The Literal Story

We were first introduced to Abram at the end of the genealogy revealed in Genesis 11. In this chapter and the ones that follow, we will learn how this man, who lived around 4000 years ago, was chosen by God to become the patriarch of all the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

In the previous chapters of Genesis, the stories in them are primarily parables or allegories used to tell of spiritual and celestial realities, but those meanings became obscured with the passage of time. Beginning with this chapter and going forward in the Word, the stories are not just allegorical, but also broadly true historically.

As this story opens, Jehovah tells Abram to leave his home in Haran, and to travel to the land of Canaan, where He will make him the father of a great nation. Abram does so, and finds land in Canaan, in Shechem, and then in Bethel. Famine drives Abram and Sarai, his wife, to Egypt. They are welcomed by Pharaoh, and Abram pretends Sarai is his sister, to protect himself from being killed. Pharaoh discovers the subterfuge, reprimands Abram, and commands him to leave.

It's an interesting story on the surface, with both God's promise to Abram, and with Abram's attempt to fool Pharaoh. But it's the inner meaning that makes it sacred...

Chapter Outline:

1. Jehovah tells Abram to leave the country of his birth, Sumer (today, southern Iraq), and travel to a new land.

2. Jehovah tells Abram he will father a great nation.

3. Jehovah will bless him and curse those who curse him. His seed will also carry this blessing.

4. Abram and Lot (his cousin), do as they are told.

5. Abram, his wife Sarai, and Lot, travel to Canaan.

The Inner Meaning

At a deep level, this story is about the story of Jesus's life on earth, from when he is a young man up until he begins his ministry at the age of 30.

The beginning of Jesus’s instruction and education by his Heavenly Father has started. As he begins to grow up from an infant to a child, and further to a young man, he will need to recede from the worldly things of life, the things of the flesh, and learn of a new life born from his spiritual and celestial center, and be led into “the land that I will cause you to see,” which is Heaven. (Arcana Coelestia 1407)

As we read this story, we will need to keep in mind that Jesus is different from a normal man, he was born of celestial seed and with that he is gifted with an internal perception that we do not have. As this story continues to unfold, the communication with his interior self, the Divine that is in him, will lead him and guide him on his path to our salvation. Here in these verses his Heavenly Father is promising that he will Father a great nation, yes, he will reign supreme in the Kingdom of Heaven, and those that follow him and lead their lives as he teaches, will be blessed also and reside with him in Heaven. (Arcana Coelestia 1415)

The way that Jesus was cared for as in infant and as a small child imbued in him a natural goodness. His mother and earthly father new who he was, they knew that he was special and took great care to teach him in early childhood the good things about his Heavenly Father. Jesus was also born with the capacity to love that no human could understand. As he continues to grow his natural goodness will be married to truth and imbedded into his being. He will be drawn to the celestial things of his Heavenly Father represented by the “Land of Canaan”. (Arcana Coelestia 1421-1431)

The chapter continues...

6. Abram and his family arrive in Canaan where they find the Canaanite tribes.

7. Jehovah appears to Abram through an Angel and gives him the land he has found. Abram builds an altar to Jehovah.

8. Abram travels to a mountain between Bethel and Ai. There he pitches a tent and builds an alter to Jehovah.

The inner meaning to these verses is about the stages of growth for the young Jesus. He is becoming aware of the celestial love imbedded in him and his perception of the world as it relates to the Heavenly Kingdom of his Father. Also, at this stage, he is becoming aware of the hereditary evil from his mother and the temptations they represent (Canaanites were in the land). (Arcana Coelestia 1439)

We also discover the story of the first vision that the child Jesus has of his Heavenly Father and of the promise that was made to Jesus. "To thy seed I will give this land," this means those who will believe in Jesus and what he represents, they will be given possession of the “Land of Canaan” which represents all the celestial things of Heaven and his church. To "build an altar to Jehovah" indicates that Jesus then began to worship his Heavenly Father. In the Word, building an altar signifies worship. This verse is key in the story of Jesus and his childhood. Now he has seen a vision of his Heavenly Father and been told of his earthly mission and with this vision the celestial things in him began to come forward and act on his earthly self. (Arcana Coelestia 1445)

Another state of growth is also revealed here, the fourth state in his growth and understanding of the celestial things of love. These things are signified by a "mountain on the east of Bethel" (mountains signify celestial principles of the Lord and Bethel signifies knowledge of celestial things). Jesus, who is still a child at this stage, is in an obscure state as signified by Bethel (celestial things) toward the sea (west) and Ai (earthly knowledge) indicating he is in the middle. (Arcana Coelestia 1449)

The chapter continues...

