CHAPTER 8

THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST TO SAINT JOHN ON THE ISLAND OF PATMOS, IN WHICH ALL THAT THE CHURCH OF CHRIST HAS EXPERIENCED FROM THE BEGINNING AND WILL EXPERIENCE TO ITS END IS REVEALED

PART 1

In the first volume on , as well as in this second volume on we have often referred to Sacred Revelation, as we will continue to do in the third volume. So that this mago-cabbalistic work may be better understood in its entirety with respect to its theosophic material, we will deal in this chapter exclusively and at length with Sacred Revelation. We will not go through each chapter of the text word for word, but rather go through it in a manner most appropriate to our purpose. In this way we can provide the reader with a key to our entire work. We presume that the reader is familiar with Church history and will have access to Gottfried Arnold's Kirchen- und Ketzer Historie (History of the Church and Its Heresies) or his Abbildung der ersten Christen (The Early Christians), or other such credible studies. Otherwise, much that we say here will be unintelligible to the reader. In order to be as concise as possible, we will make only limited citations so that our text doesn't itself become a Church history, which is not our intent. The text of Revelation presents some difficulties, however, as the same things are sometimes described differently in various passages, and there is also much repetition in the text. In addition, there are stories embedded in Sacred Revelation, which relate to other stories outside this text, as the observant reader will surely notice.

PART 2

No true theologian doubts that the Revelation of Jesus Christ proclaims everything that will happen to the true Church from the ascension of Christ after his most holy passion, to the coming of his reign (see Revelation 20), and further up to the Last Judgment, when all creatures will experience perfection and eternal rest, after which the concept of time will no longer exist, according to the words of the angel in Revelation 10, verse 6. We can only wonder at how so many illustrious men could be so wrong in their interpretations of Revelation. On the other hand, their erroneous ways are not surprising, when one considers the adamancy, prejudice and arrogance that prevent them from considering the text correctly. Especially egregious is the disparity of opinions among all the denominations on the issue of the thousand years mentioned in Revelation 20. And yet, those whom the Holy Spirit has enlightened on this matter are decried as arch-heretics, since their new ideas appear to go against the conventional religious formulas of their accusers. Considering this, it is not difficult to see why such good people have been so wrong, especially in determining specific times and durations. All the named times in Scriptural prophecy are a secret, before their fulfillment, and divine wisdom has kept the exact time to itself—and it will remain unknown until the appointed time—as was said to Daniel in the book of Daniel 12, verse 4, “But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will be at their wits' end, and punishment will be heavy.” And verse 9 states, “The words are kept secret and sealed until the time of the end.” And Christ the Lord notes in Matthew 24, verse 36, “About the day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven…” Mark 13, verse 32 adds as well, “…not even the Son….” Therefore, we should give particular attention to the words of 1 Peter 1, verse 20, “Predestined before the foundation of the world, he was made manifest in this last period of time for your sake.” So that we do not make the mistakes cited above, we will stay within the limits of the spirit of truth and not deviate from the text. First Corinthians 2, verses 10 and 11 states, “For the Spirit explores everything, even the depths of God's own nature…Only the Spirit of God knows what God is.” And verses 12 and 13 continue, “so that we may know all that God of his own grace has given us; and, because we are interpreting spiritual truths to those who have the Spirit, we speak of these gifts of God in words found for us not by our human wisdom, but by the Spirit.”

PART 3

Revelation 1, verse 3 says, “Happy is the man who reads, and happy those who listen to the words of this prophecy and heed what is written in it. For the hour of fulfillment is near.” In order to understand the time elements associated with Revelation we must first look at the different segments of the text, which are clearly shown by the story itself. Chapters 1 through 4 deal with the seven churches and other things associated with the number seven; chapters 5 through 7 speak about the book with seven seals and chapter 8 and 9 deal with the seven angels; chapter 10 treats the seven thunders, while chapters 15, 16, etc., refer again to seven angels, etc. In this segmentation of time through the number seven we learn of all that will happen to the Church of Jesus Christ until the end of time. From historical records we know that the seven churches, mentioned in chapters 2 and 3, in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea were in Asia and part of the recorded decline of that area. Through these seven churches, however, Saint John prefigures the seven periods of the one Church and what awaits the faithful until the end of time.

PART 4

The church in Ephesus is the first one discussed. This community is highly praised in chapter 2, verse 2 with the words “I know of your works.” It continues in verses 4 and 5, “But I have this against you: you have lost your early love.” This period also includes the opening of the first seal. Chapter 6, verse 2 says, “And there before my eyes was a white horse, and its rider held a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode forth, conquering and to conquer.” And through the teachings of the Gospels in fact many were conquered and gained faith. This period also witnesses the fulfillment of the “trumpet of the first angel” (Revelation 8, verse 7) from the terrible persecution by the pagan emperors until Constantine, prefigured in the words “There came hail and fire mingled with blood, and this was hurled upon the earth. A third of the earth was burnt, a third of the trees were burnt, all the green grass was burnt.” This passage suggests a number of martyrs, including the disciples and even entire communities, as well as the Apostolic Church, where the pure teachings of Christ and his apostles burned in the of love, as we know from tradition. Because these terrible persecutions affected all the Christian communities, they learned to pay close attention to the Word and deviated little from the Apostolic truth, until the middle of the second century when the leaders and elders of these communities aspired to powerful positions and honors, as in Alexandria after Saint Mark's death, where the bishops were eventually viewed as being in a higher position than the other elders, whereas before that they were all equal in status. From this development arose envy, and from envy hate, and from this hate arose persecution and unkindness and thus the beginning of a reign of the clergy, a so-called period of hierarchy. Christ the Lord says, “You have abandoned your first love; change your ways. If not, I will come and cast down your lamp, that is, I will take my mercy and spirit from you.” These first men among equals thought well of themselves for hating the works of Nicholas of Antioch and his followers.

This period covers the first 312 years after the birth of Christ our Lord, until the ascension of Constantine to the Roman throne in 312 AD. This timeline is historically certain and incontestable, since we can set the birth of Jesus Christ in the year 3960 on the basis of Scriptural chronology. Regarding the division of this time into periods of 312 years, the reader should consult part 21 below, for we cannot say with certainty that each period contains exactly 312 years. Instead, we have taken this quasi-terminum ad quem in order to avoid excessive explanation and to show the reader a way to reflect on these days or periods of time of Holy Scripture in a more meaningful way, especially those periods already fulfilled and past.

PART 5

The next period that follows, presented by the angel at Smyrna, extends to the second year of Muhammad's flight, namely until the year 624 AD. This period includes the opening of the second seal (Revelation 6, verse 3), as well as the trumpet blast of the second angel (Revelation 8, verse 8). Scripture says of this angel in Smyrna, “I know your works and your concerns,” etc. And in verse 10 it states, “Fear none of these things…for you will suffer hardships for ten days.” The situation of the Church in this period is recorded by historians. Although the ten horrible waves of persecution by the pagans (signified by the ten days in the text) abated from time to time and suddenly ended in the time of Constantine, the internal state of the Church deteriorated because of this new security, insofar as the heads of the various Christian communities—and as a result, the communities themselves—persecuted one another more intensely than the pagans had, especially in the first one hundred years of this period. It was in this time that Arius, and later Muhammad appeared, the former in the first, and the latter in the last century of this period. Both of these figures almost succeeded in seducing practically the entire world, together with the many other errant spirits of this period recorded in the history of the Church. It was in this period that the clergy greatly expanded its scope and power, exposing its hypocrisy for all to see through new orders, titles, authority and tyranny. This trend received its greatest impetus through Constantine and, as a result, the spirit of the true Church was sorely tried by false teachings, the tyranny of the clergy, murder and bloodshed, unrest and all manner of persecution.

PART 6

In the fifth century things did not appear much better, since the pagan forces were gaining in power, as well as Arianism and other heresies. In the worldly realm and in the visible Church there was nothing but war, murder, bloodshed, proliferation of the clergy, in short, a powerful manifestation of the Antichrist. For the true faithful there was little but distress, persecution, oppression, prison and chains. The sixth century was not much better. The first major Christian persecution of the Jews began at this time and the pagan kingdoms continued their ascendancy. And in this century, as in the fourth century, widespread pagan idolatry was introduced by Christians into the Church. And at the beginning of the seventh century two monstrous figures came upon the scene: the pope Boniface III, through the murder of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phocas (963–969), and the infernal brood of Muhammad. Both were awakened by the devil to do unimaginable harm to the Church of Jesus Christ, as demonstrated by the widespread murder and bloodshed which they caused. Thus, the symbolic Church of Smyrna was tested in these 312 years, as noted in Revelation 2, verse 10. This is clearly symbolized by the rider on the red horse (Revelation 6, verse 4) and by the trumpet blast of the second angel (Revelation 8, verse 8). Here, the great mountain spewing symbolizes and prefigures the great heretic Arius, the prominent bishop and tyrant of the faithful, as well as Muhammad. Church history will clearly show what evil these figures wreaked on the Church of Christ. Therefore, the message to the community of Smyrna was, “Be true unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” And verse 11 says, “those who overcome adversity shall be spared the bitterness of the second death.”

PART 7

We now come to the third period, from the seventh to the tenth centuries, that is, up to the year 936 AD, symbolized in the angel of the Church in Pergamum, of which Revelation 2, verses 13 to 15 say, “I know your works and where you live; it is the place where Satan has his throne…. But I have a few matters to bring against you…. You also have some who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,” etc. This period corresponds to the third seal (Revelation 6, verse 5) and the rider on the black horse, etc., as well as the trumpet blast of the third angel (Revelation 8, verse 10). The text says of this angel, that he resides where Satan has his throne, namely under the power and authority of the beast, etc. The internal and external situation of the Church at that time can be read in any history of the Church. This period extends from the times of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (575–641 AD) up to the reign of Emperor Henry Aucupis. Here, as in the preceding period, there was no lack of horror caused by the clergy. Indeed, these times were particularly terrible and the kingdom of the Antichrist was in its greatest ascendancy because of widespread repugnant idolatry, as well as the incursions into the Holy Land. In no other centuries were the works of the Nicolai tans more evident or more boldly undertaken, nor were there ever more victims to such idolatry than at this time. The debauched clergy has sacrificed everything sacred, their churches, cloisters, altars, sacred images and other unimportant things and wasted their resources on their concubines and whores, while performing forbidden acts of magic and other horrors, as well as acts of fornication and sodomy. They have created so many sects and splinter groups of hypocritical pseudo-Christians in all parts of the world, while at the same time oppressing and persecuting the truly faithful everywhere, such that the teachings of Baal are brazenly followed by the clergy. The beast has forbidden these members of his army the sacrament of marriage, ordained by God, and so they publicly indulge themselves with their concubines in the most shameful acts of sexual degradation and sodomy. Thus the true Church was at that time in great distress and suffering, yet still holding fast to the name of Jesus Christ and never denying their faith, even though sympathizers of the Nicolai tans were among the members of the true Church, who will be converted by the spirit, lest the spirit rise against them with the sword of his words, namely the living Word of God.

PART 8

In Revelation 2, verse 13 we find the words, “You did not deny your faith in me even at the time when Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed in your city, the home of Satan.” We can presume from this passage that Antipas was a true witness of Jesus Christ who was killed by the people of Pergamum. However, Antipas also stands symbolically for all the martyrs of this period. These words stand clear, undistorted and without false interpretation. However, the terrible wars, murder, bloodshed and famine of this period are suggested by the black horse (Revelation 6, verses 5 and 6). Since it is said that he will not damage the wine or the oil, this means that the true invisible Church will be protected and preserved. The trumpet blast of the third angel (Revelation 8, verse 10) that brings the star crashing down out of the heavens, symbolizes the arrival of the accursed Muhammad, whose bitter teachings have taken over a third of the world and which has almost extinguished the bright light of the Eastern Church.

PART 9

The fourth period begins with the twelfth year of the reign of Henry Aucupis and runs until the thirty-sixth year of the grandson of Frederick Barbarossa, that is, until the year 1248. This period is symbolized by the angel of Thyatira, the fourth seal (Revelation 6) and the trumpet blast of the fourth angel (Revelation 8). Revelation 2, verses 19 and 20 says, “I know all your ways, your love and faithfulness, your good service and your fortitude; and of late you have done even better than at first. Yet I have this against you: you tolerate that Jezebel, the woman who claims to be a prophetess, who by her teaching lures my servants into fornication and into eating food sacrificed to idols.” In this period the situation of the Church is no better than in the preceding period, but actually in many respects much worse off under the so-called Christian emperors in both the East and West, where there is nothing but war, murder, bloodshed, persecution and oppression, all of this brought about by the hypocrisy and blindness of the clergy and all of this under the guise of religion and fear of God.

In many respects, as noted above, the Church was far worse off than in the previous century, for now in Rome under Sergio, the infamous whore Theodora, together with her two daughters, had free reign. Theodora had produced these children with the godless priest Sergius Johannus (who later became Pope John X). Also in this period, Henry III was forced to depose three schismatic popes during his reign; and the firebrand, Gregory VII imposed a papal ban on Henry IV; Henry V was also banned by Pope Paschal II (who himself had competing antipopes during his papacy). In this period the doctrine of transubstantiation or “God-making” reached its highpoint, as did idolatry in general in the Church. The dynasties of the Guelf and Ghibelline came to power and were responsible for much bloodshed, because of the secret and public intrigues of the clergy. Many knightly orders were also founded at this time, as was Scholastic theology, a deadly poison in the Church. The title of “doctor” (a sign of the beast or his female counterpart, Jezebel) was an invention of Scholasticism, as part of a reshaped Corpus Juris, one of the great plagues in worldly matters. Scholasticism and many new religious orders of so-called Christendom during this period caused indescribable misery and suffering such that the ruin in the Church and the seduction by the great whore Jezebel were quite without equal.

