2723. As regards Beersheba however, 'Beersheba' means the state and the essential nature of the doctrine, that is to say, it is Divine doctrine to which merely human rational ideas have been allied. This becomes clear from the train of thought in verse 22 to the present verse, 2613, 2614, and also from the meaning of the actual expression in the original language as 'the well of the oath' and 'the well of seven'. 'A well' means the doctrine of faith, see 2702, 2720, 'an oath' means a joining together, 2720, as does 'the covenant established with an oath', 1996, 2003, 2021, 2037; and 'seven' means that which is holy and so that which is Divine, 395, 433, 716, 881. From these meanings it may become clear that 'Beersheba' means doctrine which in itself is Divine together with merely human rational ideas or appearances allied to it.

[2] The fact that this is how the name Beersheba was derived is evident from Abraham's words,

Abraham said, Because you will take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand, that they may be a witness for me that I dug this well. Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. And they made a covenant in Beersheba (verses 30-32).

Similarly from Isaac's words recorded in Chapter 26,

So it was on that day, that Isaac's servants came and pointed out to him the reasons for the well which they had dug, and they said to him, We have found water. And he called it Shibah ('an oath' and 'seven'); therefore the name of the city is Beersheba even to this day. Genesis 26:32-33.

This too has to do with wells, about which there was disagreement with Abimelech, and with a covenant made with him. 'Beersheba' means merely human rational ideas which were again allied to the doctrine of faith, and because they were allied to it again and the doctrine was in that way made such that the human mind could grasp it, it is called 'a city' - 'a city' being doctrine in its entirety, see 402, 2268, 2449, 2451. What is more, the name Beersheba is used with a similar meaning in the internal sense in Genesis 22:19; 26:23; 28:10; 46:1, 5; Joshua 15:28; 19:1-2; 1 Samuel 8:2; 1 Kings 19:3, and in the contrary sense in Amos 5:5; 8:13-14. The whole range of celestial and spiritual things taught by doctrine is meant in the internal sense where the land of Canaan is said to range from 'Dan even to Beersheba'; for the land of Canaan means the Lord's kingdom, also the Church, and therefore means the celestial and spiritual things taught by doctrine, as in the Book of Judges.

All the children of Israel came out, and the congregation assembled as one man from Dan even to Beersheba. Judges 20:1.

In the Book of Samuel,

All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba. 1 Samuel 3:20.

Elsewhere in Samuel,

To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba, 2 Samuel 3:10.

Elsewhere in Samuel,

Hushai said to Absalom, Let all Israel be assembled together, from Dan even to Beersheba. 2 Samuel 17:11.

Elsewhere in Samuel, David told Joab to go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan even to Beersheba. 2 Samuel 24:2, 7.

Elsewhere in Samuel,

There died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men. 2 Samuel 24:15.

In the Book of Kings,

Judah dwelt under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 1 Kings 4:25.

2243. 'Whether they have brought it to a close according to the cry of it which has come to Me; and if not, I will know' means whether evil has reached its peak. This is clear from the meaning of 'cry' as falsity, dealt with just above in 2240. There are two kinds of falsity, as was mentioned at the end of that paragraph, namely falsity which comes from evil, and falsity which produces evil. Falsity coming from evil consists in everything a person thinks while he is subject to evil, that is to say, everything which supports evil. For example, when a person is subject to adultery he thinks that adultery is permissible, that it is right and proper, that it is the delight of life, that the birth of offspring is promoted by it, and many other ideas such as these. These are all falsities coming from evil.

[2] Falsity which produces evil however comes about when a person holds to some tenet of the religion he belongs to and as a consequence believes that it is good or holy, when in fact in itself it is evil. For example, a person who believes from his religion that some human being is able to save, and who therefore worships and venerates that human being, creates evil out of that falsity. The same applies to any other religious persuasion which in itself is false. Since falsity therefore both derives from evil and produces evil the word 'cry' occurs here and means, as a kind of general term, that which is implied by it, namely evil. This is also evident from the fact that the words 'whether they have brought it to a close according to the cry of it which has come to Me' include both 'the cry of it' in the singular, and 'they have brought it to a close' in the plural.

[3] What a close is has been shown in Volume One, in 1857. What more is implied by a close may be ascertained from the history of the Churches. The Most Ancient Church, which was called Man, was the most celestial of all, yet that Church in course of time so declined from the good that flows from love that at length nothing celestial was left. At this point it came to its close which is described by the state of those people prior to the Flood.

[4] The Ancient Church, which came after the Flood, and was called Noah, and was less celestial, also in course of time so fell away from the good flowing from charity that no charity at all was left; for it was changed partly into magic, partly into idolatry, and partly into a system of doctrine separate from charity. At that point it reached its close.

[5] Another Church then followed which was called the Hebrew Church and was less celestial and spiritual still, making a certain kind of holy worship consist in external religious observances. This Church as well was in course of time perverted in varying ways, and that sort of external worship was turned into idolatrous worship. At that point it reached its close.

[6] A fourth Church was established after that among the descendants of Jacob, which did not possess anything celestial or spiritual, only that which was the representative of such. Consequently that Church was a Church representative of celestial and spiritual things, for what their religious observances actually represented and meant they did not know. But that Church was established in order that some link might nevertheless exist between man and heaven, like that which exists between the representatives of good and truth, and good and truth themselves. This Church so went off in the end into falsities and evils that every religious observance became idolatrous, at which point it reached its close.

[7] Therefore once those consecutive Churches, each declining as indicated, had come and gone - and in the last of them the link between the human race and heaven had become severed so completely that the human race would have perished because no Church existed to provide such a link and a bond, see 468, 637, 931, 2054 - the Lord came into the world; and through the Divine Essence united to the Human Essence within Himself, He joined heaven and earth together. At the same time He established a new Church, called the Christian Church, in which, to begin with, good that is the fruit of faith was present, and people lived together in charity as brethren. But with the passage of time it departed in different directions, and today has become such that people do not even know that faith is grounded in love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. And although they assert from doctrine that the Lord is the Saviour of the human race, that they will rise again after death, and that there is a heaven and a hell, few nevertheless believe these things. Since this Church has become such, its close is not far away.

[8] These considerations show what the close is, namely that it is the time when evil has reached its peak. The situation is similar in particular, that is, with each individual; but how the close or climax comes about in the case of the individual will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on. Various places in the Word refer to the close and describe the state which comes before it as vastation and desolation, which is followed by visitation.