2022/09/26

58. Jerusalem

"And he [the angel] carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns" (Revelation 17:3). In the book of Revelation, the author John wrote that he had been in the Spirit four times. The above is the third time. In the first, the author was in the Spirit and heard "a loud voice like a trumpet" (cf. Revelation 1:10). In the second, he was in the Spirit immediately after hearing that same voice (cf. Revelation 4:1-2). This time, however, it was not a "voice" but an angel that engaged the author, who was in the Spirit. That is because, just as the Gospel says that when Jesus, entering into public life, was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, the angels served him, and he was with wild beasts (cf. Mark 1:13), the "wilderness" is the realm of the unconscious, which both men and beasts have, and therefore the company of an angel was necessary. The author writes, "And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her I marveled greatly" (Revelation 17:6). The woman who shed the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus symbolizes the city of Jerusalem. And as written, "The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell" (Revelation 16:19), Jerusalem was, in fact, torn in three in the future as the holy city of all three Abrahamic religions, and this is still true in the 21st century. In Revelation, the following statements about King David, who established Jerusalem as the capital, are suggestively placed. "The holy one, the true one, who has the key of David" (Revelation 3:7); "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered" (Revelation 5:5); and "I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star" (Revelation 22:16). Here Jesus refers to himself as the root of David because he has done what Solomon could not achieve. God had told David about his son Solomon, "I will be his father, and he shall be my son" (2 Samuel 7:14). However, these words did not come true because Solomon turned away from God. The acute envy of the Jews toward Jesus, who called God his Father, indicates that there was hesitation and contradiction concerning God among them (cf. John 8:31-42). Later, the Song of Solomon, said to have been written by Solomon, was preserved in the Bible for posterity. And the image of marriage typified by it became associated with the relationship between God and his people. The people, who could not establish a parent-child bond with God, likened God to a bridegroom and the people to a bride, imagining the bond with God as a marital bond. Imagining the marriage between God and man in the presence of God, the true parent of man, is the very picture of "a woman sitting on a scarlet beast." On her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations" (Revelation 17:5).

Maria K. M.

 2022/09/19

57. Composition of the Book of Revelation Part 2

In the blog №47, we discussed the composition of the Book of Revelation, checking the behavioural principles that the characters related to the birth of Jesus in the New Testament had based on their worldviews. The Revelation prophesies the formation of the New Testament and infuses its trainees with the worldview of Jesus Christ, while in the latter half of the book, "blessedness" appears one after another to lead the trainees to the formation of the Holy Spirit and the Mass, accompanying them. This composition of Revelation reflects the stream of the Gospel. And this fact has been made clear in the consideration from the blog №50 to the previous one. Let us summarize our discussion from the beginning of Revelation to chapter 16, considering the trainees of Revelation, who receive the formation of the Holy Spirit while continuing the training of reciting Revelation and listening to its voice. The trainee accepted the prophecy of the establishment of the New Testament, overcame the appearance of dragons, beasts, false prophets, and evil spirits, proceeded in the way of Jesus while developing the habit of distinguishing the accidental information, and manifested "the way for the kings" (cf. this blog №56) leading to the Mass. In this way, the trainee assisted in the salvation of the evil spirits while himself saved from Armageddon, protected by the contents of the bowl the seventh angel poured into the air. Then, "a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, 'It is done!'" (Revelation 16:17). Next came the final big event in Revelation, marking the beginning of the Mass (cf. Revelation 16:18). However, the celebration of the Mass was postponed. That is because the events were inserted as follows: "The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath" (Revelation 16:19). The following verse, "And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found" (Revelation 16:20), shows the passage of time and indicates that these events are a prophecy. It continues, "great hailstones, heavy as a hundred-weight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague" (Revelation 16:21), and the plague of "hail" in this context suggests divine judgment, as Isaiah also says, "And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter" (Isaiah 28:17). The stream above leads directly to the following verse at the beginning of chapter 17: "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk.' And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness" (Revelation 17:1-3). In the book of Revelation, the author John describes himself as being "in the Spirit" four times. The passage above, "he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness," is the third one. In seeing the new composition of Revelation here, we may find the key to understanding the meaning of the postponement of the celebration of the Mass caused by the insertion of the prophecy of Revelation 16:19. We will continue our discussion keeping this finding in mind from the next issue on.

Maria K. M.