9. Abram travels to the south.

10. There was famine in the land, so Abram travels to Egypt.

11-14. Before arriving in Egypt, Abram asks Sarai to pose as his sister. He does this because of her beauty, fearing the king would want her as his wife, and kill him to get her.

15. Sarai is taken to Pharaoh’s house.

16. Pharaoh rewards Abram with gifts because he is Sarai’s brother.

17. Jehovah brings plagues on Pharaoh and his house for taking Sarai.

18-19. Pharaoh confronts Abram about the untruth he was told concerning Sarai.

20. Pharaoh commands Abram to leave Egypt and take Sarai, along with the gifts he has given him.

As it is told in the Gospel of Luke 2:40, regarding the growth of Jesus as a young boy, Luke says “that he grew strong in spirit and was filled with wisdom and grace,” these Genesis verses are telling of that time. Abram, who represents Jesus in this story, is journeying toward the south. This mean going into the light, as he is being led into the goods and truths of his Heavenly Father and into the interior light of celestial love. (Arcana Coelestia 1456)

The "famine in the land" is significant. It drives Abram to Egypt. Some two thousand years later, Herod's destruction of the innocents would cause Joseph, warned in a dream, to take Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt (Matthew 2:14). Egypt, in the Bible, signifies scientific knowledge. The fact that Abram is said to “sojourn” there means that Jesus would want to be instructed in worldly knowledges, too, as a grounding for "cognitions from the Word", as they are described in Arcana Coelestia 1459. The famine represents a lack of knowledge, and a need for it. Jesus, as a child and a youth, needed to be learning all about the world. He still lacked knowledge that he would need as he grew into a man, and prepared for his great work. The Lord, when he is reforming and regenerating us, uses our knowledges to lead and bend and shape us. Some things we have learned will be discarded, but other things can be used to help fill us with his wisdom and love.

As the child Jesus began to learn more about the world, he also began to learn about the correspondences that relate to the celestial truths of the Heavenly realm. The more he learned the more he would see the relationships to celestial things, and the more he was filled with celestial truths of love and compassion to his fellow man. When Jesus began to learn about the world, he also began to understand that the search for worldly knowledge could crowd out the celestial knowledge that he was being filled with. Here is a great distinction that Jesus learned that all men should understand: worldly knowledge is not the same as heavenly knowledge. Worldly knowledge is man’s conceived knowledge about what is true or good. Everything that really is true or good comes from Heaven. (Arcana Coelestia 1465-1471)

In these verses and in their inner meaning, we are now beginning to see how the man Jesus was being taught by his Heavenly Father. A man is not a man without knowledge of the world (the sister in this story is intellectual truths). It is by these basic knowledges that Jesus could be taught about celestial truths (represented by Abram's wife Sarai) and how they correspond to worldly truths. As Jesus continued to learn of celestial things, he was taught in the proper order, from celestial to spiritual to the intellectual or rational mind, and not the other way around. Jesus was being taught as any other child is taught, regarding the world that surrounds him, but what made Jesus different from anyone else was his celestial seed, his spirit. These verses, at their deepest level, are indicating that He has an understanding of how the knowledge of the world relates to the celestial realm, and the celestial truths of love and charity.

If we refer back to the story of creation, and how the days of creation relate to steps and stages in our development, here we are witness to the same process as it relates to the life of Jesus. He is learning spiritual truths that are over-ruling worldly truths, “Jehovah smote them with plagues,” means that worldly knowledge cannot truly run contrary to heavenly knowledge. Jesus would come to understand that there is nothing really true unless it is based on celestial truth, and celestial truth could not be revealed until the Lord had some semblance of understanding the world. The basic knowledges of Egypt, if they are separated from celestial truth, cause "plagues". When they are conjoined to celestial truth, they help guide Abram, and Jesus, and us, on the right path, journeying to Canaan again, this time with a better foundation. It is the same for us. Things we have learned of the world can be used by God to fill us with spiritual truths, giving us wisdom that can help us in our journey.

As the chapter ends, the Lord is using the memory knowledge he has gained, and is discarding the things that do not align to Heavenly truths. The same can be said of us as we learn and grow in spirit. There are things that we have learned or done that do not align to the Kingdom of God. As we progress in our development, we will be leaving some things behind - the things that do not align to the Lord's teachings of the Heavenly Kingdom.

