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Genesis 28

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1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, saying: Take not a wife of the stock of Chanaan:

2 But go, and take a journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bathuel thy mother's father, and take thee a wife thence of the daughters of Laban thy uncle.

3 And God almighty bless thee, and make thee to increase, and multiply thee: that thou mayst be a multitude of people.

4 And give the blessings of Abrabam to thee, and to thy seed after thee: that thou mayst possess the land of thy sojournment, which he promised to thy grandfather.

5 And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to Mesopotamia of Syria to Laban the son of Bathuel the Syrian, brother to Rebecca his mother.

6 And Esau seeing that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to marry a wife thence; and that after the blessing he had charged him, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Chanaan:

7 And that Jacob obeying his parents was gone into Syria:

8 Experiencing also that his father was not well pleased with the daughters of Chanaan:

9 He went to Ismael, and took to wife, besides them he had before, Maheleth the daughter of Ismael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nabajoth.

10 But Jacob being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran.

11 And when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting under his head, slept in the same place.

12 And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and descending by it;

13 And the Lord leaning upon the ladder, saying to him: I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land, wherein thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed.

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and IN THEE and thy seed all the tribes of the earth SHALL BE BLESSED.

15 And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land: neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said.

16 And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.

17 And trembling he said: How terrible is this place! this is no other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

18 And Jacob, arising in the morning, took the stone, which he had laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the top of it.

19 And he called the name of the city Bethel, which before was called Luza.

20 And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

21 And I shall return prosperously to my father's house: the Lord shall be my God:

22 And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall called the house of God: and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will offer tithes to thee.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3698

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3698. And he dreamed. That this signifies foresight, is evident from the signification of “dreaming,” as being in the internal sense to foretell future things; for prophetic dreams, which were Divine, were predictions of things to come, as is evident from those related in the Word (see n. 1975, 1976). Such being, in the internal sense, the signification of “dreams” and of “to dream,” therefore in the supreme sense, in which the Lord is treated of, they signify foresight; for predictions are from the Lord’s Divine foresight. That this is the only source of predictions concerning events which do not flow according to the common order of nature, and cannot thence be foreseen, may be seen from the Word, as from these words in Moses:

When a prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, but the word doth not come to pass, and that word doth not happen, Jehovah hath not spoken; the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously (Deuteronomy 18:22);

and this although predictions of things which come to pass might be from the wicked and worshipers of another god, as is evident from this passage:

If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams; for Jehovah your God trieth you (Deuteronomy 13:1-3);

from which it is evident that the prediction itself was from the Divine, but the persuasion to worship other gods was from what belonged to the prophet, to whom this was permitted for the sake of trying them, as is said. From this also it is, and from other causes, that very often in olden time they who worshiped the Baals and other gods also prophesied, saw visions, and dreamed dreams, and likewise that the things which were spoken by them came to pass, whereby many were seduced; concerning whom we read in Jeremiah 23; besides others who were called “diviners,” “soothsayers,” “jugglers,” and “pythons,” who were among those who studied natural magic, whereby nothing of what was Divine could be foretold, but only what was contrary to the Divine, that is, contrary to the Lord, and contrary to the good of love and the truth of faith in Him. This is magic, of whatsoever quality it may appear in external form.

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