brings soul and life to these, and in this way forms a conscience. The truths that constitute conscience vary, that is to say, they depend on the religion of the individual. These truths the Lord is unwilling to violate provided they are not contrary to the goods of faith, because the person has taken them to himself and considered them holy. The Lord breaks nobody, but bends him. This becomes clear from the consideration that every type of religious thought in the Church has followers who are being endowed with conscience. The closer its truths get to the genuine truths of faith the better that conscience is. Since it is from the truths of faith such as this that conscience is formed, it is clear that it has been formed in the understanding part of man's mind, for the understanding part is what receives those truths. This part of his mind the Lord has therefore miraculously separated from the will part. This is an arcanum previously unknown, concerning which see what has appeared in Volume One, in 863, 875, 895, 927, 1023. That 'covenant in your flesh' in addition denotes a meaningful sign, namely that of purification, is clear from what has been shown in 2039 about circumcision.