951. Because the seven angels that had the seven last plagues signify the manifestation of the evils and falsities that have devastated the church; and as this manifestation is made by means of the Divine truth in the Word, therefore those angels appeared clothed in linen pure and glistening white; for by this is signified genuine truth. All the angels also appear clothed according to their functions; for the garments in which they are clothed correspond to their ministries, and in general to their interiors. Angels who are wise from Divine truth appear in white garments of satin, lawn, or linen, because satin, lawn, and linen correspond to the truths in which they are. It is for this reason, also, that the garments in which Aaron and his sons ministered were linen; concerning this it is thus written in Moses:

"Thou shalt make for Aaron and his sons breeches of linen to cover the flesh of their nakedness, from the loins even to the thighs; they shall be upon them, when they enter into the tent of the assembly, and when they approach to the altar to minister in the holy place, lest they bear iniquity and die" (Exodus 28:42, 43).

And in another passage:

"Aaron, when he shall enter into the holy place, shall put on the linen coat of holiness; shoes of linen shall be upon his flesh; he shall gird himself with a linen belt; and shall put on a mitre of linen" (Leviticus 16:4).

Also:

That he should put on the same garments when he expiated the people (ver. 32).

Also:

When he took the ashes from the altar after the burnt-offering (Leviticus 6:10).

[2] Similarly the priests were to minister in the new temple, in Ezekiel:

When "the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, shall enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall put on linen garments; no woollen shall come upon them; when they shall minister in the gates of the inner court and inward, mitres of linen shall be upon their head, and breeches of linen upon their loins" (44:17, 18).

The reason why they put on linen garments when they ministered holy things was, that all holy administration is effected by means of Divine truth. For the priesthood, to which Aaron and his sons were appointed, represented the Lord as to Divine good; and this ministers all things by means of Divine truth. Divine truth also defends from falsities and evils that are from hell; therefore it is also said, "lest they bear iniquity and die," which signifies, that otherwise falsities from hell would destroy them. These garments were called garments of holiness, because holiness is said of Divine truth.

Because linen garments were the garments of the ministry, therefore the priests wore an ephod of linen when they ministered, as we read concerning Samuel (1 Sam. 2:18); concerning the priests whom Saul slew (1 Sam. 22:18); and also concerning David, when he went before the ark (2 Sam. 6:14).

[3] Also concerning the Lord Himself in John:

Jesus "rose up from supper and laid aside his garments, and took a linen cloth, and girded himself, and put water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the linen cloth with which he was girded" (13:4, 5).

The washing of the disciples' feet represented and thence signified purification from evils and falsities by means of Divine truth from the Lord. For all purification from evils and falsities is effected by means of Divine truth from the Lord; and this is signified by the linen cloth with which He girded Himself, and with which He wiped the disciples' feet.

[4] Besides these seven angels treated of in the Apocalypse, other angels also were seen in linen garments; as

The angel who set a mark on the foreheads of the men who sighed; and went in between the wheels of the cherubs, and took coals of fire and sprinkled upon the city (Ezekiel 9:3, 11; 10:2, 6, 7).

Also:

The angel who was seen by Daniel, clothed in linen, whose loins were girt with gold of Uphaz (Daniel 10:5; 12:6, 7).

They appeared clothed in linen, because girded for the ministry. The angel who measured the new temple, whose appearance was of brass,

Was seen to have a linen thread in his hand, and a measuring reed (Ezekiel 40:3).

By measuring the temple is there described the New Church as to its quality, which is signified by the number of the measure. And all the quality of the church is known by means of Divine truth; this was why a linen thread was in his hand.

[5] Because linen signifies truth, and a girdle everything pertaining to it, for it is that which embraces and includes all things; and since, with the sons of Israel, there was no longer any truth remaining,

Therefore the prophet Jeremiah was commanded to buy himself a girdle of linen, and hide it in the cleft of a rock at the Euphrates; and at the end of many days it was marred, and profitable for nothing (Jeremiah 13:1-7).

By the girdle of linen is signified all the truth of doctrine from the Word. What is signified by its being hid in the cleft of a rock at the Euphrates, and there marred, may be seen above (n. 569).

[6] By linen is signified the truth of the church also in Isaiah:

"A bruised reed will he not break and smoking linen will he not quench, and he will bring forth judgment unto truth" (42:3).

These words are spoken concerning the Lord. By the smoking linen which He will not quench is signified the small amount of truth from good with any one. The rest may be seen explained above (n. 627).