Spiritual lessons from this chapter: The Divine parable unfolding in this chapter is revealing how Jesus, as a child and young man, is led to understanding the world, and then how that relates to his growing understanding of the divine realm. We can see from this story how it also relate to us, in the process of our rebirth and regeneration. Just as Jesus began to discard the things he had learned from "Egypt" that did not align to the Heavenly Kingdom, we will begin to do the same as we progress through the steps and stages of rebirth and regeneration.

392. The souls of those slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony that they held, signifies those who were rejected and concealed because of Divine truth and because of their confession of the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "those slain," as being those who were rejected by the evil and concealed by the Lord (of whom presently); also from the signification of "the Word of God," as being Divine truth. What the Lord speaks is called the Word of God, and that is Divine truth. The Word or the Sacred Scripture is nothing else; for in it all Divine truth is contained, but it is only before the angels that the truth itself in its glory is manifest in it, because to them the interior things of the Word, which are spiritual and celestial, become manifest and also constitute their wisdom. "The Word of God," therefore, signifies in the genuine sense Divine truth, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself who spoke it, for He spoke from Himself, or from His Divine, and what proceeds from Him that also is Himself.

[2] That the Divine proceeding is the Lord may be illustrated by this: About every angel there is a sphere that is called the sphere of his life; this spreads abroad to a great distance from him. This sphere flows out or proceeds from the life of his affection or love; it is therefore an extension outside of him of such life as is in him. This extension is effected by means of the spiritual atmosphere or aura, which is the aura of heaven. By means of that sphere the quality of an angel in respect to affection is perceived at a distance by others; this has been granted me sometimes to perceive. But about the Lord there is a Divine sphere, which near Him appears as a sun, which is His Divine love, and from this that sphere proceeds into the whole heaven and fills it and constitutes the light that is there; this sphere is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which in its essence is Divine truth. This comparison with angels is made as an illustration, to show that the Divine proceeding from the Lord is the Lord Himself, because it is a proceeding of His love, and the proceeding is Himself outside of Himself. The above is further evident from the signification of "testimony," as being the confession of the Lord, and the Lord Himself (of which presently).

[3] That "those slain" here mean those who were rejected by evil spirits and concealed by the Lord, or removed from the eyes of others and preserved to the day of the Last Judgment, can be seen from what was said in the article above, also from what follows in the two verses in which they alone are described. In the article above it was said that "the former heaven" that passed away consisted of those who in externals lived a moral life, and yet were merely natural and not spiritual, or who lived a sort of spiritual life merely from the affection or love of fame, honor, glory, and gain, thus for the sake of appearance. Although these were inwardly evil, they, nevertheless, were tolerated, and constituted societies in the higher places in the spiritual world. These societies, taken together, were called a heaven, but "the former heaven" that afterwards passed away. From this it came to pass that all those who were spiritual, that is, who were inwardly as well as outwardly good, not being able to be with these, withdrew from them, either voluntarily or being driven away, and wherever found they were persecuted; on this account they were concealed by the Lord and preserved in their places until the day of judgment, that they might constitute "the new heaven." These therefore are those that are meant by "the souls of those slain seen under the altar." This makes clear that "those slain" signify those who were rejected and concealed, for they were hated by the others, because of Divine truth and because of their confession of the Lord; and those who are hated are called "those slain," because to hate is spiritually to slay. That such are meant by "the souls of those slain," can be seen further from what follows in the two verses where it is said of them, "And they cried out with a great voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell on the earth? And there were given to every one of them white robes; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little time, until their fellow-servants, as well as their brethren, who were to be killed, as they also were, should be fulfilled." That those above described are meant by "those slain," no one can know but those to whom it has been revealed; for who can know, except by revelation, of whom "the former heaven" (Revelation 21:1) consisted, and of whom "the new heaven" was formed; and that those of whom the new heaven was to be formed, were in the meantime concealed and preserved by the Lord? And unless these things had been revealed to someone, all things contained in Revelation in its internal sense must have remained hidden; for in it such things as were to take place in the spiritual world before the Last Judgment, and while it was going on, and after it are chiefly treated of.

[4] That "testimony" signifies the confession of the Lord, and the Lord Himself, can be seen from the passages in the Word that follow. This signification has its origin from this, that the Word in each and every particular testifies respecting the Lord; for in its inmost sense it treats of the Lord alone, and in its internal sense of the celestial and spiritual things that proceed from the Lord, and in particular the Lord testifies respecting Himself in everyone who is in the life of love and charity; for the Lord flows into their heart and life and teaches them, especially respecting His Divine Human; for He grants to those who are in a life of love to think of God under the human form, and God under the human form is the Lord.

