5248. And changed his garments. That this signifies as to what is of the interior natural, by putting on what is suitable, is evident from the signification of “changing,” as being to remove and reject; and from the signification of “garments,” as being what is of the interior natural (of which presently); hence it follows that what was suitable (signified by the new “garments”) was put on. “Garments” are often mentioned in the Word, and thereby are meant things beneath or without, and that cover things above or within; and therefore by “garments” are signified man’s external, consequently his natural, because this covers his internal and spiritual. Specifically by “garments” are signified truths that are of faith, because these cover the goods that are of charity. This signification has its origin from the garments in which spirits and angels appear clothed. Spirits appear in garments devoid of brightness, but angels in garments that are bright and are as it were made of brightness, for the very brightness around them appears as a garment, as appeared the raiment of the Lord when He was transfigured, which was “as the light” (Matthew 17:2), and was “white and flashing” (Luke 9:29). From their garments also the quality of spirits and angels can be known in respect to the truths of faith, because these are represented by garments, but truths of faith such as they are in the natural; for such as they are in the rational appears from the face and its beauty. The brightness of their garments comes from the good of love and of charity, which by shining through causes the brightness. From all this it is evident what is represented in the spiritual world by the garments, and consequently what is meant by “garments” in the spiritual sense. But the garments that Joseph changed, that is, put off, were the garments of the pit or prison, and by these are signified things fallacious and false, which in a state of temptations are excited by evil genii and spirits; and therefore by his “changing his garments” is signified rejection and change in respect to what is of the interior natural, and the garments he put on denoted such things as would be suitable, and therefore the putting on of things suitable is signified. See what has before been said and shown concerning garments: that what is celestial is not clothed, but what is spiritual and natural (n. 297); that “garments” denote truths relatively lower (n. 1073, 2576); that changing the garments was a representative of holy truths being put on, whence also came the changes of garments (n. 4545); that rending the garments was representative of mourning over truth lost and destroyed (see n. 4763 and what is signified by him that came in, not having on a wedding garment (n. 2132).

83. And I became dead, signifies that He was rejected. This is evident from this, that the Lord is said to be "dead" when faith in Him and love towards Him are no more; for with those who are in love towards Him and faith in Him the Lord lives, but with those who are not in love and in faith toward Him He does not live. With such He is said to be "dead" because He is rejected. This is what is here meant in the internal sense by the words "I became dead;" but in the sense of the letter it is meant that He was crucified. The Lord's being crucified has a like signification in the internal sense, namely, that He was rejected and treated thus by the Jews; for the Lord, when He was in the world, was Divine truth itself, and as Divine truth was altogether rejected by the Jews, therefore the Lord, who was Divine truth, suffered Himself to be crucified. Such things are signified by all that is related in the Evangelists concerning the Lord's passion; the particulars, even to every minutest particular, involve this. Whenever, therefore, the Lord speaks of His passion He calls Himself the Son of man, that is, Divine truth (See above, n. 63). That Divine truth was altogether rejected by the Jews is well known; for they accepted nothing that the Lord said, and not even that He was the Son of God. From this it may be known how those things that the Lord said to the disciples about the Jews' rejection of Him are to be understood. Thus in Luke:

The Son of man must suffer many things, and be repudiated by the elders and chief priests and scribes (Luke 9:22).

In the same:

The Son of man must suffer many things, and be repudiated by this generation (Luke 17:25).

In Mark:

It is written of the Son of man, that He should suffer many things and be set at naught (Mark 9:12).

In Luke:

Jesus took unto Him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are foretold through the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and shamefully entreated, and spit upon; and after they have scourged Him, they shall put Him to death; but the third day He shall rise again (Luke 18:31-33).

The way in which the Jews treated Divine truth, which was from the Word, is signified by these particulars. "Jerusalem" here is the Jewish Church; "to be delivered unto the Gentiles, to be mocked, to be shamefully entreated, to be spit upon, to be scourged, to be put to death," are the wicked ways in which the Jews treated Divine truth; and as the Lord was Divine truth itself, because He was the Word (John 1:14), and as it was foretold in the prophets that Divine truth would be so dealt with in the end of the church, therefore it is said, "that all things may be accomplished that have been foretold through the prophets concerning the Son of man." So elsewhere in the same Gospel:

These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me (Luke 24:44).

That all things were accomplished when Jesus was crucified He Himself said, when He was upon the cross:

Jesus, knowing that all things were accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst (John 19:28).

He then said, "I thirst," because He longed for a new church that would acknowledge Him. (That to "thirst," in the spiritual sense, signifies to long for, and that it is predicated of the truths of the church, see Arcana Coelestia 4958, 4976, 8568.) These are also the things that were predicted by Daniel concerning vastation and desolation:

After sixty and two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself; then the people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, so that its end shall be with a flood. At last upon the bird of abominations shall be desolation, and even to the consummation and decision it shall drop upon the devastation (Daniel 9:26-27).