[7] By linen is also signified truth from the Word, properly the truth of the sense of its letter (Hos. 2:5, 9). It was also a statute with the sons of Israel,

"That they should not wear a garment mixed with woollen and linen together" (Deuteronomy 22:11).

The reason of this was, that woollen signifies good and linen truth, and because a man by his garments also has communication with the societies of heaven; and there are societies that are in good, and societies that are in truth. And a man must not have communication with different societies at the same time, for confusion would be the result. That this was the reason of that statute, no one has hitherto known; but it has been granted me to know this from the change of my garments. For on the laying aside of a linen garment, those in the spiritual world who were in truths have complained that they could not be present; and the same, on the garment being put on again, became present.

That there is such correspondence with the very garments of man has been hitherto unknown, but still it is evident from those passages that have been adduced above, namely, from the linen garments of Aaron and his sons; from the linen ephod which the priests and David had; from the linen in which the angels appeared clothed; and from the linen with which the Lord girded Himself and wiped the disciples' feet. So also from the rest of the garments of Aaron and his sons, which were all representative; and from the signification of garments in general, as denoting truths clothing good; concerning which see above (n. 64, 65, 195, 271, 395, 475, 476, 637).

Continuation concerning the First Precept:-

[8] It is not believed in the world that the love of ruling from mere delight in ruling, and the love of possessing goods from the mere delight of possession, and not from delight in uses, conceal in themselves every kind of evil; and also a contempt and rejection of everything pertaining to heaven and the church; and this because a man from the love of self and the love of the world is stimulated to do good to the church, to his country, to society, and to his neighbour, placing honour in acting well, and looking for reward. Hence it is that such love is called by many the fire of life, and the incitement to great things. But it must be observed, that so far as these two loves regard uses in the first place, and self in the second, so far they are good. But so far as they regard self in the first place, and uses in the second, so far they are evil. For then a man does everything for the sake of self, and consequently from self; and then, in everything that he does, himself and his proprium are present; and this is intrinsically nothing but evil. But to regard uses in the first place, and self in the second, is to do good for the sake of the church, one's country, society, and the neighbour. And the goods that a man does to these for their own sake are not from man, but the Lord. The difference between these two loves is like that between heaven and hell. A man does not know that there is such a difference, because from birth and nature he is in them, and because the delight in them continually flatters and favours him. Let him, however, know that the love of ruling from the delight in so doing, and not from delight in uses, is altogether diabolical, and may be called atheistical. For in proportion as a man is in that love, in the same proportion he does not, in his heart, believe in the existence of a God; and in the same proportion he derides, in his heart, everything pertaining to the church; indeed, he hates them; and from hatred persecutes all those who acknowledge God, especially those who acknowledge the Lord. The very delight of their life is to do evil, and do wicked and crimeful deeds of every kind. In a word, they are very devils. A man does not know this while he lives in the world, but he will know that it is so, when he comes into the spiritual world, as is the case immediately after death. Hell is full of such persons; where, instead of exercising dominion, they become slaves. They appear also there, when seen in the light of heaven, to be inverted, with the head downwards and the feet upwards, because they placed rule in the first place, and uses in the second. And that which is in the first place is the head, and that which is in the second constitutes the feet; and that which is the head is loved, but that which constitutes the feet is trodden under foot.

637. Clothed in sackcloth.- That this signifies in mourning because of the non-reception of Divine Good and Divine Truth, is evident from the signification of being clothed with sackcloth, as denoting mourning because of the vastation and desolation of Divine Good and Divine Truth, in this case, because they are not received. For the witnesses were seen clothed in sackcloth, and by the witnesses are signified the Divine Good, which is the source of all the good of love and of charity, and the Divine Truth, which is the source of all the truth of doctrine and of faith, and these appear in mourning when not received, but in joy when received.

[2] Similar expressions are used concerning the sun and the moon, which also signify the good of love and the truth of faith, as that

"The sun became black as a sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood" (Apoc. 6:12).

By this it is meant that all the good of love was separated, and all the truth of faith falsified, as may be seen above (n. 401). Not that the Sun in the angelic heaven, which is the Lord, ever becomes black, but that it appears to do so to those who do not receive any light from it.

