2024/03/04

133. The Two Types of 'Souls' in Revelation

'Souls' appear in two places in Revelation. One is the 'souls' in "Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God" (Revelation 20:4), and they were the living ones, as discussed in the previous issue. 

The other is the 'souls' in "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne" (6:9), and they had 'souls' because they "had been slain" and yet alive. 

As discussed in blog № 15, the 'fifth seal' refers to the Acts of the Apostles. In it, the apostles are described in detail as they bear their testimony. Thus, the souls that the author of the Book of Revelation "saw under the altar" are of these apostles. 

Underlying their missionary work in the Acts of the Apostles is the "the witness they had borne" towards Jesus, as stated in the Gospel: "Peter said to him, 'Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.' And so said all the disciples" (Matthew 26:35). The apostles accomplished the witnesses they had not been able to fulfil at that time through the descent of the Holy Spirit. 

So, the Revelation says: "Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been" (6:11). 

They are looking "under the altar" at "their fellow servants and their brethren" who, like themselves, celebrate the Mass liturgy today "for the word of God and for the witness they had borne" and are waiting for their numbers to be complete. At that moment, they gather with the faithful attending the Mass liturgy. 

These two kinds of 'souls,' "the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God" (20:4) and "the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne" (6:9), are the fulfilment of Jesus' words, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die" (John 11:25-26).  

That is, at the same time, the fulfilment of Jesus' words, "[T]he powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). And the "word of God" common to both 'souls' is the words, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16), the "true words of God" (Revelation 19:9) (cf. blog № 95). 

In the coming article, we will approach the following passage in Revelation: "The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection" (Revelation 20:5).

Maria K. M.

 2024/02/26

132. The Completion of the Liturgy of the Mass and the First Resurrection

Based on the previous discussion, let us return to the Book of Revelation and continue our discussion of the Prophecy of the Completion of the Liturgy of the Mass (Revelation 19-20) in the Prophetic Composition of Revelation (cf. diagram of blog № 120), which we dealt with in blog № 121. 

In retrospect, the prophecy of the completion of the liturgy of the Mass commends the judgement of the fallen Church in the beginning (19:1-4). Next, the completion of the Mass liturgy is prophesied on the basis of the fulfilment of the prophecy of the establishment of the New Testament (19:5-10). Therefore, in preparation for the completed Mass liturgy, the faithful undergo various forms of purification by the Holy Spirit (cf. blog№ 98-105) and are purged of the greed created by human knowledge and experience (19:11-21). The second half describes what happens during and after the celebration of the Mass with the actual completed liturgy (20:1-15). 

The term 'thousand years,' which appears frequently here, refers to the period during which the Mass with the completed liturgy is celebrated 'with the Lord' as Peter wrote in his letter, "But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8). During this time and space, neither 'human accidental information' nor evil spirits can be involved (20:1-4). 

This time, I will start the discussion with the following statement: "Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection" (20:4-5). 

"[T]he souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God" are those to whom the 'breath of life' and the 'tree of life' were connected thanks to the word of God, distinguishing the 'human accidental information' that Jesus testified. In these people, the 'likeness of God' becomes manifested (cf. blog№ 129). They never act at the mercy of their 'knowledge and memory proportionate to man,' which has taken in 'human accidental information' as their own knowledge without distinction (cf. blog №130). They become like, so to speak, "those who have been beheaded." That is why they "had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands." Since it says 'souls', they are a living people. 

When they enter the Mass liturgy, put at the heart of their daily routine, they are given the Word and the daily bread and "come to life." The phrase "reigned with Christ a thousand years" describes how they all concentrate on the reality of staying with Christ during the Mass liturgy. 

Even today, the celebration of the Mass brings great blessings to the people. However, the Mass liturgy must be completed and perfected so that all believers may have the 'blessedness' of becoming holy and partake in the 'first resurrection' while alive. That means that the work of the Holy Spirit becomes visible there.

Maria K. M.

 2024/02/19

131. Visualization

With the coming of Jesus Christ, the 'Word', God and life, was made visible (cf. John 1:1-12). However, at that time, there were those who received the reality of the visualized God and those who instead stumbled over it. 

That is what the Gospel of John testified: "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God" (John 1:10-12). 