 2022/09/12

56. Armageddon and the Seventh Angel (Revelation 15-16)

The last one of the seven plagues of the seven angels in the Book of Revelation is the following verses. "And they [the three foul spirits] assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew Armaged'don. The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, 'It is done!'" (Revelation 16:16-17). The foul spirits, or evil spirits, are the spirits of those who died demonized (Satanized) and remained on earth with their wills firmly attached to their knowledge that has incorporated "man's accidental information" (cf. this blog №49). Therefore, the place the will of the evil spirits is separated from its human knowledge is "Armaged'don," and it is indeed the place of an apocalyptic battle for them. It is where the parable of the weeds that Jesus spoke of becomes real (cf. Matthew 13:24-30). The will and knowledge of the evil spirits are divided by "the reapers." Their knowledge, which has taken in "man's accidental information," is separated from their will and bound in bundles to be burned. And their will, after detached, becomes able to come into the Mass, the destination of the "way for the kings" (Revelation 16:12). The Eucharist brings these wills one by one to the Father by its own death when eaten by the faithful. So, Armaged'don, a place where the volition and knowledge of the evil spirits are separated, is the square at the gate, so to speak, through which they come to the Mass. In order for the evil spirits to get there, they need the faithful, who make the "way for the kings" appear (cf. this blog № 55). The contents of the bowl, poured into the air by the seventh angel, will illuminate and protect the faithful on their way to the Mass (cf. this blog №50). God's illumination will be seen as a disaster to the evil spirits who assembled the kings at Armaged'don. These verses of Revelation coincide with the following seventh key passage in John 10. "And many came to him; and they said, 'John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.' And many believed in him there" (John 10:41-42). These people, among those who believed in Jesus in the Gospel of John, were the first people who cited John the Baptist and believed in Jesus. Things that John the Baptist had said that they mentioned include the following words: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29); "he was before me" (John 1:30); "this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (John 1:33); "this is the Son of God" (John 1:34). The very these people, who came to Jesus and said that "everything that John said about this man was true," will become the Christians who, in the future after Pentecost, will manifest "the way for the kings" and declare unequivocally, before the Holy Eucharist in the Mass, the words that our heavenly Father had revealed to Peter: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16) (cf. this blog № 32). Then, "a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, 'It is done!'" And "there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake" (Revelation 16:18).

Maria K. M.

 2022/09/05

55. The Sixth Angel and the Third Blessedness (Revelation 15-16)

The sixth key passage in John 10 is the following verse: "He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained" (John 10:40). This passage reminds us that John the Baptist made his mission clear by saying, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said" (John 1:23). The mission of the Christians, as the name implies, is to walk on the way of Jesus to continue God's work of salvation. This way is the path that leads to the Mass, as Revelation shows (cf. this blog № 8), and is the path that the faithful, having received the blessing of the dispensation at the Mass, will take to go to the Mass next time again. At the Mass, the faithful hear the Word, the truth, and receive the Eucharist, the life. There emerges the path that Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). In order to live this mission, they shape their daily routine on the concrete path of Jesus to the Mass. Then, everything they encounter in their daily routine will be able to be seen as an event that happens on the way to the Mass. It is the way of Christ through Jesus to the Father, embodied in the life of the faithful. This situation coincides with the verse in the Book of Revelation: "The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphra'tes, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east" (Revelation 16:12). Just as the wise men of the East reached Jesus following the star when he was born, "the way for the kings from the east" is the path of Christ that the faithful take to reach the Word and the Eucharist. Revelation continues: "And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs; for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty" (Revelation 16:13-14). Thus, for the tormented wills (cf. this blog № 50) that remained on earth anew after the redemption of Christ through his death and for the evil spirits, "the way for the kings" is the way of salvation (cf. this blog № 49). That is because they knew Jesus (cf. Luke 4:41), and when this way appears, they will notice that it is Jesus. Then, the evil spirits will go out to the whole world seeking "the way for the kings" to fight on the great day of God the Almighty. In this situation, the faithful must not be like the sons of Sceva, who were found out by the evil spirits (cf. Acts 19:15-16). For this reason, the third blessedness inspires them to receive the training of Revelation and that of the spirituality of the Holy Spirit so that they may be awake and walk clothed with the garments of divine illumination (cf. this blog №54). "Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!" (Revelation 16:15).

Maria K. M.

 2022/08/29

54. The Fourth and Fifth Angels (Revelation 15-16) 

The fourth key passage in John 10 is the following verse: "Jesus answered them, 'I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?'"(John 10:32). At this time, the Jews deeply envied Jesus, who called God his Father. The reason was that, although God had told David long ago about Solomon, "I will be his father, and he shall be my son" (2 Samuel 7:14), these words did not come true because Solomon's heart had turned away from God (cf. this blog №43). The feelings of envy are amplified and fiercely scorch people with its fire. This situation coincides with the following passage from Revelation: "The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; men were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory" (Revelation 16:8-9). The Holy Spirit continues to persuade people even now with Jesus' words: "If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father" (John 10:37-38). For us to know and realize the reality of God, we need corroboration by our memory of the five senses that experienced Jesus doing the Father's work. The training of Revelation, in which the trainee "reads aloud the words of the prophecy" (Revelation 1:3), is essential for the faithful because it infuses the worldview of Jesus Christ into the trainee's realm of the unconscious. If the trainee, in the course of the training, finds himself being scorched by the fire of envy, he should gladly praise God's name, repent, and give glory to God. That is because the word plagues in Revelation means divine illumination, and he has experienced the works of God, who has power over those plagues. In this way, the trainee will be awakened and clothed with a garment of divine illumination. The fifth key passage is the one that reads, "Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands" (John 10:39). The reality that "God with us" (Matthew 1:23) is leaving our sight causes a great sense of loss in our memories unconsciously. This situation is consistent with the following verse in Revelation: "The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds" (Revelation 16:10-11). The beast’s kingdom signifies the fictional world into which people flee with illusion, ignoring the enmity placed by God that makes them aware of the contradictions within them. In it, the darkness is signalling the absence of God. The trainees of Revelation, while the worldview of Jesus Christ is infused into their realm of unconsciousness, can connect with the divine no-information by partaking in the formation of the Holy Spirit (cf. this blog № 39). The divine no-information that connects with one' s realm of consciousness is a ray of light shining into the darkness that signals God's absence, the light of Christ who takes the yoke of people together and brings true peace to them.

