5433. 'You have come to see the nakedness of the land' means that nothing would please them more than to know for themselves that they are not truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming to see' as wishing to know that a thing is so, and therefore as nothing would give greater pleasure than to know it; from the meaning of 'the nakedness' as a lack of truths, thus that they are not truths, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the land' as the Church (see 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355, 4447, 4535). So that 'the nakedness of the land' here means a lack of truths known to the Church. The reason 'the nakedness' means a deprivation or lack of truths is that 'clothes' in general means truths, while each specific type of garment means some particular kind of truth, see 2576, 3301, 4545, 4677, 4741, 4742, 4763, 5248, 5319, and therefore 'the nakedness' means a lack of truths, as will also be seen from the places below that are quoted from the Word.

[2] The implications of this may be seen from what has been stated immediately above in 5472, where it is said that people who do not learn truths for truth's own sake and for their life's sake, but for the sake of material gain, inevitably think that the truths known to the Church are not truths. The reason for this is that the affection for gain is an earthly affection, whereas the affection for truth is a spiritual one. One or the other must have dominion, for no one can serve two masters. Consequently where one affection exists the other does not, so that where the affection for truth is present the affection for gain is absent, and where the affection for gain is present the affection for truth is absent. This being so, if the affection for material gain has dominion, then inevitably nothing pleases the person more than to know that truths are not truths. Yet nothing else pleases him more than when others believe that truths are truths. If the internal man looks downwards, that is to say, towards earthly things and makes these everything, he cannot possibly look upwards and have anything there since earthly things completely swallow up and smother everything. The reason for this is that the angels from heaven who are present with a person cannot dwell among earthly things; they therefore depart, in which case spirits from hell draw near who, while they are present with a person, cannot dwell among heavenly things. As a consequence he then thinks that heavenly things are of no importance, while earthly ones are everything. And when that person thinks that earthly things are everything, he believes himself to be more learned and wiser than everybody else, in that he himself does not accept the truths known to the Church, and at the same time says that they exist for those who are simple. The affection that moves a person is therefore either an earthly affection or else a heavenly one, for he cannot have his being simultaneously with angels from heaven and with spirits from hell; for if he did he would be left hanging between heaven and hell. But when he is moved by an affection for truth for truth's own sake, that is, for the sake of the Lord's kingdom (where Divine Truth is present) and so for the Lord's sake, he is among angels. He does not in this case despise material gain insofar as it enables him to lead his life in the world. But such gain is not his end in view, only the useful purposes it serves which are seen by him as intermediate ends leading on to an ultimate heavenly one. This being so, his heart is by no means at all set on material gain.

[3] The fact that 'the nakedness' means a lack of truths may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in John,

To the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write, Because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy, so that I have need of nothing - when you do not know that you are wretched and miserable, and needy, and blind, and naked.... Revelation 3:17.

Here being 'naked' stands for suffering from a scarcity of truth. In the same place,

I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified in the fire, and white garments to clothe you, and do not let the shame of your nakedness be manifested. Revelation 3:18.

'Buying gold' stands for acquiring good and making this one's own, 'that you may become wealthy' for acquiring it to the end that celestial and spiritual good may be present; 'white garments' stands for spiritual truths, 'the shame of nakedness' for the lack of any goodness or truth. For 'buying' means acquiring and making one's own, see 5374; 'gold' celestial and spiritual good, 1551, 1552; 'garments' truths, 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319; while 'white' is attributed to truth because this comes from the light of heaven, 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319.

[4] In the same book,

Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who is awake and keeps his garments, so that he may not walk naked. Revelation 16:15.

'He who keeps his garments' stands for the person who hangs on to truths. 'So that he may not walk naked' stands for so that he is not without truths. In Matthew,

The King will say to those at His right hand, I was naked and you clothed Me around, and to those at His left, I was naked and you did not clothe Me around. Matthew 25:36, 43.

'Naked' stands for the good who acknowledge that within themselves no good or truth at all exists, 4958.

[5] In Isaiah,

Is not this the fast, to break your bread for the hungry, and that you may bring afflicted outcasts to your house, when you see the naked and cover him? Isaiah 58:7.

Here the meaning is similar. In Jeremiah,

Jerusalem sinned grievously, therefore she became a menstruous woman; all who honoured her despised her, for they saw her nakedness. Lamentations 1:8.

