3752. No one can possibly grasp what these words mean unless he has been enlightened by means of the internal sense. The fact that they are not utterances concerning the destruction of Jerusalem is apparent from many things said in that chapter, for example from the statement 'unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short'; and the statement further on, 'after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then will appear the sign of the Son of Man; and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory'; and from other statements. Nor are they utterances concerning the destruction of the world, as is also evident from many things said in this same chapter. In what has gone before, for example, it is said, 'Let him who is at that time on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house, and let him who is in the field not turn back to fetch his clothes', then in what is up for consideration in this section - 'Pray that your flight may not take place in winter or on a sabbath', and in what occurs further on, 'At that time two will be in the field; one will be taken, the other left; two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, the other left'. But such utterances, it is evident, concern the final period of the Church, that is, its vastation. It is said to have undergone vastation when charity does not exist any longer.