637. Clothed in sackcloth, signifies in mourning because of the non-reception of Divine good and Divine truth. This is evident from the signification of "clothed in sackcloth," as being mourning because of the vastation and desolation of Divine good and Divine truth, here because of their non-reception; for the witnesses were seen clothed in sackcloth, and they signify the Divine good, from which is every good of love and charity, and the Divine truth, from which is every truth of doctrine and faith; these appear to be in mourning when they are not received, but in joy when they are received.

[2] Likewise it is said of the sun and moon, which also signify the good of love and the truth of faith, that:

The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood (Revelation 6:12),

which signifies that every good of love was separated, and every truth of faith falsified (See above, n. 401); not that the sun in the angelic heaven, which is the Lord, ever becomes black, but that it so appears to those who receive no light from it.

[3] In ancient times, when the externals of the church consisted of mere correspondences and thence of representatives of things spiritual, mourning was represented by many things that are significative; as by sitting and lying on the ground, rolling themselves in the dust, by putting ashes on the head, rending the garments, and putting on sackcloth. "Rending the garments and putting on sackcloth" signified mourning because of the desolation of truth and good in the church, and because of the nonreception of them; for "garments" in general signified the truths of the church (See above, n. 64, 65, 195, 271, 395, 475, 476); therefore "rending the garments" signified grief because the truths of the church are hurt and as it were rent asunder by falsities; and "to be clothed in sackcloth" signifies mourning because of the deprivation of good and truth, and the consequent vastation of the church.

[4] For this reason:

When Hezekiah the king heard the words of Tartan the captain of the king of Assyria, he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth, and came to the house of Jehovah; and he sent Eliakim who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah (2 Kings 19:1, 2; Isaiah 37:1, 2).

This was done because the "king of Assyria" here signifies the perverted rational, or the rational that perverts the truths and goods of the church and destroys them by falsities; all the words of Tartan the captain of the king of Assyria, involve such things; and because the desolation and vastation of the church was seen to be imminent, to exhibit mourning and grief on this account they rent their garments and covered themselves with sackcloth.

[5] Likewise:

When Benhadad the king of Syria besieged Samaria, and there came a great famine, the king rent his clothes, and as he passed by upon the wall the people saw that, behold, sackcloth was upon his flesh within (2 Kings 6:30).

This has a similar signification as above, namely, the imminent desolation and devastation of the church; for this reason the king rent his garments and had sackcloth upon his flesh, which was a representative sign of mourning and grief.

[6] Mourning for like reasons is signified also by the following:

Jacob, when he believed that Joseph was torn to pieces, rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days (Genesis 37:34).

So when Ahab, by the advice of Jezebel his wife, had taken away the vineyard of Naboth, and had heard the hard words of the prophet respecting that matter, he rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, yea, he lay in sackcloth, and went softly (1 Kings 21:27).

The king of Nineveh also, when he heard the words of Jonah, arose up from his throne, and laid his robe from him and covered him with sackcloth, and sat upon ashes, and proclaimed a fast, and that man and beast should be covered with sackcloth (Jonah 3:5, 6, 8).

So also Daniel set his face to the Lord God, to seek by supplication and prayer in fasting, sackcloth, and ashes (Daniel 9:3).

When Abner was slain, David said to Joab and to all the people that were with him, that they should rend their clothes and gird them with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner; and David himself walked behind the bier (2 Samuel 3:31).

This makes clear that in the Jewish and Israelitish church mourning was represented by "rending the clothes and being clothed in sackcloth;" and this because grief of mind and mourning of heart, which were interior things, were represented at that time by external things, which because of their correspondences with spiritual things were significative.

[7] That the representation of mourning by sackcloth signified especially mourning because of the desolation of truth and vastation of good in the church, and also, in particular, repentance, with mourning of heart on account of evils, can be seen further from the following passages. In Isaiah:

In that day will the Lord Jehovih of hosts call to weeping and to lamenting, and to baldness, and to girding on sackcloth (Isaiah 22:12).

