3028. Verses 5-6 And the servant said to him, Perhaps the woman is not willing to go after me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came? And Abraham said to him, Beware that you do not by any chance take my son back there.

'The servant said to him' means the Lord's perception concerning the natural man. 'Perhaps the woman is not willing to go after me to this land' means doubt in the natural man as to whether that affection was separable. 'Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?' means whether it could nevertheless be joined to the Divine good of the Rational. 'Abraham said to him' means the Lord's perception coming from the Divine. 'Beware that you do not take my son back there' means that it could not possibly be joined.

2418. 'Do not halt in all the plain' means he was not to linger over any one of these. This is clear from the meaning of 'a plain' as every aspect of doctrine, dealt with immediately below. What not lingering over any one of them entails will be stated at verse 26, where Lot's wife is referred to as looking back behind him. That 'a plain' in the Word means all aspects of that doctrine is clear in Jeremiah,

He who lays waste will come to every city, and no city will escape; and the valley will perish, and the plain will be destroyed. Jeremiah 48:8.

'City' stands for false doctrinal teaching, 'the plain' for all aspects of that doctrine. In John,

When the thousand years have come to an end Satan will be loosed from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. They went up therefore over the whole plain of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints; but fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them. Revelation 20:7-9.

Here 'Gog and Magog' stands for people whose worship was external devoid of internal and so had become idolatrous, 1151. 'The plain of the earth' stands for the Church's matters of doctrine which they lay waste, 'the camp of the saints' for goods that flow from love and charity. 'Consumed by fire from God out of heaven' is similar in meaning to that regarding the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, in verse 24. Also in Jeremiah 33:13 matters of doctrine regarding charity are called 'cities of the mountain' and matters of doctrine regarding faith 'cities of the plain'.