2547. 'That you have brought great sin on me and on my kingdom' means that thereby the doctrine of faith and all matters of doctrine would be at risk. This is clear from the meaning of 'Abimelech', to whom the pronoun 'me' refers here, as the doctrine of faith, and from the meaning of 'kingdom' as the truth of doctrine or that which is a matter of doctrine. That 'a kingdom' in the internal sense means truths of doctrine, and in the contrary sense falsities of doctrine, is clear from the Word, as in Jeremiah,

He is the One who formed all things and the sceptre of His inheritance; Jehovah Zebaoth is His name. You are to me a hammer, weapons of war, and in You I will scatter the nations, and in You I will destroy the kingdoms. Jeremiah 51:19-20.

This refers to the Lord who, it is clear, is not going to scatter nations or destroy kingdoms but to do so to things meant by nations and kingdoms, namely evils and falsities of doctrine.

[2] In Ezekiel,

Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to where they have gone away, and will gather them from all around, and bring them into their own land; I will make them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one King will be King to them all, and they will no longer be two nations, nor will they be divided any longer into two kingdoms. Ezekiel 37:21-22.

'Israel' stands for the spiritual Church, 'nation' for the good of that Church, that is, of doctrine, for by 'nations' goods are meant, see 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849. 'Kingdom' stands for the truths of that Church. The fact that 'nations' and 'kingdoms' here mean something different from nations and kingdoms is quite evident, for the children of Israel, or the Israelites, are spoken of as being gathered together and brought into the land when in fact they were dispersed among the gentile nations and became such themselves.

[3] In Isaiah,

I will confound Egypt with Egypt, and they will fight, every one against his brother, and every one against his companion, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. Isaiah 19:2.

Here 'Egypt' stands for the reasonings based on facts concerning the truths of faith, 1164, 1165, 1186. 'City' stands for doctrine, in this case heretical doctrine, 402, 2268, 2449, 'kingdom' for falsity of doctrine. 'City against city and kingdom against kingdom' therefore stands for the fact that heresies and falsities will be in conflict with one another. The same is meant by the following words spoken by the Lord in reference to the close of the age, in Matthew,

Nation will be roused against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Matthew 24:7.

This stands for evils against evils, and falsities against falsities.

[4] The things that Daniel prophesied about the four kingdoms, Chapter 2:37-46; Daniel 7:17-end; and about the kingdoms of Media and Persia, Chapter 8:20-end; and about the kingdoms of the king of the south and the king of the north in Chapter 11; and the things that John too prophesied in the Book of Revelation about kings and kingdoms, have no other meaning. Those kingdoms are used solely to mean states of the Church as regards truths and falsities. The conditions of monarchs and of earthly kingdoms in the sense of the letter are in the internal sense states of the Church and of the Lord's kingdom. In the internal sense nothing else occurs there than spiritual and celestial things, for regarded in itself the Word of the Lord is purely spiritual and celestial; but so that it may be read and understood by man, no matter who, ideas of the things which belong to heaven are conveyed by means of such things as exist on earth.

2449. That 'He overthrew those cities' means that all truths were separated from them so that they might possess falsities alone is clear from the meaning of 'cities' as matters of doctrine, and so as truths, for truths make up matters of doctrine, dealt with in 402, 2268, 2428. These are said to be 'overthrown' when falsities stand in place of truths, here when all truths have been separated from them, as well as all goods - goods too being dealt with in this verse, since the subject is the final state of those inside the Church who are governed by falsities and evils.

[2] This also is what their state comes to be, which, so that the nature of it may be known, must be described briefly. All who enter the next life are taken back to a life similar to that which they were leading during their lifetime., Then in the case of the good evils and falsities are separated so that the Lord may raise these people up by means of goods and truths into heaven; but in the case of the evil goods and truths are separated so that those evil ones may be carried away by means of evils and falsities into hell, see 2119, in exact accord with the Lord's words in Matthew,

To him who has, it will be given, so that he may have more abundantly; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Matthew 13:12.

And elsewhere in the gospel,

To everyone who has, it will be given, so that he may have in abundance; but from him who has not, it will be taken away. Matthew 25:29; Luke 8:18; 19:24-26; Mark 4:24-25.

The same is meant by the following words which appear in Matthew,

Let both grow together until the harvest; and at the time of harvest I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. The harvest is the close of the age. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. Matthew 13:30, 39-40.

The same point is made in the description of the net thrown into the sea gathering fish of various kinds, and how after that the good were sorted into vessels while the bad were thrown away; and this is how it will be at the close of the age, Matthew 13:47-50. What 'the close' is and that for the Church it entails events like these, see 1857, 2243.

[3] The reason why evils and falsities are separated in the case of people who are good is that the latter may not be left suspended between evils and goods and so that they may be raised up by means of goods into heaven. And the reason why goods and truths are separated in the case of the evil is so that they do not lead the upright astray by means of any goods present with them, and so that by means of their evils they may withdraw to the evil in hell. For in the next life such is the communication of all ideas comprising thought, and of all affections, that goods are communicated with the good, and evils with the evil, 1388-1390. Consequently unless separation took place countless harmful things would result, in addition to the fact that association together would not otherwise be possible. Yet all things are associated together in a very wonderful way, in heaven according to all the variations of love to the Lord and of mutual love, and consequently of faith, 685, 1394, and in hell according to all the variations of evil desires and of delusions resulting from these, 695, 1322. It should be recognized however that separation does not mean complete removal, for nothing anybody has once possessed is totally removed from him.