2373. 'Now we will do more harm to you than to them' means that they would reject the good of charity even more than they rejected the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy proceeding. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'Lot' as good that flows from charity, for Lot represents those with whom the good of charity is present, 2324, 2351, 2371; and from the meaning of 'the men', who were angels, as the Lord as regards the Divine Human and His Holy proceeding, dealt with above. From this it is evident that 'doing more harm to you than to them' has this meaning. Those inside the Church who are immersed in evil reject charity even more than they deny the Lord, the reason being that in so doing they can look favourably upon their own lusts through a semblance of religion and engage in external worship which has no internal, that is, a worship of the lips and not of the heart; and the more they regard this worship to be Divine and Holy, the greater the positions and wealth they attain. And in addition to this there are many other hidden yet manifest reasons. For the fact of the matter is that the person who rejects charity, that is to say, rejects it in doctrine and at the same time in life, also rejects the Lord. Though he does not dare to do so with the lips he nevertheless does so in his heart, a fact which is expressed even in the sense of the letter by the statement 'they came near to break down the door' which means that they went so far as to try and destroy them both. But what prevents the actual realization of the attempt is no hidden matter.

2351. 'They cried out to Lot, and said to him' means anger directed against good on the part of falsity deriving from evil. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'crying out', also of 'Lot', and so from the feeling that is being expressed. The expression 'cry out' has reference to what is false, as shown in 2240, while 'Lot' represents members of the Church with whom good exists, and so represents good itself, 2324. From this meaning of 'cry out' and this representation of 'Lot', and from the feeling of anger which these words hold within them, it is clear that anger directed against good on the part of falsity deriving from evil is meant. There are many kinds of falsity, but they all fall into two general categories - either into falsity which is a product of evil, or into falsity which is a producer of evil, see 1188, 1212, 1295, 1679, 2243.

[2] Falsity from evil, within the Church, is in particular that falsity which looks favourably on evils of life, such as the falsity that good, or charity, does not make anyone a member of the Church, but truth, or faith; and that a person is saved, no matter whether throughout the whole course of his life he has led a life of evil deeds, provided that when the desires and sensations of the body decline - as usually happens shortly before death - he utters some profession of faith with apparent affection. This is the falsity which in particular has its anger directed against good and which is meant by the words 'they cried out to Lot'. The cause of anger exists in everything that endeavours to destroy the delight that belongs to any love. It is termed 'anger' when evil attacks good, but 'zeal' when good reproves evil.