9334. 'Lest perhaps the land becomes desolate' means a deficiency in that case, and little spiritual life, that is to say, if the removal were hurried. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land' as the Church in general and also in particular, the Church in particular being a person who becomes an embodiment of the Church, since the Church exists within a person and comprises one who has been regenerated (for the meaning of 'the land' as the Church in general, see 9325, and for its meaning as the Church in particular, or a person who has been regenerated, 82, 620, 636, 913, 1411, 1733, 2117, 2118 (end), 2571, 3368, 3379; this person is also called 'the land' in Malachi,

All the nations will declare you blessed, and you will be a land of delight. Malachi 3:12.) and from the meaning of 'desolate' as a deficiency, and little spiritual life. For 'desolate', when used in reference to the Church within a person, means a deficiency of truth and good, thus also a deficiency of spiritual life since that life is provided by these. The implications of this, that there is a deficiency and little spiritual life if falsities and evils are removed hurriedly, are that when a person undergoes regeneration, which is accomplished by the implantation of spiritual truth and good, and at the same time by the removal of falsity and evil, the regeneration is not hurried but takes place slowly.

[2] The reason for this is that all the things the person has thought, intended, or done since early childhood have entered into the composition of his life. They have also formed themselves into a network which is such that one cannot be moved without all of them together being moved. For a wicked person is an image of hell, and a good person is an image of heaven; and also the evils and falsities with a wicked person are interconnected in the same way as the communities of hell are with one another, of which that person is a part, while the forms of good and the truths with a good person are interconnected in the same way as heavenly communities are with one another, of which this person is a part. From this it is evident that the evils and falsities with a wicked person cannot be removed suddenly from where they are. They can be removed only in the measure that forms of good and truths in their proper order have been implanted more deeply within the person; for heaven with a person removes hell. If the removal were done suddenly the person would pass out, for the whole network of things, every single one, would be thrown into confusion and deprive him of his life.

[3] The fact that regeneration or the implantation of the life of heaven with a person begins when he is a young child and continues right on to the final phase of his life in the world, and the fact that after life in the world his perfection continues for evermore, see 2679, 3203, 3584, 3665, 3690, 3701, 4377, 4551, 4552, 5126, 6751, 8772, 9103, 9296, 9297, and in particular 5122, 5398, 5912, 9258. Also, and this is an arcanum, a person's regeneration in the world is merely the foundation for the unending perfection of his life. The person who has led a good life undergoes perfection in the next life; see what has been shown regarding young children, in 2289-2309, and regarding the state and condition of gentiles there, in 2589-2604.

1778. Genesis 15

1. After these events ¹ the word of Jehovah came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you, your exceedingly great reward.

2. And Abram said, O Lord Jehovih, what will You give me, seeing that I go childless, ² and the steward of my house is this Damascene, Eliezer?

3. And Abram said, See, to me you have not given seed, and behold, a son of my house is my heir.

4. And behold, the word of Jehovah came to him, saying, This man will not be your heir, but he who comes out of your own loins will be your heir.

5. And He brought him outside and said, Look, now, towards heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So will your seed be.

6. And he believed in Jehovah, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

7. And He said to him, I am Jehovah, who brought you forth out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit.

8. And he said, O Lord Jehovih, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9. And He said to him, Take for Me ³ a three year old heifer, and a three year old she-goat, and a three year old ram, a turtle dove and a fledgling.

10. And he took for himself all these, and parted each of them down the middle and laid each part opposite the other; but the birds he did not cut apart.

11. And birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12. And as the sun was going down a deep sleep came over Abram, and, behold, a dread of a great darkness was coming over him.

13. And He said to Abram, Know for sure that your seed will be strangers in a land not theirs. And they will serve them, ⁴ and these will afflict them for four hundred years.

14. And also the nation which they are going to serve will I judge; and afterwards they will go out with great acquisitions.

15. And you will come to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.

16. And in the fourth generation they will return from here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet come to a close.

17. And the sun went down and there was thick darkness; and behold, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch which passed between those pieces.

18. On that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your seed I will give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river, the river Phrath. ⁵

19. The Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,

20. And the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,

21. And the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.

CONTENTS

Continued here in the internal sense are matters concerning the Lord after He had undergone in childhood the very severe conflicts brought about by temptations - conflicts directed against the love He cherished towards the entire human race, and in particular towards the Church. As He was therefore anxious about the future state of these, a promise was made to Him. But at the same time He was shown what the state of the Church was to become in its final days, when it was beginning to breathe its last, but nevertheless that a new Church would gather strength to take the place of the previous one; and the heavenly kingdom would be vastly increased.

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