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Génesis 28

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1 ENTONCES Isaac llamó á Jacob, y bendíjolo, y mandóle diciendo: No tomes mujer de las hijas de Canaán.

2 Levántate, ve á Padan-aram, á casa de Bethuel, padre de tu madre, y toma allí mujer de las hijas de Labán, hermano de tu madre.

3 Y el Dios omnipotente te bendiga y te haga fructificar, y te multiplique, hasta venir á ser congregación de pueblos;

4 Y te dé la bendición de Abraham, y á tu simiente contigo, para que heredes la tierra de tus peregrinaciones, que Dios dió á Abraham.

5 Así envió Isaac á Jacob, el cual fué á Padan-aram, á Labán, hijo de Bethuel Arameo, hermano de Rebeca, madre de Jacob y de Esaú.

6 Y vió Esaú cómo Isaac había bendecido á Jacob, y le había enviado á Padan-aram, para tomar para sí mujer de allí; y que cuando le bendijo, le había mandado, diciendo: No tomarás mujer de las hijas de Canaán;

7 Y que Jacob había obedecido á su padre y á su madre, y se había ido á Padan-aram.

8 Vió asimismo Esaú que las hijas de Canaán parecían mal á Isaac su padre;

9 Y fuése Esaú á Ismael, y tomó para sí por mujer á Mahaleth, hija de Ismael, hijo de Abraham, hermana de Nabaioth, además de sus otras mujeres.

10 Y salió Jacob de Beer-seba, y fué á Harán;

11 Y encontró con un lugar, y durmió allí porque ya el sol se había puesto: y tomó de las piedras de aquel paraje y puso á su cabecera, y acostóse en aquel lugar.

12 Y soñó, y he aquí una escala que estaba apoyada en tierra, y su cabeza tocaba en el cielo: y he aquí ángeles de Dios que subían y descendían por ella.

13 Y he aquí, Jehová estaba en lo alto de ella, el cual dijo: Yo soy Jehová, el Dios de Abraham tu padre, y el Dios de Isaac: la tierra en que estás acostado te la daré á ti y á tu simiente.

14 Y será tu simiente como el polvo de la tierra, y te extenderás al occidente, y al oriente, y al aquilón, y al mediodía; y todas las familias de la tierra serán benditas en ti y en tu simiente.

15 Y he aquí, yo soy contigo, y te guardaré por donde quiera que fueres, y te volveré á esta tierra; porque no te dejaré hasta tanto que haya hecho lo que te he dicho.

16 Y despertó Jacob de su sueño dijo: Ciertamente Jehové está en este lugar, y yo no lo sabía.

17 Y tuvo miedo, y dijo: ­Cuán terrible es este lugar! No es otra cosa que casa de Dios, y puerta del cielo.

18 Y levantóse Jacob de mañana, y tomó la piedra que había puesto de cabecera, y alzóla por título, y derramó aceite encima de ella.

19 Y llamó el nombre de aquel lugar Beth-el, bien que Luz era el nombre de la ciudad primero.

20 E hizo Jacob voto, diciendo: Si fuere Dios conmigo, y me guardare en este viaje que voy, y me diere pan para comer y vestido para vestir,

21 Y si tornare en paz á casa de mi padre, Jehová será mi Dios,

22 Y esta piedra que he puesto por título, será casa de Dios: y de todo lo que me dieres, el diezmo lo he de apartar para ti.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #10559

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10559. 'And Moses said to Jehovah' means annoyance that the Divine, and so the Church itself, does not reside with them. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' here as annoyance, for it includes what comes after it, this being what he actually said; and what comes after it is an expression of annoyance because the Divine was not willing to reside with them. That being so, the Church would not reside with them to make them more distinguished than all who are on the face of the earth, as is evident from verse 16 below. The reason why Moses' words to Jehovah were an expression of annoyance because of this was that Moses now represents the head of the Israelite nation, see above in 10556; therefore he speaks on behalf of himself and of that nation, for in verse 16 he says 'I and the people'. And since he now represents that nation as its head, the words 'Moses said to Jehovah' mean annoyance, for anyone who is by nature like that nation is annoyed with God if he does not attain his desires.

[2] This is how all whose interest lies in external things devoid of what is internal behave; for if they revere and worship God, and seem to love Him, they do so not for His sake but their own. Their only desire is for pre-eminence over others and greater wealth than others. This burning desire is what moves them to revere, worship, and seemingly love Him. But if they do not obtain the things they desire they forsake God. The fact that that nation was like this is plainly evident from the historical narratives in the Word. The following words spoken by Jacob have a similar meaning,

Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and guard me on this road on which I am walking, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I come back in peace to my father's house, then Jehovah will be my God. Genesis 28:20-21.

The import of these words is that if he received those things he would acknowledge Jehovah as his God, but if he did not receive them he would not do so. Of such a mind also was the nation descended from him. This explains why that nation forsook Him so many times and worshipped other gods, till at length they were for that reason expelled from the land of Canaan, first the Israelite nation and afterwards the Jewish.

