2388. Hast thou yet anyone here? Son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of the place. That this signifies that all who are in the good of charity, and that all things belonging thereto, would be saved, and also those who are in the truth of faith, provided they would recede from evil, is evident from the signification of “sons-in-law,” of “sons,” of “daughters,” of “city,” and of “place,” concerning which in what follows.

[2] As regards those being saved who are in the truth of faith, provided they recede from evil, the case is this. The truths of faith are the very receiving vessels of good (n. 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269); and they receive good insofar as the man recedes from evil; for good continually flows in from the Lord, and it is the evil of life that hinders its being received in the truths which are with man in his memory or knowledge. Therefore insofar as a man recedes from evil, so far good enters and applies itself to his truths; and then the truth of faith with him becomes the good of faith. A man may indeed know truth, may also confess it under the incitement of some worldly cause, may even be persuaded that it is true; and yet this truth does not live so long as he is in a life of evil. For such a man is like a tree on which there are leaves, but no fruit; and His truth is like light in which there is no heat, such as there is in the time of winter when nothing grows. But when there is heat in it, the light then becomes such as there is in the time of spring, when all things grow. In the Word truth is compared to light and is called “light,” but heat is compared to love, and is also called spiritual heat. In the other life also truth manifests itself by light, and good by heat; but truth without good by cold light, and truth with good by light similar to that of spring. This shows what the truth of faith is without the good of charity. Hence it is that the sons-in-law and the sons, by whom such truths are signified, were not saved; but only Lot with His daughters.

[3] As it is here said that those also who are in the truth of faith are saved, provided they recede from evil, be it known that these are they who profess faith and think nothing about charity for the reason that they have been so instructed, and do not know what charity is (supposing that it consists merely in the giving of our own to others, and in pitying everybody), and who also do not know what the neighbor is toward whom charity is to be exercised (for they suppose that the neighbor is almost everybody, without distinction), and yet who live in the life of charity toward the neighbor, because in the life of good. It does these persons no harm to profess faith along with all the rest, for in their faith there is charity, since this means all the good of life in general and in particular. What therefore charity is, and what the neighbor, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be told in what follows.

2269. And He said, I will not destroy it if I find there forty and five. That this signifies that man should not perish if good and truth could be conjoined together, is evident from the signification of the number forty-five, as being conjunction. It has been already shown that the simple numbers retain their signification even when they are multiplied; and that consequently the greater numbers have a signification similar to that of the less; and such is the case with forty-five, which number is compounded by the multiplication of five into nine; and as it has been compounded by the multiplication of five into nine, it has the same signification as have “five” and “nine.” That “five” signifies a little, was shown above (n. 649), and that “nine” signifies conjunction, or what is conjoined (n. 2075); and thus the signification here is: If goods have in some measure been conjoined with truths. That in the Word numbers signify actual things, or states, is evident from what was said about fifty (n. 2252); also from what has been shown before concerning numbers (n. 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988).

[2] It is because “five” signifies a little, and “forty-five” conjunction, that the very setting forth of these numbers in this verse is of such a nature, for it is said, “Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous;” and by this is signified, If there should be somewhat less; and then it is said, “Wilt Thou destroy all the city for five?” by which is signified, Shall they perish for the little which is wanting? For as “five” signifies a little, this number is not employed again, but it is said, “I will not destroy it if I find there forty and five;” by which is signified that they would not perish if good and truth could be conjoined together. The reason also of its being said here “forty and five,” and not “if there lack five of fifty,” is because “five” not only signifies a little (as was shown, n. 649), but also signifies disjunction (as was likewise shown in volume 1, n. 1686); and therefore in order that not disjunction, but conjunction, might be signified, this number forty-five is named; for “forty-five” denotes some conjunction, as stated above; and thus in the internal sense all things follow on in a beautiful sequence Of their own.

[3] As regards the conjunction of good with truth, it is an arcanum which cannot be described so that it can be grasped by the ordinary comprehension. It must be told in a few words. The more genuine and pure the truth, the better can the good which is from the Lord be adapted into it as its recipient vessel; but the less genuine and pure the truth, the less can the good which is from the Lord be adapted into it; for they must correspond to each other, and the conjunction of the two is effected according to the correspondence. Goods cannot possibly be insinuated into falsities, nor evils into truths, as their recipient vessels; for they are of a contrary character and nature, the one casting out the other as its enemy; nay, should they attempt to conjoin themselves together, the one would spew out the other, that is to say, good would spew out evil as if it were poison, and evil would spew out good as if it were an emetic. Such enmity between good and evil has been provided by the Lord in order to prevent the possibility of their being commingled, for if they were commingled, the man would perish. In the deceitful and in hypocrites they are not far from being conjoined together, but still precautions are taken by the Lord in order to prevent their being so conjoined. This is the reason why in the other life those who are deceitful and those who are hypocrites suffer things more direful than those which are suffered by any others.