PART 10

Despite such distress the works, love, service, faith and patience of the invisible true Church continued during the period of the Church in Thyatira. In fact, a close examination of Church history will show that toward the end of this period more and more faithful witnesses to the truth appeared, whose witness often came at the cost of their life. By contrast, the pride, tyranny, blasphemous teachings, fornication, simony, sorcery and persecution of the faithful, together with countless other vices and scandals of the clergy themselves continued to grow beyond all limits. And the works of the Nicolai tans, among them idolatry and fornication, as mentioned earlier, were conducted without any shame for all the world to see. This period is represented by the fourth seal and the rider on the pale horse, whose name is death and who is followed by the grave. This rider has the power to destroy a quarter of the people on earth with the sword, famine, disease and by wild animals, namely the clergy, who are wilder and more bestial than any animals.

PART 11

The fourth trumpet suggests something similar (Revelation 8), since after its blast a third of the , and the will fall from the heavens, so that a third of the heavens will be darkened and there will be neither day nor night in that third. And the potentates of the East and West will recognize by the and , and the spiritual class by the stars (see Daniel 12, verse 3), and all other people by the day and night, what has come to pass. Because the beast aims for the seduction of all men, the angel flies through the skies, proclaiming with a loud voice to all those on earth by means of three cries of distress, the coming darkness of the following periods.

PART 12

Let us proceed then to the fifth period, represented by the angel of the community of Sardis. This period begins in 1248 and ends in 1560, that is, it stretches from the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Emperor Frederick II until the fourth year of the reign of Ferdinand I. Scripture says of this angel in Revelation 3, verses 1 to 4, “I know your ways; that though you have a name for being alive, you are dead. Wake up, and put some strength into what is left, which must otherwise die! For I have not found any work of yours completed in the eyes of my God. So remember the teaching you received; observe it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I shall come upon you like a thief, and you will not know the moment of my coming. Yet you have a few persons in Sardis who have not polluted their clothing. They shall walk with me in white, for so they deserve.”

PART 13

In order to understand the situation of the so-called Christians in the East and West during this period, one must extensively read histories of the Church. In the East the Byzantine Empire together with the Eastern Church was completely destroyed and was replaced with the Muslim faith. The West also went through grave difficulties through the workings of the Antichrist with the change of emperors, such that war and bloodshed were everywhere. By contrast, the authority of the clergy and bishops drastically increased because of the superstition and lethargy of the civil authorities. As a result of the clergy's increasing power, their evil also increased, with their idolatrous handling of relics, pilgrimages, oaths and public fornication, as well as their persecution of the faithful through and the sword. The number of those martyred by this evil is so great it can scarcely be counted, not to mention those killed in the rebellions against the authorities fomented by the clergy and similar injustices. Therefore, Scripture says, “You have the name that gives life; yet you are dead.” The so-called visible Church was indeed dead, as noted in the second part of the quote above. To strengthen the other Church (that is, the true and humble faithful who were in danger of dying off as well, because of these distressful things), the so-called Evangelical Church under the reformers Zwingli, Luther, Calvin, Beza and others was founded. But hardly had the Gospel been proclaimed by these men—and accepted by many people—than those places where they spread the Gospel soon fell back to their previous hypocrisy and idolatrous worship in their outward ways. Nevertheless, Scripture says that there were still a few people among the fallen populace of Sardis who were faithful to the spirit and truth of God in their heart.

PART 14

This period is also represented by the opening of the fifth seal (Revelation 6), where the souls under the altar are mentioned, who had been slaughtered for God's word, and their great cry for the judgment of Jesus Christ. To them it is said that they should rest until the remainder of Christ's servants, who were to be martyred as they had been, completed their number from both this period and the next. And there was certainly no lack of such martyrs in this period in the kingdom of the Antichrist. The trumpet blast of the fifth angel also characterizes this period (Revelation 9), when John, to whom the key to the abyss was revealed, saw a star falling from the heavens to the earth. It is clear to anyone even a little familiar with the history of the Church and of the world that this star represents the first leaders of the true Apostolic Church, which was eventually transformed into the true Antichrist. The key to the abyss is the power of darkness, through which the Antichrist will ruin the Church and usurp God's place in the Church through the power of Satan, as noted in the first letter to Timothy 4, verses 1 to 3. Here, Saint Paul says, “The spirit expressly says that in the last times some will desert from the faith and give their minds to subversive doctrines inspired by devils, through the specious falsehoods of men whose own conscience is branded with the devil's sign. They forbid marriage and inculcate abstinence from certain foods, though God created them to be enjoyed with thanksgiving by believers who have inward knowledge of the truth.” In this passage the Antichrist is clearly portrayed and described. The smoke from the center of the abyss, which darkens the sun and the moon, is the idolatrous teaching of the Antichrist, full of lies against the Living God. And through these lies, even the and the air—that is, the remaining portion of Christendom—will be darkened and ruined.

PART 15

John continues, “Out of the smoke came locusts,” that is, the idolatrous teachings of the Antichrist produced the swarm of clergy, like a swarm of locusts of all shapes and colors, who ruined and destroyed everything in their path. In verses 8 to 10 we read about the horrible and bloodthirsty nature of these locusts, which points to the great number of bishops and prelates who gird themselves in sword and armor and fill the land with fire, murder and bloodshed. They have been given the power to frighten and torture the faithful, much like a scorpion stings and causes pain. However, they should not afflict the lowly grass, plants and trees of the , that is, the reviled and oppressed true Church or the few poor members of that Church. Instead, they should affiict only those who do not have the seal of God on their forehead (and in whose hearts the true faith does not reside). These they should torture, but not kill, and this torture should last only five months. These five months, or five times 258 days, equaling 1,290 days, or three years and four-and-a-half months, are the period in which Luther attacked the horrors of the sale of indulgences, through which personal sacrifice (that is, true repentance and trust in the service of Christ, the true service of God—see John 4, verse 23) was done away with. This period extends back to the time when Pope Leo X, without shame or hesitation, announced the abomination of the indulgences through his underlings and thereby robbed good people of untold amounts of money. In Daniel 12, verse 12 it is said to the prophet, “Happy the man who waits and lives to see the completion of one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days!” This corresponds to the length of time from the first proclamation of the indulgences by Leo X until their rejection by God through Martin Luther, which can all be chronologically calculated and found to be correct. In Revelation 3, verse 1, however, John says of these new listeners to the true Gospel, “I know all your ways; that though you have a name for being alive, you are dead.” It is well known to any fair-minded and truth-loving man that the same can be said of most people from the time of Luther up until our current times, namely what Christ the Lord said in Matthew 13, verses 19 to 22. The so-called Evangelical Christianity likes to imagine that it has completely freed itself from all idolatry and superstition. However, it is sorely mistaken! It would be quite easy to prove that superstition, hypocrisy and idolatry are quite common in so-called Evangelical churches. Anyone who loves the truth rather than lies will have to openly admit that the Antichrist has tyrannically established himself everywhere in our temples, such that one does not need to look for idols outside the walls of our churches. The only thing missing is that the protesting high figures are not of such simplicity as their Catholic counterparts, who make these little popes so rich and powerful, while making themselves out to be poor as a beggar. However, what was concealed under their sheep's clothing might soon be revealed, if most of them were not able to conceal their deceit through their hypocrisy.

PART 16

In Revelation 9, verse 6, John continues to speak of the aforementioned sting of the scorpions or the intimidation of the faithful by the swarm of locusts that came out of the smoke from the abyss. He says, “During that time these men will seek death, but they will not find it.” This suggests the hardship and misery that the disconsolate faithful will suffer as they hunger and thirst for the of life, but are fed instead from the streams of Belial (Satan). In verses 7 to 10 John describes the mass of locusts by their characteristic tendency toward turmoil, war, murder and bloodshed, which has been representative of the clergy from its beginnings to the present, as has been clearly recorded in histories of the Church and of the world. In verse 11 John describes a king of this army of locusts, the angel of the abyss and calls him by his Hebrew name: Abaddon, in Greek: Apollyon. He is the spoiler, the disrupter, and because John calls him a king, he must be the most noble of the locusts; but John also calls him an angel of the abyss, he must represent the highest level of deceit, evil and perversion of the truth into lies from the school of darkness. So that we do not become too verbose here, let us state that the following number represents his correct name: 60, 40, 20, 50, 500, 50, 20, 1, or in Hebrew letters: . He was hatched by Satan at the end of this period or, as others prefer to say, in the year 1540. John closes his passage on the fifth trumpet with these words in Revelation 9, verse 12, “The first woe has now passed. But there are still two more to come.”

PART 17

The sixth period begins in the year 1560 and ends in 1872. The reader should not complain that we are arbitrarily selecting dates here (which we addressed in part 2 of this chapter), but rather consider that we have taken this division of periods from actual history. This next period is represented by the angel of the Church in Philadelphia (Revelation 3, verse 7) and by the opening of the sixth seal (Revelation 6, verse 12), as well as by the trumpet blast of the sixth angel (Revelation 9, verse 13). This period is so full of secrets that many excellent scholars have been frustrated in their attempts to interpret this text. This is particularly because those attempting an exegesis of the text could not get past the opinions of their predecessors or past the preconceived notions that they have carried with them their entire life. They were not able to correctly understand this passage, which is nevertheless described so clearly and without obscure phrasing in the following chapter of Revelation. Regarding this angel of the Church in Philadelphia John says in verse 8, “I know all your ways; and look, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut. Your strength, I know, is small…” to verse 10 and beyond.

PART 18

In the words quoted above the open door signifies the light of the Gospels that began to shine at the end of the preceding period, and the knowledge and proclamation of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, as well as the relatively weak power of the invisible Church of that time, which was quite small in number. The text says that some men of Satan's synagogue claimed to be Jews, although they were not. “They will come and fall down at your feet and recognize that Christ loves his persecuted Church.” These words suggest that the hypocrites of the falsely praised church, who claim to be the most genuine and perfect Christians, will accede to the true community of Christ, praising the honest life and works of its members out of hypocrisy as a means of testing the faith of the just and learning more about them. They will participate in all the external rituals that men have thought up and introduced into the Church, thinking and teaching others that true Christianity resides in such posturing, even though their hearts do not hold the slightest ember of the true love and knowledge of Jesus Christ, nor do they practice any true works of faith. We need not describe what other worldly or religious horrors have occurred from the beginning of this period up to the present time. The true Church can be recognized in any period by the persecution it has suffered, and thus it is not necessary to ask which one it was and who were—and are still—its members, although it has also suffered from superficiality, coercion and hypocrisy.

PART 19

In Revelation 3, verse 10 the true Church is consoled in all its distress, and because it has faithfully cultivated the virtue of patience, it will be saved from the ordeal that will befall the entire earth in the Laodicean period (which consists of forty two months or three and one-half years). We have extensively discussed this in a separate work on the suffering and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

After that period, Satan will turn loose the Antichrist (because he knows he has little time remaining), in order to persecute the true Church in the most horrible manner, the likes of which have never been seen in all of history. This persecution is foretold in a number of passages of Revelation, as well as in the rest of Scripture. And this persecution is set for the end-time, as foretold in Daniel 12, verse 1, where we read, “There will be a time of distress such as has never been, from the creation of man up to the present time. But at that moment your people will be delivered.” Verse 4 continues, “But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and seal the book until the end-time. Many will be at their wits' end, and punishment will be heavy.” True members of the body of Christ know well that the knowledge of this event to come already resides in the hearts of some of the children of God at this time. However, from reading the Book of Revelation this knowledge will spread day by day ever farther, until the eventual coming of Christ. But as we have said, this secret will be known at that time only to a few, just as in the days when Christ became flesh (see Luke 2); his arrival was known only to a certain Simeon and the prophetess Anna, both of whom were waiting for this consolation of Israel. It will be the same when Christ returns again, in that out of the entire population of the world only a small number of people will be awaiting their Redeemer and his glorious kingdom. But because this belongs to the seventh period, we will save its discussion for later.

PART 20

In Daniel 12, verse 7 the prophet hears that the time of distress (that is, the seventh and last period) would last “for a time, times (moadim) and a half.” Many intelligent, God-fearing men have suggested that “a time” equals one year, and moadim equals two years; the “half”-time would thus equal half a year, that is, altogether three and a half years. This explanation agrees with that of Revelation 11, verses 2 and 9, and Revelation 13, verse 5, where we find the figure of 1,260 days, or three and a half years, or forty-two months. We should note here that (1) it cannot be proven that moadim represents the number two here, and thus must mean two years or periods, since such a usage does not conform with its use in the Hebrew language. Also, (2) as we demonstrated earlier, the meaning of all numbers in Scripture remains mystical or secret, until the time of their fulfillment; and there are many different, incontrovertible examples of this in Scripture. However, since six hundred or more years have passed between the prophecy of Daniel and the Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John, and thus the end-time has moved six hundred years closer to the Revelation of Saint John than it was in Daniel's time, one could say that the moed moadim vachazi revealed to Daniel is explained in the book of Revelation by the 1,260 days, that is, three and a half years, or forty-two months.

