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<< Genesis 22: The Sacrifice of Isaac >>
 ABRAHAM had left the grove at Hebron and was living in the South Country. It is a country of broad, rolling pastures where you may ride all day and see hardly a tree. You may pass now and then a group of tents of Bedouins, as the wandering Arabs are called, and may see their camels feeding.
Beersheba was in this country, on a sunny slope looking across a broad valley towards the south. There are stones on the hill-side laid in rows, as if houses had once stood there. Seven old wells have been discovered. Some of them are still in use, and towards evening hundreds of sheep are led in from pastures, and water is poured for them into little stone troughs which stand near. Wheels have been put over some of the wells, and a camel is harnessed to draw water. One well, as seen some years ago, was about twelve feetacross and forty feet deep. The stones around the mouth were deeply grooved by the rubbing of ropes, like the dressmaker's wax. This may be one of the very wells that Abraham dug, for he lived here at Beersheba and dug a well and planted a tamarisk tree (Gen. xxi. 25-33, Revised Version), perhaps by his altar. The tamarisk is a graceful, plumy tree.
Abraham and Sarah dearly loved their son Isaac, and now Abraham was to offer him as a sacrifice to the Lord. The people in the country that Abraham came from, and the people of Canaan about him, thought that their gods were pleased with such a sacrifice, and Abraham knew no better. You will see how the Lord taught him that it is right to be faithful and willing in obeying the Lord, no matter how how hard it is, but He did not let him kill his son. We see the old man Abraham and Isaac with two young men and the ass taking the path from the pastures up into the hills, by the old home at Hebron, to the land of Moriah. It was probably the hill of Moriah, which stands across the Kidron valley from the Mount of Olives, the same hill on which the temple at Jerusalem was afterwards built.
When we go to Jerusalem today, we see inside the pretty mosque of Omar the old worn rock, which is the natural top of the hill. As we look at it, we think of the time when a great temple stood here, and the Lord Himself walked in its courts. Longer ago Solomon's temple was in this place, and it may have been on this very rock that the great altar stood before the temple door. And still longer ago there was no building here, but it was a wild hill-top. We think of Abraham and Isaac climbing up through the thickets to this very rock. Let us read the story.
 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.---Genesis XXII. 1-19.
Author: William L. Worcester 1904
Spiritual Correspondences
Spiritual Meaning
1. And it came to pass after these words that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I.
"It came to pass after these words," signifies after the things just accomplished; "that God did tempt Abraham," signifies the Lord's most grievous and inmost temptations; "and said unto him, Abraham," signifies the Lord's perception from Divine truth; "and he said, Here am I," signifies thought and reflection.
2. And He said, Take I pray thy son, thine only one, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee to the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
"He said, Take I pray thy son," signifies the Divine rational begotten by Him; "thine only one, whom thou lovest," signifies the sole one in the universe by which He was to save the human race; "even Isaac," signifies its quality; "and get thee to the land of Moriah," signifies a place and state of temptation; "and offer him there for a burnt- offering," signifies that He should sanctify Himself to the Divine; "upon one of the mountains," signifies the Divine Love; "which I will tell thee of," signifies as He should perceive.
3. And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his boys with him, and Isaac his son; and he clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God told him.
"And Abraham rose early in the morning," signifies a state of peace and innocence; "and saddled his ass," signifies the natural man which He prepared; "and took two of his boys," signifies the former rational which He had adjoined; "and Isaac his son," signifies the Divine rational begotten by Himself; "and he clave the wood for the burnt-offering," signifies the merit of righteousness; "and rose up," signifies elevation; "and went unto the place of which God told him," signifies the state at that time according to perception.
4. On the third day, and Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
"On the third day," signifies completeness, and the beginning of sanctification; "and Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw," signifies thought and view from the Divine; "the place afar off," signifies the state which He foresaw.
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.
6. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together.
"Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering," signifies the merit of righteousness; "and laid it upon Isaac," signifies that it was adjoined to the Divine rational; "and he took in his hand the fire and the knife," signifies the good of love and the truth of faith; "and they went both of them together," signifies unition as far as possible.
7. Isaac said unto Abraham his father; and he said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood; and where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?