[3] In ancient times, when the externals of the church consisted of pure correspondences, and thence representatives of spiritual things, mourning was represented by various significative actions; as sitting and lying on the ground, rolling themselves in the dust, putting ashes on the head, rending the garments, and putting on sackcloth. Rending the garments and putting on sackcloth signified mourning on account of the desolation of truth and good in the church, and on account of their non-reception. For garments in general signified the truths of the church, as may be seen above (n. 64, 65, 195, 271, 395, 475:1, 476), and therefore the rending of the garments signified grief on account of injury to the truths of the church, and because they were rent asunder, as it were, by falsities. The putting on of sackcloth signified mourning on account of the deprivation of good and truth, and the consequent vastation of the church;

[4] therefore when Hezekiah the king heard the words of Tartan, the captain of the king of Assyria,

"He rent his garments, 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 signifies there the perverted Rational, or the Rational which 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, involving such things. And because the desolation and vastation of the church was seen to be so imminent, therefore, in order to testify mourning and grief on account of it, they rent their garments and covered themselves with sackcloth.

[5] Similarly when Benhadad the king of Assyria besieged Samaria, and there came a great famine, "the king rent his garments, and as he passed by upon the wall, the people saw, that behold sackcloth was upon his flesh within" (2 Kings 6:30). The signification is the same here as above, namely, imminent desolation and devastation of the church, therefore the king rent his garments, and had sackcloth upon his flesh, these being representative signs of mourning and grief.

[6] Mourning, for similar reasons, is also signified by what is written in other places. As for example, Jacob, when he believed that Joseph was torn to pieces, rent his garments, put sackcloth upon his loins, and, mourned over his son many days (Genesis 37:34). Ahab, after he had taken away the vineyard of Naboth, by the advice of Jezebel his wife, and heard the severe words of the prophet concerning that matter, rent his garments, placed sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly (1 Kings 21:27). Again, the king of Nineveh, after he had heard the words of Jonah, rose up from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth, sat upon ashes, and proclaimed a fast, and that man and beast should be covered with sackcloth (Jonah 3:5, 6, 8). Also, Daniel set his face to the Lord God, to seek by supplication and prayer, in fasting, in sackcloth and ashes (Dan. 9:3). And after Abner was slain, David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, that they should rend their garments and cover themselves with sackcloth, and lament before Abner; and David himself walked behind the bier (2 Sam. 3:31). From these passages it is evident that in the Jewish and Israelitish church mourning was represented by the rending of the garments and the putting on of sackcloth; and for the reason that grief of mind and mourning of heart, being interior, were at that time represented by external things, which were significative on account of their correspondence with spiritual things.

[7] That the representation of mourning by sackcloth especially signified mourning on account of the desolation of truth and the vastation of good in the church, and also, in particular, repentance, and then mourning of heart on account of evils, is further evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

"The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth shall call in that day to weeping and to wailing and to baldness, and to the putting on of sackcloth" (22:12).

The subject treated of in that chapter is the vastation of the church as to Divine Truth, and mourning on account of it is described by baldness and the putting on of sackcloth.

[8] In Jeremiah:

"The lion is gone up out of the thicket, and the destroyer of the nations is on his way, he hath gone forth out of his place to reduce the land to wasteness; thy cities shall be destroyed, that there shall be no inhabitant, for this gird ye with sackcloth, wail, howl" (4:7, 8).

The lion out of the thicket signifies the falsity of evil destroying the truths of the church, and the destroyer of the nations signifies the evil of falsity destroying the good of the church; the land which they shall reduce to wasteness signifies the church, and by the cities which shall be destroyed are signified the truths of doctrine. By girding with sackcloth is signified mourning on account thereof, and therefore it is also added, wail and howl.

[9] In the same:

"O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and roll thee in ashes; make to thee the mourning of an only son, a wailing of bitterness, for the vastator will come suddenly upon us" (6:26).

By the daughter of my people is meant the church; by girding herself with sackcloth and rolling herself in ashes is signified mourning on account 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 vastator coming suddenly. That great mourning and grief on account of the destruction of the good and truth of the church is signified by girding with sackcloth and rolling in ashes, is evident, for it is added, "make to thee the mourning of an only son, a wailing of bitterness."

[10] Again:

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

These things are said concerning the sons of Ammon, who signify those who are in natural good and falsify the truths of the church. Those in the church who are of such a character are described by "the daughters of Rabbah." Gird ye with sackcloth, wail, wander amongst the fences, signifies mourning on account of the destruction of truth by falsifications, fences denoting truths falsified. Because their king is gone into exile, signifies that the truth of the church consequently perished, king denoting the truth of the church, and to go into exile signifying to be destroyed; that also the goods of the church, and thence all truths perished, is signified by the priests and the princes together, priests denoting the goods of the church, and princes truths thence.

