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Genesis 14

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1 And it was, in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Nations,

2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboim, and with the king of Bela; this is Zoar.

3 All these came·​·together to the valley of Siddim—this is the Salt Sea.

4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they revolted.

5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kirjathaim;

6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, even·​·to El-paran which is by the wilderness.

7 And they returned, and came to En-mishpat—this is Kadesh—and smote all the field of the Amalekites, and also the Amorite that dwelt in Ḥazezon-Tamar.

8 And there went·​·out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, this is Zoar; and they set· the battle ·in·​·array with them in the valley of Siddim;

9 with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

10 And the valley of Siddim had wells, wells of tar`; and the king of Sodom and of Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and they who were·​·left fled to the mountain.

11 And they took all the acquisition of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went.

12 And they took Lot, the son of the brother of Abram, and his acquisition, and went; and he was dwelling in Sodom.

13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew*; and he was abiding in the oak·​·groves of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol, and the brother of Aner; and they were masters* of the covenant of Abram.

14 And Abram heard that his brother was taken·​·captive; and he made·​·ready* his dedicated* men that were born of his house, eighteen and three hundred, and pursued them even·​·to Dan.

15 And he parted himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them even·​·to Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus.

16 And he returned all the acquisition, and also returned Lot his brother and his acquisition, and also the women and the people.

17 And the king of Sodom went·​·out to meet him, after his return from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, to the valley of Shaveh, it is the valley of the king.

18 And Melchizedek king of Salem* brought·​·out bread and wine, and he was priest to God Most·​·High.

19 And he blessed him, and said, blessed be Abram to God Most·​·High, Possessor of the heavens and the earth.

20 And blessed be God Most·​·High, who has delivered thine adversaries into thy hand. And he gave to him tithes of all.

21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give to me the soul, and take the acquisition to thyself.

22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted·​·high my hand to Jehovah God Most·​·high, Possessor of the heavens and the earth;

23 that from a thread and even·​·to the lace of a shoe, I will not take anything that is thine; lest thou shouldest say, I have enriched Abram.

24 Besides only that which the lads have eaten, and the part of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their part.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 1690

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1690. That 'the rest fled to the mountain' means that it did not happen to all of them is clear without explanation from the fact that they had now become 'the rest', who fled away. The subject in the internal sense is the temptations which the Lord underwent in childhood, about which nothing is recorded in the New Testament Word. No temptations are recorded there apart from the temptation in the wilderness, or shortly after He came out of the wilderness, and the last temptation later on in Gethsemane and after that. The fact that the Lord's life from earliest childhood right through to the last hour of His life in the world consisted in constant temptation and constant victory is clear from many places in the Old Testament Word; and the fact that it did not end with His temptation in the wilderness is clear from the following in Luke,

After the devil had ended every temptation he departed from Him for a time. Luke 4:13, as well as from His undergoing temptations right through to His death on the Cross, and so to the last hour of His life in the world. From these considerations it is evident that the whole of the Lord's life in the world from earliest childhood consisted in constant temptation and constant victory. The last was when on the Cross He prayed for His enemies, and so for all people in the whole world.

[2] In the part of the Word where the Lord's life is described - in the Gospels - no other temptation, apart from the last, is mentioned than His temptation in the wilderness. More than this was not disclosed to the disciples; and the things which were disclosed seem in the sense of the letter so slight as to amount to scarcely anything at all. For the things that are said, and the replies that are given, do not seem to constitute any temptation at all; yet in fact His temptation in the wilderness was more severe than the human mind can possibly comprehend and believe. Nobody can know what temptation is except someone who has experienced it. The temptation that is recorded in Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13, incorporates in a summary form all temptations, namely this, that out of His love towards the whole human race He fought against self-love and love of the world, with which the hells were filled completely.

[3] All temptation is an attack against the love present in a person, the degree of temptation depending on the degree of that love. If love is not attacked there is no temptation. Destroying another person's love is destroying his very life, for his love is his life. The Lord's life was love towards the whole human race; indeed it was so great and of such a nature as to be nothing other than pure love. Against this life of His, temptations were directed constantly, and this was happening, as has been stated, from earliest childhood through to His last hour in the world. The love that was the Lord's very life is meant by His being hungry and by the devil's saying,

If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. And Jesus answered, It is written that man will not live by bread alone but by every word of God. Luke 4:2-4; Matthew 4:2-4.

[4] That He fought against love of the world, or against all that constitutes love of the world, is meant by the devil's taking Him on to a high mountain and showing Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and saying,

To you I will give all this power and their glory, for it has been given to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship before me, it will all be yours. But answering him Jesus said, Get behind Me, satan! for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve. Luke 4:5-8; Matthew 4:8-10.

[5] That He fought against self-love, and all that constitutes self-love, is meant by these words,

The devil took Him into the holy city, and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will give His angels charge regarding you, and on their hands they will bear you, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, Again it is written, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Matthew 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12.

Constant victory is meant by the statement that after temptation angels came and ministered to Him, Matthew 4:11; Mark 1:13.

[6] To sum up, the Lord was attacked by all the hells from earliest childhood right through to the last hour of His life in the world. The hells were constantly overpowered, subdued, and vanquished by Him; and this He did solely out of love towards the whole human race. And because this love was not human but Divine, and because the intensity of the love determines that of the temptation, it becomes clear how severe His conflicts were, and on the part of the hells how fierce. That all this was indeed the case I know for sure.

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