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1 Mose 18

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1 Und Jehova erschien ihm bei den Terebinthen Mamres; und er saß an dem Eingang des Zeltes bei der Hitze des Tages.

2 Und er hob seine Augen auf und sah: und siehe, drei Männer standen vor ihm; und als er sie sah, lief er ihnen entgegen von dem Eingang des Zeltes und beugte sich nieder zur Erde;

3 und er sprach: Herr, wenn ich anders Gnade gefunden habe in deinen Augen, so gehe doch nicht an deinem Knechte vorüber!

4 Es werde doch ein wenig Wasser geholt, und waschet eure Füße; und lagert euch (Eig. lehnet euch nieder) unter dem Baume,

5 und ich will einen Bissen Brot holen, und stärket euer Herz; danach möget ihr weitergehen; da ihr nun einmal (O. denn darum seid ihr) vorbeigekommen seid bei eurem Knechte. Und sie sprachen: Tue also, wie du geredet hast.

6 Da eilte Abraham ins Zelt zu Sara und sprach: Nimm schnell drei Maß Feinmehl, knete und mache Kuchen! (Brotkuchen, die in heißer Asche rasch gebacken werden konnten)

7 Und Abraham lief zu den indern und nahm ein Kalb, zart und gut, und gab es dem Knaben; und der beeilte sich, es zuzubereiten.

8 Und er holte dicke und süße Milch und das Kalb, das er zubereitet hatte, und setzte es ihnen vor; und er stand vor ihnen unter dem Baume, und sie aßen.

9 Und sie sprachen zu ihm: Wo ist Sara, dein Weib? Und er sprach: Siehe, im Zelte.

10 Und er sprach: Gewißlich werde ich übers Jahr wieder zu dir kommen, und siehe, Sara, dein Weib, wird einen Sohn haben. Und Sara horchte am Eingang des Zeltes, der hinter ihm war.

11 Und Abraham und Sara waren alt, wohlbetagt; es hatte aufgehört, Sara zu ergehen nach der Weiber Weise.

12 Und Sara lachte in ihrem Innern und sprach: Nachdem ich alt geworden (Eig. abgewelkt) bin, sollte ich Wollust haben? Und mein Herr ist ja alt!

13 Und Jehova sprach zu Abraham: Warum hat Sara denn gelacht und gesagt: Sollte ich auch wirklich gebären, da ich doch alt bin?

14 Ist für Jehova eine Sache zu wunderbar? Zur bestimmten Zeit übers Jahr werde ich wieder zu dir kommen, und Sara wird einen Sohn haben.

15 Und Sara leugnete und sprach: Ich habe nicht gelacht! denn sie fürchtete sich. Er aber sprach: Nein, sondern du hast gelacht.

16 Und die Männer erhoben sich von dannen und blickten hin nach Sodom; und Abraham ging mit ihnen, sie zu geleiten.

17 Und Jehova sprach: Sollte ich vor Abraham verbergen, was ich tun will?

18 Wird doch Abraham gewißlich zu einer großen und mächtigen Nation werden, und sollen doch in ihm gesegnet werden alle Nationen der Erde!

19 Denn ich habe ihn erkannt, auf daß er seinen Kindern und seinem Hause nach ihm befehle, (And. üb. Ich kenne ihn, daß er seinen Kindern… befehlen wird) daß sie den Weg Jehovas bewahren, Gerechtigkeit und echt zu üben, (O. indem Sie Gerechtigkeit und echt üben) damit Jehova auf Abraham kommen lasse, was er über ihn geredet hat.

20 Und Jehova sprach: Weil das Geschrei von Sodom und Gomorra groß, und weil ihre Sünde sehr schwer ist,

21 so will ich doch hinabgehen und sehen, ob sie nach ihrem Geschrei, das vor mich gekommen ist, völlig getan haben; und wenn nicht, so will ich’s wissen.

22 Und die Männer wandten sich von dannen und gingen nach Sodom; Abraham aber blieb noch vor Jehova stehen.

23 Und Abraham trat hinzu und sprach: Willst du denn den Gerechten mit dem Gesetzlosen wegraffen?

24 Vielleicht sind fünfzig Gerechte innerhalb der Stadt; willst du sie denn wegraffen und dem Orte nicht vergeben um der fünfzig Gerechten willen, die darin sind?

25 Fern sei es von dir, so etwas zu tun, den Gerechten mit dem Gesetzlosen zu töten, so daß der Gerechte sei wie der Gesetzlose; fern sei es von dir! Sollte der ichter der ganzen Erde nicht echt üben?

