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Genesis 15

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1 Nogen Tid efter kom HE ENS Ord til Abram i et Syn således: "Frygt ikke, Abram, jeg er dit Skjold; din Løn skal blive såre stor!"

2 Men Abram svarede: "Herre", HE E, hvad kan du give mig, når jeg dog går barnløs bort, og en Mand fra Damaskus, Eliezer, skal arve mit Hus."

3 Og Abram sagde: "Du har jo intet Afkom givet mig, og se, min Hustræl kommer til at arve mig!"

4 Og se, HE ENs Ord kom til ham således: "Han kommer ikke til at arve dig, men den, der udgår af dit Liv, han skal arve dig."

5 Derpå førte han ham ud i det fri og sagde: "Se op mod Himmelen og prøv, om du kan tælle Stjernerne!" Og han sagde til ham: "Således skal dit Afkom blive!"

6 Da troede Abram HE EN, og han regnede ham det til etfærdighed.

7 Derpå sagde han til ham: "Jeg er HE EN, som førte dig bort fra Ur Kasdim for at give dig dette Land i Eje!"

8 Men han svarede: "Herre, HE E, hvorpå kan jeg kende, at jeg skal få det i Eje?"

9 Da sagde han til ham: "Tag mig en treårs Kvie, en treårs Ged og en treårs Væder, en Turteldue og en Småfugl!"

10 Så tog han alle disse Dyr skar dem midt over og lagde Halvdelene over for hinanden; dog skar han ikke Fuglene over.

11 Da slog der ovfugle ned på de døde Kroppe, men Abram skræmmede dem bort.

12 Da Solen så var ved at gå ned, faldt der Dvale over Abram, og se, ædsel faldt over ham, et stort Mørke.

13 Og han sagde til Abram: "Vide skal du, at dit Afkom skal bo som fremmede i et Land, der ikke er deres eget; de skal trælle for dem og mishandles af dem i 400 År.

14 Dog vil jeg også dømme det Folk, de kommer til at trælle for, og siden skal de vandre ud med meget Gods.

15 Men du skal fare til dine Fædre i Fred og blive jordet i en god Alderdom.

16 I fjerde Slægtled skal de vende tilbage hertil; thi endnu er Amoriternes Syndeskyld ikke fuldmoden."

17 Da Solen var gået ned og Mørket faldet på, viste der sig en rygende Ovn med en flammende Ildslue, der skred frem mellem de sønderskårne Kroppe.

18 På den Dag sluttede HE EN Pagt med Abram, idet han sagde: "Dit Afkom giver jeg dette Land fra Ægyptens Bæk til den store Flod, Eufratfloden,

19 det er Keniterne, Henizziterne, Kadmoniterne,

20 Hetiterne, Perizziterne, efaiterne,

21 Amoriterne, Kana'anæerne, Girgasjiterne, Hivviterne og Jebusiterne."

   


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Apocalypse Revealed # 444

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444. "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. This symbolically means, to remove from them external bonds, to enable the interiors of their minds to appear.

It is impossible for anyone to know that this is the symbolic meaning of these words, and scarcely possible for anyone to suspect it, if he does not know what is meant by the great river Euphrates, and by the four angels bound there.

In the Word, the Euphrates symbolizes the inner constituents of the human mind, called rational, which in people governed by truths springing from goodness are full of wisdom, but which in people caught up in falsities springing from evil are full of irrationality.

This is the symbolic meaning of the river Euphrates in the Word. The reason is that this river formed the boundary between the land of Canaan and Assyria, and the land of Canaan symbolized the church, and Assyria its rational component. Therefore the river that formed the boundary between them symbolizes the inner constituents of the mind called rational, and this in both senses. For there are three components that form the person of the church: the spiritual component; the rational or intellectual component; and the natural component, which is one of knowledge. The spiritual component of the church is symbolized by the land of Canaan and its rivers; the rational or intellectual component of the church by Asshur or Assyria and its river, the Euphrates; and the natural component of the church, which is one of knowledge, by Egypt and its river, the Nile. But for more on this subject, see no. 503 below.

The four angels bound at the river Euphrates symbolize these interior constituents in people of the church, and they are said to be bound because they are kept hidden from public view. For it is hellish spirits that are meant by these four angels, inasmuch as we are told that they were prepared to kill a third of mankind, as we will presently see in no. 446; and people's inner constituents are affiliated with spirits, either hellish ones or heavenly ones, since they dwell together. To release them means, symbolically, to remove external bonds, to enable the interiors of their minds to appear.

This is the symbolic meaning of these words.

[2] That the Euphrates symbolizes the interiors of a person's mind coextensive with the spiritual tenets of his church can be seen from passages in the Word where Asshur or Assyria are mentioned. In the following passages, however, the Euphrates occurs in an opposite sense, in which it symbolizes interiors full of falsities and thus insanities:

...behold, (God) is causing to rise up upon them the waters of the River (Euphrates), strong and mighty - the king of Asshur... It will pass through Judah, flood it and pass over it... (Isaiah 8:7-8)

...why take the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River? (Jeremiah 2:18)

Jehovah will devote to destruction the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; ...He will shake His hand over the River (Euphrates).... (Isaiah 11:15-16)

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the... river Euphrates, and its water was dried up... (Revelation 16:12)

The prophet Jeremiah was commanded to put a sash around his loins, and afterward to hide it in a hole in a rock by the Euphrates; and when, after a short time, he recovered it, behold, it was ruined and profitable for nothing (Jeremiah 13:1-7, 11).

The same prophet was also commanded, after he had finished reading a book, to throw it into the middle of the Euphrates and say, "Thus shall Babylon sink and not rise" (Jeremiah 51:63-64).

These events represented the interior qualities of the state of the church among the children of Israel.

That the river Nile in Egypt and the river Euphrates in Assyria were boundaries of the land of Canaan is apparent from the following verse:

...Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river... Euphrates." (Genesis 15:18)

To be shown that the Euphrates was one boundary, see Exodus 23:31, Deuteronomy 1:7-8; 11:24, Joshua 1:4, Micah 7:12.

  
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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.