2714. That 'Paran' means enlightenment coming from the Lord's Divine Human is clear from the meaning of 'Paran' as the Lord's Divine Human, as is evident from those places in the Word where this name is used, as in the prophet Habakkuk,

O Jehovah, I have heard Your fame; I was afraid. O Jehovah, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known. In zeal You will remember mercy. God will come out of Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His fame has covered the heavens, and the earth has been filled with His praise. And His brightness will be as the light; He has horns going out of His hand, and there the hiding-place of His strength will be. Habakkuk 3:2-4.

This plainly refers to the Lord's Coming, which is meant by 'reviving in the midst of the years' and 'making known in the midst of the years'. His Divine Human is described by the words 'God will come out of Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran'. He is said to come 'out of Teman' in regard to celestial love, and 'from Mount Paran' in regard to spiritual love; and the springing of these from enlightenment and power is meant by the words 'His brightness will be as the light; He has horns going out of His hand'. 'Brightness' and 'light' mean enlightenment, 'horns' power.

[2] In Moses,

Jehovah came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon them; He shone from Mount Paran, and came from myriads of holiness From His right hand came a fiery law for them. He indeed loves the peoples. All His holy ones are in your hand and have been joined together at your feet; and He will receive of your words. Deuteronomy 33:2-3.

This also refers to the Lord, whose Divine Human is described by the words 'He dawned from Seir' and 'He shone from Mount Paran' - 'from Seir' being used in regard to celestial love, 'from Mount Paran' to spiritual love. Those who are spiritual are meant by 'the peoples whom He loves' and by 'those joined together at your feet', 'the foot' meaning that which is lower, and so more obscure, in the Lord's kingdom.

[3] In the same author,

Chedorlaomer and the kings with him smote the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran, which is over into the wilderness. Genesis 14:5-6.

As regards the Lord's Divine Human being meant there by 'Mount Seir' and by 'El-paran', see 1675, 1676. In the same author,

So it was, in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day in the month, that the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony. And the children of Israel travelled according to their travels from the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran. Numbers 10:11-12.

[4] The truth that all the travels of the people in the wilderness mean the state of the Church militant, and its temptations, in which a person goes under but the Lord conquers on his behalf, and the truth that consequently they mean the Lord's own actual temptations and victories, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown elsewhere. And because the Lord underwent temptations by reason of His Divine Human, the Lord's Divine Human is in a similar way meant here by 'the wilderness of Paran'. The same is also meant by the following in the same author,

After that the people travelled from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran. And Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, Send men and let them explore the land of Canaan which I am giving to the children of Israel. And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran as spoken by the mouth of Jehovah. And they returned to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran in Kadesh; and they brought back word to them, and showed them the fruit of the land. Numbers 12:16; 13:1-3, 26.

Their travelling from the wilderness of Paran to explore the land of Canaan means that by means of the Lord's Divine Human these people - the children of Israel, by whom were meant those who are spiritual - have access to the heavenly kingdom, meant by the land of Canaan. But their faltering also at that time means their weakness, on account of which the Lord fulfilled everything in the Law, underwent temptations and was victorious, so that those with whom faith grounded in charity resides, also those who undergo temptations in which the Lord is victorious, have salvation from His Divine Human. This also explains why, when the Lord was tempted, He was in the wilderness, Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1; see above in 2708.

2454. That 'his wife looked back behind him' means that truth turned away from good and looked towards matters of doctrine is clear from the meaning of 'looking back behind him' and from the meaning of 'a wife'. Looking back behind him means looking towards matters of doctrine, which have a relationship with truth, and not towards life in accordance with them, which has a relationship with good, as stated above in 2417. That which is secondary is referred to as 'behind him' and that which is primary as 'before him'. The fact that truth is secondary and good primary has been shown quite often. For truth belongs to good, since the essence and life of truth is good. 'Looking behind him' therefore means looking towards truth which constitutes doctrinal teaching, and not towards good which constitutes life in accordance with doctrinal teaching. That these points are what is meant becomes quite clear from the Lord's words, where also, referring to the final period of the Church or close of the age, He says in Luke,

On that day, whoever will be on the housetop with his vessels in the house, let him not come down to take them away; and whoever is in the field, let him likewise not turn back to behind him. Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:31-32.

