2022/07/04

46. Divine Knowledge and Human Knowledge Part 3

"Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation" (Revelation 13:7). This first beast, who became emperor with power and authority, controls politics and the economy and rules over the people. "Then I saw another beast which rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon" (Revelation 13:11). The horns of this second beast symbolize the fact that this beast is clothed with someone else's authority and power. He is the false prophet who, with eloquence, made the people worship the emperor and showed great signs by starting wars and taking the wealth and territories of other nations (cf. Revelation 19:20). He even made fire fall from heaven to earth with new weapons and deceived the people. Before the people, who were deceived, a monetary system of coins with the mark of the name of the beast (cf. Revelation 13:16), i.e., the name and image of the emperor, was set up. As is still the case today, once a person comes to use money, there is no escape from the system, as if he were marked on his right hand or his forehead. The people become accustomed to the sight of money transforming into bread, fish, and everything else. When people start to live in a monetary economy, they unconsciously begin to think of everything in terms of money. It was the same for Jesus' disciples. In the scene where Jesus multiplied bread, the disciples immediately responded to Jesus that it would cost about 200 denarii to provide bread for a crowd of 5,000 people (cf. Mark 6:37, John 6:7). The disciples, who were in this state, witnessed the sign of the multiplication of bread and fish but did not come to realize that it was from God. So, Jesus "made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds" (Matthew 14:22). And "in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, 'It is a ghost!' And they cried out for fear" (Matthew 14:25-26). Then Peter, asking Jesus to command him, had the dramatic experience of walking on the sea to him. The disciples worshipped Jesus, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33), but again, perhaps because of fear, they still did not understand (cf. Matthew 16:5-12). Jesus continued to teach his disciples by making them experience many signs and miracles so as to release them from the mark of the name of the beast and write on their foreheads "his name and his Father's name" (Revelation 14:1). In the Gospel of John, Jesus reveals the true meaning of the sign of the multiplication of bread through his exchange with the crowds (cf. John 6:22-58), leading the disciples to the confession of faith. For the disciples, the three years they spent with Jesus were also a series of experiences of distinguishing divine knowledge from human knowledge (man's accidental information). So, the worldview of Jesus Christ in the Revelation of John aims to provide the same experience for the trainees.

Maria K. M.