Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 22:5
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AC 2791. Verse 5. And Abraham said unto his boys, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the boy will go yonder, and we will bow ourselves down, and will come again to you. "Abraham said unto his boys, Abide ye here with the ass," signifies the separation of the former rational together with the natural at that time; "and I and the boy will go yonder," signifies the Divine rational in a state of truth prepared for the most grievous and inmost combats of temptations the "boy" is the Divine rational in such a state; "and we will bow ourselves down," signifies submission; "and will come again to you," signifies conjunction afterwards.

AC 2792. Abraham said unto his boys, Abide ye here with the ass. That this signifies the separation of the former rational together with the natural at that time, is evident from the signification of "abiding here," as being to be separated so long; from the signification of the "boys," as being the former rational (n. 2782); and from the signification of the "ass," as being the natural man, or the natural (n. 2781).

AC 2793. And I and the boy will go yonder. That this signifies the Divine rational in a state of truth prepared for the most grievous and inmost combats of temptations, is evident; and that the "boy" is the Divine rational in such a state, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine rational; but as he is not here called "Isaac," nor "my son," as before, but "the boy," it denotes the Divine rational in such a state, concerning which presently.

AC 2794. And we will bow ourselves down. That this signifies submission, is evident without explication.

AC 2795. And will come again to you. That this signifies conjunction afterwards, is also evident without explication. As the Lord‘s most grievous and inmost temptations are treated of in this chapter, all the states that He assumed when He underwent these temptations are described. The first state is described in (verse 3), the second state in this verse, the third state in the verse next following, and the rest afterwards. But these states cannot be expounded to the common apprehension unless many things are first known, not only respecting the Lord’s Divine, as here represented by Abraham, but also respecting His Divine Human as represented by Isaac, and respecting the state of this rational when He engaged in and underwent the combats of temptation (this being the "boy"); and also what and of what quality the former rational was, and also the natural which it had; and likewise what the state was when the one was adjoined to the other, and what the state was when they were more or less separated. Moreover many things concerning temptations must be known, as what exterior and interior temptations are, and hence what were the inmost and most grievous temptations the Lord had, and which are treated of in this chapter. So long as these things are unknown, the things contained in this verse cannot possibly be described to the comprehension; and if they should be described, even most clearly, they would still appear obscure. To the angels, who are in the light of heaven from the Lord, all these things are manifest and clear, indeed blessed, because they are most heavenly.

[2] Here we will merely say that the Lord could not be tempted at all when He was in the Divine Itself, for the Divine is infinitely above all temptation; but He could be tempted as to His human. This is the reason why when He was to undergo the most grievous and inmost temptations, He adjoined to Himself the prior human, that is, the rational and the natural of it, as described in (verse 3); and why He afterwards separated Himself from these, as is said in this verse; but nevertheless retaining something by means of which He could be tempted; which is the reason why it is not here said, "Isaac my son," but "the boy," by whom is meant the Divine rational in such a state, namely, in a state of truth, prepared for the most grievous and inmost combats of temptations (n. 2793). That neither the Divine Itself nor the Divine Human could be tempted, must be evident to every one simply from the fact that not even the angels can approach the Divine, much less the spirits who induce temptations, and still less the hells. Hence it is manifest why the Lord came into the world, and put on the human state itself with its infirmity; for thus He could be tempted as to the human, and by means of the temptations subjugate the hells, and reduce each and all things to obedience and into order, and save the human race which had removed itself so far away from the supreme Divine.

AC 2796. As regards the putting on of the various states by the Lord which is here treated of, they cannot but be unknown to man, because he never reflects on his changes of state; which are nevertheless going on continually, both as to what is of the understanding or the thoughts, and as to what is of the will or the affections. The reason of his not reflecting upon them is that he believes that all things in him follow in natural order, and that there is nothing higher which directs; whereas the case is that all things are disposed by means of the spirits and angels with him and all his states and changes of states are therefrom, and are thus to eternity directed by the Lord to ends which the Lord alone foresees. That the reality is so, has become most fully known to me now by the experience of many years. It has also been given to know and observe what spirits and angels were with me, and what states they induced; and this I can solemnly assert--that all states, even to the least particulars, come from this source and are thereby directed by the Lord. It has also been given to know and observe that in every state there are a great many others, which do not appear, and which together appear as one general state; and that these states are disposed in relation to the states which follow in order in their series. With a man these things are done by the Lord; but with the Lord Himself, when He lived in the world, they were done by Himself; because He was Divine, and the very being of His life was Jehovah.

[2] The changes of state with man as to what is of the understanding and as to what is of the will, and the order in which they follow on, as also the series through which they pass, and thus how they are bent by the Lord as far as possible to good, it belongs to the angels to know. The wisdom of the angels is such that they perceive all these things most minutely. Hence it is that these things which are revealed in the internal sense concerning the changes of state with the Lord, are clearly and distinctly perceivable by the angels, because they are in the light of heaven from the Lord; and they are also in some degree intelligible to a man who lives in simple good; but they are merely obscure and as nothing to those who are in evil, and also to those who are in the deliriums of wisdom; for these have obscured and extinguished their natural and rational light by many things which have induced darkness, however much they may believe that they are pre-eminently in light.

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Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772). Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002. www.BibleMeanings.info