The simple in the Christian world so think, as also the heathen who live in charity according to their religious principle. Both these are astonished when they hear the learned speak of God as not to be perceived in any human form, for they know that thinking thus they could not see any God in thought, and therefore could have little belief in the existence of a God, since the faith which is the faith of charity wishes to comprehend in some way what is believed; for faith is of thought, and to think what is incomprehensible is not to think, but only to have knowledge and to speak from that without any idea. Angels, even the wisest, do not think of God otherwise than as in the human form; it is impossible for them to think otherwise, for the reason that their perceptions flow according to the form of heaven, which is the human form from the Lord's Divine Human (on which see Heaven and Hell 59-86); and for the reason that the affections from which are their thoughts, are from influx, and influx is from the Lord.

This has been said that it may be known why "testimony" signifies the Lord, namely, because the Lord testifies respecting Himself with all who accept His testimony, and these are such as live a life of love to the Lord, and a life of charity towards the neighbor. These receive His testimony and confess Him, because a life of love and charity opens the interior mind by the influx of light from heaven, for a life of love and charity is the Divine life itself; for the Lord loves everyone, and does good to everyone from love; consequently where that life is received the Lord is present and is conjoined to the man, and thus flows into his higher mind which is called the spiritual mind, and by light from himself opens it.

[5] That "testimony" signifies the Lord, and with man the confession of the Lord from the heart, and in particular, the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine in His Human, can be seen from this, that the law which was given on Mount Sinai and written upon two tables, and afterwards placed in the ark, is called the "Testimony;" whence also the ark was called "the ark of the Testimony," and the tables also were called "the tables of Testimony;" and because this was most holy, the mercy-seat was placed upon the ark, and over the mercy-seat were sculptured two cherubim, between which Jehovah, that is, the Lord, spoke with Moses and Aaron. This makes clear that "the Testimony" signifies the Lord Himself; otherwise the mercy-seat would not have been placed upon the ark, nor would the Lord have spoken with Moses and Aaron between the cherubim which were upon the mercy-seat. Moreover, when Aaron entered within the veil, which he did once every year, he was first sanctified, and afterwards he burnt incense till the smoke of the incense covered the mercy seat; it is said that unless he did this he would have died. From this it is clearly evident that the Testimony that was in the ark, and that was the law given on Mount Sinai and inscribed on two tables of stone, signified the Lord Himself.

[6] That the law is called "the Testimony" is evident in Moses:

Thou shalt put into the ark the Testimony which I shall give thee (Exodus 25:16).

He put the Testimony into the ark (Exodus 40:20).

The mercy-seat that is upon the Testimony (Leviticus 16:13).

Lay up the rods of the tribes before the Testimony (Numbers 17:4).

That the tables and the ark were therefore called the tables and the ark of the Testimony (Exodus 25:22; 31:7, 18; 32:15).

That the mercy-seat was placed upon it, and over the mercy-seat two sculptured cherubim (Exodus 25:17-22; 26:34).

That the Lord spoke with Moses and with Aaron between the two cherubim (Exodus 25:16, 21-22; Numbers 17:4 and elsewhere).

That they sanctified themselves before they entered thither, and that the smoke of the incense covered the mercy-seat lest they should die (Leviticus 16:1-34).

[7] That "the testimony" signifies the Lord is evident also from this, that what was upon the ark was called the mercy seat [propitiatorium], and the Lord is the propitiator; the ark also, from the testimony in it, was the holy of holies, both in the tabernacle and in the temple, and from this the tabernacle was holy, and also the temple. The tabernacle represented heaven, and also the temple, and heaven is heaven from the Lord's Divine Human; from this it follows that "testimony" signifies the Lord in respect to His Divine Human. (That "the tent of meeting" represented heaven, see Arcana Coelestia 9457, 9481, 9485, 10545; likewise the temple, see above, n. 220; and that heaven is heaven from the Lord's Divine Human, see Heaven and Hell, n. 59-86.) The law proclaimed from Mount Sinai is called "the Testimony" because that law, in a broad sense, signifies the whole Word, both historical and prophetical, and the Word is the Lord, according to these words in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; and the Word was made flesh, (John 1:1) John 1:14).

The Word is the Lord because the Word signifies Divine truth, and all Divine truth proceeds from the Lord, for it is the light in heaven, that enlightens the minds of the angels and also the minds of men, and gives them wisdom; this light in its essence is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord as a sun (of which light, see Heaven and Hell 126-140); therefore it is afterwards said, "the Word was with God, and God was the Word." It is also said in John:

In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man coming into the world (John 1:4, 1:9).