This chapter treats of the vastation of the church in respect to Divine truth; its mourning is described by "baldness" and by "putting on sackcloth."

[8] In Jeremiah:

The lion is gone up from the thicket, and the destroyer of nations journeyeth; he hath gone forth out of his place to make the land a waste; thy cities shall be destroyed, that there shall be no inhabitant; for this gird ye with sackcloth, lament, howl (Jeremiah 4:7, 8).

"The lion from the thicket" signifies the falsity of evil destroying the truths of the church; and "the destroyer of nations" signifies the evil of falsity destroying the good of the church; the "land that they will make a waste" signifies the church, and the "cities that shall be destroyed" signify the truths of doctrine; "to gird with sackcloth" signifies mourning on this account, therefore it is added "lament and howl."

[9] In the same:

O daughter of My people, gird thee with sackcloth and roll thee in ashes; make thee mourning for an only one, a lamentation of bitterness, for the waster shall suddenly come upon us (Jeremiah 6:26).

"Daughter of the people" means the church; "to gird herself with sackcloth and roll herself in ashes" signifies mourning because of the destruction of the good and truth of the church; the destruction of these or the vastation of the church is meant by "the waster shall suddenly come." Evidently grievous mourning and grief because of the destruction of good and truth is signified by "gird thee with sackcloth and roll thee in ashes," for it is added "make thee mourning for an only one, a lamentation of bitterness."

[10] In the same:

Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is devastated; cry out, ye daughters of Rabbah; gird ye with sackcloth, lament, and wander among the walls; for their king is gone into exile, his priests and princes together (Jeremiah 49:3).

This is said of the sons of Ammon, who signify such as are in natural good and falsify the truths of the church; those who are such in the church are meant by "the daughters of Rabbah;" mourning because of the destruction of truth by falsifications is signified by "Gird ye with sackcloth, lament, wander among the walls," "walls" signifying truths falsified; that the truth of the church perished in consequence is signified by "their king is gone into exile," "king" signifying the truth of the church, and "to go into exile" signifying to be destroyed. That the goods of the church and all truths therefrom likewise perished, is signified by "priests and princes together," "priests" signifying the goods of the church, and "princes" the truths therefrom.

[11] In Lamentations:

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the earth, they keep silence, they have cast up dust upon their head, they have girded themselves with sackcloth; the virgins of Jerusalem bend their head down to the earth (Lamentations 2:10).

"To sit upon the earth," "to keep silence," "to cast up dust upon the head," and "to make the head to bend down to the earth," were all signs representative of mourning and grief because of the vastation of the church by evils and falsities. "The elders of the daughter of Zion" signify those that are wise and intelligent in the church, and in an abstract sense wisdom and intelligence; "daughters of Zion and the virgins of Jerusalem" signify those in the church who are in the affection of good and truth, and in an abstract sense these affections themselves.

[12] In Ezekiel:

The shipmasters shall make themselves bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep over thee in bitterness of soul, with bitter lamentation (Ezekiel 27:31).

This is said of Tyre, which signifies the church in respect to the knowledges of truth and good, and therefore also the knowledges of truth and good which belong to the church; here mourning on account of the destruction of these is described. "Shipmasters" signify all who bring and communicate these knowledges; "to make bald" signifies mourning on account of the destruction of all things of intelligence; "to gird with sackcloth" signifies mourning because the ability to know truth is also destroyed. Because mourning is what is described, it is added, "they shall weep over thee in bitterness of soul, with bitter lamentation. "

[13] In the Gospels:

Woe unto thee Chorazin, woe unto thee Bethsaida, for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes (Matthew 11:21; Luke 10:13).

"To repent in sackcloth and ashes" means to grieve and mourn because of the nonreception of Divine truth, and because of the falsities and evils that obstruct.

[14] In Joel:

Howl as a virgin girded with sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth; gird ye and lament, ye priests; howl, ye ministers of the altar; come, pass the night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withholden from the house of your God (Joel 1:8, 13).

