3653. From all this it is now evident that in these verses there is fully described the state of devastation of the church in respect to the goods of love and the truths of faith, and that at the same time there is given an exhortation to those who are in these goods and truths in regard to what they ought then to do. There are three kinds of men within the church; namely, those who are in love to the Lord; those who are in charity toward the neighbor; and those who are in the affection of truth. Those who belong to the first class, who are in love to the Lord, are specifically signified in the words, “let them that are in Judea flee into the mountains.” Those in the second class, who are in charity toward their neighbor, are specifically signified in the words, “let him that is upon the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.” Those in the third class, who are in the affection of truth, are specifically signified in the words, “and let him that is in the field not return back to take his garment.” (See what has been said and explained above in regard to these words, n. 2454; and what is meant by “returning back,” and “looking behind him.”)

368. That a “field” signifies doctrine, and consequently whatever belongs to the doctrine of faith and charity, is evident from the Word, as in Jeremiah:

O My mountain in the field, I will give thy possessions [facultates] and all thy treasures for a spoil (Jeremiah 17:3).

In this passage “field” signifies doctrine; “possessions” and “treasures” denote the spiritual riches of faith, or the things that belong to the doctrine of faith. In the same:

Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of My field? (Jeremiah 18:14).

It is declared concerning Zion, when destitute of the doctrine of faith, that she shall be “plowed like a field” (Jeremiah 26:18, Micah 3:12).

In Ezekiel:

He took of the seed of the land, and set it in a field of sowing (Ezekiel 17:5),

treating of the church and of its faith; for doctrine is called a “field” from the seed in it. In the same:

And let all the trees of the field know that I Jehovah bring down the high tree (Ezekiel 17:24).

In Joel:

The field is laid waste, the ground mourneth, for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth, the husbandmen are ashamed, the harvest of the field is perished, all the trees of the field are withered (Joel 1:10-12),

where the “field” signifies doctrine, “trees” knowledges, and “husbandmen” worshipers.

In David:

The field shall exult and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the forest sing (Psalms 96:12),where it is perfectly evident that the field cannot exult, nor the trees of the forest sing; but things that are in man, which are the knowledges of faith.

In Jeremiah:

How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field wither? (Jeremiah 12:4),

where it is also evident that neither the land nor the herbs of the field can mourn; but that the expressions relate to something in man while in a state of vastation. A similar passage occurs in Isaiah:

The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12).

The Lord also in His prediction concerning the consummation of the age calls the doctrine of faith a “field:”

Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left (Matthew 24:40; Luke 17:36),

where by a “field” is meant the doctrine of faith, both true and false. As a “field” signifies doctrine, whoever receives a seed of faith, whether a man, the church, or the world, is also called a “field.”