1663. They made war with Bera, king of Sodom; and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah; Shinab, king of Admah; and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim; and the king of Bela (which is Zoar), symbolizes just so many categories of evil desire and distorted conviction that the Lord fought against. This too can be seen from the symbolism of the kings and nations mentioned here, and from what follows as well. Again, explaining precisely which evil desire or distorted persuasion each of them symbolizes would take too long. The symbolism of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, and of Zoar has been touched on already [§§1212, 1589]. It is the most general or universal categories of evil and falsity that are symbolized on the inner level here, and they follow one another in order.
[2] The Lord underwent and suffered trials heavier than those of anyone else in the universe — the heaviest of all — but this is not well known from the Word, which merely notes that he was in the wilderness for forty days, where he was tested by the Devil [Matthew 4:1-2; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-2]. The actual trials that he then experienced are not described in more than a few words, but those few cover everything. In Mark 1:12-13, for instance, it says that he was with the animals there, which symbolize the worst of the hellish mob. Subsequent details — that the Devil led him onto the spires of the temple and onto a tall mountain — are nothing but images representing the terrible crises he faced in the wilderness [Matthew 4:3-11; Luke 4:3-13]. There will be more on this below, the Lord in his divine mercy willing. 1
Footnotes:
1. For further discussion of the Lord's crisis in the wilderness, see §§1668:2, 1690, 1691:6, 1785, 1787, 1812-1813yyy1, 1820:5, and other sections referred to in New Jerusalem 201. [LHC]