Maria K. M.

 2022/08/22

53. The Second and Third Angel (Revelation chapters 15-16)

The second key passage in John 10 is the following sentence: "So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, 'How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly'" (John 10:24). Even if they each were in their contradiction and escaped into a fictional world (cf. this blog №52), they are immediately brought back in front of the reality that "God is with us" (Matthew 1:23) by the presence of Jesus. They were irritated because of envy towards God, who had nothing to do with contradictions, being unable to bear the contradictions accumulating in themselves. They frantically look for the cause of them in Jesus. When people fall into this situation, they become blind to the gravity of life. This situation coincides with the following passage of Revelation: "The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea" (Revelation 16:3). The third key passage is the phrase, "The Jews took up stones again to stone him" (John 10:31), immediately after Jesus’ words, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). People, when confronted with the truth in a state of contradiction, try to obliterate it. This condition coincides with the passage, "The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood" (Revelation 16:4). "Water" here refers to the knowledge to which one is connected, and "the fountains of water" refers to the source of this knowledge. The fact that it is written "became blood" shows that this information belonged to men. It is necessary to make it a habit to pay attention to the work of the enmity placed by God described in Genesis (cf. Genesis 3:15) to transform this fountain into God's one (cf. this blog № 24). Cain, who killed his brother Abel out of envy, had been caught in a contradictory condition and fled to his fictional world. But he came to himself with the enmity placed by God in him working and became awakened to the reality that he was in the presence of God. He then became able to honestly tell God how he felt, saying, "My punishment is greater than I can bear" (Genesis 4:13) (cf. this blog № 23). There is behind the work of enmity placed by God the word of God, who is always sincere to man and tells him the truth. However, people cannot bear to receive God's word as it is. The support of the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all the truth, is indispensable (cf. John 16:12-13). Therefore, the trainee of Revelation continues to train to ensure that his realm of the unconscious is filled with the worldview of Jesus Christ. Eventually, the trainee who has attained the second blessedness (cf. this blog№ 48) finds in the external world with which he is involved the experience of Jesus in John 10 and comes to realise what the "seven plagues of the seven angels" are. He begins to see the world that the author of Revelation portrays as a witness, overlapping with various aspects of his real life. He then comes to share the experiences of the author.

Maria K. M.

 2022/08/15

52. The First Angel (Revelation chapters 15-16)

Let us continue our reflections on the topics discussed in the previous issue. There are seven key passages in the description of John 10, which begins with the parable of the sheepfold. They coincide with the "seven plagues of the seven angels" in the Book of Revelation. The first key passage is where it is written that "there was again a division among the Jews" (John 10:19) over the words spoken by Jesus. People perceive the world as a space with three dimensions. In their memories, various scenes, from their childhood to the present, are preserved without being verified, almost like images randomly cut out. Words, in contrast, have a form of one dimension. Therefore, they are recognised by the senses as information with symbols arranged linearly along a time axis, and they penetrate people's memories like a double-edged sword. Words are not always pleasant because sometimes they compel us to realise that contradictions are in us. And even more so if they tell the truth (cf. this blog № 48). Jesus was not only condemned for breaking the Sabbath but also for saying that God was his Father, making himself equal to God. However, no one could refute him. Jesus' words reveal the contradictions in his accusers. When people find contradictions within themselves, many delude the cause of the contradiction as the fault of external events or others rather than confronting them. Over time, unresolved contradictions accumulate in their memories, causing them great stress, and they eventually flee to the fictional world. In the scene above, some people say: "He has a demon, and he is mad; why listen to him?" (John 10:20). In contrast, others, though still in uncertain understanding, say, "These are not the sayings of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"(John 10:21). And it is written that a division arose within the community. Often, within an old-fashioned community or fellowship in particular, when people belonging to it share certain information, an internal pressure demanding uniform sympathy from its members emerges. If, at this time, some do not respond to the demand and question or object, the conflict that arises sometimes divides the people and leaves sores. This situation is in line with the description in the Book of Revelation: "So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image" (Revelation 16:2). These evil sores, i.e., the conflict that has arisen there, will eventually break the fictional world, dispel ambiguity and provide the way for those who will be saved.

Maria K. M.

Notice: The following phrase in this blog № 50 has been corrected because of an ambiguity in it.

(Before correction) "The Holy Eucharist looks forward to the cooperation of the faithful so that he can himself die and take with him these tormented wills, who died and remained on earth, and evil spirits, one by one."

(After correction) "The Holy Eucharist awaits the cooperation of the faithful to take with Him, one by one, upon His own death, these tormented wills that had died and remained on earth and the wills of those who were evil spirits (cf. this blog № 49)."