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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;

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

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Arcana Coelestia # 1799

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1799. 'Behold, a son of my house is my heir' means that in the Lord's kingdom there would be only that which is external. This is clear from the meaning in the internal sense of 'an heir' and of 'inheriting'. 'Becoming an heir' or inheriting means eternal life in the Lord's kingdom. All who are in the Lord's kingdom are heirs, for the source of the life in them is the Lord's life, which is the life of mutual love, and for that reason they are called 'sons'. The Lord's sons or heirs consist of all who have His life in them, for it is from Him that their life comes, and it is from Him that they have been born, that is, regenerated. Those born of another are that other's heirs; and so it is with all who are being regenerated by the Lord, for in that case they are receiving the life that is the Lord's.

[2] In the Lord's kingdom there are those who are external, those who are more interior, and those who are internal. Good spirits who dwell in the first heaven are external, angelic spirits who dwell in the second heaven are more interior, and angels who dwell in the third heaven are internal. Those who are external are not as close to or near the Lord as those who are more interior, and these in turn are not so close or near as those who are internal. Out of Divine love, or mercy, the Lord wills to have everyone near to Himself, so that they do not stand outside, that is, in the first heaven. His will is that they should dwell in the third heaven, and if possible not merely with Him but abiding in Him. Such is the nature of Divine or the Lord's love. But since at that time none but external things existed with the Church, He complained of this in the words that occur here - 'Behold, a son of my house is my heir' - by which is meant that in His kingdom there would thus be only that which is external. But comfort followed, and a promise of internal things, as described in the verses that follow next. What the external aspect of the Church is has been stated already in 1083, 1098, 1100, 1151, 1153.

[3] By itself doctrine does not constitute the external aspect of the Church, still less the internal, as stated above. Nor on the Lord's part is it its teachings that make one Church distinct and separate from another, but its life in accordance with those teachings, all of which, as long as they present what is true, regard charity as their basic principle. What else does doctrine do but teach men the kind of people they ought to be?

[4] In the Christian world it is their doctrines that cause Churches to be distinct and separate, and because of these they call themselves Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists or the Reformed, and Evangelicals, among other names. It is solely by reason of their doctrines that they are called by these names. This situation would never exist if they were to make love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour the chief thing of faith. In this case their doctrinal differences would be no more than shades of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith which truly Christian people would leave to individual conscience, and in their hearts would say that a person is truly a Christian when he lives as a Christian, that is, as the Lord teaches. If this were so all the different Churches would become one, and all the disagreements which stem from doctrine alone would disappear. Indeed the hatred one man holds against another would be dispelled in an instant, and the Lord's kingdom on earth would come.

[5] The Ancient Church which existed immediately after the Flood, though scattered among many kingdoms, was of this nature. That is to say, people differed much from one another in matters of doctrine, but for all that, they made charity the chief thing. Also they regarded worship, not from the standpoint of doctrinal teachings which are matters of faith, but from that of charity which is a matter of life. This is what is meant by 'they all had one lip and their words were one', Genesis 11:1, regarding which see 1285.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.