5782. 'And Judah said' means a perception imparted to the good of the Church in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' in the historical narratives of the Word as perception, dealt with often (it is an imparted perception because all perception comes from the internal, that is, it flows in from the Lord by way of the internal, 5779); and from the representation of 'Judah' as the good of the Church, dealt with in 5583, 5603, 5775. Regarding Judah's representation, it should be recognized that in the highest sense he represents the Lord as regards His Divine Love, and in the internal sense His celestial kingdom, see 3654, 3881, and so the celestial kind of love there. Here therefore the good of love present with the Church in the natural is meant because now it exists among those who represent things in the natural which are to be joined to the internal.

3655. The subject in the previous sections of Matthew 24 has been the first and second states of the perversion of the Church. The first state exists when people cease to know any longer what good is or what truth is, and instead argue with one another about these, as a result of which falsities arise, see 3354. And the second state exists when they treat good and truth with contempt and also reject them, and so when belief in the Lord breathes its last, which things take place step by step as charity ceases to exist, see 3487, 3488. Here the third state is now dealt with, which exists when good and truth in the Church are made desolate.