Title: Father Abraham

Topic: The Word

Summary: The true, spiritual meaning why many people in the Old and New Testaments are said to refer to Abraham as their father is that both "Abraham" and "father" mean love. A state of love is the "land of Abraham" that has been promised to us all, if we want it.

Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.

References:
Genesis 11:27-32; 12:1-3; 17:1-5; 26:3-5, 15, 18, 24; 28:4, 10-13; 32:9; 48:15-16
Exodus 2:1; 3:6, 15
Joshua 24:1-3
Isaiah 51:1-3; 63:16
Matthew 3:2, 9-11
Luke 1:67-75; 16:22-31
John 8:33, 37-39, 52-58
James 2:21-23
Matthew 23:9
Genesis 27:9, 14; 44:20
Deuteronomy 7:8; 30:19-20
1 Kings 3:3
Proverbs 3:11-12; 29:3
John 3:35; 5:20; 8:42; 13:1; 14:21

This video is a part of the Spirit and Life Bible Study series, whose purpose is to look at the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible through a Swedenborgian lens.

1438. 'And they came into the land of Canaan' means that He attained to the celestial things of love. This is clear from what has just been stated about the land of Canaan. Here the Lord's life at first is described, that is to say, from birth to childhood, during which period He attained to the celestial things of love. The celestial things of love are the essentials themselves, and everything else comes from these. It was with celestial things that He was endowed first of all, for it was from these as from its seed that all else was then made fruitful. With Him the seed itself was celestial, for He was born from Jehovah, and therefore He alone has had that seed within Himself. All others, without exception, have no other seed than what is filthy and of hell, in which their proprium consists and from which it is derived; and this comes with that which is inherited from the father, as is well known to everyone. Consequently unless they receive from the Lord a new seed and a new proprium, that is, a new will and a new understanding, they are inevitably consigned to hell, a place from which all, not only men but also spirits and angels, are being pulled out and constantly withheld by the Lord.