1020. That these things are meant becomes clear from the fact that everything put together as history from Genesis 1 down to Eber in Chapter 11 means something different from what appears in the letter, and from the consideration that the historical narratives there are purely made-up history customary among the most ancient people. When attesting the truth of some matter they would say that 'Jehovah said it'. Here however 'God' is used because the subject is the spiritual Church. And they did the same when anything true was being, or had been, put into effect.

4492. 'All who went out of the gate of his city' means that they departed from the doctrine of the Church among the Ancients. This is clear from the meaning of 'going out' here as departing from, and from the meaning of 'the gate of the city' as doctrine, dealt with in 2943, 4477, here the doctrine of the Church among the Ancients, since it was the gate of 'his', that is, Shechem's, city. For 'Shechem' represents the truth of the Church among the Ancients, 4454, the phrase 'the Church among the Ancients' being used to mean that which descended from the Most Ancient Church, as also stated already. The implications of this will be evident from what follows next.