The Bible

 

Genesis 15

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1 After these things the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward.

2 And Abram said, O Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?

3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

4 And, behold, the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir; But he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

6 And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.

7 And he said unto him, I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

8 And he said, O Lord Jehovah, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9 And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.

10 And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other: but the birds divided he not.

11 And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.

13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14 and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15 But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16 And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.

17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces.

18 In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

19 the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,

20 and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,

21 and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #1825

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1825. That “three years old” involves all things of the church as to times and states, is evident from the signification of “three” in the Word. By “three” is signified the full time of the church, from its origin even to its end, and thus all its state. The last time of the church is therefore signified by the third day, the third week, the third month, the third year and the third age, which are all the same. As the state of the church is signified by the number three, so also is the state of everyone who is a church, and everything which is of the church, as may be seen from the signification of this number in the passages adduced from the Word (n. 720, 901).

[2] That “a heifer of three years” thus signifies the time or state of the church even to the last, that is, when it has been vastated or made desolate, may also be seen in Isaiah:

My heart crieth out upon Moab; her fugitives are unto Zoar, a heifer of three years old; for by the ascent of Luhith, with weeping he shall go up in it; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of breaking to pieces (Isaiah 15:5).

Also in Jeremiah:

Gladness and exultation are gathered from Carmel, and from the land of Moab; and I will make 1 wine to cease from the winepresses; none shall tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting. From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, even unto Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto 2 Horonaim, a heifer of three years old; for the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolations (Jeremiah 48:33-34).

No one could possibly perceive what these things mean unless he knew what is signified by “Moab,” by “Zoar,” “the ascent of Luhith,” “the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh,” by “Jahaz,” by “Horonaim,” “the waters of Nimrim,” and by “a heifer three years old.” That this is an uttermost vastation is plain.

Footnotes:

1. Cessare faciam; but elsewhere feci, as Apocalypse Explained 376 Apocalypse Explained 376[1-40] Apocalypse Explained 376[1-40]. [Rotch ed.]

2. Latin here has a, doubtless a misprint for ad, as in n. 9391. [Ibid.]

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