26. And Abraham answered, Here am I. And he [the angel] said, Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do you any thing unto him: for now I know that you fear God, and have not spared your only son for my sake (Gen. xxii. 12). That is thus:
when man has wholly resigned up his self, viz. his own will or son, and put it wholly to the mortification in Christ's death, then the nature of man falls into sadness; for it has lost its right [its own law and will]. Then says the spirit of God by the soul, Do nothing to your nature; now I know that it is given up and resigned to me, and that the soul has now an assurance 3 of confidence in God; and is fully bold even to leave the outward life, for God's sake, and give over its will to me in obedience. As here Abraham had fully resigned up his will unto God; he would now do whatsoever God commanded him.
27. And as Abraham did not spare his son, and would have given him up unto death; so also God did not spare his Son, and gave him to death for us. Even so should we also not spare even our own will, but rather be willing to leave all whatsoever the own will has taken possession of, and delights in, and willingly die to all temporals for God's sake; let it be principality, dominion or kingdom, temporal honour, or goods, or whatsoever it may be that is our dearly beloved son. All this a Christian must give over, and resign up in the mind;
1 Ensign. 2 Twofold. 3 Plerophory.
and account and esteem himself only a servant therein; yea, esteem his outward life not for his own; but in his mind depart from and forsake every creature. And then he lies bound upon the wood of the burnt-offering's altar, and waits for the voice of God from heaven, which calls to him; and becomes the voice and mouth of his life. And this is truly with Abraham, to believe God, where God believes in man; and then God says, Now I know that you fear God, and puttest your trust in him alone, for the human will sinks into the most pure being of God.
28. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and lo! a ram was hung in a thicket by his horns: alzd he 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 the place, The Lord 1 sees; as it is said to this day, Upon the mount where the Lord sees (Gen. xxii. 13, 14). This is the golden figure which shows that the killing, death and dying, does not reach the true man, but only the ram with his horns, which sticks in the flesh and blood in the thorns of sin. And it chiefly denotes that the true human soul 2 in Christ and his children shall not die in this burnt offering of God; but after that it has resigned up the will of self; then God opens its eyes, that it sees the ram behind it, viz. it spies the will of the wild evil flesh, and learns to know it, which will sticks with its pushing beast's horns in the thorny thicket of the devil, in flesh and blood, viz. in the desire of the vanity of the world in self-full lust. This the resigned soul sees, and offers it up for a burnt offering in the stead of the true nature; for in this burnt offering the right nature is delivered from the ram of the flesh. The horns are the injections, oppositions and assaults of the devil, and the thicket of thorns is the Serpent's ens, which the lust of Adam has introduced.
26. And Abraham answered, Here am I. And he [the angel] said, Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do you any thing unto him: for now I know that you fear God, and have not spared your only son for my sake (Gen. xxii. 12). That is thus:
when man has wholly resigned up his self, viz. his own will or son, and put it wholly to the mortification in Christ's death, then the nature of man falls into sadness; for it has lost its right [its own law and will]. Then says the spirit of God by the soul, Do nothing to your nature; now I know that it is given up and resigned to me, and that the soul has now an assurance 3 of confidence in God; and is fully bold even to leave the outward life, for God's sake, and give over its will to me in obedience. As here Abraham had fully resigned up his will unto God; he would now do whatsoever God commanded him.
27. And as Abraham did not spare his son, and would have given him up unto death; so also God did not spare his Son, and gave him to death for us. Even so should we also not spare even our own will, but rather be willing to leave all whatsoever the own will has taken possession of, and delights in, and willingly die to all temporals for God's sake; let it be principality, dominion or kingdom, temporal honour, or goods, or whatsoever it may be that is our dearly beloved son. All this a Christian must give over, and resign up in the mind;
1 Ensign. 2 Twofold. 3 Plerophory.
and account and esteem himself only a servant therein; yea, esteem his outward life not for his own; but in his mind depart from and forsake every creature. And then he lies bound upon the wood of the burnt-offering's altar, and waits for the voice of God from heaven, which calls to him; and becomes the voice and mouth of his life. And this is truly with Abraham, to believe God, where God believes in man; and then God says, Now I know that you fear God, and puttest your trust in him alone, for the human will sinks into the most pure being of God.
28. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and lo! a ram was hung in a thicket by his horns: alzd he 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 the place, The Lord 1 sees; as it is said to this day, Upon the mount where the Lord sees (Gen. xxii. 13, 14). This is the golden figure which shows that the killing, death and dying, does not reach the true man, but only the ram with his horns, which sticks in the flesh and blood in the thorns of sin. And it chiefly denotes that the true human soul 2 in Christ and his children shall not die in this burnt offering of God; but after that it has resigned up the will of self; then God opens its eyes, that it sees the ram behind it, viz. it spies the will of the wild evil flesh, and learns to know it, which will sticks with its pushing beast's horns in the thorny thicket of the devil, in flesh and blood, viz. in the desire of the vanity of the world in self-full lust. This the resigned soul sees, and offers it up for a burnt offering in the stead of the true nature; for in this burnt offering the right nature is delivered from the ram of the flesh. The horns are the injections, oppositions and assaults of the devil, and the thicket of thorns is the Serpent's ens, which the lust of Adam has introduced.
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