The Bible

 

Genesis 13

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1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South.

2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

3 And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai,

4 unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah.

5 And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

7 And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land.

8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we are brethren.

9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If [thou wilt take] the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if [thou take] the right hand, then I will go to the left.

10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the Plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt, as thou goest unto Zoar.

11 So Lot chose him all the Plain of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom.

13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly.

14 And Jehovah said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward:

15 for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: So that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then may thy seed also be numbered.

17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.

18 And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto Jehovah.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1717

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1717. That 'he brought back all the acquisitions' means that the Interior Man brought all things in the External Man back into a state of agreement becomes clear from the meaning of 'bringing back all the acquisitions', the acquisitions here being the things which Chedorlaomer and the kings with him had taken from their enemies, as described in what has gone before. 'Chedorlaomer and the kings with him' meant the goods and truths in the Exterior Man. They did not take from their enemies anything apart from depriving them of the power to do evil and to think falsity, which was meant by 'the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah' and by all the food they took, dealt with above at verse 11.

[2] This is not a matter that can be explained briefly, yet to gain some notion concerning it, let the following be said. A person who is engaged in the conflicts that constitute temptations, and who overcomes, more and more acquires to himself power over evil spirits, that is, over the devil's crew, till at length they do not dare to tempt him at all. Every time a victory is won, the Lord brings back into a state of order the goods and truths from which the battle was fought, and so they are purified. And to the degree that these are purified, the celestial things of love are implanted in the exterior man, and a correspondence is achieved. This is what is meant by 'bringing back all the acquisitions'.

[3] Anyone who thinks that the external man can be brought back into correspondence without the conflicts brought about by temptations is mistaken; for temptations are the means by which evils and falsities are dispelled, also by which goods and truths are introduced, and by which the things belonging to the external man are brought into obedience so that it may serve the interior or rational man, and through the latter may serve the internal man, that is, the Lord who operates by way of the internal man. That these things are effected by temptations nobody can know except the person who has been regenerated by means of temptations. But how this is accomplished can hardly be described even as to its most general features, for it is accomplished without the person's knowing the origin and manner of its accomplishment, since it is a Divine operation by the Lord.

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