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)

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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)

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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.

10182. 'Its horns shall be of one piece with it' means the powers of truth derived from the good of love and charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'horns' as the powers of truth, dealt with in 2832, 9719-9721. The reason why derived from the good of love and charity is meant is that all the power which truth possesses comes from that good. Therefore also the horns continued from the altar itself or were of one piece with it; for this altar was representative of the Lord, of His hearing and receiving everything of worship that springs from love and charity, 10177.

[2] The statement that all the power which truth possesses comes from the good of love is unintelligible to those who have only a material idea of power, and therefore the nature of that power must be described. In the heavens all power is derived from Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good. This is the source of the power angels possess, for angels are recipients of Divine Truth from the Lord, 1752, 4295, 8192. By means of the power which they receive from that source they protect a person by removing the hells from him; for a single angel is stronger than a thousand who come from hell. This power is what Peter's keys serve to mean, though Peter, who in the same place is referred to as a rock, means the Lord in respect of the truth of faith springing from the good of love, see Preface to Genesis 22, and 3750, 4738, 6000, 6073(end), 6344(end), 10087, 'the Rock' being the Lord in respect of the truth of faith, 8581.

[3] The power that Divine Truth possesses is also meant by 'the voice of Jehovah' in David,

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; the voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars; the voice of Jehovah strikes a flame of fire; the voice of Jehovah causes the wilderness to shake; the voice of Jehovah strips the forests bare; Jehovah gives strength to His people. Psalms 29:3-5, 7-9, 11.

'The voice of Jehovah' is the Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Good, see 9926.

[4] The power that Divine Truth possesses is also meant by 'the Word' in John,

All things were made through the Word, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:3.

'The Word' is the Divine Truth emanating from Divine Good, see 9987. Therefore also the Lord, when He was in the world, first made Himself Divine Truth, which is also meant in John 1:14 by the Word became flesh. The Lord made Himself Divine Truth then to the end that He might fight against all the hells and overcome them, and in so doing might restore all things to order there, and at the same time in the heavens, 9715, 9809, 10019, 10152.

[5] The fact that truths springing from good possess all power, while on the other hand falsities arising from evil have no power, is very well known in the next life. For this reason the evil who come there from the world have their belief, which is no more than persuasion, and also their knowledge of any truth, taken away from them. This then leaves them with the falsities belonging to their evil.

[6] The statement that truths springing from good possess such power is unintelligible to those who have the idea that truth or a belief in truth is no more than mental activity, when yet a person's mental activity, under the control of his will, constitutes all the strength which the body has; and if the Lord were to instill it through His Divine Truth into that body the person would possess the strength of Samson. But yet it is the Lord's good pleasure to impart strength to a person through faith springing from love in the things that belong to his spirit and that contribute to eternal life.

[7] From all this one may see what should be understood by the power of truth springing from good, the power meant by 'the horns' of both the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense. That this power is meant by 'the horns' is clear from places in the Word where 'horns' are mentioned, as in Ezekiel,

On that day I will make a horn grow up for the house of Israel. Ezekiel 29:21.

In Amos,

Have we not by our own strength taken horns for ourselves? Amos 6:13.

In the first Book of Samuel,

Jehovah will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed. 1 Samuel 2:10.

In David,

Jehovah has exalted the horn of His people. Psalms 148:14.

In the same author,

All the horns of the wicked I will cut off; the horns of the righteous will be exalted. Psalms 75:10.

In Jeremiah,

The Lord has cut down in His very fierce anger ¹ the whole horn of Israel. And He has exalted the horn of your foes. Lamentations 2:3, 17.

In Ezekiel,

You push with side and shoulder, and butt with your horns all the weak sheep, until you have scattered them abroad. Ezekiel 34:21.

In Zechariah,

I saw four horns. The angel said, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. The smiths have come to cast down the horns of the nations lifting up their horn against the land of Judah. Zechariah 1:18-21.

In Moses,

His horns are unicorn horns ² . With these he will strike the peoples together to the ends of the earth. Deuteronomy 33:17.

In these places it is self-evident that power is meant by 'horns', and indeed power in both senses, that is to say, of truth directed against falsity and of falsity directed against truth; for the state of the Church is the subject in the internal sense of every one of these places.

[8] Something similar occurs in Amos,

On that day I will visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar will be cut away and fall to the ground. Amos 3:14.

'The altars of Bethel' and 'the horns of the altar' mean the evils and falsities destroying the Church's goodness and truth, regarding which it says that they 'will be cut away'.

[9] From all this one may see what should be understood by 'the horns' mentioned so frequently by Daniel, and by John in the Book of Revelation. Daniel describes the beast which had ten horns and also a horn speaking, Daniel 7:8, 11, 20; and he says that the horn was making war with the saints and prevailing, until the Ancient of Days ³ came, Daniel 7:11, 21-22, 24. He also speaks about the horns of the ram and the horns of the he-goat, which they used to make war against each other, Daniel 8:3-21. And John mentions that the dragon had ten horns, Revelation 12:3, as did the beast coming up out of the sea, Revelation 13:1, and also the scarlet beast, Revelation 17:12. In this verse it is also stated that the ten horns are ten kings; and the same words occur in Daniel 7:24. By 'kings' in the Word truths are meant, and in the contrary sense falsities, see 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.

[10] It is because 'horn' means truth in its power, or in the contrary sense falsity destroying truth, that speech is attributed to a horn in Revelation 9:13; Daniel 7:8; Psalms 22:21.

[11] The anointing of kings with oil from a horn, 1 Samuel 16:1, 13; 1 Kings 1:39, represented truth springing from good, in its power; for truths in their power are meant by 'horns', good by 'oil', and those who are guided by truths springing from good by 'kings'. For the meaning of 'oil' as good, see 886, 9780; and for that of 'kings' as those who are guided by truths springing from good, thus - in the abstract sense - as truths springing from good, 6148. So it is also that in Psalms 132:17 a horn is said to bud, because all spiritual budding is that of truth springing from good. Therefore also in former times they made [imitations of] budding horns.

All power belongs to good and is exercised through truth, or what amounts to the same thing, belongs to truth springing from good, see the places referred to in 10019.

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