PART 21

The point in time when these trying events would occur remains unknown, as noted in the words of Christ in Matthew 24, verse 36, and in Mark 13, verse 32, and Acts of the Apostles 1, verse 7. The faithful will be able to recognize the coming of these times by the signs that Christ mentioned to his disciples in the Gospel of Matthew. This much is clear: the year 1716 is the midpoint of the sixth period and five additional years have now passed from that midpoint. (If we count 312 years to a period, then the time of the present world is divided into seven world-days, with each day and night divided into twenty-four hours, and each hour of the day representing thirteen years. We do not wish to argue with anyone over this particular breakdown of time units, since no one has been able to provide us with a better system.) The text of Revelation 3, verse 11 says, “I am coming soon,” etc. Therefore, we should not think that we still have 151 years remaining to the beginning of the seventh period, in which to atone for our sins and evilness, for Christ the Lord says in Matthew 24, verses 42 to 44, “‘Keep awake, then, for you do not know the hour when your Lord is to come…. You should know that…. Therefore, hold yourselves ready.” And Matthew 25, verse 13 says, “Keep awake then, for you never know the day or the hour.” Therefore, neither the day nor the hour can be known when in the seventh and last period the ordeal will befall the entire world. However, we should not forget that before the beast comes out of the sea and receives the full might and authority of the serpent or the devil, that is, before the Antichrist reaches his full maturity, the pagans must be subdued, and all of Israel converted, and this conversion is to occur before the seventh or final period, the Laodicean period, which was described in parts 20 and 21. Whether it is possible for Almighty God to complete this great work of conversion in such a relatively short span of time is a question answered by religious and world history, in which we see that the Lord God completed all His works throughout history according to a specific order of time. The ancient patriarchs believed that the world would last for six thousand years. From this standpoint, then, only 330 years remain until the seventh period, since according to Scripture we are now in the world-year 56 71 and in the year 1721 after Christ's birth. It is this system according to which we organize all our chronological calculations. However, the great conversion might also occur in the seventh period, or begin in the current sixth period and be completed in the seventh, a point we do not wish to dispute with anyone, since it is to remain a secret until its fulfillment. Great changes can occur in a period of fifty or more years, as we can see from past history. Furthermore, the world and its populace are not known to us in their entirety, and we cannot even say for certain that a period consists of 312 years, since it is possible that the various periods of the churches or communities in the book of Revelation might not have the same number of years, as the true duration of each period, as well as the year, day and hour of Christ's arrival will also remain a complete secret until the end of time, according to the words of Matthew and Mark.

PART 22

The end of the time of distress is described in Revelation 9, verses 13 to 21 with reference to the trumpet blast of the sixth angel in the following manner: John says he heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that stood in the presence of God. The voice said to the sixth angel that he should release the four angels held bound at the great river Euphrates. The voice coming from the four horns of the altar is that of all the martyred souls entombed under the altar (see Revelation 6, verse 9) from all parts of the earth, and the four angels held bound at the Euphrates river are the four angels mentioned in Revelation 7, verse 1, who stand at the four corners of the earth (represented by the four winds of the heavens) and hold the peoples of the earth in check until the end-time. The sixth angel with the trumpet releases these evil angels with their armies, and their release is set for a specific hour, day, month and year. Clearly, a specific number is intended here, and it appears that it is 396 days, during which time these terrible armies (see verses 16 and 17) devastate the entire earth with , smoke and (see verse 18), whereby a third of mankind will be killed. This strife will occur before the onset of the Laodicean period, the last period of forty-two months, as mentioned in Revelation 9, verses 19 to 21, and it will be a very terrible war in light of the fact that a third of mankind will be killed.

PART 23

As we noted in the preceding part, this war (see Revelation 9) will be short but horrible, and a third of mankind will be killed (see verse 18). However, in verses 20 and 21 we read that those who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent and “did not abjure the gods their hands had fashioned, nor cease their worship of devils and of idols made from gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.” And verse 18 refers to three plagues, which represent three hordes of the Antichrist, as we can conclude from the context of this passage.

PART 24

After having explained the first six periods of the Church up to the present, we must consider the words of Saint Paul in Romans 11, verse 25, before we can continue on to the Laodicean or last period. The Apostle says in this passage, “There is a deep truth here, my brothers, of which I want you to take account, so that you will not be complacent about your own discernment: this partial blindness has come upon Israel only until the Gentiles have been admitted in full strength; when that has happened, the whole of Israel will be saved.” We also note the words of Luke 21, verse 24, “And Jerusalem will be trampled down by foreigners until their day has run its course.” It cannot be denied that both of these passages refer to the general conversion of the pagans, as well as the specific conversion of the Jews. However, as we well know, the Gospel of Christ and his kingdom have not yet been proclaimed to all pagans. And although it has been suggested that Christ himself proclaimed the Gospel to all four corners of the earth through a series of ocean voyages, this is not really likely. It is one thing to preach about Christ as the hypocrites do, who help no one and lead no one to a true inner Christianity, and it is quite another to proclaim the Gospel in the true Apostolic fashion.

As we mentioned earlier, we do not even know the entire world and its populace, for there are certainly new peoples unknown to us in the far north, just as there were wild peoples in the inner provinces of North America, of whose existence we were completely unaware. And we have not the slightest knowledge of the great land mass to the south (greater than any other on the earth) and its inhabitants. Should we consider these people more contemptible and more damnable in the eyes of God than any other pagans to whom he has proclaimed his love in Christ? Such ideas would run counter to God's very essence, that is, his unchanging compassion, and no reasonable man would harbor such thoughts unless he were a sectarian poisoned by false teachings.

PART 25

From this we can thus conclude that the Gospel of Christ and his kingdom, based on the words of Matthew 24, verse 14, should be proclaimed in the Apostolic fashion and not methodically or in a businesslike manner through voyages around the world. Christ the Lord says the Gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed to the entire world, as a witness for all peoples, and then the end-time will come. How little of it has been proclaimed up to now! This is in part because today's so-called Christians are hardly familiar with it themselves. But the preaching of the Gospel must first be fulfilled, according to the words of Christ. When and how exactly this complete acceptance by the pagans and conversion of Israel will take place remains God's secret, since Scripture does not give us any specific time or date. This alone is certain: that the proclamation of the Gospel of the kingdom (the thousand-year reign of Christ) to all nations, peoples and cultures, as well as the conversion of Israel, must happen before the return of Christ.

PART 26

There is little more to add about the end of the Laodicean period. However, we want to remind the reader here that it must remain uncertain whether this period will be as long as the preceding period, lasting three and a half years, and whether or not this last span of time will follow immediately after the sixth period. Christ the Lord says in Matthew 24, verse 22, “If that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short.” It is also uncertain whether the period of the ordeal, the three and a half days, will occur in the last period or in the sixth. For more on these questions, see part 29 below. With the opening of the sixth seal the return of Christ will be revealed, which will be announced by a great earthquake, which will be felt around the entire world (see Revelation 6, verse 12; the opening of the seventh seal is associated with the seven trumpet blasts, while the sixth seal covers the time up to the return of Christ). At that time the sun will darken and the moon will appear as red as blood, and the stars of the heavens will fall to the earth. (See Joel 2, verse 10 and 31; Joel 3, verse 15; Matthew 24, verse 29; Mark 13, verses 24 and 25; Luke 21, verse 25, as well as Revelation 6, verse 14, “the heavens vanished, like a scroll rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.”) It should be pointed out here that the reference to stars falling from the heavens to the earth should be understood in a mystical, rather than literal sense. For although the moon, our closest celestial neighbor, is forty-six times smaller than the earth, if it fell from its orbit and collided with the earth it would destroy virtually everything on it, not to mention what would happen if multiple stars fell to earth. But shouldn't this falling of the stars be interpreted as the fall of famous teachers of that time? What the signs of the sun and moon represent was discussed in chapter 6 of this volume, from part 4 to the end. What is certain about all this is that at the dawning of that terrible day there will be great and terrible signs in the heavens and on earth, according to the words of Christ in Luke 21, verses 25 and 26, “Portents will appear in sun, moon and stars. On earth nations will stand helpless, not knowing which way to turn from the roar and surge of the sea; men will faint with terror at the thought of all that is coming upon the world; for the celestial powers will be shaken.” In addition, Revelation 6, verses 15 to 17 note “Then the kings of the earth, magnates and marshals, the rich and the powerful, and all men, slave or free, hid themselves in caves and mountain crags; and they called out to the mountains and the crags, ‘Fall upon us and hide us from the face of the One who sits on the throne and from the vengeance of the Lamb.’ For the great day of their vengeance has come, and who will be able to stand?”

PART 27

Parts 22 and 23 of this chapter refer to the four angels at the Euphrates River and report that the angels there are the ones mentioned in Revelation 7. In order to dispel the impression that we may have made a mistake here, we will explain this before we continue. In Revelation 7, verses 2 and 3, it says, “Then I saw another angel rising out of the east, carrying the seal of the Living God; and he called aloud to the four angels who had been given the power to ravage land and sea: ‘Do no damage to sea or land or trees until we have set the seal of our God upon the foreheads of his servants.’” (The earth and the sea represent all men; the earth represents those of high status and the raging sea represents all the other people of the world. As to the meaning of the trees, the seeker of truth should consult Matthew 4, verse 15.) The servants of God will have his seal on their forehead, so that they, like the five wise virgins, can persevere through the final terror of Satan and the beast, and enter into the wedding celebration with the bride and groom before the five foolish virgins. Therefore, chapter 7 alludes to the power and authority of these four evil angels and to the fact that they are bound by the loud voice of the angel of the sunrise (that is, by the countenance of God), who is marked with the seal of the Living God (that is, the angel is endowed with special divine power and authority) and cannot use this power until the trumpet blast of the sixth angel releases them, as explained in Revelation 9, verse 13.

PART 28

Thus far we have presented and explained, to the extent that the divine spirit has guided us, the period from Christ's ascension into heaven until the coming of his glorious kingdom, as well as the seven Churches of Revelation 2 and 3, and the six seals of Revelation 6, together with the six angels with the trumpets in Revelation 7. But before we come to the seventh and last Church, the Laodicean, and the seventh angel (see Revelation 11), we want to first consider the remaining chapters of this mysterious Revelation. First, we must note that this great Revelation contains the following parts: (1) a description of the general circumstances of the Churches under the beast and the false prophet, the fall of Babel, the seat and throne of the beast; (2) the banishment of the beast and the false prophet to the fiery pit, when Christ appears in order to found His kingdom; (3) the thousand-year banishment and imprisonment of Satan; (4) the thousand-year reign of Christ with his saints; (5) the last Judgment and (6) the return of all creatures to their original perfection, which will be discussed more fully in volume 3 on .

PART 29

Concerning number 1 above, these topics were addressed in the preceding parts of this chapter. With respect to the book of Revelation we see that John describes the glory of the Living God in chapter 4, as can also be found in Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1. (The four animals mentioned in Revelation are discussed in chapter 2, parts 24 to 26 of this volume.) In Revelation 5 John sees the Book of Secrets in the hand of the Living God, a book sealed with seven seals (seven particular periods), which can be opened by no one other than the Lamb, that is, Jesus Christ, who was slaughtered for us. The seven horns and seven eyes are the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit, poured out over all flesh (see Joel 2, verse 28). Concerning the twenty-four elders and who they are, we have already reported earlier. Chapters 6 and 7 of Revelation were explained in the preceding parts of this chapter. The reader should particularly remember parts 5 to 8 of that chapter, where we spoke of the children of God who carry the mark of God on their forehead. Verses 9 to 17 concern the same people, who have already entered the wedding feast with the bride and groom. Lastly, Revelation 8 and 9 were already explained earlier.

We consider it important to remind the reader that John experienced this Revelation during his exile on the island of Patmos, to which he was banished by the Emperor Domitian. John says in Revelation 1, verse 10, “I was caught up by the spirit” (meaning that he saw this revelation not with his bodily eyes, but with his spirit) and “it was on the Lord's day,” although he is quite mistaken, since the early Christians did not recognize Sunday as their holy day, as objective scholars have determined, and as we know from Paul's words in Galatians 4, verse 10 and Colossians 2, verse 16. The “Lord's day” to which the Evangelist refers is something quite different from “the day of the Lord,” since on the former day Christ the Lord revealed to John all events from that day to the end of time, so that he could relate them to the servants of the Lord (verse 1). He also revealed to John that not all people without distinction would understand these secrets, but only the true servants of Jesus Christ. In verse 3 John calls those people blessed who read, hear and keep the words of this prophecy. In verses 4 and 5 he wishes peace and mercy to the seven Churches of Asia (which at that time stood under seven different bishops or overseers) from Him who is, who was and who is coming, (“I will be, who will be.”) from the seven spirits who stand before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. The mercy and peace that John wishes, comes from three sources: first, from Him who is; second, from the seven spirits and third, from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness. From this we understand that the Holy Spirit works seven divine miracles through these seven spirits, just as God the Father works through “him who is there,” as John calls Jesus Christ. It is also clear here that John wishes divine mercy and peace not only from the seven spirits, but also from the Father and from Jesus Christ. Therefore, as we suspected, the seven spirits are actually the Holy Spirit in its wonderful sevenfold miraculous power.

