2833. 'And Abraham went and took the ram' means their release effected by the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord, here the Lord as to the Divine Human - for when Jehovah or the angel of Jehovah speaks to Abraham, Jehovah or the angel of Jehovah in that case means the Divine itself, and 'Abraham' the Divine Human; and from the meaning of 'a ram' as those who are spiritual, 2830. From this it is evident that 'Abraham went and took the ram caught in a thicket by its horns' means the release of those who are spiritual effected by the Lord's Divine Human. As regards the fact that but for the Lord's Coming into the world spiritual people could not possibly have been saved, see 2661, 2716, and that their salvation and release was effected by the Lord's Divine Human, 2716.

1176. That 'Cush begot Nimrod' means that those who had cognitions of interior things were the instigators of such worship is clear from what has just been stated. Cognitions of interior things are what they call matters of doctrine, which they also distinguish from ritual forms. For example, their chief point of doctrine is that faith alone saves, but they are not aware of the fact that love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour constitute faith itself, and that the cognitions which they call faith exist for no other purpose than that through them people may receive from the Lord love to Him and love towards the neighbour, and that this is the faith which saves. Those who refer to cognitions alone as faith are the people who beget and instigate the kind of worship described above.