1020. That these things are meant becomes clear from the fact that everything put together as history from Genesis 1 down to Eber in Chapter 11 means something different from what appears in the letter, and from the consideration that the historical narratives there are purely made-up history customary among the most ancient people. When attesting the truth of some matter they would say that 'Jehovah said it'. Here however 'God' is used because the subject is the spiritual Church. And they did the same when anything true was being, or had been, put into effect.

2816. That 'Abraham put forth his hand' means temptation even to the final degree of power is clear from the train of thought, for the subject is the Lord's severest and inmost temptations. The verses preceding this have dealt with the preparation of the Divine human for admission into and endurance of those temptations, the present verse with the actual occurrence of them, which is expressed in the sense of the letter by the words 'Abraham put forth his hand'. By 'hand' is meant power, see 878, here the final degree of power, for nothing was absent apart from the actual experience. The teaching of the internal sense is that the Lord's Divine led the human into the severest temptations, for 'Abraham' is used to mean the Lord as regards the Divine; and this was done by the Divine even to the final degree of power. The truth of the matter is that the Lord allowed temptations into Himself in order that He might cast out from Himself everything that was merely human, doing so until nothing except what was Divine was left.

[2] The fact that the Lord allowed temptations into Himself, even the last which was that of the Cross, becomes clear from the Lord's own words, in Matthew,

Jesus began to show the disciples that He must suffer many things and be killed. At that point Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, Spare Yourself, Lord; let this not happen to You. But He turned and said to Peter, Go away behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to Me, for you do not savour the things of God but those of men. Matthew 16:21-23.

And more explicitly in John,

No one takes My life ¹ from Me, but I lay it down of Myself; I have power to lay it down and I have power to receive it again. John 10:18.

And in Luke,

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? Luke 24:26.

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