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Genesis 12

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1 And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of they father's house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.

3 I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed:

4 So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran.

5 And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it,

6 Abram passed through the country into the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.

7 And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

8 And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east; he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name.

9 And Abram went forward, going, and proceeding on to the south.

10 And there came a famine in the country; and Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land.

11 And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:

12 And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.

13 Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.

14 And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful.

15 And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the woman was taken into the house of Pharao.

16 And they used Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and oxen, and he asses, and menservants and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

17 But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous stripes for Sarai, Abram's wife.

18 And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife.

19 For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might take her to my wife? Now therefore, there is thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

20 And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram: and they led him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #1413

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1413. 'To the land which I will cause you to see' means the spiritual and celestial things that were to be brought to view. This is clear from the meaning of 'a land', 662, 1066, and indeed from the meaning here of 'the land of Canaan' which represents the Lord's kingdom, as becomes clear from many places in the Word. For this reason the land of Canaan is called the Holy Land, and also the heavenly Canaan. And since it represented the Lord's kingdom, it also represented and meant the celestial and spiritual things that belong to the Lord's kingdom, and here those that belong to the Lord Himself.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #662

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662. 'Everything that is on the earth will breathe its last' means those belonging to that Church who became such. This becomes clear from the fact that 'the earth' does not mean every land throughout the world but only those people who belonged to the Church, as shown already. No flood of any kind is meant here therefore, let alone a flooding of the whole world, but instead the decease or choking to death of those people there who when cut off from remnants, and so from things connected with the understanding of truth and with the will for good, were consequently cut off from the heavens. In addition to places already quoted from the Word, let the following also serve to confirm the fact that 'earth' means that area where the Church is, and therefore those who are there. In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, The whole earth will be desolate, yet I will not bring it to a close. For this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above be black. Jeremiah 4:27-28.

Here 'the earth' stands for people living where the Church is that has been vastated. In Isaiah,

I will jolt heaven, and the earth will be shaken out of its place. Isaiah 13:13.

'Earth' stands for mankind which is to be vastated where the Church is. In Jeremiah,

The slain 1 of Jehovah on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. Jeremiah 25:33.

Here 'the end of the earth' does not mean every land throughout the world, only that area where the Church was, and consequently where members of the Church were. In the same prophet,

I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth. A clamour is coming even to the end of the earth, for Jehovah's controversy is against the nations. Jeremiah 25:29, 31.

Nor is the whole world meant here, only the area where the Church is, and consequently where the inhabitant or member of the Church is. 'The nations' here stands for falsities. In Isaiah,

Behold, Jehovah is coming out of His place to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth. Isaiah 26:21.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,

Do you not hear? Has it not been pointed out to you from the beginning? Do you not understand the foundations of the earth? Isaiah 40:21.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah who creates the heavens, the God who forms the earth and makes it, the Same establishes it. Isaiah 45:18.

'Earth' stands for the member of the Church. In Zechariah,

The Word of Jehovah who stretches out the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

'The earth' obviously stands for the member of the Church. The earth is different from the ground in the way that the member of the Church is different from the Church itself, or as love and faith are different.

Notes de bas de page:

1. literally, The pierced

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