AC 1562, 1568 - Why Lot Needed to Leave Abram

AC 1562

And Lot also, who went with Abram,
had flock and herd, and tents.
(Genesis 13:5)

"And Lot also, who went with Abram,"
signifies the external man that was in the Lord;
"had flock and herd, and tents,"
signifies those things in which the external man abounds;
"flock and herd"
are the external man's possessions;
"tents" are his worship:
these things were separating themselves
from the internal man.

AC 1568

The land was not able to bear them
that they might dwell together.
(Genesis 13:6)

This signifies
that the things belonging to the internal celestial things
could not be together with the others,
that is, with those here signified by "Lot."
Abram, as before said, represents the Lord,
here His internal man;
but Lot represents His external man,
here the things that were to be separated
from the external man,
 with which the internal things could not dwell. 

There are many things in the external man
with which the internal man can dwell,
such as affections of good,
and the delights and pleasures originating from them;
for these are the effects of the goods of the internal man,
and of its joys and happiness;
and when they are the effects,
they altogether correspond;
and they are then of the internal man
and not of the external.
. . . for example,
the charity which shines forth from the face
is not of the face, but is of the charity that is within,
and which so forms the face, and presents the effect;
or as the innocence of little children
that shows itself in their looks, gestures,
and play with each other,
is not of the countenance or the gesture,
but is of the innocence of the Lord
that flows in through their souls;
so that the manifestations of innocence are effects;
and it is the same in all other cases. 

[2] From this it is evident that there are many things
in the external man that can dwell together
and agree with the internal man.
But there are also very many which do not agree,
or together with which the internal man cannot dwell;
this is the case with all things
that spring from the love of self,
and from the love of the world,
for all such things regard self as the end,
and the world as the end.
With these the celestial things which are of love to the Lord
and love toward the neighbor cannot agree;
for these look to the Lord as the end,
and to His kingdom
and all things that are of Him and His kingdom as the ends.
The ends of the love of self and the love of the world
look outward or downward;
but the ends of love to the Lord
and love toward the neighbor
look inward or upward;
from all which it is evident that they disagree so much
that they cannot possibly be together.