"Isaac said unto Abraham his father; and he said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son," signifies a conference of the Lord from love - of the Divine Truth with the Divine Good; the Divine Truth is the "son," and the Divine Good is the "father;" "and he said, Behold the fire and the wood," signifies that love and righteousness are present; "where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" signifies where are they of the human race who are to be sanctified?
8. And Abraham said, God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son: and they went both of them together.
Abraham said, God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son," signifies the reply, that the Divine Human will provide those who are to be sanctified; "and they went both of them together," signifies unition still closer as far as possible.
9. And they came to the place which God told him of; and Abraham built there the altar, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
"They came to the place which God told him of," signifies the state at that time according to perception from Divine Truth; "and Abraham built there the altar," signifies the preparation of the Lord's Human Divine; "and laid the wood in order," signifies the righteousness that was adjoined to it; "and bound Isaac his son," signifies the state of the Divine rational which was thus, as to truth, about to undergo the last degrees of temptation; "and laid him on the altar upon the wood," signifies in the Human Divine to which the righteousness belonged.
10. And Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
"Abraham put forth his hand," signifies temptation even to the utmost of power; "and took the knife," signifies as to truth; "to slay his son," signifies until whatever was from the merely human was dead.
11. And the angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I.
"The angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven," signifies consolation at that time from the Divine Itself; "and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I," signifies a perception of consolation in the Divine Good of the rational after temptation.
12. And He said, Put not forth thine hand upon the boy, and do not anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, and thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me.12. And He said, Put not forth thine hand upon the boy, and do not anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, and thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me.
"He said, Put not forth thine hand upon the boy," signifies that He should admit the temptation no further into the Truth Divine which belonged to the rational; "and do not anything unto him," signifies liberation; "for now I know that thou fearest God," signifies glorification from the Divine love; "and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me," signifies the unition of the Human with the Divine by means of the last of temptation.
13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold a ram behind, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went, and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son.
"Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw," signifies the Lord's thought and mental view from the Divine; "and behold a ram," signifies the spiritual from the human race; "behind, caught in a thicket," signifies entangled in natural knowledge; "by his horns," signifies with all power as to the truths of faith. "And Abraham went, and took the ram," signifies their liberation by the Lord's Divine Human; "and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son," signifies their sanctification and adoption.
14. And Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah-will-see, as it is said to this day, In the mountain Jehovah will see.
"And Abraham called the name of that place," signifies the quality of their state from the Lord's Divine Human; "Jehovah-will-see," signifies the Lord's providence; "as it is said to this day," signifies what is perpetual; "in the mountain Jehovah will see," signifies charity, by means of which it was provided by the Lord that they should be saved.
15, 16. And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, By Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one.
"The angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven," signifies still greater consolation of the Lord from the Divine; "and said, By Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah," signifies irrevocable confirmation from the Divine; "because thou hast done this thing," signifies the thing accomplished; "and hast not kept back thy son, thine only one," signifies the unition of the Human with the Divine by the utmost of temptation.
17. That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed, as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies.
"That in blessing I will bless thee," signifies fructification from the affection of truth; "and in multiplying I will multiply," signifies derivations of truth therefrom; "thy seed," signifies the spiritual, who being in the good of faith are saved by the Lord's Divine Human; "as the stars of the heavens," signifies the multitude of the knowledges of good and truth; "and as the sand which is upon the sea shore," signifies the multitude of corresponding memory-knowledges; "and thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies," signifies that charity and faith shall come into the place where evil and falsity were before.
18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast hearkened to My voice.
"In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed," signifies the salvation of all who are in good; "because thou hast hearkened to My voice," signifies by the union of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence.
19. And Abraham returned unto his boys; and they rose up, and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt in Beersheba.
"Abraham returned unto his boys," signifies conjunction again with His former rational; "and they rose up," signifies a greater degree of elevation; "and went together to Beersheba" signifies advancement in the doctrine of charity and faith, which is Divine, and to which human rational things were adjoined; "and Abraham dwelt in Beersheba," signifies that the Lord is that doctrine itself. [AC 2766-2859]
Author: Emanuel Swedenborg
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