Here "to be girded with sackcloth" and "to pass the night in sackcloth" signify mourning because the good and truth of the church are destroyed, for the "meal offering" signifies the good of the church, and the "drink offering" its truth.

[15] In Amos:

I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head, and I will make it as a mourning for an only one, and its latter end as a bitter day (Amos 8:10).

"Sackcloth upon the loins" signifies mourning because the good of love is destroyed, for this is signified by the "loins;" and "baldness upon the head" signifies mourning because the understanding of truth is destroyed.

[16] In Isaiah:

Upon all the heads of Moab is baldness, every beard shaven; in its streets they have girded themselves with sackcloth; upon its roofs and in its streets he shall howl, flowing down in weeping (Isaiah 15:2, 3).

In Jeremiah:

Every head baldness, and every beard shaven; upon all hands gashes, and upon the loins sackcloth; upon all the roofs of Moab and in its streets mourning everywhere (Jeremiah 48:37, 38).

"Moab" signifies those who are in natural good and who adulterate the goods of the church; that such have no understanding of truth or knowledge [scientia] of truth is signified by "upon all the heads of Moab baldness, and every beard shaven," also by "upon its roofs and in its streets he shall howl" and "there shall be mourning;" "upon all hands gashes" signifies things falsified; mourning because of these things is signified by "to gird with sackcloth," and "to howl," and "to flow down in weeping."

[17] In Isaiah:

It shall come to pass in place of spices there shall be rottenness, and in place of a girdle tatters, and in place of braided work baldness, and in place of a robe a girding of sackcloth, in place of beauty burning; thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy might in the war (Isaiah 3:24, 25).

This is said of "the daughters of Zion," by whom the church in respect to the affections of celestial good is signified, therefore "the daughters of Zion" signify the affections of good that belong to the celestial church. The loss and dissipation of these through the pride of self-intelligence is here described by the various things with which these daughters adorn themselves; the change of these affections into opposite and unbeautiful affections is signified by "in place of spices there shall be rottenness, in place of a girdle tatters, in place of braided work baldness, in place of a robe a girding of sackcloth, and in place of beauty burning;" "rottenness" signifies the vital perishing; "in place of a girdle tatters" signifies the dissipation of perceptions of truth instead of their union; "in place of braided work baldness" signifies imbecility instead of knowledge [scientia]; "in place of beauty burning" signifies foolishness instead of intelligence, "burning" signifying insanity from the pride of self-intelligence, which is foolishness, and "beauty" signifying intelligence. That the truths of the understanding will perish by falsities, even till there is no resistance against evils, is signified by "thy men shall fall by the sword and thy might in the war," "sword" meaning falsity destroying the truth.

[18] "Sackcloth" has a similar meaning in the following passages. In Ezekiel:

All hands are relaxed, all knees go into waters, whence they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, and terror shall cover them, and upon all faces shall be shame, and upon all heads baldness (Ezekiel 7:17, 18).

In David:

I, when they were sick, made sackcloth my vesture, I afflicted my soul with hunger (Psalms 35:13).

When I wept in the fast of my soul it became to me a reproach; when I made sackcloth my garment I became a byword to them (Psalms 69:10, 11).

In Job:

I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have put my horn in the dust; my face has been soiled by weeping (Job 16:15, 16).

In Isaiah:

I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering (Isaiah 50:3).

And in David:

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing, thou hast loosed my sackcloth and hast girded me with joy (Psalms 30:11).

In these passages, too, "sackcloth" signifies mourning; and "to gird sackcloth over the body instead of the vesture" signifies mourning because of the destruction of the truth of the church; and "to gird sackcloth upon the loins and upon the flesh" signifies mourning because of the destruction of the good of the church; for "the vesture" signifies the truth of the church, and "loins and flesh" signify the good of the church.

