12. Here Lucifer loses his throne, and the Serpent his viperous seed, and Christ sits at the right hand of God in man; and man then dwells truly by the fountain of the living and seeing. And this is that which the spirit of Moses sets forth by this figure concerning Isaac's habitation: if we would but once become seeing, and forsake the mere husk, and know ourselves aright, not according to the earthly beast, but according to the inward spiritual heavenly man.
13. As to the part of the bestial soul [of man], that attains not the precious image in this lifetime for propriety. The mortal soul, either from the stars or four elements, attains it not; only the inward soul, out of the eternal Word of God, out of the eternal nature, out of the formed Word, out of God's essence according to God's love and anger, viz. out of the centre of the eternal nature, which has its original out of the divine desire through the eternal Verbum Fiat,l whereby the divine lubet forms and fashions the wisdom into a substance, to the contemplation of the Deity: This [soul is that which] is betrothed to Sophia.
14. The outward soul is now betrothed and espoused to the stars and four elements, to form and bring forth the wonders of God's formed wisdom, in figures, both in words and works. This outward soul obtains sometimes only a look from Sophia, for it has the death and mortality in itself; but it shall after this time be changed again into the first image, which God created in Adam, and leave the Serpent's ens to the earth, which shall at the end of days be tried in the fire of God, where the Serpent's introduced desire shall evaporate from it; and then the whole image of God, out of all the three Principles, stands in one essence, and even then God fills all in all (Eph.
i. 23): This is here to be understood by this figure.
15. Further, the spirit of Moses describes the children of Ishmael, and relates how he begat twelve sons, from whom twelve princes arose in their generations, and he sets down, at last, He fell in the presence of all his brethren (Gen. xxv. 16-18). Here he means before Isaac's generation;
and yet he waxed great in worldly dominion before them, and potent nations did arise from him; and Isaac with his children and posterity were only as pilgrims, and travelled up and down from one place to another, until they were at last redeemed from the Egyptian bondage, and possessed the promised land.
The inward figure.
16. Ishmael, in his twelve princes, typifies the kingdom of the corrupt nature of man's property, which kingdom is twofold; viz. six numbers out of the inward life's figure, and six numbers out of the earthly outward life's figure; viz. the outward, visible, palpable man, and the inward, spiritual, soulish man. Both these have twelve numbers in the figure, whence twelve princes arose, according to the inward and outward nature's property. These the spirit of Moses puts in the figure and says, that they fell in the presence of all their brethren; to signify that the twelve dominions of the inward and outward nature of the human property, in its corruption, fell before the twelve dominions new born of the ens of faith in their corrupt self; for the devil had set his dominion and power into these properties.
17. But when the promised seed of faith was conceived in Abraham, it did suppress and beat down the devil's power in the dominion of man's self; and then happened the spiritual fall in Ishmael's line, wherein the devil, as a haughty prince, had set himself to bear the chief sway and domination; for Christ kills the pride of the Serpent in man.
12. Here Lucifer loses his throne, and the Serpent his viperous seed, and Christ sits at the right hand of God in man; and man then dwells truly by the fountain of the living and seeing. And this is that which the spirit of Moses sets forth by this figure concerning Isaac's habitation: if we would but once become seeing, and forsake the mere husk, and know ourselves aright, not according to the earthly beast, but according to the inward spiritual heavenly man.
13. As to the part of the bestial soul [of man], that attains not the precious image in this lifetime for propriety. The mortal soul, either from the stars or four elements, attains it not; only the inward soul, out of the eternal Word of God, out of the eternal nature, out of the formed Word, out of God's essence according to God's love and anger, viz. out of the centre of the eternal nature, which has its original out of the divine desire through the eternal Verbum Fiat,l whereby the divine lubet forms and fashions the wisdom into a substance, to the contemplation of the Deity: This [soul is that which] is betrothed to Sophia.
14. The outward soul is now betrothed and espoused to the stars and four elements, to form and bring forth the wonders of God's formed wisdom, in figures, both in words and works. This outward soul obtains sometimes only a look from Sophia, for it has the death and mortality in itself; but it shall after this time be changed again into the first image, which God created in Adam, and leave the Serpent's ens to the earth, which shall at the end of days be tried in the fire of God, where the Serpent's introduced desire shall evaporate from it; and then the whole image of God, out of all the three Principles, stands in one essence, and even then God fills all in all (Eph.
i. 23): This is here to be understood by this figure.
15. Further, the spirit of Moses describes the children of Ishmael, and relates how he begat twelve sons, from whom twelve princes arose in their generations, and he sets down, at last, He fell in the presence of all his brethren (Gen. xxv. 16-18). Here he means before Isaac's generation;
and yet he waxed great in worldly dominion before them, and potent nations did arise from him; and Isaac with his children and posterity were only as pilgrims, and travelled up and down from one place to another, until they were at last redeemed from the Egyptian bondage, and possessed the promised land.
The inward figure.
16. Ishmael, in his twelve princes, typifies the kingdom of the corrupt nature of man's property, which kingdom is twofold; viz. six numbers out of the inward life's figure, and six numbers out of the earthly outward life's figure; viz. the outward, visible, palpable man, and the inward, spiritual, soulish man. Both these have twelve numbers in the figure, whence twelve princes arose, according to the inward and outward nature's property. These the spirit of Moses puts in the figure and says, that they fell in the presence of all their brethren; to signify that the twelve dominions of the inward and outward nature of the human property, in its corruption, fell before the twelve dominions new born of the ens of faith in their corrupt self; for the devil had set his dominion and power into these properties.
17. But when the promised seed of faith was conceived in Abraham, it did suppress and beat down the devil's power in the dominion of man's self; and then happened the spiritual fall in Ishmael's line, wherein the devil, as a haughty prince, had set himself to bear the chief sway and domination; for Christ kills the pride of the Serpent in man.
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