Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 28:20-22
[2] From all this it is very evident what was the quality of the fathers of the Jewish nation, as here that of Jacob, who as yet did not acknowledge Jehovah, and was still undetermined in his choice as to whether he should acknowledge Him or another for his God. It was a peculiarity of that nation, even from the time of their fathers, that everyone desired to have his own God, and that if anyone worshiped Jehovah, it was only that he worshiped some god called Jehovah, and who by this name was distinguished from the gods of other nations, so that their worship even in this respect was idolatrous; for the worship of a mere name, even of the name Jehovah, is nothing but idolatry (n. 1094). The case is the same with those who call themselves Christians and say they worship Christ, but do not live according to His precepts such worship Him with idolatry, because they worship His name alone, since it is a false Christ whom they worship; concerning which false Christ see (Matthew 24:23, 24) (n. 3010).
. Saying, if God will be with me and will keep me in this way wherein I walk. That this signifies continuously Divine, is evident from the signification of "God being with" anyone, and "keeping him in the way wherein he walks," as being what is continuously Divine; for this is predicated of the Lord, who as to the very essence of life was Jehovah; so that His whole life, from earliest infancy to the end, was continuously Divine, and this even to the perfect union of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence. . And will give me bread to eat. That this signifies even to conjunction with Divine good, is evident from the signification of "bread," as being all celestial and spiritual good which is from the Lord, and in the supreme sense the Lord Himself as to Divine good (n. 276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478); and from the signification of "eating," as being to be communicated, appropriated, and conjoined (n. 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513, 3596). . And raiment to put on. That this signifies conjunction with Divine truth, is evident from the signification of "raiment," as being truth (n. 1073, 2576), in the present case Divine truth, because the Lord is treated of; and from the signification of "putting on," as being to be appropriated and conjoined. The nature of the internal sense of the Word may be seen from these and all other such significatives, namely, that when bread and raiment are treated of in the sense of the letter, and also when the matter in question is expressed historically, as here--"if God will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on," the angels who are with the man at the time think not at all of bread, but of the good of love, and in the supreme sense of the Lord‘s Divine good; neither do they think of raiment, but of truth, and in the supreme sense of the Lord’s Divine truth. Such things as are in the sense of the letter are to them merely objective representatives for thinking concerning things heavenly and Divine for such things are the vessels which are in the ultimate of order.[2] Thus when in a holy state a man thinks of bread, as for instance of the bread in the Holy Supper, or of the "daily bread" in the Lord‘s Prayer, then the thought which the man has about bread serves the angels who are with him as an objective representative for thinking about the good of love which is from the Lord; for the angels apprehend nothing of man’s thought about bread, but instead of this have thought concerning good, for such is the correspondence. In like manner when in a holy state a man thinks about raiment, the thought of the angels is about truth; and so it is with everything else in the Word. This shows what is the nature of the conjunction of heaven and earth by the Word, namely, that a man who reads the Word in a holy manner is by such correspondence conjoined closely with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, even although the man thinks only of those things in the Word which are in the sense of its letter. The holiness itself then present with the man comes from an influx of celestial and spiritual thoughts and affections, such as angels have.
[3] That there might be such an influx and the consequent conjunction of man with the Lord the Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord, in connection with which it is expressly said that the bread and wine are the Lord; for the Lord‘s "body" signifies His Divine love, and the reciprocal love in man such as is that of the celestial angels; and the "blood" in like manner signifies His Divine love, and the reciprocal love in man, but such as is that of the spiritual angels. From this it is manifest how much of the Divine there is in everything of the Word, notwithstanding man’s ignorance as to what it is and what its quality. Yet those who when in the world have been in the life of good, after death come into the knowledges and perceptions of all these things; for then they put off earthly and worldly things, and put on heavenly ones; and in like manner are in a spiritual and celestial idea like that of the angels.
. And I return in peace to my father‘s house. That this signifies even to perfect union, is evident from the fact that the "house of my father," when predicated of the Lord, is the Divine Itself in which the Lord was from His very conception; and to "return to that house," is to return to the Divine good itself which is called the "Father." That this good is the "Father" may be seen above (n. 3704); and that to "return to that house" is to be united, is evident. The same was meant by the Lord when He said that He came forth from the Father and was come into the world, and that again He should go to the Father; that is to say, by coming forth from the Father" is meant that the Divine Itself assumed the Human; by "coming into the world," that He was as a man; and by His "going again to the Father," that He would unite the Human Essence to the Divine Essence. The same was meant also by these words of the Lord in John:--If ye should see the Son of man ascending where He was before (John 6:62).