In verse seven John says how Christ will return; however, the eighth verse contains a deep, incomprehensible secret, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end,’ says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Verse 4 contains this same phrasing (“who is and who was and who is to come”). That this clearly refers to the Father can be seen by contrasting verse 4 with verse 5, where we read “…and from Jesus Christ….” Here, too, the name Ehjeh (“He who is”) and El Shaddai (“Almighty God, as he is revealed”) are added to the name of the one true God, the Father. Then, in verse 8, Christ apparently speaks about himself. From this we can conclude that the essence of Christ and the Holy Spirit must be without a beginning or an end, just like the Father “who is and who was and who is to come,” a God composed of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a unity that remains for us an unfathomable mystery. And since Scripture uses such terms to describe the divine Triune of the eternal true God, then we, too, must also avail ourselves of these and no others. Those who question the divine nature of Christ and the Holy Spirit will have to recognize their heretical error.

In verse 11 John is commanded to address the visions revealed to him to the congregations of Ephesis, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatria, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea in Asia. In verse 12 he sees seven golden lamps. Further, in verse 13 he sees someone, like the Son of Man (Jesus Christ) walking among the lamps in all his glory, holding seven stars in his right hand. In verse 20 the seven stars are explained as the seven angels that watch over the seven Churches, while the seven lamps are these same seven congregations. In verse 7 John recounts what happened when he saw Christ in his visions and how he was strengthened when Christ laid his hand upon him and said that he (John) should not be afraid, for he (Christ) was the First and the Last, the Living One who had been dead, but was now alive for all eternity, and who holds the keys to hell and death. In verse 19 Christ commands John to write down both what was at that moment and what was to come. We can clearly recognize from this command that Christ the Lord wanted John to report on the then current situation of the seven Churches in Asia (“what is”), as well as the future of these communities, up to the end of time (“what is to come”). Regarding the first part of the command, the then current situation of the seven Churches is quite clear from the text of chapters 2 and 3 and thus does not need to be recounted here. And in subsequent chapters we also described, to the extent that we were enlightened by the Spirit of God, what was foretold by John for the later periods, up to the end of time. What remains to be discussed-briefly but thoroughly—are the divine wonders of the Holy Spirit, carried out by the seven spirits, who minister before the throne of God, as presented in chapter 1, verse 4. The curious reader will find much satisfaction in consulting chapters 2 and 3.

PART 30

We now come to the tenth chapter in which John sees Christ the Lord with an open book in his hand, whose seven seals have been broken (this means that Christ has explained to John the seven periods mentioned earlier), whereupon an angel cried out in a loud voice, after which seven thunders are heard. These thunders suggest the seven periods (we will not use the term “times” here, for reasons which we will explain later), which cannot be understood in terms of our own measurement of time, which relies on the , and , but rather must be understood in the context of the unchanging all-presence of God after the Last Judgment. John is told not to describe these periods but to seal the information. John also hears that the angel mentioned above has sworn to the Almighty Creator of all things that after the voice of the seventh angel and his trumpet blasts have rung out, time will exist no more. Rather, the secret of God, that is, the great judgment of all the living and the dead through Christ the Judge, will be fulfilled. The kingdom of the Living God will be opened and the faithful will enter. The devil and the damned, however, will be cast down into the fiery pit and the second death. John is then commanded by a voice out of heaven to take the little book from the hands of the angel and swallow it, which he does. It tasted sweet in his mouth, but greatly upset his stomach. To better understand this passage, the reader should compare what Jeremiah 20, verses 7 to 9 and Jeremiah 23, verse 29 have to say. John must also foretell from this book for all the peoples of the earth about the coming events up to the Last Judgment, and the final perfecting and renewal of all creatures. Our phrase “all the peoples of the earth” was explained in parts 24 and 25 of this chapter.

PART 31

In chapter 11 John is shown what will occur in the last period of forty-two months or 1,260 days, before the second coming of Christ. However, John only sees a short summary of these things. John is then given a long cane or measuring stick in order to measure the temple of God, the altar therein and the number of the faithful, in other words to separate the true invisible Church from the visible idolatrous Church, just as someone might measure a piece of a field with good soil and mark it off with a fence (see also Ezekiel 7, verse 3 and Ezekiel 48, verses 9 to 22). He is told not to measure the outer courtyard of the temple, since that part is given over to the Gentiles (representing here the Antichrist's influence on the visible Church's external essence—see also Ezekiel 48, verse 15), who will trample the Holy City (that is, the true faithful, the true Jerusalem or Zion—see Luke 21, verse 24) underfoot for 42 months. This period of time represents the great ordeal (see Revelation 3, verse 10). In this period of distress, however, Christ will comfort and strengthen the faithful through the prophecy of his two witnesses, dressed in sackcloth as testimony to their suffering, pain and sadness at the fall and horrible persecution of the true faithful. Many have interpreted these two witnesses as representing the entire invisible true Church. The tenth verse shows that this cannot be the case, for they are both called prophets. Therefore, we know that in these last 1,260 days two mighty prophets or teachers will appear as a comfort to the faithful; and these prophets will possess a special power to perform miracles, much like Moses and Elias, in order to resist the god of the earth, that is, the beast who rules the entire earth. The that pours forth from their mouth is the power of their spirit, which nothing can resist, as was promised to the disciples of Christ in Luke 21, verse 15. In the days when they prophesied, they, too, had the power to close the heavens, so that it would not rain, as in the time of Elijah (see 1 Kings 17, verse 1), to turn water to blood, as Moses and Aaron did (see Exodus 7, verse 2), or to strike the with every kind of plague, as often as they wished, as Moses and Aaron also had done (see Exodus 7 to 12).

PART 32

After the two witnesses have done all this, the beast will arise out of the abyss (that is, the Antichrist with his kingdom), challenge them to battle, defeat them (they will be taken to Babel and turned over to the Office of the Inquisition), and kill them. Verse 8 says that their corpses will lie on the street of the great city called Sodom, or Egypt in allegory, that is 80, 50, 30, 1 or , which means “fable”, when the Dagesch is taken from the first?, that is, “tale of lies.” It was here that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified in the faithful members of His true Church, that is, in the countless martyrs and blood-witnesses who were killed there (see verse 9). For three and a half days men from every nation and tribe (from all the peoples who regularly make a pilgrimage to Babel to worship the beast) will look at the corpses. Many scholars have interpreted these three and a half days as representing the three and a half years of the ordeal that shall befall the earth. But this cannot be the case. Rather, these three and a half days can only be considered together with the two prophets and can only represent three and a half natural days as understood in Scripture and by modern astronomers. That is, a day begins at noon and ends at noon of the following day. When Scripture says “it became evening,” it means between noon and midnight. And when Scripture says “morning came,” it means between midnight and noon. If we were to take away the three full days, then only a half-day would remain, beginning at noon and ending at midnight. That is the point of completion, according to the words of Christ in Matthew 25, verse 6. At midnight, however, there was a cry, “Look, the bridegroom is coming. Go meet him!”

PART 33

After the beast kills the two prophets he will not allow them to be buried, but will use their corpses for entertainment by leaving them on the streets of the city for all to see (see verses 9 and 10). And all men on earth will laugh at them, celebrate and give one another gifts, for these two prophets had tormented these people (that is, the beast and his kingdom). But after these three and a half days the spirit of life from God entered into their bodies and they got up on their feet, and a great terror seized those who witnessed it (see verse 11). Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, as witness by their enemies. This recounts the basic details of what will happen to the two prophets without any embellishment, how they will be awakened by God and brought to heaven by Christ, which will be misunderstood by the subjects of the Antichrist as a simple act of magic.

PART 34

In the thirteenth verse John continues by saying (after the two prophets ascended into heaven in a cloud), “At that same moment there was a violent earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake.” Thus, as soon as the two prophets enter into heaven, judgment will begin and through the earthquake a tenth of the city will be destroyed, but not only the city, where the beast has his seat and throne, but also the entire land of Babel. (See Isaiah 13, especially verses 6 to 13, as well as the entire fourteenth chapter, and Isaiah 47, verse 3, “I will take vengeance, I will treat with none of you.” See also verses 9 to 11.) The seven thousand people who were killed in the earthquake suggest a far greater number than just seven thousand. We can perhaps better understand this by looking at the words of the Lord to Elijah on Mount Horeb in the first book of Kings 19, verse 18, “But I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all who have not bent the knee to Baal.” In first book of Kings 18, verse 39 we read, “When all the people saw [the fire of the Lord], they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord is God! The Lord is God!’”, although no mention of a repentance and change of heart is mentioned here. Revelation 11, verse 14 notes, “The second woe has now passed. But the third is soon to come.”

PART 35

We will now direct our attention to Revelation 11, from verse 15 to the end of the chapter. Since this includes the seventh and last trumpet blast, the reader should consult Revelation 10, verse 7. Also, having discussed the secret that God announced to his servants, the prophets, that was to be fulfilled in the days when the voice of the seventh angel would cry out and his trumpet would sound, we will leave aside the remaining part of this chapter for now, until we have first discussed a few points from the later chapters. Let us begin then with Revelation 12, which contains many profound mysteries. However, it is not within our power to speak about these mysteries in any detail, especially since the true children of God are not yet spiritually mature enough in all parts of the world to digest this difficult food. If we nevertheless were to discuss these mysteries anyway, we would be decried as the greatest heretics of all time, especially since we would show who the woman is in this chapter, who is robed with the sun, who has the beneath her feet and is crowned with twelve stars on her head. We can assure the reader most honestly that we have never seen even a word written by anyone, even scholars, about this wonderful secret. Those who have taken note in Scripture of the fact that Ruach (the Holy Spirit) in this verse is written in the standard text as in genere fœminino, will already have an inkling of its true meaning. Verse 2 says, “She was pregnant, and in the anguish of her labor she cried out to be delivered.” Here we see the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of our Savior, as a special holy example of a lofty and profound mystery. She gave birth to Christ, the Good Shepherd, and bore in Him all the sheep of His true flock, that is, all the truly faithful from the beginning of the world until the end. The seeker of eternal truth should lift his mind and spirit in heavenly contemplation of this thought, until after us someone else will be permitted to write clearly and completely about this mystery. In the meantime, we can contemplate the words of Luke 1, verse 35 in the hope that the light concealed in the depths of this mystery might shine forth.

PART 36

Revelation 13, verse 3 tells us that another sign appeared in the heavens, a great red dragon with seven heads (the seven mysteries of evil: Gaixciohxq Szeitfzyaqxibhzuo) and ten horns, and on its seven heads were seven diadems. In chapter 5 of this volume we extensively explained who this dragon is. However, the meaning of the seven heads, ten horns and seven diadems is explained to Saint John by the angel in Revelation 17. He speaks of the great whore who is the beast of Revelation 12, verse 1, the essential image of the dragon; and in Revelation 13, verse 4 the dragon gives his power and authority to the beast or great whore. But let us continue. Verse 4 says of the dragon, “With his tail he swept down a third of the in the sky and flung them to the earth.”

This foretelling of the arrival of Christ in the flesh, of the most holy incarnation of Christ the Messiah, was used by the devil to afflict a large number of Jewish clerics of the Old Testament with the greatest blindness and misunderstanding. They ignored the fact that the prophet Daniel had most clearly foretold the year and the day of the Messiah's arrival, as well as the end-times of the New Testament, when a third of the teachers would fail the great test. Verse 4 continues, “The drag on stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when her child was born, he might devour it.” Once again, we will bypass the mysterious aspect of this passage. Instead, we will point out that the devil is portrayed here like a terrifying lion, lying in wait for his prey, the Christ-child; he thought that he could immediately ruin the child when he was born in the flesh. Because the power of God in his holy angels stood in the way of the devil's plan, the latter tried to complete his plan through Herod the Great, who then forced Christ the Lord to flee to Egypt. Just how much the birth of Christ weakened Satan's powers is evident in the facts (1) that he could not even tell his servant, Herod, when and where Christ was born, (2) that he could not tell Herod when or to where Christ fled into Egypt and (3) that Satan himself did not know that Christ was no longer in Israel at that time and thus incited Herod to the horrible mass murder of the innocent children, in the hope that Christ would be among the slaughtered children.

PART 37

Revelation 12, verse 5 says, “She gave birth to a male son, who is destined to rule all nations with an iron rod.” It cannot be contested that this refers to Christ and his holy incarnation, as Scripture clearly shows. The text continues, “But her child was snatched up to God and his throne” (after Christ completed his Passion and ascended into heaven, according to the words of Isaiah 43, “He has been spared fear and judgment. Who would negotiate the length of his life?”) Verse 6 says, “The woman herself fled into the wilds, where she had a place prepared for her by God, there to be sustained for twelve hundred and sixty days.” The woman here is a mirror-image of the heavenly bride, of whom we will say more later. The woman in this passage represents the general invisible Church, while the desert represents the world. The place prepared by God represents the special protection provided by God against the devil and the Antichrist. However, the 1,260 days in which the Church is nurtured, that is, protected in its vulnerable youth against the devil and the Antichrist, represent the half-week mentioned in Daniel 9, verse 27 in which the sacrifice of slaughtered animals or food was abolished. Three and a half years equal 1,267 and one-half days in which the young Church was supported and nurtured, that is, protected so that it might grow. After this time the persecution of the Churches began and grew with each passing day, and would not end until the end-times had come. Therefore, these 1,260 days must be understood in two ways: (1) in the manner described above and (2) in terms of the end-times (that is, the hour of the ordeal that will test the entire world) in which the true Church will nevertheless be preserved and nurtured in the desert, that is, the world.

