GENESIS. CHAPTER THE THIRTY-SECOND. 4229. THE predictions of the Lord, in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, concerning the Last Judgment, were begun to be explained in the fourth volume of this work; that explanation has been prefixed as prefatory to the chapters in that and in the fifth volume, and has been continued as far as verse 31 of the same chapter; see n. 3353—3356, n. 3486–3189, n. 3650 -3655, 3751-3757, n. 3897-3901, n. 4056-4060. What is the summary of the internal sense of all the contents of that chapter, appears manifest from what has been explained above, viz., that the successive vastation of the church, and at length the establishment of a new church, are predicted in the following order,-I. They began not to know what good and truth are, but disputed on the subject. II. They despised good and truth. III. They did not acknowledge them in heart. IV. They profaned them. V. And whereas the truth of faith and the good of charity would yet remain with some, who are called the elect, the state of faith is then described. VI. And next the state of charity. VII. And finally, the beginning of a new church is treated of, which is meant by the words which were last explained, "And he shall send forth his angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the one end of the heavens even to the other end thereof," (Matt. xxiv. 31.) By these words, the beginning of a new church is meant, see n. 4060 at the end. 4230. When the end of an old church and the beginning of a new are at hand, then is a last judgment; that this time is what is meant in the Word by the Last Judgment, may be seen, n. 2117-2133, 3353, 4057; and also by the coming of the Son of Man. The subject now treated of is the coming, respecting which the disciples inquired of the Lord, saying, "Tell us, when shall these things come to pass? especially what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the age?" (Matt. xxiv. 3.) Now, therefore, follows the explanation of what the Lord predicted concerning the very time of his coming, and of the consummation of the age, which is the last judgment; but in the preface to this chapter we shall explain only the things contained in verses 32-35, which are these, "But learn a parable from the fig-tree: When its branch is yet tender, and its leaves spring forth, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near at the doors. Verily, I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away." The internal sense of these words is as follows. 4231. But learn a parable from the fig-tree: When its branch is yet tender, and its leaves spring forth, ye know that summer is nigh, signifies the first of a new church; the fig-tree denotes good of the natural principle, its branch is the affection thereof, and the leaves are truths; the parable which they should learn, is, that those things are signified. He who does not know the internal sense of the Word, cannot possibly know what is involved in the comparison of the Lord's coming, with the figtree, and its branch and leaves; but inasmuch as all comparatives in the Word are also significatives, see n. 3579, it may hence be known what those things mean. Wheresoever a figtree is named in the Word, in the internal sense it signifies good of the natural principle, see n. 217; the reason why branch denotes the affection thereof, is, because affection springs and flourishes from good as a branch from its trunk; that leaves denote truths, see n. 885. Hence, then, it is evident what this parable involves, viz., that when a new church is created by the Lord, good of the natural principle first of all appears, that is, good in an external form with its affection and truths. By good of the natural principle, is not meant the good into which man is born, or which he derives from his parents, but the good which is spiritual as to its origin; into this good no one is born, but is led into it by the Lord through the knowledges of good and truth; wherefore, until man is in this spiritual good, he is not a man of the church, howsoever it may appear from connate good that he is so. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near at the doors, signifies when those things appear, which are signified in the internal sense by the words mentioned immediately above (verses 2931), and by these words concerning the fig-tree, that then is the consummation of the church, that is, the last judgment, and the coming of the Lord; consequently, that then the old church is rejected, and the new established. It is said, at the doors, because the good of the natural principle and its truths are the first which are insinuated into man, whilst he is regenerating and becoming a church. Verily, I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be fulfilled, signifies that the Jewish nation shall not be extirpated as other nations; the reason whereof may be seen, n. 3179. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away, signifies that the internals and externals of the former church should perish, but that the Word of the Lord should abide; that heaven is the internal of the church, and earth its external, see n. 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355. It is evident, that the words of the Lord are not only those which were here spoken concerning His coming and the consummation of the age, but also all that are contained in the Word. These words were spoken immediately after what was said concerning the Jewish nation, because that nation was preserved for the sake of the Word, as may appear from the passage cited, n. 3179. From these considerations then it is manifest, that the beginnings of the new church are here predicted. CHAPTER XXXII. 1. AND Jacob went on his way; and the angels of God met him. 2. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is the camp of GOD: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. 3. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother, unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom. 4. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and have tarried even until now : 5. And I have ox and ass, flock, and man-servant and maidservant, and I send to tell my lord, to find favor in thine eyes. 6. And the messengers returned unto Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother, to Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. 7. And Jacob feared exceedingly, and was distressed; and he halved the people which was with him, and the flock, and the herd, and the camels, into two camps; 8. And said, If Esau shall come to one camp and shall smite it, there shall be a camp left for escape. 9. And Jacob said, GoD of my father Abraham, and GoD of my father Isaac, Jehovah, saying unto me, Return to thy land, and to thy nativity, and I will do well with thee. 10. I am less than all the mercies, and than all the truths, which thou hast done unto thy servant, because with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am in two camps. 11. Deliver me, I pray thee, out of the hand of my brother, out of the hand of Esau; because I fear him, peradventure he may come, and smite me, and the mother upon the children. 12. And thou hast said, In doing well I will do well with thee, and will place thy seed as the sand of the sea, which is not numbered for multitude. 13. And he passed the night there in that night; and took of that which came into his hand, a present for Esau his brother; 14. Two hundred she-goats, and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams. 15. Thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows, and ten oxen, twenty she-asses and ten foals. 16. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said to his servants, Pass over before me, and set a space between drove and drove. 17. And he commanded the first, saying, When Esau my brother shall meet thee, and shall ask thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? 18. And thou shalt say, Thy servant Jacob's; this is a present sent unto my lord Esau, and behold, also, he is behind us. 19. And he commanded the second, and the third, and all that went after the droves, saying, According to this word ye shall speak to Esau, when ye find him. 20. And ye shall say also, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will expiate his faces in the present going before me, and afterwards I will see his faces; peradventure he will lift up my faces. 21. And the present passed over before him, and he passed the night in that night in the camp. 22. And he arose in that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. 23. And he took them, and caused them to pass over the river, and caused what he had to pass over. * * * * 24. And Jacob remained alone; and a man wrestled with him, until the day-dawn arose. 25. And he saw that he did not prevail over him, and he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26. And he said, Let me go, because the day-dawn ariseth. And he said, I will not let thee go, unless thou bless me. 27. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28. And he said, Thy name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; because as a prince thou hast contended with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 29. And Jacob asked and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is this, that thou dost ask for my name? And he blessed him there. 30. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; because I have seen God faces to faces, and my soul is delivered. 31. And the sun rose upon him, as he passed over Penuel; 32. Therefore the sons of Israel eat not the sinew of what is put out, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, even to this 4232. THE subject here treated of, in the internal sense, is the inversion of state in the natural principle, to the end that good may be in the first place, and truth in the second; in the present case it is the implantation of truth in good (verse 1- 23). And the wrestlings of temptations, which on this occasion are to be endured (verses 24-32). At the same time, the Jewish nation is also treated of, as although it could receive nothing of the church, still it represented those things which are of the 4233. Verses 1, 2. And Jacob went on his way; and the 4234. Verse 1. Jacob went on his way.-That hereby is By the successive of truth appear to be here meant the successive states |