The Bible

 

Genesis 1

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1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first Day.

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #166

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166. "'Who have not defiled their garments.'" This symbolically means, who possess truths, and have not soiled their worship by evil practices and the falsities attendant on these.

Garments in the Word symbolize truths that clothe good, and in an opposite sense, falsities that clothe evil. For a person embodies either his goodness or his evilness. Truths or falsities are therefore his garments.

Angels and spirits all appear dressed in clothing that reflects the truths of their goodness or the falsities of their evilness - on which subject, see the book Heaven and Hell, published in London, nos. 177-182. It is apparent from this that not defiling their garments symbolizes their possessing truths and not soiling their worship by evil practices and the falsities attendant on these.

[2] It is apparent from the following passages that garments in the Word symbolize truths, and in an opposite sense, falsities:

Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem... (Isaiah 52:1)

(Jerusalem), I clothed you in embroidered cloth, gave you sandals of badger skin, clothed you with fine linen..., and adorned you with ornaments... You were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth..., (so that) you became exceedingly beautiful... But you took some of your garments and made for yourself multicolored high places, so as to play the harlot on them... You took your embroidered garments... and made for yourself male images with which you played the harlot. 1 (Ezekiel 16:10-18)

The Jewish Church is described here, as having been given truths, because they had the Word, but that they falsified them. To play the harlot means to falsify (no. 134).

[3] The king's daughter is all glorious within, (and) her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the King in embroidered garments. (Psalms 45:13-14)

The king's daughter is the church in relation to its affection for truth.

O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet elegantly, and put ornamentation of gold on your apparel. (2 Samuel 1:24)

This is said of Saul because as a king he symbolized Divine truth (no. 20).

...I will visit judgment on the princes and the king's children, and on all clothed with foreign apparel. (Zephaniah 1:8)

(Your enemies) shall also strip you of your garments, and take away your adornments. (Ezekiel 23:26)

Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing (thus) before the Angel, (who said) "Take away the filthy garments from him (and clothe him with other garments). (Zechariah 3:3-5)

...the king came in and saw the guests, and he saw a man... who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?" (Matthew 22:11-13)

A wedding garment is Divine truth from the Word.

[4] Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing... (Matthew 7:15)

No one puts a piece of cloth from a new garment on an old garment; otherwise the new one tears (the old), and the piece from the new one does not match the old. (Luke 5:36-37)

Because a garment symbolizes truth, therefore the Lord compares the truths of the previous church, which were external and representative of spiritual ones, to a piece of cloth belonging to an old garment, while comparing the truths of the new church, which were internal and spiritual, to a piece of cloth from a new garment.

...on the thrones... twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments. (Revelation 4:4)

(Those who stood) before the throne... in the presence of the Lamb (were) clothed with white robes..., and they washed their robes and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:9, 13-14)

...white robes were given to each (of those who were under the altar). (Revelation 6:11)

...the armies (of Him who sat on the white horse) followed Him..., clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)

[5] Because angels symbolize Divine truths, therefore angels seen in the Lord's sepulchre appeared in white and shining garments (Matthew 28:3, Luke 24:4).

Because the Lord is Divine good and Divine truth, and truths are meant by garments, therefore when He was transfigured "His face shone like the sun, and His garments became [as white] as the light" (Matthew 17:2), or "blazing white (Luke 9:29), or "shining white, like snow, such that no launderer on earth can whiten them" (Mark 9:3).

Of the Ancient of Days, which also is the Lord, it is said that "His garment was as white as snow" (Daniel 7:9).

Moreover we find the following, too, said of the Lord:

He has anointed... all your garments with myrrh, aloes and cassia. (Psalms 45:7-8)

...He washed his clothing in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes. (Genesis 49:11)

Who is this who comes from Edom, having sprinkled his garments from Bozrah? This One honorable in His apparel...? ...Why are You red in Your apparel? Your garments as though of one who treads in the winepress...? Their victory is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have polluted all My vesture. (Isaiah 63:1-3)

This also is said of the Lord. His garments there are the Word's truths.

...He who sat on (the white horse)...was clothed with a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:11, 13)

[6] From the symbolic meaning of garments it can be seen why the Lord's disciples put their garments upon the donkey and its colt when the Lord was ready to enter Jerusalem, and why the people spread their garments on the road (Matthew 21:7-9, Mark 11:7-8), thus what is symbolically meant by this verse in the Psalms,

They divided My garments..., and over My vesture they cast lots. (Psalms 22:18)

[7] The symbolism of garments makes it apparent moreover why the people rent their garments whenever someone spoke against the Divine truth of the Word (Isaiah 37:1 and elsewhere). Also why they washed their garments in order to purify themselves (Exodus 19:14, Leviticus 11:25, 40; 14:8-9).

Someone who knows what garments symbolize in general and in particular can know what the vestments of Aaron and his sons symbolized - the ephod, the robe, the lace tunic, the girdle, the breeches, and the turban.

Since light symbolizes Divine truth, and a garment likewise, therefore we find it said in the Psalms that Jehovah covers Himself "with light as a with garment" (Psalms 104:2).

Footnotes:

1. The last two clauses are reversed from the order in which they appear in the original Hebrew.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Matthew 22:13

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13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.