PART 38

Revelation 12, verse 7 says, “Then war broke out in heaven.” This verse must be read in conjunction with verse 5, as our explanation in chapter 5, part 2 of this volume shows, and thus need not be repeated here. Verses 13 and 14 state, “When the dragon found that he had been thrown down to the earth, he went in pursuit of the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given two great eagle's wings, to fly to the place in the wilds where for three and a half years she was to be sustained, out of reach of the serpent.” These verses are a repetition of verse 6, which was explained earlier in this chapter. The two eaglelike wings represent the powerful protection of Christ and his spirit in the desert, that is, in this world. Verses 15 and 16 refer to a longer persecution by heretics and powerful tyrants as a hellish flood which will swallow the earth little by little through death, heresy and tyranny. “Then the dragon grew furious with the woman and went off to wage war on the rest of her offspring.” This clearly refers to the terrible persecution of the true Church, the remainder of the woman's offspring, until the end of the world. Verse 18 states, “He took his stand on the seashore.” Revelation 13 illuminates this reference by stating that the great city of Babel lies close to the sea and was built on its beaches.

PART 39

Revelation 13, verse 1, “Then out of the sea I saw a beast rising…” (this occurs after the dragon has gone to the sea in order to fight the offspring of the woman) “…out of the abyss” (Revelation 17, verse 8). That is, it was awakened by Satan to perform a task for him. The waters are called the oceans and they represent all the peoples and populations, nations and languages of the world, from whom the beast or Antichrist will arise and over whom it will assume power. It has seven heads and ten horns and on the ten horns were ten diadems, and on each of the heads a name of blasphemy. In Revelation 12 the dragon was also described as having seven heads and ten horns with seven diadems on the heads. The beast, on the other hand, has diadems on its ten horns with ten blasphemous names on them, whereas the dragon only has seven blasphemous names on his. Since this mystery will be explained in Revelation 17, we will wait until later to describe it, so that we will not have to repeat ourselves so often. If we closely consider the mystery of the seven and ten diadems, we will easily recognize the two children of the beast, Muhammad and the Antichrist. Verse 12 says, “The beast I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear's and its mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon conferred upon it his power and rule and great authority.” In order to understand this passage we must refer to Daniel 7 in which Daniel is shown four tyrants or powerful empires in the form of four animals: a lion, a bear, a leopard and a terrifyingly strong beast with large iron teeth. Those images in Daniel were a true foretelling of the beast or Antichrist, in whom all violence, tyranny and horror comes together, that the dragon has perpetrated against all the peoples, tribes, nations and cultures of the world. This is why the beast is described as the four terrible animals of Daniel, that is, like a leopard with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion; the power, rule and might given to it by the dragon are like the fourth animal described in Daniel 7, verses 7 and 19. We cannot help but remember at this point the great error that many make in their interpretation of this chapter of Daniel, by saying that this fourth animal represents only the Roman Empire, even though verse 23 clearly says the fourth animal represents the fourth empire on earth, which will be different than all other empires (that is, it will consist of a mixture of worldly and spiritual power), and which will devour, oppress and crush the entire world. That the beast or Antichrist rules the highest and most powerful empire on earth, before which all the kings of the earth have paid homage, and still do today, certainly requires no proof, since it is known throughout the world that its might and authority touches all parts of the , and since it can appoint, murder, oppress, rob and depose kings and replace them with tyrants, as it wishes; in summation, it consumes everything, and what it does not consume in its Sodomite abbeys, it crushes with its terrifying claws.

PART 40

In the twenty-fourth verse of the same chapter the ten horns are explained to Daniel. He learns that ten kingdoms will appear from one empire (the Roman Empire, which was and no longer is and yet, is still here—to paraphrase Revelation 17, verse 8. The Church of Rome is in fact the beast itself, yet it rules an even greater expanse than the Roman Empire ever did, and has far greater power. We will say more on this later). In verse 24 Daniel continues and says, “After them another king shall arise, differing from his predecessors; and he shall bring low three kings.” This refers to the Laodicean period of the Church and the time of the ordeal that will test the entire world, as verse 25 of Daniel 7 makes clear, “He shall hurl defiance at the Most High and shall wear down the saints of the Most High. He shall plan to alter the customary times and law; and the saints shall be delivered into his power for a time and times and half a time.” Anyone who can recognize the truth will agree that all this refers to the beast or the Antichrist who will rage in the time of the ordeal and try to raise himself above God and all that is God's. This, then, should be enough about the references to the horrible beast from the Book of Daniel.

Let us now return to Revelation 13 and what it has to say about the beast. It has been within the Church since the beginning of the world. However, only with the emperor's assassin Phoca did it reach its highest power and sit upon the throne of the dragon. Verse 13 says, “And I saw that one of its heads appeared mortally wounded.” This wound was inflicted on the beast in part through the Reformation of the sixteenth century, but the wound has since healed, since the Babylonian horror of the pre-Reformation period has reestablished itself The wound, however, foreshadowed another more serious one, as the following will show.

PART 41

The aforementioned verse states further, “But its wound healed and all the earth marveled at this and thus followed the beast.” From this, it appears that the beast will be powerfully suppressed by an earthly power before the final forty-two months, as noted at the end of verse 14, “it deluded the inhabitants of the earth and made them erect an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword.” This passage indicates that the beast, through its own deceitfulness, as well as that of its followers, not only recovered from its wound, but will rise even higher than ever in respect, power and magnificence and will try to extinguish the light of the Gospels. Verse 4 notes, “And they worshiped the dragon who had given power to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and said: ‘Who is the equal of the beast? Who can fight against it?’” Verse 5 continues about the lordliness, might and authority of the beast, “It was given the right to reign for forty-two months.” Verse 9 says, “Hear, you who have ears to hear!” That is, we should take note of this terrifying description of the beast and its devilish authority, might and blasphemy. It will blaspheme God, his name (Christ), his holy city (the heavenly Jerusalem, which is mocked by worldly men and pseudo-Christians of the Church), and all those in heaven, that is, all the martyrs and witnesses for Christ. Saint Paul describes this terrible beast quite clearly in 2 Thessolonians 2, verse 3 to 11, which the reader can consult. Verse 7 states, “It was also allowed to wage war on God's people (the truly faithful on earth) and to defeat them, and was granted authority over every tribe and people, language and nation” (that is, all the peoples of the earth). Verse 8 continues, “Therefore, all those on earth worshiped it, that is, those whose names had not been recorded in the Book of Life of the Lamb (NB!) from the creation of the world.” In verse 10 the true children of God are warned not to defend the truth with the sword, as was the way of the world, for it is written, “Whoever takes the sword to kill, by the sword he is bound to be killed.” Rather, it is through the patience and faith of the saints alone that we shall overcome.

In verse 11 Saint John says, “Afterwards I saw another beast rise up out of the earth” (after the one who had assumed the highest power and authority of the dragon) “and it had two horns, like a lamb's, but spoke like the dragon.” The first terrible and powerful beast that possesses the power and might of the dragon was said to rise up out of the sea, as a way of contrasting it with the second beast, which will arise from the ranks of its earthly-oriented pleasure-seeking servants, and will have a special authority in the empire of the Antichrist. This is the false prophet of the beast, mentioned in Revelation 10 and whose name (NB!) is Abbadon or Apollyon (see Revelation 9, verse 11 and part 14 above). These servants of the beast are especially well versed in the antiquated Scholastic philosophy and theology and similar Sophistic disciplines, and become more adept in them with each passing day, until the time comes when the second beast (the false prophet) will arise out of the earth in the person of a certain individual.

PART 42

This second beast from the earth is portrayed with two horns, like a sheep (the two horns representing the Law and the Gospel). Through its hypocrisy and false holiness, and through its supposed spiritual and worldly wisdom it will resemble a lamb on the surface. But in fact it will speak like the dragon and its devilish skill and power will become evident, as we see in the following passage of verses 12 to 15, “It wielded all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. It worked great miracles, even making come down from heaven to earth before men's eyes” (through the workings of the devil. In this there had never been anyone like the beast, nor would there be afterward). “By the miracles it was allowed to perform in the presence of the beast it deluded the inhabitants of the' earth, and made them erect an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived” (like the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3). “And the false prophet was allowed” (by the devil) “to give breath to the image of the beast” (a spirit of hell or a devil was placed in the image) “so that it could speak” (like an oracle of the ancient pagans) “and caused all who would not worship the image to be put to death” (see Daniel 3, verse 20).

PART 43

Revelation 13, verse 16 continues, “It caused everyone, great and small, rich and poor, slave and free, to be branded with a mark on his right hand or forehead.” We find this mark of the beast symbolized in Babel. However, the sign by which God's children will recognize the children of the Whore of Babylon will be quite different. Verse 17 states, “No one was allowed to buy or sell unless he bore the beast's mark, either name or number.” Apart from those with the mark of the beast, no one will be free to do as they wish, especially in spiritual or Church matters, which will place the children of God in a very difficult position (see verse 18). For more on the name of the false prophet and its explanation, see chapter 5 of this volume, parts 5 and 6.

PART 44

In Revelation 14 we find a number of interesting things, one of them being the glorious circumstances of the blessed departed from among the faithful numbering 144,000, as noted in Revelation 7. Because they were part of the first Church, created in the first of holy and perfect love, they are referred to in verse 5 in this manner, “ransomed as the first fruits of humanity for God and the Lamb.” And Saint John heard a glorious and majestic voice coming from them, which was like the sound of a harp, resounding in a new song (unknown to the living, who know only the lesser songs of men), before the throne of the glory of God and before the four living creatures (from whom emanate the wondrous powers of the throne to all the upper worlds and which can be found in our lower world in the elements) as well as the elders. For more on this, see chapter 5, part 13 of this volume.

PART 45

John then sees in verse 6 an angel flying through the heavens who had an eternal Gospel to proclaim to all those on earth, all the nations, tribes, peoples and cultures, so that no one would be excluded. And this good news was that of the perfect redemption of Jesus Christ, meant for all Creation for all eternity (see also Daniel 9, verse 24 and Hebrews 9, verse 12). The angel announced his message with a strong voice, so that it might be heard everywhere, “Fear God and pay him homage, for the time of judgment is approaching.” We see from these words that before this final judgment the door to the mercy of the Living God would still be open. (Although the angel had proclaimed the hope of redemption for all eternity through the Gospel, he also warns of the terrible judgment of the Living God to come, as we reported in the first volume on salt, and also in this volume on , and in particular chapter 7.)

“Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the water-springs!” This proclamation will occur before the fall of Babel, as the text reveals, and is part of the final period. Verse 9 says, “And a second angel followed the first and said, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!’” This is a consoling proclamation to the faithful that Babel has been judged. Thereupon follows a third angel, which warns against the worship of the beast (after the wound is healed—see Revelation 13, verse 4), so that no one be condemned to the fiery pit (see verses 10 and 11). In verse 12 the angel confirms that patience and faith in Jesus are necessary, as was also noted in Revelation 13, verse 10. In verse 13 John hears a voice from heaven that says to him, “Happy are the dead who die in the faith of Christ! Henceforth…” (that is, from the moment of their death), “…says the spirit, they may rest from their labors; for they take with them the record of their deeds.” More on this can be found in the first volume on .

Verse 14 to the end of the chapter reports that Christ the Lord will appear in a white cloud (some are of the mistaken impression that it is an angel in the image of Christ, because the following verse says “another angel,” etc). A similar phrasing can be found in verses 6, 8 and 9, but verse 14 differs in that Christ Himself appears on the white cloud to announce the great war against the beast and the great whore of Babylon. This will be explained in Revelation 17, verses 15 to 18, and so we will leave our discussion of this topic for later.

PART 46

Revelation 15 shows the seven angels with the seven final plagues, that all occur in the last period. This chapter begins in verses 1 to 4, “Then I saw another great and astonishing portent in heaven: seven angels with seven plagues, the last plagues of all, for with them the wrath of God is consummated. I saw what seemed a sea of glass shot with , and beside the see of glass were those who had won the victory over the beast and its image…” (the same image that Sadrach, Mesach and Abednego had not worshiped in Daniel 3, verse 12) “…its mark…” (which they had never accepted, as the hypocrites did) “…namely, the number of its name.” Through this mark of the beast its followers could be recognized, much like a branded horse. Those who had rejected the mark of the beast “were standing at the glassy sea with harps that God had given them” (that is, a fiery urge to love and praise divine majesty and glory, given them by the Holy Spirit). “They were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (that is, not hymns composed by men, which are usually a half-mile long and crammed full of strange contrivances, such that they are closer to a misuse of God's name than true praise). The song of Moses and of the Lamb are quite short, yet full of majestically powerful words, such as the following example: “Great and marvelous are thy deeds, O Lord God, sovereign over all; just and true are thy ways, thou king of the ages. Who shall not revere thee, Lord, and do homage to thy name. For thou alone art holy. All nations shall come and worship in thy presence, for thy just dealings stand revealed.” Thus, the prayer formulas here, which ask God for something, are quite short, and reminiscent of Luke 15, verse 21, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son”; and Luke 18, verse 13, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” These short formulations are all that is required, that is, a soul that is truly moved and feeling, and not some vulgar, formulaic prayer, like the tortured, vulgar forms of the Pietists, who often repeat the most holy name of Jesus in their prayers and songs unnecessarily in the same verse. God knows, however, in what manner and how humbly we pray.

