Arcana Coelestia #2228
2228. 'And in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed' means that from Him all who have charity will be saved. This is clear from the meaning of 'being blessed' as being endowed with all goods that have a heavenly origin, dealt with in 981, 1096, 1420, 1422. People who are endowed with goods from a heavenly origin, that is, with celestial goods and spiritual goods, which have been referred to immediately above in 2227, are also endowed with eternal salvation, that is, they are saved. 'All nations of the earth' is used to mean in the internal sense those with whom the goods exist that flow from love and charity, as is clear from the meaning of 'nation' as good, dealt with in 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849. That 'all the nations of the earth' does not mean all people throughout the whole world may become clear to anyone, for there are so many among them who are not saved. Only those who have charity, that is, who have acquired the life of charity, are saved.
[2] So that the whole matter of the salvation of people after they have died does not remain hidden from anyone, let a brief discussion of it follow here. There are many who declare that man is saved through faith, or as they say, if he merely has faith. But the majority of such people do not know what faith is. Some imagine that it is mere thought; some that it is the acknowledgement of something which ought to be believed; others that it is the entire doctrine of faith, which ought to be believed; and others something different again. Thus in their mere knowledge of what faith is they are mistaken, and as a consequence they are mistaken as to what it is that saves a person. Faith however is not mere thought; nor is it the acknowledgement of something that ought to be believed; nor is it a knowledge of all that constitutes the doctrine of faith. Nobody can be saved by such thought, acknowledgement, or knowledge that cannot send down roots any deeper than thought. Thought does not save anyone, but the life which he acquires to himself in the world through the cognitions of faith. Such life remains, but all thought that is not in keeping with his life dies away, even to the point of becoming none at all. In heaven that which brings people into association with one another is their lives, not thoughts that are not related in any way to a person's life. Thoughts which are unrelated to a person's life are spurious and are totally rejected.
[3] In general there are two kinds of life, the first being the life of hell, the second that of heaven. The life of hell is derived from all those intentions, thoughts, and deeds that flow from self-love, consequently from hatred against the neighbour. The life of heaven is derived from all those intentions, thoughts, and deeds that belong to love towards the neighbour. This heavenly life is that to which all things called faith have regard and is acquired by means of all things of faith. From this it becomes clear what faith is, namely that it is charity, for all things that are said to be part of the doctrine of faith lead to charity. Charity embraces them all and from charity they are all derived. After the life of the body, the soul is such as its love is.
Genesis 18
1
Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
2
He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,
3
and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don't go away from your servant.
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Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
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I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant." They said, "Very well, do as you have said."
6
Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly prepare three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."
7
Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it.
8
He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.
9
They asked him, "Where is Sarah, your wife?" He said, "See, in the tent."
10
He said, "I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.
11
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
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Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
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Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?'
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Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son."
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Then Sarah denied, saying, "I didn't laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."
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The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.
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Yahweh said, "Will I hide from Abraham what I do,
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since Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?
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For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him."
20
Yahweh said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,
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I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know."
22
The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh.
23
Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?
24
What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?
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Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?"
26
Yahweh said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake."
27
Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.
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What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?" He said, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there."
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He spoke to him yet again, and said, "What if there are forty found there?" He said, "I will not do it for the forty's sake."
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He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?" He said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."
31
He said, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake."
32
He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake."
33
Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
