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Genesis 27

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1 And it came to pass when Isaac had become old, and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, that he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, My son! And he said to him, Here am I.

2 And he said, Behold now, I am become old; I know not the day of my death.

3 And now, I pray thee, take thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field and hunt me venison,

4 and prepare me a savoury dish such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, in order that my soul may bless thee before I die.

5 And Rebecca heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt venison, to bring it.

6 And Rebecca spoke to Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak to Esau thy brother, saying,

7 Bring me venison, and prepare me a savoury dish, that I may eat, and bless thee before Jehovah, before my death.

8 And now, my son, hearken to my voice in that which I command thee.

9 Go, I pray thee, to the flock, and fetch me thence two good kids of the goats. And I will make of them a savoury dish for thy father, such as he loves.

10 And thou shalt bring [it] to thy father, that he may eat, in order that he may bless thee before his death.

11 And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

12 My father perhaps will feel me, and I shall be in his sight as one who mocks [him], and I shall bring a curse on me, and not a blessing.

13 And his mother said to him, On me [be] thy curse, my son! Only hearken to my voice, and go, fetch [them].

14 And he went, and fetched and brought [them] to his mother. And his mother prepared a savoury dish such as his father loved.

15 And Rebecca took the clothes of her elder son Esau, the costly ones which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son;

16 and she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck;

17 and she gave the savoury dishes and the bread that she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.

18 And he came to his father, and said, My father! And he said, Here am I: who art thou, my son?

19 And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou didst say to me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, in order that thy soul may bless me.

20 And Isaac said to his son, How is it that thou hast found [it] so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Jehovah thy God put [it] in my way.

21 And Isaac said to Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be really my son Esau or not.

22 And Jacob drew near to Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

23 And he did not discern him, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands; and he blessed him.

24 And he said, Art thou really my son Esau? And he said, It is I.

25 And he said, Bring [it] near to me, that I may eat of my son's venison, in order that my soul may bless thee. And he brought [it] near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

26 And his father Isaac said to him, Come near, now, and kiss me, my son.

27 And he came near, and kissed him. And he smelt the smell of his clothes, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed.

28 And God give thee of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of corn and new wine.

29 Let peoples serve thee, And races bow down to thee. Be lord over thy brethren, And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be they that curse thee, And blessed be they that bless thee.

30 And it came to pass when Isaac had ended blessing Jacob, and when Jacob was only just gone out from Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came from his hunting.

31 And he also had prepared savoury dishes, and he brought [them] in to his father, and said to his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son's venison, in order that thy soul may bless me.

32 And Isaac his father said to him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau.

33 Then Isaac trembled with exceeding great trembling, and said, Who was he, then, that hunted venison and brought [it] to me? And I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him; also blessed he shall be.

34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me -- me also, my father!

35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and has taken away thy blessing.

36 And he said, Is it not therefore he was named Jacob, for he has supplanted me now twice? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

37 And Isaac answered and said to Esau, Behold, I have made him lord over thee, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants, and with corn and new wine have I supplied him -- and what can I do now for thee, my son?

38 And Esau said to his father, Hast thou then but one blessing, my father? bless me -- me also, my father! And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

39 And Isaac his father answered and said to him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above;

40 And by thy sword shalt thou live; And thou shalt serve thy brother; And it shall come to pass when thou rovest about, That thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand, and I will slay my brother Jacob.

42 And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebecca. And she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, comforts himself that he will kill thee.

43 And now, my son, hearken to my voice, and arise, flee to Laban my brother, to Haran;

44 and abide with him some days, until thy brother's fury turn away --

45 until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget what thou hast done to him; then I will send and fetch thee thence. Why should I be bereaved even of you both in one day?

46 And Rebecca said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good should my life do me?

   

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Apocalypse Explained #1159

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1159. And all things fat and splendid have departed from thee.- That this signifies that all goods and truths, and things auspicious and magnificent, which they have persuaded themselves, they would be able to acquire by means of that religion, are changed into the contrary, is evident from the signification of fat things, which denote goods and auspicious things therefrom, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of things splendid, which denote truths and things magnificent therefrom. The reason why this is the signification of things splendid, is, that splendour is the result of light, and the light of heaven is Divine Truth or Divine Wisdom, which is the cause of all things in the heavens shining with a splendour unknown in the world. It may be compared with the brilliancy of a diamond turned to the sun, but the splendour seen in heaven far exceeds this, just as the light of heaven exceeds the light of the world, the difference between which is so great, that while it may be illustrated by comparisons, yet it cannot be described. All the magnificent things of heaven, exist from that light, and these chiefly consist of forms corresponding to wisdom, which are such that in the world they can neither be pictured nor described. For in them art itself is in its art, and science is in its wisdom, consequently they are of ineffable beauty. It is evident from these facts why things splendid signify truths and thence things magnificent.