PART 47

In verse 5 John sees that the sanctuary of the heavenly Tent of Testimony had been opened and that the seven angels with the aforementioned seven plagues have proceeded out of the sanctuary, cloaked in great magnificence (see verse 6). Verse 7 then relates that one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls (a reference to the fairness of God's justice) filled with the wrath of God. After this, the sanctuary filled with the smoke of God's glory and power, so that no one could enter it until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. The reader should note well that this was done so that no sighs, cries or pleas for mercy from those marked by the beast could penetrate the sanctuary to God, nor any intercessions for them, until his just and holy judgment was complete.

PART 48

In Revelation 16 John recounts the seven final plagues in the order in which they occur in the three and a half years of the final period, as was noted in verse one of Revelation 15. Through these plagues the justice of God was fulfilled. For this reason the plagues were clearly set to take place in the final period (see verse 1). The loud voice coming out of the sanctuary commanding the seven angels is the voice of the Almighty (see verse 2).

The first plague caused terrible ulcers on the skin of the people where the mark of the beast was, whom they worshiped. It was similar to one of the plagues of Egypt, when the Almighty Lord wanted to lead his people Israel out of slavery to glorious freedom in the land of Canaan, a symbol of their heavenly home (see verse 3). The second plague will turn the sea bloodred, like the blood of a dead person (something particularly abhorrent), which will kill off all of the fish therein (see figure 13), which itself will cause a particularly horrible smell (see verse 4). The plague of the third angel will turn the water of all the rivers and springs into blood, whereby the followers of the beast will be tortured by unspeakable thirst, like the Egyptians, who vainly dug everywhere looking for water (see verse 5). Then, John heard (NB!) the angel of the waters say, “Lord! You are just in these thy judgments, thou Holy One who art and wast; for they shed the blood of thy people and of thy prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are deserving of this. And I heard another angel cry out from the altar: ‘Yes, Lord God sovereign over all, true and just are thy judgments!' The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun; and it was allowed to burn men with its . They were terribly burned, but they only cursed the name of God who had the power to inflict such plagues, and they refused to repent or do him homage” (because the false prophet will delude them with the signs and miracles mentioned earlier, as Jannes and Jambes had done for the Egyptians). “The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony, but they only cursed the God of heaven for their sores and pains, and would not repent of what they had done.” The beast and its followers will be particularly struck by this plague and suffer a great blow. However, they will still not repent (see verse 21). Then, the sixth angel will pour out his bowl into the great river Euphrates and the waters of this river will dry up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the East.

PART 49

This twelfth verse in Revelation 16 requires a somewhat more detailed interpretation. As we noted earlier, all the nations, together with all of Israel, would be converted before the second coming of Christ. To presume that all this would take place in one part of the world in a certain church or congregation, would be foolish. The reader should remember from the second book of Kings that Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, led the ten tribes of Israel away into slavery, and many scholars maintain that he sent them over the Volga River to the lands of Casan and Astracan. The second book of Esdras 13, verses 39 to 47 says of these tribes, “Then you saw him collecting a different company, a peaceful one. They are the ten tribes which were taken off into exile in the time of King Hoshea, whom Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, took prisoner. He deported them beyond the river, and they were taken away into a strange country.” (This river is the Volga, as we mentioned earlier. That it was not the Euphrates is clear by the tradition that they were sent into Tartar territory.) “But then they resolved to leave the country and go into a distant land never yet inhabited by man, there at last to be obedient to their laws, which in their own country they had failed to keep.” (This distant land refers to Mongolia) “As they passed through the narrow passages of the Euphrates…” (over the great river Oby, approximately where it arises from its source, or at a spot where it narrows) “…the Most High performed miracles for them, stopping up the channels of the river until they had crossed over. Their journey through that land was long and took a year and a half…” (this is not hard to imagine, since it was so far away through wild, rough and desolate terrain and with their wives and children and all their belongings with them) “…and the land was called Azareth” (or Mongolia, as mentioned above. Even today in this land one can find many tribes whose names and customs are reminiscent of their Israelite ancestors, and which continue to this day). “They have lived there ever since, until this final age. Now they are on their way back, and once more the Most High will stop the channels of the river to let them cross. That is the meaning of the peaceful assembly that you saw.” The prophet Jeremiah appears also to speak of the ten tribes when he says in chapter 16, verses 13 to 15, “So I will fling you headlong out of this land into a country unknown to you and to your forefathers; there you can serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor. Therefore, says the Lord, the time is coming when men shall no longer swear ‘By the life of the Lord who brought Israel up out of Egypt,’ but ‘By the life of the Lord who brought the Israelites back from a northern land and from all the lands to which he had dispensed them”’ (namely, from the lands of the Tartars, the Jewish land of the north). “And I will bring them back to the soil which I gave their forefathers. I will send for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall fish for them.” (This refers to the apostles, who will proclaim the Gospel.) “After that I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them out from every mountain and hill and from the crevices in the rocks.” (This refers to the time when Israel will be converted.)

PART 50

From the preceding material we can see (1) that the great Euphrates River is really the Oby River and (2) who the kings from the East really are. They are, in fact, the ten tribes of Israel taken into captivity by Shalmaneser, who will be converted to Christ in their new home. John then continues in Revelation 16, verse 13 to tell of another occurrence during the plague of the sixth angel, “Then I saw coming from the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, and the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs” (who love nothing better than mud, dirt and filth; they are elemental devils, that is, devils with physical bodies that reside in certain men). “These spirits were devils, with power to work miracles. They were sent out to muster all the kings of the world for the great battle with God, the sovereign Lord” (see also Revelation 17, verse 14; Revelation 19, verse 19 and Revelation 20, verse 9). In verse 15 the voice of Christ is also heard with the warning, “That is the day when I come like a thief! Happy the man who stays awake and remains dressed, so that he will not have to go naked and ashamed for all to see!” (that is, without true faith and pure love of Jesus Christ). “So [the three foul spirits] assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew Armageddon. Then the seventh angel poured his bowl out into the air; and out of the sanctuary came a loud voice from the throne, which said: ‘It is over!’” (that is, the last of the plagues was completed).

In the remaining verses of this chapter we read about the terrifying signs of the end: the fall of Babel, and the terrible plague of hail, which will cause the followers of the beast to blaspheme God. None of these plagues, however, will touch the children of God in any way, much as the children of Israel in the land of Goshen were spared the Egyptian plagues. The total collapse of Babel, as well as the fall of the beast and his false prophet, are revealed to Saint John more clearly and in greater detail in verses 17 to 19.

PART 51

The judgment of the great whore is first described in Revelation 17. In verses 1 to 6 an angel comes to John when the seven plagues are finished and says to him, “Then one of the seven angels that held the seven bowls came and spoke to me and said, ‘Come, and I will show you the judgment on the great whore, enthroned above the ocean…’” (and who rules over all people nations and tongues, who worship her image). “‘…The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and on the wine of her fornication…’” (that is, the terrible filth of her teachings) “‘…men all over the world have made themselves drunk.’ In the spirit he carried me away to the desert…” (that is, the ruined world, which is called a desert here because of all of the horror it contains) “…and there I saw a woman…” (the Antichristian Jezebel, who introduced the Canaanite idol-worship into the Church and taught the people to eat the food offered as sacrifice to the idols and to commit spiritual as well as physical fornication, including sodomy) “…mounted on a scarlet beast…” (the supports of the beast, who support, carry and preserve his throne, namely those who are cloaked in scarlet. For their names, see Figure 14.) “…which was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet and wore jewelry of gold and jewels and pearls…” (since this clothing clearly shows the kingly grandeur, we need not elaborate any further on this). “In her hand she held a gold cup…” (meaning, that this Jezebel presents her horrors to all the world disguised with external splendor and feigned holiness, just as a clever doctor can disguise a bitter pill with a sweet coating, so that the poor invalid will swallow it) “…full of obscenities and the foulness of her fornication. And written on her forehead was a name with a secret meaning:…” (that is, the number 666; see chapter 5, part 6 of this volume) “…‘Babylon the great, the mother of whores and of every obscenity on earth.’ (It is well known that this Babylon, both in ancient pagan times and in today's ruined Christianity, is the source of all idol-worship, shame and vice.) “The woman, I noticed, was drunk with the blood of God's people and with the blood of those who had borne their testimony to Jesus.” (In no other kingdom on earth has more blood of the faithful been spilled as in today's Babylon; see Daniel 7, verses 7 to 23.) “As I looked at her I was greatly astonished.”

PART 52

This astonishment is tempered through the angel's explanation in verse 8, “The beast that you see, is he who once was alive, and is alive no longer…” (that is, Rome under the pagan emperors) “…but has yet to ascend out of the abyss…” (see our explanation of Revelation 13 above) “…before going to perdition” (at the end of the forty-two months). Those on earth whose names have not been inscribed in the Book of the Living since the beginning of the world will be astonished to see the beast; for he was once alive, and is alive no longer…” (this represents the first pagan empire) “…although he is nonetheless” (because the beast possesses not only the power and authority of the former empire, but now has general authority and has incorporated all the pagan cruelty of the past into today's Church). Verse 9 continues, “But here is a clue for those who can interpret it. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.” (This can be interpreted literally from the great or which has seven hills, and secondly, it can be interpreted mystically, as verse 10 clearly shows.) “They represent also seven kings, of whom five have already fallen.” The great empires of the present world, who follow the beast, will suffer a great blow at the end, namely that they will be combined to one great empire through the might of the beast, and eventually seven kings will rule; at first five, and then after they have fallen, a sixth. Therefore, Scripture says: “One is now reigning, and the other has yet to come; and when he does come he is only to last for a little while.” (Because it has taken over all the power of the earth, it will not let this king reign for long.) Verse 11 says, “As for the beast that once was alive and is alive no longer, he is the eighth—and yet he is one of the seven, and he is going to perdition.” Verse 12 continues, “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet begun to reign…” (the unified kingdom of the beast will divide again, after the seven kings, into ten kingdoms) “…but who for one hour are to share with the beast the exercise of royal authority.” (These kingdoms will arise in the end times among all the peoples, cultures and tongues of the earth and will be powerful empires.) Ezekiel 38 indicates who these ten kings represent in a symbolic sense, namely the Persians, the Moors, the armies of Put, as well as those of Gomer and the house of Beth-thogarma with its hordes from the north. Gog in the land of Magog, the highest prince in Meshech and Tubal, is actually the beast, while the whore Jezebel is the highest authority among the worldly and religious professions. Their authority will last only for a short time and they will be received like kings with the beast (in the hour of the ordeal that will test the whole earth). The kings follow the teachings of the beast and give their power and authority over to it, acting as its vice-regents over all the nations, as the following verse clearly shows. In Daniel 2, verses 40 to 43 the prophet speaks about the kingdom of the great whore Jezebel. And regarding the end of the empire of the beast he says in verse 44, “In the period of those kings the God of heaven will establish a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; that kingdom shall never pass to another people. It shall shatter and make an end of all these kingdoms, while it shall itself endure forever.” (This kingdom refers to the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ, after which incomprehensible eternity will begin.)

PART 53

Revelation 17, verse 14 notes that these kingdoms will wage war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will prevail. This will occur at the end of the forty-two months, when the great whore will be destroyed, “for he is Lord of Lords and King of kings, and his victory will be shared by his followers, called and chosen and faithful.” The angel then says to John in verses 16 to 18, “The you saw, where the great whore sat, is an ocean of peoples and populations, nations and languages.” (This has already been explained.) “As for the ten horns you saw, they [the ten kings], together with the beast, will come to hate the whore; they will strip her naked and leave her desolate, and they will eat her flesh and burn her to ashes. For God has put it into their heads to carry out his purpose…” (That is, he opened their eyes, so that they will recognize the deceit of this beguiling Jezebel; they will do his will and will have only one opinion and one purpose among them, unlike contemporary alliances among kings, where each has his own purpose.) “…by making common cause and conferring their sovereignty upon the beast until all that God has spoken is fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city…” (see figure 15 on page 306 for its name) “…that holds sway over the kings of the earth” (that is, the Antichrist in all his perfection). Although the beast has already begun to rule in all denominations of Christianity, at that time he will assume a very different sovereign might and authority.

PART 54

We now come to Revelation 18, in which the destruction and fall of Babel are portrayed in detail to Saint John. In verse 1 John sees the angel wielding great power, whose splendor illuminated the earth. This same angel announced in a loud voice in verse 2 the fall of the great city of Babel and that this city had become a place of devils and of impure spirits, as well as of impure and wicked creatures of all kinds (see Isaiah 13 and 34). Verse 3 relates the causes of the destruction of Babel and in verse 4 the faithful are warned to leave the city, so that they will not have to suffer from the plagues that are about to befall it. In verse 5 the sins of Babel are described as reaching into the heavens, while God has not forgotten her unjust deeds. Verses 6 and 7 remind the faithful of the revenge and retribution that will befall Babel at its fall, “As much as she has glorified herself and performed her fornication, so great shall her torment and suffering be.” This shows the just and proportionate judgment of the Living God. For the city of Babel says in its heart, “I am a queen on my throne! No mourning for me, no widow's weed. I will not suffer in the least.” Since up to that time this Jezebel was always successful at usurping God's place among men and all that was God's, therefore, “her plagues shall strike her in a single day—pestilence, bereavement, famine, and burning—for mighty is the Lord God, who has pronounced her doom!” From verses 9 to 19 the voice of the angel describes the lamentation of those kings who loved Babel the most and spiritually prostituted themselves to her, when they will see the smoke of their destruction and their judgment that will be fulfilled in one hour. “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her, because no one any longer buys their wares,” the splendor and magnificence of the priests and the adornment of their idolatrous temples of Babel. The listing of valuables and lamentation of this passage needs no further explanation.

