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Genesis 28

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1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

2 Arise, go to Padan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father, and take a wife thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

3 And the Almighty ùGod bless thee, and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest become a company of peoples.

4 And may he give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee, in order that thou mayest possess the land of thy sojourning, which God gave to Abraham!

5 And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Padan-Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

6 And Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padan-Aram, to take a wife thence, blessing him, and giving him a charge saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;

7 and [that] Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-Aram.

8 And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the sight of Isaac his father.

9 And Esau went to Ishmael, and took, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife.

10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went towards Haran.

11 And he lighted on a certain place, and lodged there, because the sun had set. And he took [one] of the stones of the place, and made [it] his pillow, and lay down in that place.

12 And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to the heavens. And behold, angels of God ascended and descended upon it.

13 And behold, Jehovah stood above it. And he said, I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15 And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all [places] to which thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of.

16 And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew [it] not.

17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

18 And Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had made his pillow, and set it up [for] a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it.

19 And he called the name of that place Beth-el; but the name of that city was Luz at the first.

20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and keep me on this road that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on,

21 and I come again to my father's house in peace -- then shall Jehovah be my God.

22 And this stone, which I have set up [for] a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that thou wilt give me I will without fail give the tenth to thee.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #3691

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3691. And went toward Haran. That this signifies to the good and truth of that degree, is evident from the signification of “Haran,” as being external good and truth, for by “Haran” is signified what is external, and by “Laban” who dwelt there, good and truth; thus by “Haran” is here meant external good and truth. (That this is the signification of “Haran” may be seen above, n. 1430, 3612.) It follows that by “Jacob went forth from Beersheba and went to Haran,” in the internal sense is signified that he betook himself further from Divine doctrinal things; thus to external good and truth.

[2] It is said “to good and truth of that degree,” because goods and truths are perfectly distinguished from each other according to degrees; interior goods and truths being in a higher degree, and exterior ones in a lower degree. In a higher degree are the goods and truths of the rational; in a lower degree are the goods and truths of the natural; and in the lowest are the sensuous goods and truths of the body. Interior goods and truths, or those of a higher degree, flow into exterior goods and truths, or those of a lower degree, and exhibit therein an image of themselves, almost as man’s interior affections exhibit themselves in the countenance and its changes. From this it is manifest that interior goods and truths are completely separate from exterior goods and truths, or what is the same, those in a higher degree from those in a lower one; so separate that it is possible for the interior ones, or those in a higher degree, to exist quite apart from the exterior ones, or those in a lower degree. He who has not a distinct notion of degrees cannot have a distinct notion of interior and exterior goods, nor how the case is with man’s soul, or with his spirit and body, nor how it is with the heavens in the other life.

[3] That there are three heavens is known, and that one heaven is more interior than another, and that the third heaven is inmost. These heavens are most distinct from each other according to degrees. They who are in the inmost or third heaven are nearest the Lord; they who are in the interior or second heaven are more remote; and they who are in the exterior or first heaven are still more remote. No other communication between these heavens is possible than such as is that of man’s inmosts with his exteriors; for the man who is in love to the Lord and in charity toward his neighbor is a little heaven that in an image corresponds to the three heavens, and he receives the influx of good and truth out of the three heavens from the Lord according to the same degrees. The relative nature of these degrees to one another may be seen from the two cases adduced above (n. 3688, 3690).

[4] They who are in real love to the Lord, so as to have a perception of it, are in a higher degree of good and truth, and are in the inmost or third heaven; thus are nearer to the Lord, and are called celestial angels. They who are in charity toward the neighbor so as to have a perception of charity, and not so much a perception of love to the Lord, are in a lower degree of good and truth, and are in the interior or second heaven; thus are more remote from the Lord, and are called spiritual angels. But they who are in charity toward the neighbor merely from the affection of truth, so as not to have a perception of charity itself toward the neighbor, except from the truth with which they are affected, are in a still lower degree of good and truth, and are in the exterior or first heaven; thus are still more remote from the Lord, and are called good spirits.

[5] From this it may in some measure be evident how the case is in respect to degrees; namely, that those things which are in a higher degree exhibit themselves in an image in those which are in the degree next lower. In love to the Lord there is a proximate image of the Lord, which is called a “likeness,” wherefore they who are in love itself to the Lord are called His “likenesses.” In charity there is also an image of the Lord (only more remote), for in true charity the Lord is present; and therefore they who are therein are called His “images” (n. 50, 51, 1013); while they who are in the affection of truth, and thence in a certain species of charity toward the neighbor, are also images of the Lord, but still more remotely. The three heavens are distinguished into these degrees, and according to these degrees the Lord flows in with Divine good and truth, thus with wisdom and intelligence, and with heavenly joy and happiness.

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