2426. Lest peradventure the evil cleave to me, and I die. That this signifies that then it could not but come to pass that he would be at the same time in evil, and that thereby he would be condemned, is evident without explication. What these words involve may be known from what has been said and shown before (n. 301-303vvv2, 571, 582, 1001, 1327, 1328), namely, that the Lord constantly provides that evil should not be commingled with good; but that insofar as a man is in evil, so far is he removed from good; for it is better for a man to be altogether in evil, than in evil and at the same time in good. For if he is in evil and at the same time in good, he must needs be damned eternally. It is the deceitful and hypocrites within the church who are most in danger of this. Such therefore is the meaning, in the internal sense, of “lest the evil cleave to me, and I die.”

1328. And from thence did Jehovah scatter them upon the faces of all the earth. That this signifies that internal worship was annihilated, may be seen from the signification of “scattering,” as being to dissipate. In the proximate sense, the scattering over the faces of all the earth, means the dispersion of those who desire to build the city of Babel; but as these are they who deprive others of all the knowledge of truth, as before said, the words signify, at the same time, the deprivation of internal worship; for the one is a consequence of the other; and here we have the consequence, for it is stated for the third time. That the First Ancient Church was deprived of the knowledges of truth and good, is evident from the fact that the nations which constituted that Ancient Church became for the most part idolaters, and yet had a certain external worship. The lot of those idolaters who are outside the church is much better than that of those idolaters who are within the church; for the former are external idolaters, whereas the latter are internal idolaters. That the lot of the former is better, is evident from the words the Lord spoke in Luke 13:23, 28-30; Matthew 8:11-12. This therefore is the reason why the state of this Ancient Church was changed.