[19] That "girding with sackcloth" was merely representative and thus significative of mourning and repentance, but was not in itself mourning and repentance, is evident in Isaiah:

Is such the fast that I shall choose, the day for a man to afflict his soul, to bow down his head as a rush, and to lie down in sackcloth and ashes; wilt thou call this a fast, and the day of Jehovah's good pleasure? Is not this the fast that I choose, to loose the bonds of wickedness, to break thy bread to the hungry, and to bring the afflicted exiles to the home, and when thou seest the naked that thou cover him? (Isaiah 58:5-7)

And in Joel:

Turn ye back unto me with your whole heart, and in fasting and in weeping and in lamentation, and rend your heart and not your garments (Joel 2:12, 13).

2921. 'My lord, you are a prince of God in the midst of us' means the Lord as regards Divine good and truth with them. This is clear from the meaning of 'a lord' and of 'a prince of God', and from the meaning of 'in the midst of us'. The fact that the expression 'lord' is used when good is the subject is clear from the Old Testament Word, for there Jehovah is sometimes called Jehovah, sometimes God, sometimes Lord, sometimes Jehovah God, sometimes Lord Jehovih, sometimes Jehovah Zebaoth, and always for a hidden reason which cannot be known except from the internal sense. In general when the celestial things of love, that is, when good, are dealt with, the name Jehovah is used, but when the spiritual things of faith are dealt with, the name God is used. And when both together are dealt with, the names Jehovah God are used. When however the Divine power of good, that is, when omnipotence is the subject, Jehovah Zebaoth (or Jehovah of Hosts), and also the Lord, are used; so that the names Jehovah Zebaoth and the name the Lord have the same sense and meaning. From this also, that is to say, from the power of good, men and angels are called 'lords', and in the contrary sense those are called servants or slaves who have no power at all or else have a power received from their lords. From these considerations it becomes clear that here 'my lord' in the internal sense means the Lord as regards good, which in what follows below will be illustrated from the Word. 'A prince of God' however means the Lord as regards the power of truth, that is, as regards truth, as becomes clear from the meaning of 'a prince' or 'princes' as first and foremost truths, dealt with in 1482, 2089, and from the fact that the phrase 'a prince of God' is used, for the name God is used when truth is dealt with but the name Jehovah when good is dealt with, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822. As regards 'in the midst of us' meaning among them or present with them, this is clear without explanation.

[2] That in the Old Testament Word the names Jehovah Zebaoth and the name Lord have the same sense and meaning is clear in Isaiah,

The zeal of Jehovah Zebaoth will do this; the Lord has sent a word into Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel. Isaiah 9:7-8.

Elsewhere in the same prophet,

A mighty king will have dominion over them, said the Lord, Jehovah Zebaoth. Isaiah 19:4.

In Malachi,

Behold, suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says Jehovah Zebaoth. Malachi 3:1.

More plainly, in Isaiah,

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. Above Him stood the seraphim; each had six wings. One called to another, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah Zebaoth. Woe is me! For I am cut off; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah Zebaoth. And I heard the voice of the Lord. Isaiah 6:1-3, 5, 8.

From these places it is evident that Jehovah Zebaoth and the Lord have the same meaning.

[3] But 'the Lord Jehovih' is used more particularly when the help of omnipotence is sought and prayed for, as in Isaiah,

Say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord Jehovih will come with might, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will pasture His flock like a shepherd. Isaiah 40:9-11.

For further examples of this use of 'the Lord Jehovih', see Isaiah 25:8; 40:10; 48:16; 50:4-5, 7, 9; 61:1; Jeremiah 2:22; Ezekiel 8:1; 11:13, 17, 21; 12:10, 19, 28; 13:8, 13, 16, 18, 20; 14:4, 6, 11, 18, 20-21; Micah 1:2; Psalms 71:5, 16; and many other places.

[4] What is more, in the Old Testament Word 'the Lord' entails the same as 'Jehovah', that is to say, 'the Lord' is used when good is dealt with, and therefore also the Lord is distinguished from God in the same way as Jehovah is from God; as in Moses,

Jehovah your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords. Deuteronomy 10:17.

In David,

Confess the God of gods, for His mercy is for ever; confess the Lord of lords, for His mercy is for ever. Psalms 136:1-3.

