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Genesis 22

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1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Here am I.

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah. And offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

3 And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. And he clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. And they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?

8 And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. So they went both of them together.

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am.

12 And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind [him] a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. As it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided.

15 And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven,

16 and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son,

17 that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Because thou hast obeyed my voice.

19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she also hath borne children unto they brother Nahor.

21 Uz his first-born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram.

22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.

23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah. These eight did Milcah bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she also bare Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #10483

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10483. And Moses stood in the gate of the camp. That this signifies where the opening to hell is, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being the internal (of which above, n. 10468); from the signification of “in the gate,” as being where there is an opening (of which below); and from the signification of “the camp,” as being hell (n. 10458). The reason why Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and did not enter into the camp itself, was in order that it might be represented that what is internal cannot enter into hell; for by Moses was represented what is internal, and by the camp was represented hell. For all who are in hell are in things external separate from what is internal, because they are in the loves of self and of the world, and therefore what is internal cannot enter there, because it is not received, but is at once rejected by some who are there; with some it is suffocated and extinguished; and with others it is perverted. Whether you say “what is internal,” or “heaven,” it is the same, because heaven is in what is internal; it is in the internal of the Word, and in the internal of the church and of worship; consequently it is in the internal of the man who is in celestial and spiritual love; that is, in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor.

[2] It shall be briefly told what is this opening of hell which is signified by “the gate of this camp.” Every hell is closed round about; but is opened above according to necessity and need. This opening is into the world of spirits, which world is midway between heaven and hell, for there the hells terminate upward, and the heavens downward (n. 5852). It is said that they are opened according to necessity and need, because every man has with him spirits from hell and angels from heaven. The spirits from hell are in his bodily and worldly loves, and the angels from heaven are in his heavenly and spiritual loves, for without the presence of spirits no man can possibly live. If spirits were removed from him, he would fall down as dead as a stone. Consequently in order that man may have life according to his loves, the hells are of necessity opened, and according to need, and from them such spirits come forth to him as are in similar loves.

[3] This opening is what is meant by “the gate of hell,” and such openings it has sometimes been granted me to see. The gates are guarded by the Lord by means of angels, to prevent more spirits coming forth than is needful. From this it is evident what is signified in the Word by “the gates of hell,” and by “the gates of enemies,” as in Matthew:

Jesus said unto Peter, Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18);

“the gates of hell not prevailing” denotes that the hells will not dare to go forth and destroy the truths of faith; “the rock upon which the church is built” denotes faith from the Lord in the Lord, which faith is the faith of charity, because charity is in this faith and thus is one with it. (That a “rock” denotes this faith may be seen in the preface to the twenty-second chapter of Genesis, and also in n. 8581 (2760), 10438; and that real faith is charity, in n. 654, 1162, 1176, 1608, 2228, 2343, 2349, 2419, 2839, 3324, 4368, 6348, 7039, 7623-7627, 7752-7762, 8530, 9154, 9224, 9783)

[4] The like is also signified by the words:

Thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies (Genesis 22:17; 24:60);

“to inherit the gate of enemies” denotes to destroy the evils and falsities which are from hell; and this was also represented by the driving out and destruction of the nations in the land of Canaan; for the nations there represented evils and falsities which are from hell (see n. 1573, 1574, 1868, 4818, 6306, 8054, 8317, 9320, 9327). Also in David:

They that dwell in the gate plot against me; they that drink strong drink sing and dance (Psalms 69:12).

Happy is the man that hath filled his quiver; they shall not be ashamed, for they shall speak with the enemies in the gate (Psalms 127:5).

[5] But in a good sense “gates” denote an opening into heaven, as in David:

Lift up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in (Psalms 24:7-10).

Moreover by “gates” in the Word is signified entrance into heaven and into the church by means of truth and good; and also the influx of truth and good with man.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #8054

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8054. And it shall be when Jehovah shall have brought thee unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. That this signifies the region of heaven occupied by those who are in evil and falsity, is evident from the signification of “the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,” as being heaven, here the region of heaven occupied by those who are in evil and falsity. (That “the land of Canaan” denotes the Lord’s kingdom in heaven and earth, or the church, see n. 1413, 1437, 1585, 1607, 1866, 3038, 3481, 3686, 3705, 4116, 4240, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 5757, 6516.) Evils and falsities are signified by the nations here named-evil from the falsity of evil by “the Canaanite” (n. 4818); falsity from which is evil by “the Hittite” (n. 2913); evil and the derivative falsity by “the Amorite” (n. 1857, 6306); idolatry in which is something of good by “the Hivite” (n. 6860); and idolatry in which there is something of truth by “the Jebusite” (n. 6860). (That before the coming of the Lord the region of heaven into which they who were of the spiritual church would come, was occupied by evils and falsities, see n. 6858.)

[2] As to what further concerns this subject, be it known that before the Lord’s coming heaven was not distinguished into three heavens, namely into the inmost or third, the middle or second, and the ultimate or first, as it was after the Lord’s coming; but was one. The spiritual heaven was not yet formed. The region where the spiritual heaven was to be, was occupied by those who were in falsity and evil, but who could be kept in some truth and good by external means, especially by means of ideas of eminence and dignity, just as is the case in the world, where they who are in evil and falsity are nevertheless obliged to as it were think and speak truths, and as it were will and do goods, by external means, which are honors and gains. The reason why this region of heaven was then occupied by such spirits, was that good ones were lacking, and they who were of the spiritual church had not as yet been prepared, and yet every place had to be filled by spirits, in order that there might be continuity from the Lord down to man, for without continuity man would have perished. At this day also there are some regions of heaven occupied by such; but they who are there are withheld by a strong force from the doing of evils. Immediately above the head are they who deceive and seduce by means of innocence; but above them are the celestial from the Most Ancient Church, who keep them in bonds with such force that they cannot possibly occasion what is evil to anyone. Behind the back part of the head there is also at this day a region which had been a region of heaven, that is occupied by the evil; and another in front toward the left.

[3] There is also a continual endeavor on the part of the evil to invade the places where the good are, and they actually do invade them as soon as they are not filled by the good, which endeavor it has often been granted me to notice. These regions are thus occupied when the evil are increased and the good diminished in the world; for in this case evil spirits come near to man, and good spirits recede from him; and insofar as these recede, so far the regions nearest to man are occupied by the evil. When this condition becomes general, the inhabitants of these regions are completely changed. Much is the case when the church is near its end, for then evil and falsity prevail. But about the end of the church the evil are cast down, and the regions they had occupied are given to the good, who in the meantime have been prepared for heaven. This is meant by these words in John:

There was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels; but they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven (Revelation 12:7-8).

This state of heaven was represented by the land of Canaan, in that the nations occupied it; and by the sons of Israel, in that they cast those nations out from it; for by the “land of Canaan” is signified the Lord’s kingdom, thus heaven and the church, as can be seen from the passages cited above.

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