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Genesis 15

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1 After these things the word of Jehovah came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, thy exceeding great reward.

2 And Abram said, Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give me? seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus.

3 And Abram said, Lo, to me thou hast given no seed, and behold, a son of my house will be mine heir.

4 And behold, the word of Jehovah [came] to him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that will come forth out of thy body shall be thine heir.

5 And he led him out, and said, Look now toward the heavens, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said to him, So shall thy seed be!

6 And he believed Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him [as] righteousness.

7 And he said to him, I am Jehovah who brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give thee this land to possess it.

8 And he said, Lord Jehovah, how shall I know that I shall possess it?

9 And he said to him, Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.

10 And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the half of each opposite its fellow; but the birds he did not divide.

11 And the birds of prey came down on the carcases; and Abram scared them away.

12 And as the sun was just going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, a horror, a great darkness, fell upon him.

13 And he said to Abram, Know assuredly that thy seed will be a sojourner in a land [that is] not theirs, and they shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

14 But also that nation which they shall serve I will judge; and afterwards they shall come out with great property.

15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16 And [in the] fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

17 And it came to pass when the sun had gone down, and it was dark, that behold, there was a smoking furnace, and a flame of fire which passed between those pieces.

18 On the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates;

19 the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

20 and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim,

21 and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 1787

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1787. 'Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you' means protection against evils and falsities which is able to be trusted. This is clear from the meaning of 'a shield', to be dealt with shortly. These words which declare that Jehovah is 'a shield' and 'an exceedingly great reward' are words of comfort following temptations. Every temptation entails some kind of despair, or else it is not temptation; and for that reason comfort follows. A person who is being tempted is subjected to anxious fears which produce a state of despair over the end in view. The conflict brought about by temptation does not consist in anything else. One who is quite certain of victory does not experience any anxiety, nor thus any temptation.

[2] Since the Lord underwent the most dreadful and the cruelest temptations of all it was inevitable that He too should be driven into feelings of despair which He put to flight and overcame by His own power, as becomes quite clear from His temptation in Gethsemane, which is described in Luke as follows,

When Jesus was at the place He said to the disciples, Pray that you may not enter into temptation. But He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and kneeling down He prayed, saying, Father, if You are willing, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not My will but Yours be done. And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. And when He was in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. Luke 22:40-45.

In Matthew,

He began to be sorrowful and in agony. Then He said to the disciples, My soul is utterly dejected even to death. And He went forward a little and praying fell on His face, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will but as You will. Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cup cannot pass from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done. And He prayed for the third time, saying the same thing. 1 Matthew 26:36-44.

In Mark,

He began to be terrified and in great agony. He said to the disciples, My soul is wrapped in dejection, even to death. He went forward a little, fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass from Him. He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible to You; remove this cup from Me; yet not as I will but as You will. This happened a second and a third time. Mark 14:33-41.

[3] These quotations show the nature of the Lord's temptations - that they were the most frightful of all; that He suffered agony from the inmost parts of His being, even to the sweating of blood; that He was at the time in a state of despair over the end in view and over the outcome; and that He received comfort repeatedly. The words 'I am Jehovah your shield, your exceedingly great reward' in a similar way embody the comfort received after the conflicts brought about by the temptations which were described in the previous chapter.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, word

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