The Bible

 

Génesis 15

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1 Después de estas cosas vino la palabra del SEÑOR a Abram en visión, diciendo: No temas, Abram; yo soy tu escudo, y tu galardón será sobremanera grande.

2 Y respondió Abram: Señor DIOS ¿qué me has de dar, siendo así que yo ando solo, y el mayordomo de mi casa es el damasceno Eliezer?

3 Dijo más Abram: He aquí no me has dado simiente, y he aquí el hijo de mi casa me hereda.

4 Y luego la palabra del SEÑOR vino a él diciendo: No te heredará éste, sino el que saldrá de tus entrañas, aquél te heredará.

5 Y le sacó fuera, y dijo: Mira ahora a los cielos, y cuenta las estrellas, si las puedes contar. Y le dijo: Así será tu simiente.

6 Y creyó al SEÑOR, y se lo contó por justicia.

7 Y le dijo: Yo soy el SEÑOR, que te saqué de Ur de los caldeos, para darte a heredar esta tierra.

8 Y él respondió: Señor DIOS ¿en qué conoceré que la tengo de heredar?

9 Y le dijo: Apártame una becerra de tres años, y una cabra de tres años, y un carnero de tres años, una tórtola también, y un palomino.

10 Y tomó él todas estas cosas, y las partió por la mitad, y puso cada mitad una enfrente de otra; mas no partió las aves.

11 Y descendían aves sobre los cuerpos muertos, y las ojeaba Abram.

12 Y fue que poniéndose el sol cayó sueño sobre Abram, y he aquí que un temor, una oscuridad grande cayó sobre él.

13 Entonces dijo a Abram: Ten por cierto que tu simiente será peregrina en tierra no suya, y les servirán, y serán afligidos cuatrocientos años.

14 Mas también a la gente a quien servirán, juzgo yo; y después de esto saldrán con grande riqueza.

15 Y tú vendrás a tus padres en paz, y serás sepultado en buena vejez.

16 Y en la cuarta generación volverán acá; porque aun no está cumplida la maldad del amorreo hasta aquí.

17 Y sucedió que puesto el sol, y hubo una oscuridad, y he aquí un horno de humo, y una antorcha de fuego que pasó por entre las mitades.

18 Aquel día hizo el SEÑOR pacto con Abram diciendo: A tu simiente daré esta tierra desde el río de Egipto hasta el río grande, el río Eufrates;

19 al cineo, y al cenezeo, y al cadmoneo,

20 al heteo, y al ferezeo, y al rafeo,

21 y al amorreo, y al cananeo, y al gergeseo, y al jebuseo.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1807

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1807. 'And he said, Look, now, towards heaven' means a representation of the Lord's kingdom in a mental view of the universe. This is clear from the meaning of 'heaven'. In the internal sense of the Word 'heaven' does not mean the sky that is seen with the eyes but the Lord's kingdom in general and in particular. When a person who regards internal things from external sees the sky he does not think at all of the starry sky but of the angelic heaven. And when he sees the sun, he does not think about the sun but about the Lord's being the Sun of heaven. The same applies when he sees the moon, and also the stars. And so when he sees the boundlessness of the sky he does not think about the boundlessness of this but about the Lord's boundless and infinite power. And the same goes for everything else he sees, for there is nothing that is not representative.

[2] It is the same with the things belonging to the earth. When, for example, such a person sees the dawning of the day he does not think of the dawn but of the rise of all things from the Lord, and of advancement into the daylight of wisdom. Similarly when he sees cultivated gardens, trees, and flowers, his eye is not fixed on any tree and on its blossom, leaf, and fruit, but on the heavenly things which these represent. Nor is it fixed on any flower and its beauty and loveliness but on those things which these represent in the next life. For not one thing of beauty and delight ever exists in the sky above or on earth beneath that is not in some respect representative of the Lord's kingdom; see what has been stated in 1632. Such is the 'looking towards heaven' which means a representation of the Lord's kingdom in a mental view of the universe.

[3] The reason why every single thing in the sky above and on the earth beneath is representative is that it has come into being, and is constantly coming into being, that is, is kept in being, from the influx of the Lord through heaven. It is as it is with the human body, which comes into being and is kept in being by means of its soul, for which reason every single thing in the body is representative of the soul. Inherent in the soul there are use and end in view, but in the body the accomplishment of these. All effects, without exception, are in the same way representatives of the uses which are the causes behind those effects, while the uses are representative of the ends which constitute first beginnings.

[4] People whose concern is for Divine ideas never dwell on the objects of external sight, but from and in those objects they are continually seeing internal things. The most internal things of all are those that constitute the Lord's kingdom, and thus are those which consist in the greatest of all ends. It is similar with the Word of the Lord. The person whose concern is for Divine ideas never regards the Word of the Lord from the letter, but regards the letter and the literal sense as that which represents and means the celestial and spiritual things of the Church and of the Lord's kingdom. To that person the literal sense exists solely as the means which enable him to think about these. Such was the nature of the Lord's sight.

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