Here 'nakedness' stands for a lack of truths. In Ezekiel,

You reached full beauty, your breasts were formed and your hair had grown; but you were naked and bare. I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. You did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare. Ezekiel 16:7-8, 22.

[6] This refers to Jerusalem, by which the Ancient Church is meant - what it was like when it was first established and what it came to be like after that. That is to say, initially it was lacking in truths, after which it was furnished with them, but finally it cast them aside. In the same prophet,

If a man is righteous, one who has executed judgement and righteousness, he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing. Ezekiel 18:5, 7.

'Covering the naked with clothing' stands for furnishing with truths those who desire truths. In Hosea,

Lest I strip her naked, present her as she was on the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a land of dryness, and slay her with thirst. Hosea 2:3.

'Stripping her naked' stands for leaving her without truths. In Nahum,

I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. Nahum 3:5.

'Showing the nations its nakedness' stands for its ugliness. All ugliness is a result of the absence of truths, all beauty a result of the presence of them, 4985, 5199.

1850. That 'will I judge' means visitation and judgement becomes clear without explanation. Judging or judgement does not mean some last judgement, as most people suppose, that is to say, a time when heaven and earth are to pass away and then a new heaven and a new earth are to be created, as described in the Prophets and in the Book of Revelation, and thus a time when all things are to be destroyed. This conception has become so widespread that it has taken possession of even the best-informed minds, so much so that they do not believe the dead are to rise again until that time. As a consequence because that time has been foretold and yet after the passing of so many centuries since the prediction was made they do not see it happening or about to do so, they feel safe in confirming themselves in their assurance that there is no truth in the idea, thus that they are not going to rise again. But it should be recognized that no such thing is meant by the Last Judgement, that is, by the prediction that heaven and earth are to be destroyed. According to the sense of the letter that is indeed the meaning, but not according to the internal sense. By the Last Judgement, according to the internal sense, is meant the final period of the Church, and by heaven and earth's passing away is meant the Church as regards internal and external worship - a Church that ceases to be a Church when no charity exists.

[2] A Last Judgement of the Most Ancient Church took place when all charity and faith were at an end and when no perception existed, as was the situation just before the Flood. The Flood itself, which has been dealt with above, was the Last Judgement of that Church. At that point heaven and earth, that is, the Church, passed away, and a new heaven and a new earth, that is, a new Church called the Ancient Church, was created, which too has been dealt with. This Church as well had its final period, namely when all charity was growing cold and all faith was being blacked out. This was about the time of Eber. This period was the Last Judgement of that Church, which was the heaven and earth that passed away.

[3] The new heaven and the new earth was the Hebrew Church. This too had its final period or Last Judgement when it had become idolatrous. A new Church was as a consequence established, and this was accomplished among the descendants of Jacob. That which was called the Jewish Church was nothing other than a Church representative of charity and faith. In that Church, that is, among the descendants of Jacob, no charity or faith existed, and therefore no Church existed but merely the representative of a Church. This was so because direct communication of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens with any true Church on earth was not possible, and therefore an indirect communication by means of representatives was effected. The last period or Last Judgement of this so-called Church was when the Lord came into the world, for at that time representatives came to an end, that is to say, the sacrifices and similar practices did so; and to bring these to an end the Jews were expelled from the land of Canaan.

[4] After this a new heaven and a new earth were created, namely a new Church which must be called the Primitive Church, which was begun by the Lord and after that gradually grew stronger, and which at first possessed charity and faith. The destruction of this Church is foretold by the Lord in the Gospels and by John in the Book of Revelation, and it is this destruction which is called the Last Judgement. Not that heaven and earth are now going to pass away but that a new Church will be raised up in some part of the world, while the present one continues in existence with its external worship just as the Jews do with theirs. As is quite well known, their worship includes no charity or faith at all, that is, nothing of the Church. So much for the Last Judgement in general.

[5] In particular there is a last judgement for everyone immediately after he has died, for at this point he passes over into the next life, in which, once he has entered into the life that was his in the body, he undergoes a judgement that points either to death or to life. This last judgement involves every detail of the person. With him whose judgement is to death every single detail condemns him, for there is nothing in his thought and will, not the smallest thing, that does not show the same as his individual last judgement or draw him towards death. But with him whose judgement is to life, every single detail of his thought or will in a similar way possesses the image of his individual last judgement and bears him towards life. For as is the person in general, so is he in every detail of his thought and affection. These are the things meant by the Last Judgement.