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Genesis 22

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1 And it cometh to pass after these things that God hath tried Abraham, and saith unto him, `Abraham;' and he saith, `Here [am] I.'

2 And He saith, `Take, I pray thee, thy son, thine only one, whom thou hast loved, even Isaac, and go for thyself unto the land of Moriah, and cause him to ascend there for a burnt-offering on one of the mountains of which I speak unto thee.'

3 And Abraham riseth early in the morning, and saddleth his ass, and taketh two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and he cleaveth the wood of the burnt-offering, and riseth and goeth unto the place of which God hath spoken to him.

4 On the third day -- Abraham lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the place from afar;

5 and Abraham saith unto his young men, `Remain by yourselves here with the ass, and I and the youth go yonder and worship, and turn back unto you.'

6 And Abraham taketh the wood of the burnt-offering, and placeth on Isaac his son, and he taketh in his hand the fire, and the knife; and they go on both of them together.

7 And Isaac speaketh unto Abraham his father, and saith, `My father,' and he saith, `Here [am] I, my son.' And he saith, `Lo, the fire and the wood, and where the lamb for a burnt-offering?'

8 and Abraham saith, `God doth provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son;' and they go on both of them together.

9 And they come in unto the place of which God hath spoken to him, and there Abraham buildeth the altar, and arrangeth the wood, and bindeth Isaac his son, and placeth him upon the altar above the wood;

10 and Abraham putteth forth his hand, and taketh the knife -- to slaughter his son.

11 And the messenger of Jehovah calleth unto him from the heavens, and saith, `Abraham, Abraham;' and he saith, `Here [am] I;'

12 and He saith, `Put not forth thine hand unto the youth, nor do anything to him, for now I have known that thou art fearing God, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me.'

13 And Abraham lifteth up his eyes, and looketh, and lo, a ram behind, seized in a thicket by its horns; and Abraham goeth, and taketh the ram, and causeth it to ascend for a burnt-offering instead of his son;

14 and Abraham calleth the name of that place `Jehovah-Jireh,' because it is said this day in the mount, `Jehovah doth provide.'

15 And the messenger of Jehovah calleth unto Abraham a second time from the heavens,

16 and saith, `By Myself I have sworn -- the affirmation of Jehovah -- that because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one --

17 that blessing I bless thee, and multiplying I multiply thy seed as stars of the heavens, and as sand which [is] on the sea-shore; and thy seed doth possess the gate of his enemies;

18 and blessed themselves in thy seed have all nations of the earth, because that thou hast hearkened to My voice.'

19 And Abraham turneth back unto his young men, and they rise and go together unto Beer-Sheba; and Abraham dwelleth in Beer-Sheba.

20 And it cometh to pass after these things that it is declared to Abraham, saying, `Lo, Milcah hath borne, even she, sons to Nahor thy brother:

21 Huz his first-born, and Buz his brother; and Kemuel father of Aram,

22 and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel;

23 and Bethuel hath begotten Rebekah;' these eight hath Milcah borne to Nahor, Abraham's brother;

24 and his concubine, whose name [is] Reumah, she also hath borne Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maachah.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2803

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2803. That the Divine Truth is the “son,” and the Divine Good the “father,” is evident from the signification of a “son,” as being truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2633); and of a “father,” as being good; and also from the conception and birth of truth, which is from good. Truth cannot be and come forth [existere] from any other source than good, as has been shown many times. That the “son” here is the Divine Truth, and the “father” the Divine Good, is because the union of the Divine Essence with the Human, and of the Human Essence with the Divine, is the Divine marriage of Good with Truth, and of Truth with Good, from which comes the heavenly marriage; for in Jehovah or the Lord there is nothing but what is infinite; and because infinite, it cannot be apprehended by any idea, except that it is the being and the coming forth [esse et existere] of all good and truth, or is Good itself and Truth itself. Good itself is the “Father,” and Truth itself is the “Son.” But because as before said there is a Divine marriage of Good and Truth, and of Truth and Good, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:

Jesus saith unto Philip, Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me ? Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in me (John 14:10-11).

And again in the same Evangelist:

Jesus said to the Jews, Though ye believe not Me, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:36, 38).

And again:

I pray for them; for all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee (John 17:9-10, 21).

And again:

Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself. Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee (John 13:31-32; 17:1).

[2] From this may be seen the nature of the union of the Divine and the Human in the Lord; namely, that it is mutual and alternate, or reciprocal; which union is that which is called the Divine Marriage, from which descends the heavenly marriage, which is the Lord’s kingdom itself in the heavens—thus spoken of in John:

In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

And again:

I pray for them, that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, I in them and Thou in Me; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:21-23, 26).

That this heavenly marriage is that of good and truth, and of truth and good, may be seen above (n. 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729 and following numbers).

[3] And because the Divine Good cannot be and come forth without the Divine Truth, nor the Divine Truth without the Divine Good, but the one in the other mutually and reciprocally, it is therefore manifest that the Divine Marriage was from eternity; that is, the Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son, as the Lord Himself teaches in John:

And now O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thyself, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:5, 24).

But the Divine Human which was born from eternity was also born in time; and what was born in time, and glorified, is the same. Hence it is that the Lord so often said that He was going to the Father who sent Him; that is, that He was returning to the Father. And in John:

In the beginning was the Word (the “Word” is the Divine Truth itself), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-3, 14; see also John 3:13; 6:62).

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