5281. 'because of the famine from then on, for it will be extremely severe' means on account of such absence [of truth]. This is clear from the meaning of 'the famine' as an absence of religious knowledge or cognitions regarding what is good, and therefore an absence of truth, dealt with above in 5277, 5278, and despair finally on account of that absence [of truth], 5279; and from the meaning of 'extremely severe' as that which is vast. The final state of desolation, which is one of despair, and the increasing severity of it, dealt with above in 5279, is continued here.