[5] But nowhere in the New Testament Word, neither in the Gospels nor in the Book of Revelation, is Jehovah used. Instead of Jehovah the name the Lord occurs - for hidden reasons to be dealt with below. The fact that in the New Testament Word the Lord is used instead of Jehovah is quite clear in Mark,

Jesus said, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Therefore you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your thought, and with all your strength. Mark 12:29-30.

The same is expressed in Moses as follows,

Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah; and you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

Here it is evident that the name 'the Lord' is used instead of Jehovah. Likewise in John,

I looked, and behold, a throne had been set in heaven, with one seated upon the throne. Around the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind. Each had for himself six wings round about him, and was full of eyes within. They were saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God omnipotent. Revelation 4:2, 6, 8.

This is described in Isaiah as follows,

I saw the Lord seated upon a throne, high and lifted up. Above Him stood the seraphim; each had six wings. One called to another, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah Zebaoth. Isaiah 6:1-3, 5, 8.

In this case 'the Lord' is used instead of 'Jehovah', that is, 'the Lord God omnipotent' instead of 'Jehovah Zebaoth'. The fact that the four living creatures are the seraphim or cherubs is evident in Ezekiel 1:5, 13-15, 19 and following verses; 10:15. That in the New Testament 'the Lord' is Jehovah is also clear from many other places, as in Luke,

An angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. Luke 1:11.

'An angel of the Lord' is used instead of 'an angel of Jehovah'. In the same chapter the angel told Zechariah regarding his son,

He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. Luke 1:16.

'To the Lord their God' is used instead of 'to Jehovah their God'. Also in the same chapter, the angel told Mary regarding Jesus,

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of David. Luke 1:32.

'The Lord God' is used instead of 'Jehovah God'. Still in the same chapter,

Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:46-47.

Here also 'the Lord' is used instead of 'Jehovah'. And again in the same chapter, Zechariah prophesied, saying,

Blessed is the Lord God of Israel. Luke 1:68.

'The Lord God' is used instead of 'Jehovah God'. In the same gospel,

An angel of the Lord stood before the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. Luke 2:9.

'An angel of the Lord' and 'the glory of the Lord' are used instead of 'an angel of Jehovah' and 'the glory of Jehovah'. In Matthew,

Blessed is He coming in the name of the Lord. Matthew 21:9; 23:39; Luke 13:35; John 12:13.

'In the name of the Lord' is used instead of 'in the name of Jehovah'. There are many other places besides all these, such as Luke 1:28; 2:15, 22-24, 29, 38-39; 5:17; Mark 12:10-11.

[6] Among the hidden reasons why people called Jehovah the Lord were the following: If when the Lord was in the world they had been told that He was the Jehovah mentioned so many times in the Old Testament, see 1736, they would not have accepted it because they would not have believed it. And there is the further reason that as regards the Human the Lord did not become Jehovah until He had in every respect united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, and the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, see 1725, 1729, 1733, 1745, 1815, 2156, 2751. These became fully united after the final temptation, which was that of the Cross; and it was for this reason that after the Resurrection the disciples always called Him Lord, John 20:2, 13, 15, 18, 20, 25; 21:7, 12, 15-17, 20; Mark 16:19-20; and Thomas said,

My Lord and my God. John 20:28.

And as the Lord was the Jehovah mentioned so many times in the Old Testament, therefore He also told the disciples,

You call Me Master and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If therefore I your Lord and Master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers' feet. John 13:13-14, 16.

These words mean that He was Jehovah God, for in this instance He is called 'Lord' as regards good, but 'Master' as regards truth. That the Lord was Jehovah is also meant by the angel's words to the shepherds,

To you is born this day a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11.

'Christ' is used instead of 'Messiah', 'Anointed One', and 'King', 'the Lord, instead of 'Jehovah' - 'Christ' having regard to truth, 'the Lord' to good. Anyone who does not examine the Word carefully cannot know this, for he believes that our Saviour was called Lord because this was an everyday expression that was used to offer respect to Him, as to others, when in reality He was so called by virtue of His being Jehovah.