PART 55

In verse 20 the angel rejoices about the just retribution toward Babel and cheers up the holy apostles and prophets because God has avenged their treatment at the hands of Babel. In verse 21 the quick fall of Babel is foreshadowed in the image of the millstone thrown into the sea by the angel, since both Babel and the millstone would never return again from the abyss. So too, all of Babel's magnificence would quickly disappear, since all the nations were seduced by its deceit, and since it had the blood of the prophets and all the martyrs on its hands (see verses 22 to 24).

PART 56

Revelation 19 begins with the rejoicing and singing of the saints and all the blessed souls in heaven, because of the judgment imposed on Babel, whose smoke of destruction will rise through eternity. The four living creatures and twenty-four elders also join in praise of this judgment. The glorious praise of Almighty God continues up to verse 7 which says, “Let us be merry and rejoice and let us pay homage to God, for the marriage of the Lamb has arrived and his bride has prepared herself for the feast.” Christ the Lord describes this wedding feast through the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins in Matthew 25 in this way, “The kingdom of heaven is like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bride and groom” (as it says in an old Syrian text, of which the evangelist Mark is said to be the author). Revelation 19, verses 8 and 9 state, “His bride has made herself ready, and for her dress she has been given fine linen, clean and shining.” (The fine linen represents here the righteous deeds of the God's people.) “Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: “Happy are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb!’” And he added, ‘These are the very words of God.’”

PART 57

Before we continue with Revelation 19 we want to further discuss the image of the kingdom of heaven and the ten virgins with their lamps, because it is germane to our topic here. Because it is so full of extraordinary mysteries, it could fill its own book, although we cannot go into it in much detail here. Rather, we will try to be short and only point out those things that are useful to our discussion.

With his parable of the ten virgins Christ was referring to the end-times shortly before his second coming. The wedding feast represents the thousand-year reign of Christ (see Revelation 20). The description of the five wise and five foolish virgins describes perfectly the final circumstances of the Church. Thus, half of the Church will be wise because of the conversion of Israel and the heathens, that is, these will become upstanding faithful members of the Church and true lovers of Christ. The other half, however, will be foolish, that is, they will appear to be good Christians on the surface and even better than the faithful. Indeed, they will be able to join the Pharasees in saying, “O God, I thank you that I am not like the others, thieves, unjust men, adulterers and tax-collectors, that is, common sinners. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all that I have to charity.” We see on the surface only holiness in word and deed from them; they will diligently pray, sing, attend services at the times appointed by the visible Church, and whatever else belongs to this superficial piety, and take part in whatever is gradually contrived by man in the stone Churches. Therefore, all those who live in the works of the flesh (as Saint Paul describes it in Galatians 5, verse 19) will be called above all others “virgins,” because they have filled their lamps with the justice of their superficial deeds, rather than with the justice of the faith through the love of Jesus Christ. At that time, the one half will be composed of the truly faithful (not including, of course, the followers of the Antichrist), and the other half of the pseudo-faithful who, despite their choice, will try to join the faithful at the wedding feast of the Lamb. For Christ said that all ten took their lamps in order to be ready for the wedding feast.

PART 58

Scripture continues by saying that the foolish virgins took their lamps, but did not take along oil for the lamps. The wise virgins, however, brought along oil in their storage containers for their lamps. We should not forget that both the wise and the foolish virgins took their lamps with them. However, the foolish ones forgot the oil and the container to store the oil. This is meant to show that even the pseudo-Christians (the foolish virgins) would be happy to attend the wedding feast just like the wise ones. However, the foolish ones forget that a true inner faith, turned into deeds by an honest love, was the oil of the spirit, the essence of pure oil which was used in the lamps of the Holy of Holies in the temple. The wise virgins not only put this oil in their lamps, but also bring it along in their storage containers in order to refill their lamps, so that it not be lacking when the bridegroom arrives, at which time the hour of the terrible ordeal will come and the cry will be heard, “The Lord will soon arrive.” Of this light of faith Christ says in Matthew 5, verse 16, “Let your light shine among your fellow men, so that, when they see the good you do, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 25, verse 5 notes, “As the bridegroom was late in coming, they all dozed off to sleep.” In the terrible distress of the hour of the ordeal both the wise and the foolish will slumber and pass away, that is, in the times of distress and of the absence of the Lord, their first passionate love of God will weaken, such that the steadfastness of their faith and love will decline.

PART 59

Verse 6 continues, “At midnight they heard a voice crying out.” (We have already alluded to the meaning of midnight here; it represents the time when the power of darkness is at its greatest. Otherwise, because of how our system of day and night works, Christ would thus only be able to appear in one part of the world at that specific time.) The voice cried out “See! The bridegroom is coming. Go out and greet him!” (This voice addresses both the wise and the foolish, the living and the dead. However, the damned remain in their specific place, as do those in the place of waiting. These latter two groups will also hear the call, but may not come out for the duration of a thousand years. Rather, they must wait in that time of their purification through faith in Christ, until they may eventually all find their rest, so that at the Last Judgment they, too, may enter into the state of joy. More on this when we discuss Revelation 20.) Verse 7 continues, “The virgins all stood up and prepared their lamps.” That is, they all took very seriously their task at hand—signified by the fact that they all stood up—in the expectation of going into the wedding feast, or the kingdom of Christ. Verse 8 says, “The foolish virgins said to the wise ones, ‘Let us have some of your oil’…” (They say this only after they realize that they are missing the most important thing, the oil of the spirit, the inner balm.) “…for our lamps are going out” (In other words, we recognize what we lack and that our shallow faith and works are not sufficient to gain us entry into the wedding feast.) Verse 9 says, “The wise virgins answered, saying, ‘We cannot do that, or else we will both not have enough oil.’” They did not say this out of envy or disgust, but rather out of the wisdom of the just. They wanted to show that there was not enough time to divide the oil, since they had to be ready for the bridegroom's arrival at any moment. They also wanted to show that if they divided the oil, neither group would have enough. From this parable we can see the foolishness of those who teach that the saints and the faithful produce such an overabundance of good works that they can also be credited to others. These are the same fools who believe that you can purchase the remission of your sins from those who sell indulgences. (This criticism is not unfounded, since these fools are happy to be lied to by the peddlers of false holiness and hypocrisy, all the while ignoring the true thing that they need in order to fill their containers and lamps.) Those who sell indulgences are themselves sorely in need of the same. But now the time is approaching when the Lord will deal with these people, and all their money and indulgences will do them no good.

PART 60

Verse 10 states, “And when the foolish virgins went to buy oil, the bridegroom arrived and those who were prepared went with him into the wedding feast, and the door was locked behind them.” These are powerful words that illustrate how, after a grace period, Christ the Lord will close the door of his house and not open it again until the prescribed period (we purposely avoid the use of the word “time” here), no matter how much they wanted to be allowed into the wedding feast, like the foolish virgins. Verse 11 says, “Afterwards the foolish virgins returned and said, ‘Lord! Lord! Open up the door for us,’” (They had returned, having found neither oil nor an oil merchant, since the latter had already turned over to the rightful owner the talents entrusted to them. Or they perhaps experienced the same fate as the lazy and deceitful servant described in Matthew 25, verse 30, who had to give a reckoning for his greed.) Verse 12 notes, “The bridegroom answered, saying, ‘Amen, I say to you: I do not know you.’” He does not say to them “Go away from me, you accursed ones, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels” so as to show that they are not among the firstborn who are invited to the wedding of the Lamb and who will share in the kingly priesthood of God and Christ. Nevertheless, after the wedding feast and the thousand-year reign of Christ, they will find rest among the blessed. In the meantime, until the Last Judgment they will remain outside the door (they have not been turned away from that spot) and take their place among the ranks of those waiting until they are purified by their fearful anticipation and through their faith in Christ and his most holy blood, and have paid back the last penny of their debt (see Matthew 5, verse 26). Thus, we have briefly explained this parable not in the conventional theological manner, but through the secret cabbalistic and theosophical method. We took this approach so that the seeker of true wisdom would be able to distinguish between the foolish virgins, representing the shallowness of pseudo-Christians, and the wise virgins. An entire book could be written about the secret knowledge of this parable. Now, we must return to our original purpose of examining the text of Revelation.

PART 61

After telling us of the rejoicing in heaven, Saint John goes on to say in verse 10, “At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘No, do not do that! I am but a fellow-servant with you and your brothers who bear their testimony to Jesus. It is God you must worship. And those who bear testimony to Jesus are inspired like the prophets.” It appears that this verse refers to a magnificent angel from among the high throne angels who was seen by John before Christ and who committed this error. In verses 11 to 16 John also sees Christ the Lord as a triumphant King of kings and Lord of lords, clothed in a garment colored with his most holy blood and that of all the martyrs, which they had given for the sake of his name: and all will hear that his name is the Word of God. In verses 17 and 18 John sees an angel standing in the sun and calling out to all the birds of the earth to eat the fallen victims of the beast and the kings of the earth, after they have fought with the rider astride the horse (see verse 11) and with his army (see verse 19). This will all occur shortly—and quickly—before the coming of Christ, and this also is part of the cry recorded in Matthew 25, verse 6. Verse 20 continues, “The beast…” (the great whore, the magical Jezebel) “…was taken prisoner, and so was the false prophet who had worked miracles in its presence and deluded those that had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. And (NB!) the two of them were thrown alive into the pit of , that burns with .” (It is especially noteworthy that only these two, and otherwise no one from among the dead of the armies of the kings of the earth, who came to fight against the King of kings, were cast into the fiery pit.) Thus, the other dead must have gone to either Sheòl or Bor (the pit). The last verse of this chapter, verse 21, belongs together with verse 19 and does not require any further explanation.

PART 62

Until now we have tried to explain the chapters of Revelation as succinctly as possible. A seeker of divine secrets will recognize to his satisfaction, in which period or time each vision of Saint John belongs. We did not use specific units of time, such as years, days or hours (as many try in vain to do), since no man can know such things before the appointed time. And so we come now to the fulfillment of all time, to chapter 20, the third chapter from the end of the book of Revelation, which we discussed at some length in chapters 5 and 6 of this volume. Therefore, there is nothing more to add here except what we noted in this chapter about the secret of the heavenly kingdom and the ten virgins. Regarding those who have died from the beginning of the world until the coming of the kingdom of Christ, there is also not much more to add to our previous remarks, just that they are in large part in Sheòl and Bor in their respective circles (see the figure Mysterium Magnum on page 239) and will remain there until the Last Judgment. In the meantime, many will be cleansed and reach the front courtyard of the Lord, as we have noted previously. At the Last Judgment the remaining souls will find general happiness, while the damned will be cast into the fiery pit with the devil (see Revelation, verse 15).

PART 63

Afterward the seventh angel blew his trumpet and loud voices came from heaven (that is, from the saints in heaven), proclaiming, “The kingdoms of the earth belong to our Lord and his Anointed Ones. And he will reign for all eternity.” First Corinthians 15, verse 28 says “and thus God will be all in all.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell down and worshiped God, saying, “We thank you Almighty God, that the heathens rage and thy judgment has come upon them, and that the time has come for the dead to be judged and for thy servants to receive their reward.” In Revelation 15, verse 8 the sanctuary of God is filled with the smoke of God's glory and power, so that no prayer or cry could penetrate to God before the seven plagues were completed. Here (Revelation 19, verse 11), the sanctuary is opened again as a sign that after the completion of God's judgment, his eternal love and compassion for all creatures will eternally flow, as is symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant (for more on the temple, see below). “And lightning and voices and thunder and earthquakes occurred as well as a great hailstorm.” This is a repetition of the signs which will announce the coming of Christ.