[11] In Lamentations:

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

To sit upon the earth, to keep silence, to cast up dust upon the head, and to hang down the head to the earth, were all signs representative of mourning and grief on account of the vastation of the church by evils and falsities. The elders of the daughter of Zion signify the wise and intelligent in the church, and, in the abstract, wisdom and intelligence. The daughters of Zion and the virgins of Jerusalem signify those in the church who are in the affection for good and truth, and, in the abstract, those affections themselves.

[12] In Ezekiel:

The shipmasters "shall make themselves bald for thee, and shall gird themselves with sackcloth, and they shall weep over thee with bitterness of soul, with a bitter wailing" (Ezekiel 27:3 1).

These words refer to Tyre, which signifies the church as to the knowledges of truth and good, consequently also the knowledges of truth and good that pertain to the church. Here mourning is described because those knowledges are lost. The shipmasters signify all those who bring and communicate those knowledges. To make bald signifies mourning because every thing pertaining to intelligence is destroyed; to gird with sackcloth signifies mourning because the cognition of truth also is destroyed. Because mourning is that which is described, it is therefore added, "they shall weep over thee with bitterness of soul, with bitter wailing."

[13] In the Evangelists:

Wo to thee, Chorazin, wo to 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 on account of the non-reception of Divine Truth, and on account of the falsities and evils which oppose.

[14] In Joel:

"Howl as a virgin girded with sackcloth over the bridegroom of her youth; gird yourselves about and wail, ye priests, howl ye ministers of the altar; come, pass the night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God, because the meat-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God" (1:8, 13).

Here also to be girded with sackcloth, and to pass the night in sackcloth, signifies mourning because the good and truth of the church are destroyed, for the meat-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 the mourning for an only son, and its end as a bitter day" (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 "baldness, every beard shaven; in the streets thereof they have girded themselves with sackcloth; upon the roofs thereof, and in the streets thereof, he shall howl, going down into weeping" (15:2, 3).

In Jeremiah:

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

By Moab are signified those who are in natural good and adulterate the goods of the church. That they have no understanding of truth, nor knowledge of truth, is signified by baldness upon all the heads of Moab, and by every beard shaven, also by howling and mourning upon the roofs and in the streets. Ashes upon all hands signify things falsified; mourning on account of this is signified by girding on sackcloth, also by howling and going down into weeping.

[17] In Isaiah:

"It shall come to pass, instead of spices, shall be corruption, and instead of a girdle, a rent, and instead of braided work, baldness, and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth, burning instead of beauty; thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy strength in the war" (3:24, 25).

These things are said of the daughters of Zion, who signify the church as to the affections for celestial good, consequently by the daughters of Zion are signified the affections for good pertaining to the celestial church. The loss and dissipation of these through the pride of [man's] own intelligence is there described by the various things with which those daughters adorn themselves. Instead of spices shall be corruption, instead of a girdle, a rent, instead of braided work, baldness, instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth, and instead of beauty, burning, signifies the changing of their affections into those of a contrary and unbeautiful kind. By corruption is signified the perishing of what is vital. By a rent instead of a girdle is signified the dissipation of the perceptions of truth, instead of the union of them; by baldness instead of braided work is signified foolishness instead of knowledge; by burning instead of beauty is signified folly instead of intelligence, burning denoting the insanity that arises from pride in [one's] own intelligence, which is folly, while beauty denotes intelligence. Thy men shall fall by the sword and thy strength in the war signifies that the truths of the understanding would perish by means of falsities, until there would be no resistance against evils, the sword denoting falsity destroying the truth.

[18] Sackcloth signifies the same in the following passages; as in Ezekiel:

"All hands are let down, 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" (7:17, 18).

In David:

"I, when they were sick, made my garment sackcloth, I afflicted my soul with hunger" (Psalm 35:13).

Again:

"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" (Psalm 69:10, 11).

In Job:

"I sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and put tiny horn in the dust; my face was troubled through weeping" (16:15, 16).

In Isaiah:

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

And in David:

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

In these passages also sackcloth signifies mourning and to gird sackcloth upon the body instead of a garment signifies mourning because the truth of the church is destroyed; and to gird sackcloth upon the loins and upon the flesh signifies mourning because the good of the church is destroyed. For a garment signifies the truth of the church, and the loins and flesh signify the good of the church.

[19] That to gird on sackcloth was merely representative and thence significative of mourning and repentance, but was not itself either mourning or repentance, is evident in Isaiah:

"Is it such a fast as this that I shall choose, a 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 an acceptable day to Jehovah? 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 thy house, and when thou seest the naked that thou cover him?" (58:5-7).

In Joel:

"Turn ye unto me with your whole heart, and in fasting, and in weeping, and in wailing; and rend your heart, and not your garments" (2:12, 13).