3142. For I have swept the house. That this signifies that all things were prepared, and full of goods, is evident from the signification of “sweeping,” as being to prepare and to be filled (of which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of a “house” as being good (concerning which above, n. 2233, 2234, 2559; and that man himself, from the good which is in him, is called a house, n. 3128). The reason “to sweep” signifies to prepare and to be filled, is that nothing else is required of man than to sweep the house; that is, to reject the cupidities of evil and the derivative persuasions of falsity; for he is then filled with goods, because good is continually flowing in from the Lord-but into “the house,” that is, into the man who is purified from such things as impede the influx, that is, which reflect, or pervert, or suffocate the inflowing good. Hence it was common with the ancients to speak of sweeping or cleaning the house, and of sweeping and preparing the way; and by sweeping the house was meant to purify one’s self from evils, and thereby to prepare one’s self for goods to enter; but by sweeping the way was meant to prepare one’s self so that truths might be received (for by a “house” was signified good, n. 3128; and by a “way,” truth, n. 627, 2333).

[2] As in Isaiah:

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Sweep [prepare] ye the way of Jehovah; make straight in the desert a highway for our God (Isaiah 40:3).

In the same:

Cast up, cast up, sweep [prepare] the way, take away the stumbling-block out of the way of My people (Isaiah 57:14).

Again:

Go through, go through the gates, sweep [prepare] the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway, gather out the stones (Isaiah 62:10).

In Malachi:

Behold I send Mine angel, and He shall sweep [prepare] the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple (Malachi 3:1).

In these passages, to “sweep the way” signifies to make themselves ready and prepare to receive truth. The subject treated of therein is the advent of the Lord, for which they were to prepare themselves for receiving the truth of faith, and thereby the good of charity, and by this eternal salvation.

[3] In David:

Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt, Thou didst drive out the nations and plantedst it; Thou didst sweep before it, and didst cause its root to be rooted, and it filled the land (Psalms 80:8-9); where in the supreme sense the Lord is treated of; the “vine out of Egypt” is truth from memory-knowledges; “driving out the nations” is purifying from evils; “sweeping before it,” is making ready so that goods may fill. In the opposite sense “to sweep the house” is said also of the man who deprives himself of all goods and truths, and thus is filled with evils and falsities; as in Luke:

The unclean spirit, finding no rest, says, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come he findeth it swept and garnished; then goeth he and taketh to him seven other spirits worse than himself, and they enter in and dwell there (Luke 11:24-26; Matthew 12:43-45).

2559. And it came to pass when God caused me to depart from my father’s house. That this signifies when He left what is of memory-knowledge, and the appearances therefrom, together with their delights, which here are the “house of his father,” is evident from the signification of “departing,” as being to leave; and from the signification of “house,” as being good (n. 2231, 2233), here the good of the delight from the appearances of the things of memory-knowledge and of rational things; for all delight appears as good. That by the “house of his father” are here signified the delights of memory-knowledges and of rational things, consequently of their appearances, comes from the fact that they are predicated of Abraham when he departed from the house of his father; for then Abraham together with the house of his father worshiped other gods (s ee n. 1356, 1992). Hence it is that it is said in the plural, “God [Elohim] caused me to depart.” It might also be rendered according to the original tongue, “the gods caused me to wander;” but as the Lord is represented by Abraham it must be rendered “God caused me to depart.” As with the Lord the first memory-knowledges and the rational things derived from them were human, being imbued with what was hereditary from the mother, and thus were not purely Divine, they are therefore represented by Abraham’s first state (but how far representations go, see n. 665, 1907 at the end, 1361, 1992).

1356. That by “Terah” is signified idolatrous worship, may be seen from the derivations spoken of from the twentieth verse to this place. This Second Ancient Church degenerated from a kind of internal worship, and was so adulterated that at last it became idolatrous; as churches are wont to do, in that from internal things they go to external, and finally terminate in mere external things, internal things being blotted out. That such was the case with this church, insomuch that a great part of them did not acknowledge Jehovah as God, but worshiped other gods, is evident in Joshua:

Joshua said unto all the people, Thus hath said Jehovah the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the river, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor; and they served other gods. Now therefore fear Jehovah, and serve Him in integrity and in truth; and put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the river, and in Egypt, and serve ye Jehovah. And if it be evil in your eyes to serve Jehovah, choose ye this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods that your fathers served, that were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites (Joshua 24:2, 14-15).

Here it is very plain that Terah, Abram, and Nahor were idolaters.

[2] That Nahor was a nation in which there was idolatrous worship, is also evident from Laban the Syrian, who dwelt in the city of Nahor, and worshiped the images or teraphim which Rachel carried away (Genesis 24:10; 31:19, 26, 32, 34). And that there was one god of Abraham, another god of Nahor, and another of their father, that is, of Terah, is evident from Genesis 31:53. It is also plainly stated by Moses concerning Abram, that Jehovah was not known to him:

I Jehovah appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, in God Shaddai, but by My name Jehovah I was not known to them (Exodus 6:3).

From all this it is evident how much this church fell away among this nation into the idolatrous worship which is here signified by Terah; and because it is signified by Terah, it is also signified by Abram, Nahor, and Haran.