5998. And sacrificed sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. That this signifies worship therefrom and influx from the Divine intellectual, is evident from the signification of “sacrificing sacrifices,” as being worship (see n. 922, 923, 2180); and from the representation of Isaac, as being in the supreme sense the Divine rational or intellectual of the the Lord, (n. 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630, 3012, 3194, 3210). That influx therefrom into worship is signified, follows, for the worship meant is that from charity and faith, which are signified by “Beersheba” (n. 5997), where he sacrificed. That Jacob sacrificed to the God of his father Isaac, shows what was the nature of the fathers of the Jewish and Israelitish nation, namely, that each of them worshiped his own God. That the God of Isaac was a God other than Jacob’s, is evident from the fact that he sacrificed to him, and that in the visions of the night it was said unto him, “I am God, the God of thy father;” and also from the fact that he swore by the same in these words: “The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us; and Jacob sware by the Dread of his father Isaac” (Genesis 31:53). And it is also evident that at first Jacob did not acknowledge Jehovah, for he said, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way in which I walk, and will give me bread to eat, and garment to put on, and I return in peace to my father’s house, then shall Jehovah be my God” (Genesis 28:20-21). Thus he acknowledged Jehovah conditionally.

[2] It was their custom to acknowledge the gods of their fathers, but their own in especial. This custom they derived from their fathers in Syria; for Terah, Abram’s father, and also Abram himself when there, worshiped other gods than Jehovah (n. 1356, 1992, 3667). Their posterity, who were called “Jacob” and “Israel,” were consequently of such a disposition that at heart they worshiped the gods of the Gentiles, and Jehovah only with the mouth and in name alone. The reason why they were such was that they were in externals alone without any internal, and such men can believe no otherwise than that worship consists merely in uttering the name of God and in saying that He is their God, and this so long as He is their benefactor; and that worship does not at all consist in a life of charity and faith.

1812. He believed in Jehovah. That this signifies the Lord’s faith at that time, is evident from the very words, and also from the connection of things in the internal sense; which is that while He lived in the world the Lord was in continual combats of temptations, and in continual victories, from a constant inmost confidence and faith that because He was fighting for the salvation of the whole human race from pure love, He could not but conquer; which is here meant by “believing in Jehovah.” From the love from which anyone fights it is known what his faith is. He who fights from any other love than love toward the neighbor and toward the Lord’s kingdom, does not fight from faith, that is, does not “believe in Jehovah,” but in that which he loves, for the love itself for which he fights is his faith. For example: he who fights from the love of becoming the greatest in heaven, does not believe in Jehovah, but rather in himself; for to desire to become the greatest is to desire to command others; thus he fights for command; and so in all other cases. And thus from the love itself from which anyone fights, it may be known what his faith is.

[2] But in all His combats of temptations the Lord never fought from the love of self, or for Himself, but for all in the universe, consequently, not that He might become the greatest in heaven, for this is contrary to the Divine Love, and scarcely even that He might be the least; but only that all others might become something, and be saved. As He also says in Mark:

The two sons of Zebedee said, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left, in Thy glory. Jesus said, Whoever would be great among you shall be your minister; and whoever would be first among you, shall be servant of all. For the Son of man also came not to be ministered onto, but to minister, and to give His soul a ransom for many (Mark 10:37, 43-45).

This is the love, or this is the faith, from which the Lord fought, and which is here meant by “believing in Jehovah.”