Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 489From this it is clear what is signified by the words in the followingverse of this chapter: “I counsel thee to buy of Me white garments,that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakednessbe not manifest.” Also in the following passages of this book, ofRevelation:Blessed is he that is wakeful and keepeth his garments, lest he walknaked, and his shame be seen (16:15).[12] Moreover, “the naked” in the Word mean those also whoare not in truths and thence not in good, being ignorant of truthsand yet longing for them. This is the case with those within thechurch when those who teach are in falsities, and with thoseoutside of the church who do not have the Word and consequentlydo not know truths and thence know nothing about the Lord. Suchare meant in the following passages. In Isaiah:Is not this the fast that I choose, To break bread to the hungry,and when thou seest the naked that thou cover him? (58:6, 7).In Ezekiel:He giveth his bread to the hungry, and covereth the naked with agarment (18:7);and in Matthew:I was naked, and ye clothed Me not (25:43).“To cover with a garment,” and “to clothe,” signify to instruct intruths. (That “garments” are truths, see above, n. 195c. That“naked” signifies also the good of innocence, see Arcana Coelestia,n. 165, 8375, 9960; and in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 179,180, 280.)241. Verse 18. I counsel thee, signifies the means of reformationof those who are in the doctrine of faith alone. This is evident fromwhat now follows, for the reformation of those who are in that