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Genesis 12

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1 HE EN sagde til Abram: "Drag ud fra dit Land, fra din Slægt og din Faders Hus til det Land, jeg vil vise dig;

2 så vil jeg gøre dig til et stort Folk, og jeg vil velsigne dig og gøre dit Navn stort. og vær en Velsignelse!

3 Jeg vil velsigne dem, der velsigner dig, og forbande dem, der forbander dig; i dig skal alle Jordens Slægter velsignes!"

4 Og Abram gik,som HE EN sagde til ham, og Lot gik med ham. Abram var fem og halvfjerdsindstyve År, da han drog fra Karan;

5 og Abram tog sin Hustru Saraj og sin Brodersøn Lot og al den Ejendom, de havde samlet sig, og de Folk, de havde vundet sig i Karan, og de gav sig på Vej til Kana'ans Land og nåede derhen.

6 Derpå drog Abram gennem Landet til Sikems hellige Sted, til Sandsigerens Træ. Det var dengang Kana'anæerne boede i Landet.

7 Men HE EN åbenbarede sig for Abram og sagde til ham: "Dit Afkom giver jeg dette Land!" Da byggede han der et Alter for HE EN. som havde åbenbaret sig for ham.

8 Derpå brød han op derfra og drog til Bjergene østen for Betel, og han slog Lejr med Betel mod Vest og Aj mod Øst; og han byggede HE EN et Alter der og påkaldte HE ENs Navn.

9 Derpå drog Abram fra Plads til Plads og nåede Sydlandet.

10 Der opstod Hungersnød i Landet; og da Hungersnøden i Landet blev trykkende, drog Abram ned til Ægypten for at bo der som fremmed.

11 Da han nu nærmede sig Ægypten, sagde han til sin Hustru Saraj: Jeg ved jo, at du er en smuk Kvinde;

12 når nu Ægypterne ser dig, og de mener, at du er min Hustru, slår de mig ihjel og lader dig leve;

13 sig derfor, at du er min Søster, for at det må gå mig godt, og jeg ikke skal miste Livet for din Skyld!"

14 Da han så drog ind i Ægypten, så Ægypterne, at hun var en såre smuk Kvinde;

15 og Faraos Stormænd, der så hende, priste hende for Farao, og så blev Kvinden ført til Faraos Hus.

16 Men Abram behandlede han godt for hendes Skyld, og han fik Småkvæg, Hornkvæg og Æsler, Trælle og Trælkvinder, Aseninder og Kameler.

17 Men HE EN ramte Farao og hans Hus med svære Plager for Abrams Hustru Sarajs Skyld.

18 Da lod Farao Abram kalde og sagde: "Hvad har du gjort imod mig! Hvorfor lod du mig ikke vide, at hun er din Hustru?

19 Hvorfor sagde du, at hun var din Søster, så at jeg tog hende til Hustru? Se, her har du nu din Hustru, tag hende og gå bort!"

20 Og Farao bød sine Mænd følge ham og hans Hustru og al deres Ejendom på Vej;

   


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Apocalypse Revealed # 502

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502. Which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. This symbolizes the two hellish loves, namely, a love of ruling springing from a love of self, and a love of holding sway from a conceit in one's own intelligence, loves which are present in the church where there is not one God and where the Lord is not worshiped, and where people do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments.

Sodom symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, a love of ruling springing from a love of self, as we shall presently see; and Egypt symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, a love of holding sway from a conceit in one's own intelligence, as we shall also presently see. So, because these two loves are symbolized, therefore the city is called, spiritually speaking, Sodom and Egypt.

These two loves are present in the church where there is not one God and where the Lord is not worshiped, and where people do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, because people are born with these two loves, and they come into them as they grow up. Nor can these loves be removed except by God the Savior and by a life in accordance with His commandments, and God cannot remove them unless people turn to Him, and neither is a life in accordance with His commandments possible unless a person is led by Him. Actually it is possible, but not a life that contains anything of heaven and so of the church.

A life like that is possible only from Him who is life. That the Lord is that life may be seen in John 1:1, 4; 5:26; 6:33-35ff., 11:25-26; 14:6, 19, and in many other places.

[2] A love of ruling springing from a love of self, and a love of holding sway from a conceit in one's own intelligence, are the principal loves of all the loves in hell, and so are the origin of all the evils and thus of all the falsities in the church. This is something unknown at the present day. The delights of these loves, which surpass the delights of all the heart's pleasures, cause it to be unknown, even though they are, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt.

That Sodom is a love of ruling springing from a love of self can be seen from the description of Sodom in Genesis, where we are told that when angels arrived there, the inhabitants tried to forcibly assault them at the house of Lot, and that fire and brimstone rained down on them from heaven (Genesis 19:1ff.). Fire and brimstone symbolize that love, together with its appetites.

I saw similar sights when cities and societies of people like that were overthrown at the time of the Last Judgment and their inhabitants cast into hell.

These loves and their accompanying evils are symbolized by Sodom and Gomorrah in the following passages: Isaiah 1:10; 3:8-9; 13:19.

[3] That this love is symbolically meant by Sodom is unknown in the world, but remember it and recall it when you come after death into the world of spirits and you will be completely convinced.

It should be known, however, that a love of ruling springing from a love of self and a love of ruling springing from a love of performing useful services are two different things. The latter love is a heavenly love, while the first is a hellish one. Consequently, when one is in first place, the other is in last place; which is to say, when a love of ruling springing from a love of self forms the head, then a love of ruling springing from a love of performing useful services - which is a love of serving the neighbor originating from the Lord - forms first the feet, then the soles of the feet, and finally is trampled underfoot.

On the other hand, when a love of ruling springing from a love of performing useful services - which, as we said, is a heavenly love - forms the head, then a love of ruling springing from a love of self - which, as we said, is a hellish love - forms first the feet, then the soles of the feet, and finally is trampled underfoot.

Still, these two loves can hardly be distinguished by a person in the world. That is because in outward appearance they are similar. But they can be told apart by this, that a heavenly love is present in people who turn to the Lord and live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, while a hellish love is present in people who do not turn to the Lord, and who do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.