'A nation,' as in Genesis 21:18, signifies the spiritual church which should receive the good of faith.

In Isaiah 1:4, this signifies evils of the will, or lusts, while people signify falsities of the understanding, or persuasions. (Arcana Coelestia 622)

In Psalm 106:5, this signifies the Lord's kingdom. (Arcana Coelestia 1416[5])

In Ezekiel 29:15, this signifies the gentiles who will no longer be under the dominion of external truths. (Arcana Coelestia 409, 410)

In Micah 7:16, this signifies people who trust in themselves. (Arcana Coelestia 249)

(참조: Arcana Coelestia 2699; Jeremiah 5, 5:17, Jeremiah 17)

410. There are two kinds of vastation. The first is the vastation of people who know yet do not wish to know, or who see yet do not wish to see, as was characteristic of the Jews, and is characteristic of Christians at the present time. The second is the vastation of people who neither know nor see anything because they have no knowledge, as was characteristic of gentiles in the past and still is characteristic of them today. When the final point of vastation is reached with those who know and yet do not wish to know, or who see and yet do not wish to see, a Church rises up anew, not however among the same people, but among others whom they call gentiles. This was what happened to the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood, what happened to the Ancient Church after the Flood, and also what happened to the Jewish Church. The reason new light at that point starts to shine for the first time is, as has been stated, that it is then no longer possible for people to profane things that are revealed, since they do not acknowledge and believe that these are true.