Arcana Coelestia # 3161
3161. 'Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as Jehovah has spoken' means consent inspired from the Lord. This too could be shown by an explanation of all the individual words, the general import of these in the internal sense being the meaning that has just been stated. The implications are as follows: When the Lord lived in the world He made the Human within Himself Divine by His own power, the human with everyone having its beginnings in the inmost part of the rational, 2106, 2194. This verse describes how He made it Divine, that is to say, already so as of good and of truth. The good there came from His essential Divinity, that is, from Jehovah the Father from whom He had been conceived; but the truth there had to be acquired by the ordinary way, as with every other human being.
[2] It is well known that nobody is born rational but merely into the ability to become so, and that he becomes rational by means of factual knowledge, that is to say, by means of cognitions which divide up into many genera and species, the first of which are the means leading on to those next to them, and so on in order to the last of all which are cognitions of the spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom and are called matters of doctrine. These latter cognitions are learned in part from the doctrine of faith, in part directly from the Word, and in part therefore by a person's own efforts, as is also well known. As long as these matters of doctrine remain solely in the memory they are merely factual truths and have not as yet been made over to the individual as his own. They first become made over to him when he starts to love them for the sake of life, and more so when he applies them to life. When this happens truths are raised up from the natural memory into the rational part of the mind and are there joined to good. And when they have been joined they are no longer matters of knowledge but of life, for in that case a person is no longer learning from truths how to live but actually living by them. In this way truths come to be his own and become matters of the will. He accordingly enters the heavenly marriage, for the heavenly marriage consists in good and truth joined together in the rational. With men these things are accomplished by the Lord.
[3] But in Himself the Lord did this by Himself, unaided. From the Divine itself He not only begot the Rational as regards Good, but also through this the Natural as regards Truth, which He joined to Good. For it is good that chooses truth for itself and also gives form to it, for good acknowledges nothing else as truth but that which is compatible with it. Thus Divine good that was the Lord's moulded Truth for itself. Nor did it acknowledge as Truth anything else than that which would be compatible with Divine Good, that is, which would be Divine of Itself. Thus He achieved every single thing by His own power. These are the things that are meant by 'acknowledgement that it was the Lord's alone' and by 'consent inspired from the Lord'.
Genesis 25
1
Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah.
2
She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
3
Jokshan became the father of Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.
4
The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
5
Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac,
6
but to the sons of Abraham's concubines, Abraham gave gifts. He sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, to the east country.
7
These are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived: one hundred seventy-five years.
8
Abraham gave up the spirit, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people.
9
Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre,
10
the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife.
11
It happened after the death of Abraham that God blessed Isaac, his son. Isaac lived by Beer Lahai Roi.
12
Now this is the history of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore to Abraham.
13
These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to the order of their birth: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
15
Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
16
These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments: twelve princes, according to their nations.
17
These are the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred thirty-seven years. He gave up the spirit and died, and was gathered to his people.
18
They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives.
19
This is the history of the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham became the father of Isaac.
20
Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife.
21
Isaac entreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22
The children struggled together within her. She said, "If it be so, why do I live?" She went to inquire of Yahweh.
23
Yahweh said to her, "Two nations are in your womb. Two peoples will be separated from your body. The one people will be stronger than the other people. The elder will serve the younger."
24
When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25
The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau.
26
After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27
The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.
28
Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob.
29
Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished.
30
Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom.
31
Jacob said, "First, sell me your birthright."
32
Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?"
33
Jacob said, "Swear to me first." He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob.
34
Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.
