2459. 'Lot went up out of Zoar' means when the affection for truth existed with them no longer. This is clear from the meaning of 'Zoar' as the affection for truth, dealt with in 2439; and because 'he dwelt in the mountain, for he was afraid to live in Zoar' follows immediately after, the meaning is that the affection for truth existed with them no longer, because, as is clear from verse 26, all good that accompanies truth was vastated. The description at this point is of the fifth state of the Church represented by Lot, a state in which, when the affection for truth exists no longer, an impure kind of good, which is good enveloped in falsity, introduces itself.