Again:--
Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came forth from God, and went to God, said unto them, Children, yet a little while I am with you; whither I go ye cannot come (John 13:3, 33).
Again:--
Now I go unto Him that sent Me; and none of you asketh Me, Whither goest Thou? It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go I will send Him unto you. A little while and ye shall not see Me; and again a little while and ye shall see Me and because I go to the Father (John 16:5, 7, 16, 17).
Again:--
I came out from the Father, and am come into the world; again I leave the world, and go to the Father (John 16:28).
In these passages, to "go to the Father" is to unite the Human Essence to the Divine Essence.
. And Jehovah shall be to me for God. That this signifies that the Divine natural also was Jehovah, is evident from the series of things in the supreme internal sense, which treats of the unition of the Lord’s Human with His Divine; but in order that this sense may appear, the thought must be abstracted from the history of Jacob and be kept fixed on the Lord‘s Divine Human, and in this case on His Divine natural, which is represented by Jacob. The human itself, as before repeatedly stated, consists of the rational, which is the same as the internal man, and of the natural, which is the same as the external man, and also of the body, which serves the natural as a means or outermost organ for living in the world, and through the natural serves the rational, and moreover through the rational, serves the Divine. Inasmuch as the Lord came into the world in order that He might make the whole human in Himself Divine, and this according to Divine order; and as by Jacob is represented the Lord’s natural, and by his life of sojourning, in the supreme sense, how the Lord made His natural Divine, therefore here, where it is said, "if I shall return in peace to the house of my father, Jehovah shall be to me for God," there is signified the unition of the Lord‘s Human with His Divine, and that as to the Divine natural also He should be Jehovah, through the unition of the Divine Essence with the Human, and of the Human with the Divine. This unition is not to be understood as being a unition of two who are distinct from each other, and conjoined merely by love as a father with a son, when the father loves the son and the son the father; or as when a brother loves a brother, or a friend a friend; but it is a real unition into a one in order that they may be not two but one (as the Lord also repeatedly teaches) and because they are a one, therefore the whole Human of the Lord is the Divine being or Jehovah (n. 1343, 1736, 2156, 2329, 2447, 2921, 3023, 3035). . And this stone which I have set up for a pillar. That this signifies that truth which is the ultimate, is evident from what was said above (n. 3724, 3726), where the same words occur. . Shall be God’s house. That this signifies the Lord‘s kingdom in the ultimate of order, in which higher things are as in their house, is evident also from what was said above (n. 3720), where the same words occur, and further from what was said in (n. 3721). As regards higher things being in the ultimate of order as in their house, the case is this: Such an order has been instituted by the Lord that higher things inflow into lower ones, and therein present an image of themselves in general, and consequently are together therein in a certain general form, and thus are in order from the Highest, that is, from the Lord; from this it is that the proximate image of the Lord is the inmost heaven, which is the heaven of innocence and peace, where those who are celestial dwell; which heaven, because nearest to the Lord, is called His "likeness." The next heaven, namely, that which succeeds and is in a lower degree, is an "image" of the Lord, because in this heaven, as in something general, there are simultaneously presented the things which are in the higher heaven. The ultimate heaven, which succeeds this again, is similarly circumstanced, for the particulars and singulars of the heaven next higher inflow into this heaven, and are therein presented in general, and in a correspondent form.[2] The case is similar with man, for he has been created and formed to be an image of the three heavens. In man that which is inmost inflows in like manner into that which is lower and this in like manner into that which is lowest or last. The natural and corporeal consists of such an influx and concourse into those things which are beneath, and finally into those which are last. In this way there is a connection of the last or ultimate things with the first, without which connection that which is last in order would not subsist a single moment. This it is manifest what is meant by higher things being in the ultimate of order as in their house. Whether we speak of things higher and lower, or interior and exterior, it is the same; for to man’s view things interior appear as higher; and for this reason man places heaven on high, when yet it is in what is internal.
. And all that Thou shalt give me, tithing I will tithe it to Thee. That this signifies that He made all things Divine in general and in particular by His own power, is evident from the signification of "giving," when predicated of the Lord, as being that He gave to Himself (n. 3705), thus that it was by His own power; and from the signification of "tithing," and of "tithes," as being the goods and truths which are stored up by the Lord in man‘s interiors, and which goods are called "remains" (n. 576, 1738, 2280). When these are predicated of the Lord they are the Divine goods and Divine truths which the Lord procured to Himself by His own power (n. 1738, 1906).