"Desolation" and "vastation" signify repudiation and rejection of Divine truth with those that are of the church (See Arcana Coelestia 5360, 5376). That Divine truth, which is the Word, was so repudiated by the Jews, is also meant by these words in Matthew:

I say unto you that Elias is come already, and they have not acknowledged him, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Even so shall the Son of man suffer of them (Matthew 17:12).

By "Elias" the Word is signified (See Arcana Coelestia, preface to chapter 18 of Genesis, and in n. 2762, 5247), and also by "John the Baptist;" therefore he was called "Elias" (n. 7643, 9372). From this it can be seen what is signified by "Elias has come," and that "they have done to him whatsoever they listed," and that "the Son of man is to suffer of them." How the Jews explained and thus rejected the Word is clear from many passages in the Gospels, where the Lord makes this manifest. From this it can now be seen that "I became dead," signifies that He was rejected. Moreover, that the Lord, by the passion of the cross, also glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine, see New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, n. 294-295, 302, 305.

2534. 'For he is a prophet' means that thus it was to be taught. This is clear from the meaning of 'a prophet'. One reads the word 'prophet' many times in the Word, and in the sense of the letter it means those to whom revelation is given, and also - abstractedly from persons - revelation itself. But in the internal sense that word means one who teaches, and also - abstractedly - doctrine itself. And because, as has been stated, the Lord is doctrine itself, or the Word which teaches, He is called 'a Prophet', as also in Moses,

Jehovah your God will raise up a Prophet like me from the midst of you, from your brothers; Him shall you obey. Deuteronomy 18:15, 18.

The words 'like me' are used because the Lord was represented by Moses, as He also was by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and many more. And because people awaited Him it is therefore said in John,

When the people saw the sign which Jesus had done, they said, This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world. John 6:14.

[2] Since the Lord in the highest sense is 'the Prophet' and 'the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy', Revelation 19:10, 'a prophet' therefore means in the internal sense of the Word a person who teaches, and also - abstractedly - doctrine, as becomes quite clear from the following places: In Luke,

You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High. Luke 1:76.

Zechariah said this in reference to his son, John the Baptist, who was not the prophet but one preparing the way by teaching and preaching the good news about the Lord's Coming, as he himself says,

They asked him, What are you? Are you Elijah? But he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, No. Therefore they said to him. Who are you? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. John 1:21-23.

[3] In Matthew,

Many will say on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Matthew 7:22.

Here it is evident that 'prophesying' means teaching. In John,

You must again prophesy over many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. Revelation 10:11.

'Prophesying' stands for teaching. What 'peoples', 'nations', 'tongues', and 'kings' mean has been stated and shown in various places. In the same book,

The nations will trample the holy city for forty-two months, but I will grant My two witnesses to prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. Revelation 11:2-3.

Here also 'prophesying' stands for teaching. In Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. Exodus 7:1.

Here 'prophet' stands for one teaching or saying what Moses would have to say. In Joel,

I will pour out My spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Joel 2:28.

'They will prophesy' stands for they will teach.

[4] In Isaiah,

Jehovah has poured out over you a spirit of sleep, and has closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers, He has covered; and the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a sealed book which men give to one who is able to read, saying, Read this, now; and he will say, I cannot, for it is sealed. Isaiah 29:10-11.

Here 'the prophets' is used to mean those who teach truth, and 'the seers' those who see truth. Their heads are said to be 'covered' when they know no truth at all and see none at all. Because in ancient times those who taught were called prophets, they were also called 'seers', for 'seeing' meant understanding, 2150, 2325. The fact that they were called 'seers', see 1 Samuel 9:9; 2 Samuel 24:11. They were also called 'men (vir) of God' because of the meaning 'man' carried, dealt with in 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517. The fact that they were called 'men of God', see 2 Kings 1:9-16; 4:7, 9, 16, 21-22, 25, 27, 40, 42; 5:8, 14, 20; 13:19; 23:16-17.

[5] That 'prophets' means in the internal sense those who teach is clear in the whole of Jeremiah 23 and the whole of Ezekiel 13, where prophets are referred to specifically, and also in many other places where they are mentioned. This also explains why 'pseudoprophets' means those who teach falsities, as in Matthew,

At the close of the age many pseudoprophets will arise and lead many astray. False Christs and false prophets ¹ will arise and will show great signs, and will lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Matthew 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22.

No others are meant here by 'pseudoprophets' and 'false prophets', nor likewise by the pseudoprophet in Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10.

[6] How much the internal sense of the Word is obscured by ideas that have been conceived from the representatives of the Jewish Church becomes clear from the fact that every time a prophet is mentioned in the Word the idea of prophets like those who lived in those times immediately springs to mind, an idea which impedes greatly any discernment of what is meant by them. But the wiser anyone is, the more easily is an idea conceived from such representatives banished. For example, when the temple is mentioned, people who are more wise in their thinking do not envisage the temple in Jerusalem but the temple of the Lord; when Mount Zion, or simply Zion, is mentioned, they do not envisage a location in Jerusalem but the Lord's kingdom; and when Jerusalem is mentioned, they do not envisage the Jerusalem situated in the tribe of Benjamin and Judah but the holy and heavenly Jerusalem.

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