26 Und Jehova sprach: Wenn ich in Sodom, innerhalb der Stadt, fünfzig Gerechte finde, so will ich um ihretwillen dem ganzen Orte vergeben.

27 Und Abraham antwortete und sprach: Siehe doch, ich habe mich unterwunden zu dem Herrn zu reden, und ich bin Staub und Asche.

28 Vielleicht mögen an den fünfzig Gerechten fünf fehlen; willst du wegen der fünf die ganze Stadt verderben? Und er sprach: Ich will sie nicht verderben, wenn ich 45 daselbst finde.

29 Und er fuhr fort, weiter zu ihm zu reden, und sprach: Vielleicht mögen vierzig daselbst gefunden werden. Und er sprach: Ich will es nicht tun um der vierzig willen.

30 Und er sprach: Möge doch der Herr nicht zürnen, und ich will reden. Vielleicht mögen dreißig daselbst gefunden werden. Und er sprach: Ich will es nicht tun, wenn ich dreißig daselbst finde.

31 Und er sprach: Siehe doch, ich habe mich unterwunden, zu dem Herrn zu reden; vielleicht mögen zwanzig daselbst gefunden werden. Und er sprach: Ich will nicht verderben um der zwanzig willen.

32 Und er sprach: Möge doch der Herr nicht zürnen, und ich will nur noch diesmal reden. Vielleicht mögen zehn daselbst gefunden werden. Und er sprach: Ich will nicht verderben um der zehn willen.

33 Und Jehova ging weg, als er mit Abraham ausgeredet hatte; und Abraham kehrte zurück an seinen Ort.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2177

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2177. That 'meal of fine flour' means the spiritual and celestial ingredients [of the rational] which were present at that time with the Lord, and 'cakes' the same when both had been joined together, is quite clear from the sacrifices of the representative Church and from the minchah presented at the same time, which consisted of fine flour mixed with oil and made into cakes. Representative worship consisted primarily in burnt offerings and sacrifices. What these represented has been stated above where 'bread' was the subject, in 2165, namely the celestial things of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church, and also the things of the Lord's kingdom or Church as it exists with every individual, and in general everything that is in essence love and charity, since these are celestial entities. In those times all the sacrifices were called 'bread'. Along with those sacrifices a minchah was included - which, as has been stated, consisted of fine flour mixed with oil to which also incense was added - and also a wine-offering.

[2] What these latter represented becomes clear too, namely things similar to those represented by sacrifices but of a lower order, thus the things which belong to the spiritual Church, and also those which belong to the external Church. It may become clear to anyone that such things would never have been prescribed unless they had represented Divine things, and also that each one represented some specific thing. For unless they had represented Divine things they would have been no different from similar things found among gentiles, among whom also there were sacrifices, minchahs, libations, and incense, as well as perpetual fires and many other things which had come down to them from the Ancient Church, especially from the Hebrew Church. But because they were separated from the internal, that is, the Divine things represented by them, those external forms of worship were nothing but idolatrous, as they also came to be among the Jews, who likewise sank into all kinds of idolatry. From this it may become clear to anyone that heavenly arcana were present within every form of ritual, especially so within the sacrifices and every detail of them.

[3] As regards the minchah, the nature of it and how it was to be made into cakes is described in a whole chapter in Moses - in Leviticus 2; also Numbers 15, and elsewhere. The law regarding the minchah is described in Leviticus in the following words,

Fire shall be kept burning unceasingly on the altar; it shall not be put out. And this is the law of the minchah: Aaron's sons shall bring it before Jehovah to the front of the altar, and he shall take up from it a fistful of fine flour of the minchah and of the oil of it and all the frankincense which is on the minchah, and he shall burn it on the altar; it is an odour of rest for a memorial to Jehovah. And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. Unleavened bread shall be eaten in a holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it. It shall not be cooked leavened; I have given it as their portion from My fire-offerings; it is most holy. Leviticus 6:13-17.

[4] The fire which was to be kept burning unceasingly on the altar represented the Lord's love, that is, His mercy, which is constant and eternal. 'Fire' in the Word means love, see 934, and therefore 'the fire-offerings made for an odour of rest' means the good pleasure which the Lord takes in those things that belong to love and charity. That 'odour' means good pleasure, that is, that which is pleasing, see 925, 1519. Their 'taking a fistful' represented their being required to love with all their soul or strength, for 'the hand' or 'the palm' of the hand means power, as shown in 878, from which 'the fist' also means the same. 'The fine flour together with the oil and the frankincense' represented all things of charity - 'fine flour' the spiritual ingredient of it, 'oil' the celestial, and 'frankincense' that which was in this manner pleasing. That 'fine flour' represents the spiritual ingredient is evident from what has just been stated and from what is stated below. That 'oil' represents the celestial ingredient, or the good or charity, see 886, and that 'frankincense' on account of its odour represents that which is pleasing and acceptable, 925.

