The land shall be evacuated, the land shall be thrown into disorder, the land shall be desecrated, the empty city shall be broken, what is left in the city is a waste, and the gate shall be broken down even to devastation Isa. xxiv 3, 4, 10-12.

The lion has come up out of the thicket to reduce the land to a waste, thy cities shall he destroyed; I saw Carmel a wilderness, and the cities thereof desolate: the land shall mourn, the whole city forsaken shall flee Jer. iv 7, 26-29.

'The land' here is the Church, and 'the city' is the doctrine thereof. In this way is described the devastation of the Church by means of untruths of doctrine.

The spoiler shall come upon every city, so that no city shall escape, the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed Jer. xlviii 8.

In like manner:

Behold, I have given thee for a city fortified against the entire land Jer. i 18.

These [words were said] to the prophet because by a 'prophet' is signified the doctrine of the Church (n. 8):-

In that day it shall be sung in the land of Judah, We have a strong city; He will put salvation for walls and bulwark Isa. xxvi 1, 2.

The great city has been broken into three parts, and the cities of the nations have fallen down Rev. xvi 18, 19.

The prophet saw upon a high mountain the structure of a city from the south, and an angel measured the wall, the gates, the chambers, and the porch of the gate, and the name of the city was Jehovah there Ezek. xl 1 seq.

A river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God Ps. xlvi 4, 5, [H.B. 5, 6].

I will mix Egypt up with Egypt, so that city shall fight against city, and kingdom against kingdom Isa. xix 2.

Every kingdom divided against itself is desolated, and every city divided against itself shall not stand Matt. xii 25.

In these places by 'cities' in the spiritual sense are understood doctrines, as also [in] Isa. vi 11; xiv 12, 17, 21; xix 18, 19; xxv 1-3; xxxiii 8, 9; liv 3; lxiv 10 [H.B. 9]; Jer. vii 17, 34; xiii 18, 19; xxxii 42, 44; xxxiii 4; Zeph. iii 6; Ps. xlviii 1, 8 [H.B. 2, 9]; cvii 2, 4, 5, 7; Matt. v 14, 15; and elsewhere. [3] From the signification of 'city' can be established what is understood by 'cities' in this parable of the Lord:-

A nobleman going away to get himself a kingdom gave his servants pounds (mina) to trade with: when he returned, he called the servants: the first approached saying, Thy pound has gained ten pounds; to whom he said, Good servant, thou shalt have authority over ten cities; and the second came, saying, Thy pound has gained five pounds, to whom he said, Be thou over five cities Luke xix 12-19.

Here also by 'cities' are signified doctrinal tenets or the truths of doctrine, and 'being over them' is being intelligent and wise, thus 'to give authority over them' is to give intelligence and wisdom. 'Ten' signify much, and 'five' something. It is plain that by 'trading' and 'gaining' is understood to furnish oneself with intelligence by making use of one's opportunities. [4] That 'the holy city Jerusalem' signifies the doctrine of a new Church, is manifestly plain from the description of it (Rev. xxi), for it is described as to its measurements, also as to its gates, and as to the wall and its foundations, which, when 'Jerusalem' signifies the Church, cannot signify any other things than those that are of its doctrine. A Church is a Church from no other source. Since by 'the city of Jerusalem' is understood the Church as to doctrine, it is therefore called 'a city of truth' (Zech. viii 3, 4), and in many places the 'holy city', and this because 'holy' is predicated of truths derived from the Lord (n. 173).