[2] These words of the Lord are by no means intelligible without the internal sense, and so are unintelligible unless one knows what is meant by 'being on the housetop', by 'vessels in the house', by 'coming down to take them away', by 'the field', and lastly by 'turning back to behind him'. According to the internal sense 'being on the housetop' means resting on good; for 'a house' means good, see 710, 2231, 2233. 'Vessels in the house' means truths which belong to good; for truths are the vessels for good, see 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2269. 'Going down to take them away' means, as is evident, turning away from good towards truth, for since good is primary it is also higher, while truth, being secondary, is also lower. That 'the field' is the Church, so called from the seed which it receives, and consequently that those people are 'fields' in whom there is the good taught by doctrine, is clear from many places in the Word. These considerations show what 'turning back to behind him' means, namely turning away from good and looking towards matters of doctrine. And it is because these things are meant by the expression 'Lot's wife', that 'remember Lot's wife' is added. The reason it is not said that she looked 'behind herself' but 'behind him' is that 'Lot' means good, see 2324, 2351, 2371, 2399. This explains why, when Lot was told what to do, verse 17, the words used were, 'Do not look back behind you'.

[3] The reason why in Luke it is said 'let him not turn back to behind him' and not 'to the things behind him' is that celestial people are unwilling even to mention anything that is a matter of doctrine, see 202, 337. This is why no such thing is mentioned in Luke, only the words 'to behind him'.

[4] These same matters are described in Matthew as follows,

When you see the abomination of desolation, foretold by the prophet Daniel, then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything away out of his house; and let him who is in the field not return back to take his clothes. Matthew 24:15-17.

Here 'the abomination of desolation' is the state of the Church when there is no love and no charity. When these have been destroyed abominable things predominate. 'Judea' means the Church, and in particular the celestial Church, as is evident from both the historical and prophetical sections throughout the Old Testament Word, while 'the mountains into which they were to flee' means love to the Lord and consequent charity towards the neighbour, see 795, 1430, 1691. 'He who is on the housetop' means good flowing from love, as stated just above. 'Going down to take anything away out of his house' means turning away from good towards truth, as has also been stated above, while 'he who is in the field' means members of the spiritual Church, as is evident from the meaning of 'field' in the Word. 'Let him not return back to take his clothes' means not turning away from good towards truth that constitutes doctrinal teaching - 'clothes' meaning truths, for truths clothe good like garments, see 1073. Anyone may see that all those things which the Lord has said in that section about the close of the age mean things altogether different and embody arcana, such as that those in Judea were to flee into the mountains, that the one on the housetop was not to go down and bring anything out of the house, and that the one in the field was not to return back to take his clothes. Similar to this is the statement in verse 17 that Lot was not to look back behind him, and that made here that his wife did look back behind him and became a pillar of salt. In addition this matter is clear from the meaning of 'a wife' as truth, dealt with in 915, 1468, and from the meaning of 'Lot' as good, dealt with in 2324, 2351, 2371, 2399; hence the words 'after him'.

[5] Truth is said to turn away from good and look towards matters of doctrine when the member of the Church no longer takes to heart what kind of life he leads, only what kind of doctrine he possesses. Yet it is life according to doctrine, not doctrine separate from life, that makes anyone a member of the Church; for when doctrine is separated from life, then because good, in which life consists, has been vastated, truth as well, in which doctrine consists, is vastated, that is, it becomes 'a pillar of salt'. This is something anyone who looks to doctrine alone and not to life may know, by considering whether, even though doctrine teaches such things, he in fact believes in the resurrection, heaven, hell, and indeed the Lord, and so in everything else which doctrine teaches.