It is also evident from Revelation 20 that there will still be godless men on earth during the thousand-year reign of Christ's kingdom, as verses 7 to 9 confirm. Where these godless men come from is easily explained and does not need to be elaborated upon here. Nevertheless, for the sake of the faithful we should give some explanation. Saint Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 17 refer to the end of the time before the thousand years when the Lord will appear. We also know from Scripture that Jerusalem and all the surrounding lands, both the converted Israel as well as all the other peoples (see Ezekiel 38, verses 11 and 12) will be in a state of great joy, as well as spiritual and bodily peace and rest, since in the interim the majority of the godless will also enjoy the external peace in all its fullness, according to Isaiah 2, verse 4, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-knives; nation shall not lift sword against nation, nor ever again be trained for war.” Only the witnesses of Christ and those who have died in the Lord shall be awakened and enter into the wedding feast of the Lamb, together with the five wise virgins (that is, those who were victorious in the hour of the ordeal through the true faith, which is active through love). They will be blessed with a special power from above and share in a wonderful communion with the Church triumphant in the heavenly Jerusalem, and they will be kings and priests of God and Christ, as a reflection of those who are already with Christ in heaven and sharing in the wedding feast of the Lamb. The foolish virgins among the peoples of the earth (see Revelation 19, verses 19 to 21) will go to a different place. We will not be more specific about this here, except to say that after the Last Judgment, which is described in the fourth chapter of this volume, the second death, which is the final enemy, will have domain over them. Paul says of this second death in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 24 to 28, “Then comes the end, when he will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father…” (when all judgment is complete), “…after abolishing every kind of domination, authority and power…” (in the kingdom of hell, as the following verses explain). “…For he is destined to reign until God has put all enemies under his feet; and the last enemy to be abolished is death” (that is, the second death, since at that time there will no longer be a hell, or devils or damned souls—for more see our first volume on ). Scripture says, “He has put all things in subjection under his feet.” It is obvious that this does not include the One who made all things subject to him. This verse and the one that follows often times present some confusion for the converted and for those who rely on reason to comprehend Scripture concerning the divine nature of Christ. We do not have the time here to present this matter in detail, but will save it for a later part of our work. Suffice it to say that Christ the Lord will conduct his role as mediator until through him all things have been made new and brought back to their original state, since through him all things were made (see Colossians 1). Therefore, all of Creation, as it originally stood, will return to the order from which it was torn by Lucifer. Then, the Son of Man, who came from the seed of the woman (see Genesis 3, verse 15), will hand over this new Creation to God the Father, and thus God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will be all in all. Zechariah 14, verse 9 says, “Then the Lord shall become king over all the ; on that day the Lord shall be one Lord and (NB!) his name the one name.” Further thoughts on the second death will be reserved for the third volume of this book.

PART 64

We must still explain in this chapter a bit more about the nature of the life and death of both the saints upon the mountains of Israel (see Ezekiel 38, verses 8, 11 and 12) as well as the godless ones in their places on the earth. This much is clear: during the time of Christ's reign on earth physical death will be no more, since after that time it is never referred to again in Sacred Scripture. Thus, those alive in this period will live to a very old age, as before the Flood, perhaps as long as a thousand years (that is, as long as the reign of Christ up to the Last Judgment). With regard to reproduction during that time we cannot say much, since Scripture says nothing about it at all for that period of time.

PART 65

In Revelation 21 John describes the new heaven and earth, since the first heaven and earth had passed away and the seas were no more. Many people believe that these things will occur with the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Christ. However, verse 4 shows that this opinion is incorrect. The text says, “Then I saw a new heaven and earth….” Piscator translates it as, “After that, I saw…,” that is, after the Last Judgment described in Revelation 20: “…a new heaven…” If you look at the outline of the Last Judgment you will understand that the new heaven will be seen at the coming of Christ, but not the new earth, which will appear only after the completion of all judgments. Verse 21 states, “I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband” (see figure 10). This New Jerusalem is portrayed as the bride of the Lamb. (See Matthew 25, “and they went out to greet the bride and groom.”) We have already touched upon this earlier, but we will leave a more complete exposition of this mystery to those who come after us, whom the Holy Spirit has granted a more learned tongue and gifted pen, so that the heretic-makers will have something to keep themselves busy after we are gone. In the meantime, the seeker of wisdom should reflect on the following passages with fervent attention: Job 28, verse 12 and following; Proverbs 8, verses 22 to 29; Sirach 4 and 24, verse 9; the Wisdom of Solomon 7, verses 25 and 26, and chapter 8, verse 2. In Proverbs 2, verse 7 Solomon calls this bride of the Lamb, the essence of wisdom. See also Revelation 3, verse 12, where it says, “And I will write the name of my God upon him, and the name of the city of my God, that new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven, from my God and my own new name.” Here, the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem and the new name of Christ are represented as a reward. It would appear then, that such things, which are equated with Christ in this manner, must be in and of themselves equal. It follows then, that the New Jerusalem is something that was not created, and that is equal to God. That is, the New Jerusalem is the Holy Spirit, the eternal wisdom, as revealed in Revelation 20, verses 9 to 11.

PART 66

Verse 3 says, “I heard a loud voice proclaiming from the throne: ‘Now at last God has his dwelling among men! He will dwell among them and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them.” We could point out some unique and wonderful things about these words, were we not so concerned about starting a long digression. Verses 3 and 4 show to some degree the glory of the blessed souls in heaven and the joy they feel at experiencing the indescribable pleasure of God's presence. Verse 4 says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes; there shall be an end to death…” (that is, the second death, the last enemy, who will no longer have power over them.) “…and to mourning and crying and pain; for the old order has passed away” (see part 5 of chapter 4 above). John continues in verse 5, “Then He who sat on the throne…” (that is, the eternal unchanging God, Yahweh, Father, Son and Holy Spirit) “…said, ‘Behold! I am making all things new!’ And he said to me, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” The phrase “I am making all things new” need not be understood as it has been up to now, namely as if it meant the New Jerusalem, the City of God. Rather, as the new heaven and earth above the New Jerusalem show the glory of God, so too, the new heaven and earth will appear in our solar system, after the last enemy, death, has been destroyed. Until that time, all the stars will remain in their places, as shown in the outline of the Last Judgment in figure 8. For it is written in Revelation 14, verse 11, “The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and there will be no respite day or night.” This reference to “day or night” relates only to the damned, because of the constant movement of our solar system. The upper worlds, on the other hand, are constantly illuminated by the brightness of God and the lamp of the Lamb. However, when this Olam Olamim, or eternity, is complete, Almighty God will transform this heaven and its many bodies to its original state, as it was before Lucifer and his armies fell, which darkened and ruined this magnificent place of residence.

PART 67

Then the voice said to John in verse 6, “It has been accomplished…” (that is, what was to be fulfilled). “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I freely give a draught from the water-springs of living " (that is, the fullness of the Holy Spirit). Verse 7, “All this is the victor's heritage; and I will be his God and he shall be my son.” That is, just as obedient children are the inheritors of all of their father's possessions, the blessed souls, the true children of God, will inherit all of the divine glory in and through Christ Jesus. Verse 8, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, and the vile, murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars of every kind, their lot will be the second death, in the lake that burns with and .” This passage makes clear that the New Jerusalem will appear in the heavens after the thousand years and before the destruction of the last enemy, the second death. However, the renewal of all of Creation will not yet have taken place. Rather, the New Jerusalem will appear here on earth first.

PART 68

Verse 9, “Then one of the seven angels that held the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues…” (the prince of the seventh order , Tetragrammaton—see figure 6 above) “…came and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain…” (that is, enraptured to the highest heaven—see Revelation 1, verse 10—as happened to the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, verses 2 and 3, although he did not travel over the highest heavenly circles, for it says in his letter, “…to the highest mountain”) “…and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem…” (the reader should closely note here that this New Jerusalem is the bride of the Lamb) “…which came down out of heaven from God” (NB: coming from God the Father and Son). Verse 11, “It shone with the glory of God…” If the seeker of divine secrets considers with due diligence what we have succinctly said here about the bride of the Lamb, he may come close to fathoming this profound mystery. We will, however, not write in clear detail about this, nor would we ever engage another person in a discussion or debate about it. Whoever comprehends this mystery should remain silent, like us, until such time as God opens his mouth. “It had the radiance of a priceless jewel, like a jasper [or diamond], clear as crystal.” This and other verses up to verse 2 1 have provided the basis for many a poor conniving goldbug to deceive gullible and greedy people with these deceptive processes. However, in the end, since they have not seen the error of their ways, they will more likely end up with a hellish than the colored wonder-balm, which is hinted at in this verse.

PART 69

John continues to describe the glory of this City of God, the New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb in verses 12 to 21. (The reader should look at figure 10 on page 306 in this regard with spiritual, rather than material, eyes.) In verse 15 we read, “the One who spoke with me…” (that is, Christ the Lord, as is clear by comparison with verse 17) “…carried a gold measuring-rod, to measure the city, its wall, and its gates.” Verse 16 says, “The city was built as a square, and was as wide as it was long. It measured by his rod twelve thousand furlongs.” This measurement suggests an almost endless number, such as 12,000 cubed, or 1, 728,000,000,000 cubic furlongs. It is possible to express this astonishing size with numbers, but quite impossible to grasp its immensity with our senses and our mind. It parallels the incomprehensibility of the living God in: that it is equal in its length, width and height overall and of one nature. Notice that the City of God is described as having a cubic shape, rather than that of a triangle. But be cautious and do not stray too close to the abyss, so that you are not overcome by eternal ruin. Whoever receives permission to examine this more closely, will certainly agree with us that we dare not speak of it in this mortal existence, although we must inwardly reflect on its mysteries, until such time as we receive full knowledge of them in the next life. We will then also be able to clearly understand the words of Zechariah 14, verse 9, and at that time the eternal heavenly virgin of wisdom will be revealed to us in her magnificent spendor. In the meantime, no one should read any heretical errors into what we have said, and insinuate that we have tried to turn the divine Triune into a fourfold God, since we know and recognize nothing but the one true God of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Rather, we wish only to direct the attention of the seeker of wisdom to the miraculous divine powers, just as John wished grace from the seven throne spirits upon the seven Churches in Revelation 1, verse 4. His wish did not imply a sevenfold nature to God, but implied instead seven particularly wonderful effects of the Holy Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit itself John was quite aware that mercy flows from no creature either in heaven or on earth other than from the source of life, namely God.

PART 70

Verse 17 says, “Its wall was one hundred and forty-four cubits high, that is, by human measurements, (NB!) which the angel was using.” We can see here that the one measuring the walls was Christ the Lord himself, since this passage does not really ring appropriate for an angel. And while in the previous verse the length, width and height of the city is measured, it is clear that in this verse the thickness of the walls is being measured. The text says, “by human measurements, which the angel was using.” At this point we have to speak figuratively, in order to help the reader imagine this measuring system, and return to chapter 1 of this volume, parts 33 to 40. The reader should review these parts closely, for there he will find in some detail what we can only describe briefly here. We learn from Genesis 1, verse 26 that man was created in the image and likeness of God. And we also discussed in that chapter how in the Garden of Eden man's body was the same as Christ's transfigured body, as well as how man's body was the same as that of the angels. If we reflect on these facts, then we will understand the “human measurements, which the angel was using.” And we will also understand the difference between the great City of God and the smaller City of Man, the former being cubic and the latter only rectangular by its surface dimensions.

PART 71

In verses 11 to 14 of Revelation 21 the magnificent and wondrous City of God is described by its external shape or appearance. Verses 13 to 21 also describe its inner shape. The City, he said, was pure gold, and like pure glass. This passage is not referring to material . And since we have spoken enough about this element in earlier parts of this book, especially in the first volume on , the reader will have to research this information himself, should he desire more. Rather, this passage refers to the wondrous and delicate -glass, or immortality. “The foundations of the city walls were adorned with jewels of every kind…” (that is, they radiated divine majesty and glory), “…the first of the foundation-stones being jasper…” (being green and transparent), “…the second was a sapphire…” (blue and trans parent), “…the third, chalcedony…” (golden-green in color), “…the fourth, emerald…” (a beautiful transparent green), “…the fifth, sardonyx” (a pale flesh color), “…the sixth, cornelian…” (dark red in color), “…the seventh, chrysolite…” (light green in color), “…the eighth, beryl…” (golden-hued violet), “…the ninth, topaz…” (a glowing gold-color), “…the tenth, chrysoprase…” (golden green in color), “…the eleventh, turquoise…” (bluish-green in color), “…and the twelfth, amethyst…” (purple and brownish-red in color)-see Ezekiel 1, verses 27 and 28. The twelve gates were twelve pearls…” (that is, twelve rays of the eternal, unfathomable pure divine light). “The streets of the city were of pure gold, like translucent glass.” In verse 22 a secret is revealed; therefore, the reader should pay special attention to this passage. “I saw no temple in the city, (NB!) for its temple was the sovereign Lord God and the Lamb.” Verse 22, “And the city had no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.” And verse 24 says, “By its light shall the nations walk, and (NB!) the kings of the earth shall bring into it all their splendor.” Verse 25 continues, “The gates of the city shall never be shut by day…” (suggesting that the compassion of God in Christ will always be open, and will one day even benefit the damned; therefore, the text says that all the glory of the kings and the nations will be brought into the city)—and there will be no night (rather, divine peace, joy and happiness without end). Verse 27, “Nothing unclean shall enter, nor anyone whose ways are false or foul, but only those who are inscribed in the Lamb's roll of the living.”

Apart from the City of God, hell and damnation with their fallen angels will still exist at that time, and all of Creation will not yet be renewed. However, John will catch a very short glimpse of this in Revelation 22. But since this explanation belongs to the last chapter of the third volume of this book on , the reader is encouraged to seek the information there. And so, with that we will now end this second volume.

We can easily foresee that argumentative scholars will be highly annoyed by the way we have dealt with the book of Revelation in this chapter. Actually, we should be glad to have annoyed them, since we know that anyone who seeks knowledge of God will never be able to free himself from these foolish worms. We can best respond to the cantankerous nature of such miserable people with a passage from Proverbs 26, verse 4. We cannot agree with their criticism that we should have discussed the Revelation of Saint John in more detail in this chapter. We have intentionally avoided a certain amount of detail, or only touched on certain things briefly. But those who understand our purpose, and what we intended with this chapter, will be more than understanding.