[3] It is evident that the cause of the annoyance referred to above lay in the fact that they would not become more distinguished than all throughout the whole world if Jehovah did not go with them. Another cause of that annoyance was that the Church itself would not exist among them, which follows from this, that being led by Jehovah into the land of Canaan means being made a Church. The reasons for this are that the Church had existed in the land of Canaan since most ancient times, and that the Word could not have been written anywhere else than in that land, thus among the nation that possessed it, and the place where the Word exists is where the Church exists. The Word could not have been written anywhere else than there because all the places throughout the whole of that land, and those around it - the mountains, valleys, rivers, forests, and everything else - had become representative of celestial and spiritual realities, and the literal sense of the Word in both the historical sections and the prophetical parts must of necessity consist of such representative things. It must do so because the interiors of the Word, which are celestial and spiritual, terminate in such things and so to speak rest on them like a house on its foundations. For unless the Word as to its literal sense, which is the last and lowest level of it, rested on those things it would be like a house without foundations. The truth of this is evident from the Word, in that references are made so many times to places in that land, all of which, having become representative, are signs for the realities of heaven and the Church.

[4] All this explains why being led into the land of Canaan means the establishment of the Church and why Moses' annoyance has to do with the same thing, though nothing of that was in his mind.

The Church had existed in the land of Canaan since most ancient times, and for this reason all the places there became representative, see 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6306, 6516, 8317, 9320, 9325.

For the same reason 'the land of Canaan' in the Word means the Church, in the places referred to in 9325.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #9320

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9320. 'For you shall utterly destroy them' means that evils must be completely removed. This is clear from the meaning of 'destroying' - when it has reference to evils and falsities, meant by the nations of the land of Canaan and their gods - as removing. The reason why 'destroying' means removing is that those governed by goodness and truth never destroy those ruled by evil and falsity, but merely move them away. This they do because good, not evil, governs their actions, and good comes from the Lord, who never destroys anyone. Those ruled by evil however and consequently by falsity try to destroy, and so far as they can they do destroy those governed by good. This they do because evil rules their actions. But since, when they try to do so, they make their attack on good which comes from the Lord, thus on what is of God, they destroy themselves, that is, they hurl themselves into damnation and into hell. Such is the law of order. And why it is such, see 4299, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7926, 7989, 8137, 8146, 8265, 8945, 8946.

[2] The reason why the Israelites and Jews were to destroy the nations of the land of Canaan was that they themselves represented spiritual and heavenly realities, while the nations represented hellish and devilish things, which can never exist together with those realities since they are opposites. The reason why they were allowed to destroy the nations was that no Church existed among them, only a representative of the Church, so that the Lord was not present among them either except through things of a representative nature, 4307. For they were interested in outward forms but not their inner substances, that is, in the worship that represented goodness and truth but not goodness and truth themselves. People like this are allowed to destroy, kill, and consign to slaughter and complete destruction. But people who are interested in outward forms and at the same time in their inner substance are not allowed to do those things, since their actions must be governed by good, and good comes from the Lord.

[3] The fact that the Jews and Israelites were such is declared explicitly by Moses,

Do not say in your heart, when Jehovah your God has thrust out the nations before you, Because of my righteousness Jehovah has brought me in to possess this land. It is not because of your righteousness and because of the uprightness of your heart; for you are a stiff-necked people. Deuteronomy 9:4-6.

And elsewhere,

They are a nation from whom counsel has perished, nor is there intelligence in them. From the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison, they have clusters of bitterness. The poison of snakes (draco) is their wine, and the cruel poison of asps. Is not this hidden away with Me, sealed up in My treasuries? Deuteronomy 32:28, 32-34.

'The vine' in the internal sense means the Church, 1069, 5113, 6375, 6376, 9277; 'grapes' and 'clusters' mean the internal forms and the external forms of that Church's good, 1071, 5117, 6378; and 'wine' means that Church's internal truth, 1071, 1798, 6377. From this one may see what is meant by the assertions that their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah, that their grapes are grapes of poison and clusters of bitterness, and that their wine is the poison of snakes and the cruel poison of asps. The fact that all this was known to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, is meant by the remarks about its being hidden away with Him and sealed up in His treasuries.

[4] In John,

Jesus said to the Jews, You are from your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth. John 8:44.

This is why they are called a wicked and adulterous generation, Matthew 12:39, as well as a brood of vipers, Matthew 3:7; 12:34; 23:33; Luke 3:7. That they were like this is also described by the Lord in His parables in Matthew 21:33-45; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 14:16-24; 20:9ff.

Regarding that nation, that it was the worst nation; that in their worship they were interested in outward forms but not their inner substance; that no Church existed among them, only a representative of the Church; but that nevertheless they were able to represent the internal realities of the Church, see 3398, 3479, 3480, 3732 (end), 3881 (end), 4208, 4281, 4288-4290, 4293, 4307, 4314, 4316, 4317, 4429, 4433, 4444, 4500, 4503, 4680, 4815, 4818, 4820, 4825, 4832, 4837, 4844, 4847, 4865, 4868, 4874, 4899, 4903, 4911-4913, 5057, 5998, 6304, 6832, 6877, 7048, 7051, 7248, 7401, 7439, 8301, 8588, 8788, 8806, 8814, 8819, 8871, 8882, 9284.

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