[8] This makes clear that the Lord is meant by "the Testimony;" for the law written on the two tables, which was called the "Testimony," signifies the Word in the whole complex, and the Lord is the Word. (That "the law" in a broad sense signifies the Word in the whole complex, in a sense less broad the historical Word, and in a strict sense the ten commandments of the Decalogue, see Arcana Coelestia 6752.) This law was also called "a Covenant," and so the tables on which it was inscribed were called "the tables of the Covenant," and the ark was called "the ark of the Covenant" (See Exodus 34:28; Numbers 14:44; Deuteronomy 9:9, 15; Revelation 11:19; and elsewhere); and this because "Covenant" signifies conjunction, and the Word or Divine truth is what conjoins man with the Lord; from no other source is there any conjunction. (That "Covenant" signifies conjunction, see Arcana Coelestia 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778, 9396, 10632.)

This law is called both "a Covenant" and "a Testimony," because when called "a Covenant" it means the Word by which there is conjunction; and when called "a Testimony" it means the Lord Himself who conjoins; and on man's part, the confession of the Lord and the acknowledgment of His Divine in His Human, which conjoin. From this it can be seen why the Word is called in the church "a Covenant," the Word before the Lord's coming "the Old Covenant," and that after His coming "the New Covenant;" it is called also "the Old and the New Testament," but it is to be called "the Testimony."

[9] That "Testimony" signifies the Lord, and on man's part the confession of the Lord and the acknowledgment of His Divine in His Human, is evident also from these passages in the Word. In Revelation:

They overcame the dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of the testimony. And the dragon was angry, and went away to make war with the remnant of her seed, that keep the commandment of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:11 17).

I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10).

"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" signifies that the confession of the Lord and the acknowledgment of His Divine in His Human is the life of all truth, both in the Word and in doctrine from the Word.

[10] And elsewhere:

The souls of those slain with the axe for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God, received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand (Revelation 20:4).

These passages will be explained in what follows. In David:

Jerusalem is builded as a city that is conjoined together; and thither the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah, a testimony to Israel, to confess to the name of Jehovah. For there are set thrones for judgment (Psalms 122:3-5).

"Jerusalem" signifies the church in relation to doctrine, which is said to be "builded" when it is established by the Lord; "as a city that is conjoined together" signifies doctrine in which all things are in order, "city" meaning doctrine; "thither the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah," signifies that in it are all truths and goods in the complex; "a testimony to Israel, to confess to the name of Jehovah," signifies the confession and acknowledgment of the Lord there; "for there are set thrones for judgment" signifies that Divine truth is there according to which judgment is executed. That this is what "thrones" signify, see above n. 253.

[11] In the same:

Jehovah hath set up a testimony in Jacob, and a law in Israel (Psalms 78:5).

"Jacob" and "Israel" signify the church, "Jacob" the external church, and "Israel" the internal church; and "testimony" and "law" signify the Word, "testimony" that in the Word which teaches the goods of life, and "the law" that in it which teaches the truths of doctrine. Because those who are in the external church are in the good of life according to the truths of doctrine, and those who are in the internal church are in the truths of doctrine according to which is the life, so "testimony" is predicated of Jacob, and "the law" of Israel.

[12] In the same:

If thy sons shall keep My covenant, and the testimony that I shall teach them, their ¹ sons shall sit upon the throne for thee forevermore (Psalms 132:12).

This is said of David, but David here means the Lord; "his sons" mean those who do the Lord's commandments; of these it is said, "if thy sons shall have kept My covenant and My testimony," "covenant" meaning the like as "law" above, namely, the truth of doctrine, and "testimony" the like as "testimony" above, namely, the good of life according to the truths of doctrine. Like things are signified by "covenant" and "testimonies" in David (Psalms 25:10).

[13] "Testimonies" are mentioned in many passages in the Word, together with "law," "precepts," "commandments," "statutes," and "judgments;" and "testimonies and commandments" there signify such things as teach life, "law and precepts" such as teach doctrine, "statutes and judgments" such as teach rituals, as in the following passages in David:

The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple. The commandments of Jehovah are right, making glad the heart; the precept of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes; the judgments of Jehovah are truth, they are righteous altogether (Psalms 19:7-9).

In the same:

Blessed are the perfect in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah. Blessed are they that observe His testimonies, that seek after Him with the whole heart. Thou hast enjoined Thy commandments to be strictly kept. O that my ways may be directed to keep Thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Thy precepts. I will confess to thee in uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned the judgments of Thy righteousness (Psalms 119:1-7 manner in verses 12-15, 88-89, 151-156, etc.).

Footnotes: