Arcana Coelestia # 4677
4677. 'And he made him a tunic of various colours' means the resulting appearances of truth by which the spiritual of the natural is recognized and distinguished. This is clear from the meaning of 'a tunic' as the truth of the natural, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'various colours' as appearances of truth by which the spiritual of the natural is recognized and distinguished. No one can know that these things are meant by 'various colours' unless he knows that colours may be seen in the next life no less than in the world - colours which are far more beautiful and various - and unless he knows the origins of those colours. Colours seen in the next life are produced by the variegation of light there and are so to speak modifications of intelligence and wisdom, for the light which is seen there is a manifestation of Divine Truth received from the Lord, that is, it is the Divine Spiritual from Him, or what amounts to the same, is Divine Intelligence and Wisdom. These two are seen as light before the eyes of angels and spirits. From this one may see what is meant by the colours being products of that light, namely different kinds and so appearances of truth that are due to varying affections for good and truth. Regarding colours in the next life, see 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530.
[2] It has been stated already in 3301 that 'a tunic' means the truth of the natural, but as this meaning was not substantiated there from other places in the Word, let these be mentioned here. Because kings in the Jewish Church represented the Lord as regards the Divine Spiritual or Divine Truth, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, their daughters therefore wore tunics of various colours, for 'daughters' meant affections for good and truth, and so meant Churches, 2362, 3963. The following is said of them in the second Book of Samuel,
On Tamar, David's daughter, there was a tunic of various colours, for virgin daughters of the king wore such clothes. 2 Samuel 13:18.
[3] And because high priests represented the Lord as regards the Divine
Celestial or Divine Good, Aaron therefore wore vestments which represented Divine Truth that was derived from the Lord's Divine Good; for Divine Good exists within the Lord, whereas Divine Truth proceeds from Him. This was what those vestments represented. Something similar was represented when the Lord was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, in that Divine Good was seen as the sun, and Divine Truth was manifested by means of His garments which had the appearance of light, Matthew 17:2.
[4] Regarding the vestments worn by Aaron and his sons, the following is said in Moses,
You shall make for Aaron a tunic of fine linen, and a turban of fine linen; and you shall make a girdle, the work of an embroiderer. And you shall make tunics for Aaron's sons, and you shall make girdles for them, and you shall make head-coverings for them, for glory and adornment. Exodus 28:39-40.
Each article of clothing here meant something connected with Divine Truth derived from the Lord's Divine Good, 'a tunic of fine linen' meaning specifically the Divine Spiritual. The same applies elsewhere in the same author,
You shall take the vestments, and put the tunic on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and you shall clothe him with the girdle of the ephod. Then you shall cause his sons to come near, and you shall put them in tunics. Exodus 29:5, 8; 40:14.
What each article of clothing means here will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated when those verses come up for consideration. 'Garments' in general are truths, see 297, 1073, 2576, 4545.
[5] Prophets too wore tunics, though theirs were made of hair. This was because prophets represented the Lord as regards truths of doctrine, and since truths belong to the natural or external man, their tunics were made of hair - 'hair' meaning the natural, see 3301.
[6] The fact that 'a tunic' means Divine Truth received from the Lord is evident further still from those places where a tunic is mentioned in the New Testament, as in John,
The soldiers took His garments and made four parts, a part for each soldier, and His tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. Therefore they said to one another, Let us not divide it - so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saying They divided My garments for themselves, and for My tunic they cast lots. John 19:23-24.
Anyone reading this description supposes that it does not hold anything deeper within it than the facts that the garments were divided among the soldiers and that lots were cast for the tunic. But each detail described here represented and meant spiritually something Divine - that is to say, those two details about the garments being divided into four and about the tunic not being divided but having lots cast for it, and above all the detail about the tunic being without seam and woven from the top throughout. 'The tunic' meant the Lord's Divine Truth, which being singular - derived from Good - was represented by the tunic's being without seam and woven from the top throughout.
[7] Much the same was meant by Aaron's tunic which, as is evident in Moses, was woven or the work of a weaver,
They made tunics of fine linen, the work of a weaver, for Aaron and his sons Exodus 39:27.
Also represented by the tunic without seam was the fact that the Lord did not allow Divine Truth to be torn apart, as was done by the Jews to the lower truths of the Church.
[8] Because Divine Truth is singular - that is to say, it is derived solely from Divine Good - the twelve disciples were commanded, when they were being sent out to preach the gospel of the kingdom, not to have two tunics. This is recorded in Luke as follows,
Jesus sent the twelve disciples to preach the kingdom of God. And He said to them, Take nothing for the way, neither staves, nor bag, nor bread, nor silver, nor have two tunics each. Luke 9:2-3.
In Mark,
He charged them to take nothing for the way except a staff; not a bag, nor bread, nor bronze in the belt, but to wear sandals; and do not put on two tunics. Mark 6:8-9.
And in Matthew,
Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor bronze in your belts, nor bag for the way, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staves. Matthew 10:9-10.
[9] All the individual instructions given in these places are representative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom which the disciples were sent to preach. The reason they were not to take gold, silver, bronze, bag, or bread with them was that those things meant different kinds of good and truth received from the Lord alone. 'Gold' means good, 113, 1551, 1552, while 'silver' means truth derived from that good, 1551, 2954; 'bronze' means natural good, 425, 1551, and 'bread' the good of love, which is heavenly good, 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 4211, 4217. 'Tunic' however and 'sandal' meant the truths with which they were to be endued, and 'staff the power of truth derived from good. For 'staff' means that power, see 4013, 4015; 'sandal' the lowest natural, 1748, here its truth; and 'tunic' interior natural truth. Now because these things had to be not twofold but singular, they were forbidden to have two staves, two pairs of sandals, or two tunics. These are the arcana contained in what the Lord commanded, but no one can possibly know about them except from the internal sense.
[10] All the detailed instructions spoken by the Lord were representative of Divine things, and consequently of the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom. They were accordingly suited to the mental grasp of men and at the same time to the understanding of spirits and angels. Therefore the things spoken by the Lord pervaded the whole of heaven and continue to do so. From this it is also evident how valuable and important it is to know the internal sense of the Word. Without it anyone can use the Word to support whatever dogma he likes; and because this is seen to be so by those who are subject to evil, they therefore deride the Word and think it is anything but Divine.
Luke 9
1
He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
2
He sent them forth to preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
3
He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey--neither staffs, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money; neither have two coats apiece.
4
Into whatever house you enter, stay there, and depart from there.
5
As many as don't receive you, when you depart from that city, shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them."
6
They departed, and went throughout the villages, preaching the Good News, and healing everywhere.
7
Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,
8
and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.
9
Herod said, "John I beheaded, but who is this, about whom I hear such things?" He sought to see him.
10
The apostles, when they had returned, told him what things they had done. He took them, and withdrew apart to a deserted place of a city called Bethsaida.
11
But the multitudes, perceiving it, followed him. He welcomed them, and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God, and he cured those who needed healing.
12
The day began to wear away; and the twelve came, and said to him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and farms, and lodge, and get food, for we are here in a deserted place."
13
But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we should go and buy food for all these people."
14
For they were about five thousand men. He said to his disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each."
15
They did so, and made them all sit down.
16
He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to the sky, he blessed them, and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.
17
They ate, and were all filled. They gathered up twelve baskets of broken pieces that were left over.
18
It happened, as he was praying alone, that the disciples were with him, and he asked them, "Who do the multitudes say that I am?"
19
They answered, "'John the Baptizer,' but others say, 'Elijah,' and others, that one of the old prophets is risen again."
20
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God."
21
But he warned them, and commanded them to tell this to no one,
22
saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up."
23
He said to all, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
24
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same will save it.
25
For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self?
26
For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.
27
But I tell you the truth: There are some of those who stand here, who will in no way taste of death, until they see the Kingdom of God."
28
It happened about eight days after these sayings, that he took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up onto the mountain to pray.
29
As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling.
30
Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah,
31
who appeared in glory, and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32
Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him.
33
It happened, as they were parting from him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let's make three tents: one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah," not knowing what he said.
34
While he said these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud.
35
A voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!"
36
When the voice came, Jesus was found alone. They were silent, and told no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.
37
It happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met him.
38
Behold, a man from the crowd called out, saying, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
39
Behold, a spirit takes him, he suddenly cries out, and it convulses him so that he foams, and it hardly departs from him, bruising him severely.
40
I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they couldn't."
41
Jesus answered, "Faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here."
42
While he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him violently. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
43
They were all astonished at the majesty of God. But while all were marveling at all the things which Jesus did, he said to his disciples,
44
"Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man will be delivered up into the hands of men."
45
But they didn't understand this saying. It was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
46
There arose an argument among them about which of them was the greatest.
47
Jesus, perceiving the reasoning of their hearts, took a little child, and set him by his side,
48
and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For whoever is least among you all, this one will be great."
49
John answered, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he doesn't follow with us."
50
Jesus said to him, "Don't forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us."
51
It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem,
52
and sent messengers before his face. They went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, so as to prepare for him.
53
They didn't receive him, because he was traveling with his face set towards Jerusalem.
54
When his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from the sky, and destroy them, just as Elijah did?"
55
But he turned and rebuked them, "You don't know of what kind of spirit you are.
56
For the Son of Man didn't come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." They went to another village.
57
As they went on the way, a certain man said to him, "I want to follow you wherever you go, Lord."
58
Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59
He said to another, "Follow me!" But he said, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father."
60
But Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and announce the Kingdom of God."
61
Another also said, "I want to follow you, Lord, but first allow me to say good-bye to those who are at my house."
62
But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God."