[2] The reason why fat things signify goods and auspicious things therefrom, is, that the fat is the best part of flesh, and that it is like oil, which signifies the good of love. That fatness signifies good and those things that belong to it, thus happiness and joys, is clear from the following passages in the Word.

In Isaiah:

"Attending attend unto me, eat ye good, that your soul may be delighted in fatness" (55:2).

To eat good signifies to appropriate good to themselves; thence by delighting in fatness is signified to be in a state of happiness and blessedness.

In Jeremiah:

"I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with good" (31:14).

Here also fatness signifies happiness and blessing from the good of love.

In David:

"My soul shall be satisfied with fat and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips" (Psalm 63:5).

The soul being satisfied with fat and fatness, signifies to be filled with the good of love and with joy therefrom. To praise with joyful lips signifies to worship by means of truths which gladden the mind.

Again:

"Thy houses shall be filled with fatness, and thou shalt cause them to drink of the stream of delights" (Psalm 36:8).

The fatness with which the houses shall be filled, signifies the good of love, and happiness therefrom, houses denoting things pertaining to the mind. The river of the delights, of which they shall drink, signifies intelligence and happiness therefrom.

[3] In Isaiah:

"In this mountain shall Jehovah Zebaoth make to all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow and of wine on the lees well refined" (25:6).

These things are said concerning the state of those who would acknowledge and adore the Lord. By that mountain is signified a new church from them; by the feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow, is signified good both natural and spiritual with joy of heart; and by the lees, lees well refined, are signified truths from that good with the happiness therefrom.

In the same prophet:

"Jehovah shall give the rain of thy seed, with which thou shalt sow the earth, and bread of the produce of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous" (30:23).

The rain of seed signifies the multiplication of truth; and bread of produce the fructification of good. By fat and plenteous is signified good and truth with all its satisfaction and happiness.

In David:

"As yet they shall have increase in old age, they shall be fat and green, to show that Jehovah is right" (Psalm 92:14, 15).

To be fat and green signifies to be in goods and truths of doctrine.

Again:

"Jehovah shall remember all thy offerings and shall make fat thy burnt offering" (Psalm 20:3).

By offerings and burnt offering is signified worship, and by making it fat is signified that it is from the good of love.

The signification of fatness in Ezekiel 34:3; Genesis 27:39, and elsewhere is similar. Because fat and fatness signify the good of love, and because all worship, which is truly worship, must be from the good of love, therefore it was a law that all the fat in the sacrifices should be burnt upon the altar (Exodus 29:13, 22; Leviticus 1:8; 3:3-16; 4:8-35; 7:3, 4, 30, 31; 17:6; Numbers 18:17, 18); for the sacrifices and burnt offerings signified worship.

[4] Since the Jews and Israelites were only in external worship, and not at the same time in internal worship, and not therefore in any good of love, or in any good of charity and faith, they were therefore prohibited from eating fat and blood, and it was a law that if they ate these, they should be cut off (Leviticus 3:17; 7:23, 25). But to those who are in internal worship, and thence in external worship - as those will be who shall belong to the Lord's New Church - it is said, that they shall eat fat to fulness, and drink blood to drunkenness (ebrietas) (Ezekiel 39:19). Fat there signifies all the good of heaven and of the church, and blood all the truth of these. In the opposite sense the fat ones signify those who loathe good and who utterly despise and reject it (Deuteronomy 32:15; Jeremiah 5:28; 50:11; Psalm 17:10; 20:4; 68:31; 119:70; and elsewhere).

[5] Continuation.- Such, however, is not the lot of those who are continually evil, for these are in hell according to the loves of their life. There they think, and from their thought, speak, although they utter falsities; they also will, and, from their will they act, although their actions are evil. They appear, moreover to one another as men, although in the light of heaven they are of a monstrous form. It is therefore evident, why it is in accordance with a law of order relating to reformation, and called a law of Divine Providence, that a man is admitted into the truths of faith and the goods of love, only so far as he can be withheld from evils and kept in goods to the end of his life and that it is better that he should be always evil, than that he should be good and afterwards evil; for in this case he becomes profane. The Lord, who both provides and foresees all things, for this reason conceals the operations of His Providence, and to such a degree that man scarcely knows whether there is any providence at all. He permits him rather to attribute ordinary events to prudence, and contingencies to fortune, and even to ascribe many things to nature, rather than that, through any striking and manifest signs of the Divine Providence and Presence, he should plunge unreasonably into the midst of holy things in which he would not remain. The Lord also permits similar things in accordance with other laws of His Providence, namely, that man should enjoy freedom, and that in all that he does he should act according to reason, thus entirely as if from himself. For it is better that he should ascribe the operations of the Divine Providence to prudence and fortune, than that he should acknowledge them, and still live as a devil. From these facts it is evident that the laws of permission, which are numerous, proceed from the laws of Providence.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.