Then, "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). Therefore, 'the enmity that God had placed' became the Word through Jesus. It was placed between Jesus and those who had taken 'human accidental information' as their own knowledge. That is as Jesus said, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires" (John 8:44). For 'human accidental information' is "the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan" (Revelation 20:2). 

Because they are unaware of 'human accidental information' and do not distinguish it from themselves, they see the one who manifests 'the enmity God had placed' as their enemy and soon come to hate him. Eventually, they begin to conceive of murder (cf. John 8:31-59). To 'kill' is to 'do evil' (cf. Mark 3:4) and is 'to destroy' the life God has created (cf. Luke 6:9). 

It is essential for those who received Jesus and believe in his name to distinguish themselves from 'human accidental information.' Only then can they listen to and follow Jesus, the visualized God. Therefore, the New Testament inserts scenes of Jesus being tested in the wilderness (cf. Matthew 4:1-17) and Jesus' rebuking Peter in front of his disciples (cf. Matthew 16:21-23), depicting Jesus' confronting 'human accidental information.' 

From the experience of living in the present age of visualized information, we can be aware of 'human accidental information' generated in the plurality of people and vividly receive the fact that we are surrounded by it. 'Human accidental information' is taken in by people as their knowledge, shared as episodic and semantic memory, and has played an essential and significant role in people's cognitive functions and their development, as well as in human nature, culture, and the accumulation of knowledge. 

On the other hand, 'human accidental information' consists of a constant intertwining of elements that can be either the knowledge of good or that of evil. When taken in by a person, it becomes indeed the knowledge of good and evil. We must know it and distinguish it from ourselves. That is the first step to understanding the fifth 'blessedness,' which concerns the first resurrection and the second death of the Book of Revelation (cf. blog № 121).

Maria K. M.

 2024/02/12

130. The Sign That Is Spoken Against

The first man in Genesis said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate" (Genesis 3:12), and attributed the cause of his fault to God. God, therefore, excluded him from the benefit of the 'enmity God has placed' by saying to the 'human accidental information' (the serpent), "I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your seed and her seed" (Genesis 3:15). In this way, the first man became the only person to go through life without having any means to distinguish 'human accidental information.' 

The statement, "The man called his wife's name Eve" (Genesis 3:20), tells us that his 'knowledge and memory proportionate to man' was again connected to the 'breath of life' via the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' (cf. blog №127). He has become a man who acted on whatever his 'knowledge and memory proportionate to man,' which had taken in 'human accidental information' as his own knowledge without distinction, demanded of him. 

Just as God's word of command, 'Be!' which maintains interaction with individual life through the work of the Holy Spirit, is connected to the life of living beings (cf. blog № 128), so the first man became permanently connected to the 'breath of life' through the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' (cf. Genesis 3:22). God expelled him and protected the way to the 'tree of life' so that he would not, in turn, be connected to the 'tree of life' and gain knowledge to live forever (cf. Genesis 3:24). 

The phrase "the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken" (Genesis 3:23) is inserted here. That was to fulfil God's words to him, "[C]ursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life" (Genesis 3:17), so that the task of tilling the ground would be passed on from the first man to male descendants from generation to generation (cf. Genesis 5:29). 

God's plan of redemption of which he had said, "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19) was set in motion. Noah, who had passed through the flood, built an altar to the Lord (cf. Genesis 8:20), Abraham met Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High (cf. Genesis 14:18), and God appointed Aaron and his sons to be priests (cf. Exodus 29:9). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who completes the redemption commanded by God, comes in the course of these biblical histories. 

He, of whom Simeon said, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against" (Luke 2:34), was born as the 'enmity God has placed' itself which the first man had never had.

Maria K. M.

 2024/02/05

129. 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness' Part 2

The 'enmity' (cf. Genesis 3:15) that God had put between 'the woman' and 'man's accidental information' (the serpent) was passed on from generation to generation to her offspring by women's birth pangs. The 'enmity' worked to continually prompt people to discern the 'man's accidental information.' In time, the people's 'knowledge and memory proportionate to man' grew to such an extent that prophets who spoke for the word of God appeared out of them. The "cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way" which God placed "to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24) have become markers that the 'tree of life' was there. Therefore, people would sense the 'tree of life' in them even though it is hidden. 

In the fullness of time, Mary was born and was Joseph, then John the Baptist, too. So, God sent the 'Word' as the only begotten Son (cf. John 1:1-5). The Gospel of John testifies that "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17) and that "no one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (John 1:18). 

