Die Bibel

 

Genesis 28

Lernen

   

1 Then Isaac sent for Jacob, and blessing him, said, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;

2 But go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and there get yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.

3 And may God, the Ruler of all, give you his blessing, giving you fruit and increase, so that you may become an army of peoples.

4 And may God give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed, so that the land of your wanderings, which God gave to Abraham, may be your heritage.

5 So Isaac sent Jacob away: and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramaean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 So when Esau saw that Isaac had given Jacob his blessing, and sent him away to Paddan-aram to get a wife for himself there, blessing him and saying to him, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;

7 And that Jacob had done as his father and mother said and had gone to Paddan-aram;

8 It was clear to Esau that his father had no love for the women of Canaan,

9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

10 So Jacob went out from Beer-sheba to go to Haran.

11 And coming to a certain place, he made it his resting-place for the night, for the sun had gone down; and he took one of the stones which were there, and putting it under his head he went to sleep in that place.

12 And he had a dream, and in his dream he saw steps stretching from earth to heaven, and the angels of God were going up and down on them.

13 And he saw the Lord by his side, saying, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: I will give to you and to your seed this land on which you are sleeping.

14 Your seed will be like the dust of the earth, covering all the land to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south: you and your seed will be a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.

15 And truly, I will be with you, and will keep you wherever you go, guiding you back again to this land; and I will not give you up till I have done what I have said to you.

16 And Jacob, awaking from his sleep, said, Truly, the Lord is in this place and I was not conscious of it.

17 And fear came on him, and he said, This is a holy place; this is nothing less than the house of God and the doorway of heaven.

18 And early in the morning Jacob took the stone which had been under his head, and put it up as a pillar and put oil on it.

19 And he gave that place the name of Beth-el, but before that time the town was named Luz.

20 Then Jacob took an oath, and said, If God will be with me, and keep me safe on my journey, and give me food and clothing to put on,

21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace, then I will take the Lord to be my God,

22 And this stone which I have put up for a pillar will be God's house: and of all you give me, I will give a tenth part to you.

   

Aus Swedenborgs Werken

 

True Christian Religion #727

studieren Sie diesen Abschnitt

  
/ 853  
  

727. It is well known that invitations to meals and banquets serve as a means to establish links and associations in the world. For the person who gives the invitation has in mind something contributing to his end in view, which concerns agreement and friendship. Far more then is this true of invitations which are aimed at spiritual ends. Dinners in the ancient churches were charitable ones, and it was much the same in the earliest days of the Christian church, where people strengthened one another's resolve to maintain the Lord's worship in heartfelt sincerity. The feasts of the Children of Israel on sacrifices beside the Tabernacle had no other meaning than unanimity in the worship of Jehovah. The meat that they used to eat was therefore called holy (Jeremiah 11:15; Hagg Jeremiah 2:12; and many other places), because it came from a sacrifice. What then of the bread and wine, and the Passover meat at the Lord's Supper, who offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world?

[2] In addition, the link established with the Lord through the Holy Supper can be illustrated by the link between families descended from one ancestor. From him are descended blood relations, and in series kinsfolk and relatives. They all derive something from the founder of the line, but it is not so much flesh and blood. It is rather the soul and similar inclinations which they derive from flesh and blood that forms the link. The link is also generally apparent in their faces and their behaviour, so that they are called one flesh (as in Genesis 29:14; 37:27; 2 Samuel 5:1; 19:12-13, and elsewhere).

[3] It is much the same with linking with the Lord, who is the Father of all the faithful and blessed. Linking with Him takes place by means of love and faith, which together are called one flesh. This is why He said that 'if someone eats my flesh and drinks my blood, he remains in me and I in him' (John 6:56). Anyone can see that it is not bread and wine that do this, but the good of love, which is meant by bread, and the truth of faith, which is meant by wine. These are peculiar to the Lord, proceed from and are conferred by Him alone. Every link is forged by love, and love is not love if there is no trust. Those who believe that bread is flesh and wine is blood, being unable to lift their thoughts above this level, may cling to that belief; but in such a way as to believe that it is something very holy which makes a link with the Lord, which is being assigned for a person to make as if his own, although it constantly remains the Lord's.

  
/ 853  
  

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