1698. They took Lot and his property — the son of Abram's brother — and went away means that apparent goodness and truth (not good or true in itself) seized control of the Lord's outer self and everything in it. This can be seen from the symbolism of Lot as the Lord's sensory or outward self, a symbolism already mentioned and discussed several times [§§1428, 1547, 1563]. Here specifically he symbolizes apparent goodness and truth in the Lord's outer self, which are being called the property of Lot. It has already been explained that this goodness and truth appeared good and true in the Lord's early youth, although they were not intrinsically so [§§1661, 1667]. They were gradually purified, and his spiritual trials were the means, as the remarks concerning such trials show [§§1652-1657, 1659, 1663-1664, 1692].

1652. The goodness and truth present in his outer self — which merely appeared to be good and true — were the weapons the Lord used during his youth in his combat against evil and falsity. The kings named in verse 1 symbolize apparent goodness and truth, while those named in verse 2 symbolize the evil and falsity he fought against. The latter were unclean (verse 3).