And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
Discussion:
Most people of the Ancient Church at the time described in this story were, according to Swedenborg, in a state of external worship – meaning they had rituals and stated beliefs, which in their minds made them holy, even though their desires, intentions and actions were evil, filled with selfishness. Those in the small group represented by Lot were pretty much the opposite – despite the teachings of the church, they clung to the idea that being good mattered, that they should care for others and act in a caring way. So while the rest of the people of the church felt threatened when the Lord connected with that state of caring and wished to deny the divine, they felt all the more threatened by the idea that it was important to be good, and were prepared to attack that idea with even more violence. And in coming near to break down the door, they threatened to attack that desire for good on an even deeper level, and to attack ideas of the Lord as well.
Again, this also represents part of the process we go through in battling temptation. Like Lot, we try to protect and internalize things that are good while staying on friendly terms with our evil desires – we may not want to internalize them, but we don’t quite want to get rid of them either. But when we deny their attack on our trust in the Lord, they will directly attack our desires to be good.
Consider an alcoholic, proud that he’s been sober for several months. He’s felt doubts about the Lord: What if there’s nothing to it? Should he fight so hard to stay sober if this life is all there is? But he’s pushed those ideas back. Then more doubts assail him: Who is he to be proud? Look at the damage his weakness has done! How can he hope to be better? Who does he think he is? If those doubts can overcome his desire to stay sober, then they can invade and destroy everything.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia 2368 (Elliott)
'And they said' means the reply made in anger. 'Stand back' means their angry threats. 'And they said, Did not this one come to sojourn' means people with different teaching and a different life. 'And will he surely judge?' means, Will they teach us? 'Now we will do more harm to you than to them' means that they would reject the good of charity even more than they rejected the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy proceeding. 'And they pressed on the men' means that they wished to resort to violence against truth. 'On Lot forcefully' means to do so most of all against the good of charity. 'And they came near to break down the door' means that they went so far as to try and destroy them both.
Arcana Coelestia 2371 (Elliott)
The subject here treated of is not those who falsify the good of charity by explaining all things in their own favor, both for their own sake, that they may be the greatest, and for the sake of the good things of this world, that they may possess them all; and who arrogate to themselves the dispensation of rewards, and thereby defile the good of charity by various arts and delusive means; but the subject treated of is those who desire to hear nothing of the goods of charity, or of good works, but only of faith separate from them; and this from reasoning that there is nothing but evil in man, and that the good which is from him is also in itself evil, in which therefore there is thus nothing of salvation; and that no one can merit heaven by any good, nor be saved by it, but only by the faith with which they acknowledge the Lord's merit. This is the doctrine that flourishes in the last times, when the church is beginning to expire, and it is ardently taught and favorably received.
Arcana Coelestia 2373 (Elliott)
Now will we do worse to thee than to them. That this signifies that they would reject the good of charity more than the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, is evident from the signification of "Lot," as being the good of charity; for Lot represents those who are in the good of charity (n. 2324, 2351, 2371); and from the signification of the "men," or "angels," as being the Lord as to the Divine Human and Holy proceeding (see above). Hence it is evident that to "do worse to thee than to them" has this meaning. The reason why they who are in evil within the church reject charity more than they deny the Lord, is that in this way they can favor their concupiscences by a kind of religion, and have external worship with no internal (that is, worship of the lips and not of the heart), and the more they make this worship to be Divine and holy, so much the greater are their dignities and wealth, besides many other causes that are hidden and yet are manifest. Nevertheless the truth really is that he who rejects the one (that is, does so in doctrine and at the same time in life) rejects also the other (for even if he dare not do this openly he does it in his heart); and this is here expressed in the sense of the letter by its being said that the men of Sodom drew near to break open the door, by which is signified that they came even to the endeavor to destroy both. But that which prevents this endeavor from bursting forth into act is by no means hidden.
Sodom: Violence Toward the Angels
Genesis 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
Genesis 19:2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
Genesis 19:3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
Genesis 19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
Genesis 19:5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
Genesis 19:6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
Genesis 19:7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
Genesis 19:8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
Genesis 19:9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
Genesis 19:10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
Genesis 19:11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.