[5] Its being 'unleavened bread' or not fermented means that it was to be genuine, thus something offered from genuineness of heart and having no uncleanness. The eating of the rest by Aaron and his sons represented man's reciprocation and his making it his own, and thus represented conjunction by means of love and charity; and it is for this reason that they were commanded to eat it 'in a holy place'. Hence it is called something most holy. These were the things which were represented by the minchah. It was also the way in which the representatives themselves were perceived in heaven; and when the member of the Church understood them in the same way his ideas were like the perception which the angels possess, so that he was in the Lord's kingdom in heaven even though he was on earth.

[6] For more about the minchah - what it was to consist of in any particular kind of sacrifice; the way in which it was to be baked into cakes; what kind was to be offered by those who were being cleansed, and also what kinds on other occasions (all of which would take too long to introduce and explain here) - see what is said about it in Exodus 29:39-41; Leviticus 5:11-13; 6:16-17, 19-21; 10:12-13; 23:10-13, 6, 17; Numbers 5:15 and following verses; 6:15-17, 19-20; 7: in various places; 28:5, 8, 9, 12-13, 20-21, 28-29; 29:3-4, 9-10, 14-15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 37

[7] 'Fine flour made into cakes' had in general the same representation as bread, namely the celestial ingredient of love, while 'meals represented its spiritual ingredient, as becomes clear in the places indicated above. The loaves which were called 'the bread of the Presence' or 'the shewbread' consisted of fine flour, which was made into cakes and placed on the table to provide an unceasing representation of the Lord's love, that is, of His mercy, towards the whole human race, and man's reciprocation. These loaves are spoken of in Moses as follows,

You shall take fine pour and bake it into twelve cakes; two-tenths [of an ephah] shall there be in one cake And you shall place them in two rows, six in a row, on the clean table before Jehovah. And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, and it shall be bread serving as a memorial, a fire-offering to Jehovah. Every sabbath day [Aaron] shall set it out in order before Jehovah continually; it is from the children of Israel as an eternal covenant. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is to him the most holy of fire-offerings to Jehovah, by an eternal statute. Leviticus 24:5-9.

Every item and smallest detail mentioned here represented the holiness of love and charity, 'fine flour' having the same representation as meal of fine flour, namely that which is celestial and that which is spiritual that goes with it, and 'cake' the two when joined together.

[8] From this it is clear what the holiness of the Word is to those who possess heavenly ideas, and indeed what holiness was present within this particular representative observance, on account of which it is called 'most holy'. It is also clear how devoid of holiness the Word is to those who imagine that it does not have anything heavenly within it and who keep solely to externals. Exemplifying the latter are those who in the present verse under consideration perceive 'the meal' to be merely meal, 'the fine flour' merely fine flour, and 'the cake' merely a cake, and who imagine that these things have been stated without each one that is mentioned embodying something of the Divine within it. Their attitude is similar to that of those who imagine that the bread and wine of the Holy Supper are no more than a certain religious observance that does not have anything holy within it. Yet in fact it possesses such holiness that the minds of men are linked by means of it to the minds of those in heaven, when from an internal affection they think that the bread and wine mean the Lord's love and man's reciprocation, and by virtue of that interior thought and affection they abide in holiness.

[9] Much the same was implied by the requirement that when the children of Israel entered the land they were to present as a heave-offering to Jehovah a cake made from the first of their dough, Numbers 15:20. The fact that such things are meant is also evident in the Prophets, from' among whom for the moment let this one place in Ezekiel be introduced here,

You were adorned with gold and silver, and your raiment was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became exceedingly beautiful, and attained to a kingdom. Ezekiel 16:13.

This refers to Jerusalem, by which is meant the Church, which Church in its earliest days bore an appearance such as this, that is to say, the Ancient Church, which is described by means of raiment and many other adornments. Its affections for truth and good are also described by 'the fine flour, honey, and oil'. It may become clear to anyone that all these details mean in the internal sense something altogether different from what they do in the sense of the letter. And the same applies to Abraham's saying to Sarah, 'Take quickly three measures of meal of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes'. That 'three' means things that are holy has been shown already in 720, 901.

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