Jesus Christ taught people that God is their Father and led them to naturally realize the relationship between the heavenly Father and the Son by praying and calling out to God, 'Father in Heaven,' as their own, and the words of God, "in our image" (Genesis 1:26), to be fulfilled. He did so also to fulfil what God had foretold to David but had failed to be realized in Solomon (cf. 2 Samuel 7:14). 

Jesus clearly showed 'man's accidental information.' When people distinguish that information, it is a sign that the way to the 'tree of life' has been opened. The connection of the 'breath of life' to the 'tree of life' is essential for the 'likeness of God' to be manifested in the one into whom the 'breath of life' had been breathed. 

The incident in which Jesus Christ confronted the 'man's accidental information' (the tempter, Satan, the devil) in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry (cf. Matthew 4:1-11) was crucial to show the exemplar of discerning accidental information to the many disciples who followed him. It is interesting to note that Jesus here not only exposed who the tempter, the devil and Satan were but also dismissed the 'man's accidental information' who tempted him with the words of the Psalms, quoting from Deuteronomy. 

Furthermore, the themes in the exchange between Jesus and the 'man's accidental information' in this scene closely resemble those in the dialogue between the 'woman' and the 'serpent' in Genesis. They are initially about food (cf. Genesis 3:1; Matthew 4:3), then about life and death (cf. Genesis 3:4; Matthew 4:6), and finally about getting knowledge and prosperity (cf. Genesis 3:5; Matthew 4:8-9). Jesus restored, at every turn, the mistakes of the first two in Genesis (cf. blog №116). 

Maria K. M.

 2024/01/29

128. 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness' Part 1

The Book of Genesis says, "The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20). This happening became the direct cause of the first two being driven out of the Garden of Eden. This idea of Adam must have been inspired by God's words to the 'woman,' "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children" (Genesis 3:16), which he had heard and remembered the experience. 

As he took in the accidental information, a trial-and-error process occurred within the unconscious thinking mechanism of his 'knowledge and memory proportionate to man', from which a delayed judgement appeared in his consciousness, developing an episodic memory: 'She was the mother of all living.' As a result, Adam named his wife Eve. This act could never have happened by spontaneity responding to God's command, 'Let there be ...,' alone. 

That happening was again a sign that his 'knowledge and memory proportionate to man' was connected to the 'breath of life,' skipping over the 'tree of life,' via the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' (cf. blog №127). Man evolved in such a way. But God did not give up what he had said: "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness," and set up another plan and bestowed it upon man. The description, "And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21), suggests this fact. Another plan, in this case, is that people wait for the Saviour, being led to discern 'man's accidental information' by the 'enmity that God has placed' in them. 

Continuing, God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:22). This statement refers to the fact that, just as the Word that commanded 'Let there be ...', which maintains interaction with individual lives through the work of the Holy Spirit, is linked with the lives of living creatures (cf. Matthew 6:25-31, 10:28-31, John 14:17), man has become connected to the 'breath of life' via the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil.' Concerned about the 'tree of life', God "drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24). 

On the other hand, God had an original plan for Adam to make him 'till the earth' (cf. Genesis 2:5; 2:15; 3:23). However, God's foretelling, "[C]ursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life" (Genesis 3:17), comes true. In time, in the land, the work of redemption, "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread" (Genesis 3:19), is revealed in its true form, and it is carried out as priesthood by the male descendants of Adam. This work of redemption continues to sustain the people to this day.

To be continued.

Maria K. M.

 2024/01/22

127. Interface Part 2

God knows all man's thoughts because of the Word commanding, 'Let there be ...'. 'Let there be ...' is the Word that has already been fulfilled and keeps interaction with the individual life. That is by the work of the Holy Spirit (cf. Matthew 1:20). The Holy Spirit, whom the Father sends in the name of Jesus (cf. John 14:26), is God, who has both the will of God and the knowledge of God, and God is omnipotent, infinite, the only good, and behaves just as He is. 

Therefore, He is free to set any limits on Himself. So, God grants man the 'breath of life' out of His spontaneity but remains ignorant of how the spontaneity of the 'breath of life' is exercised because of its freedom. God gives man each 'tree of life,' which is proper knowledge to manifest God's likeness together with each 'breath of life.' 

God's likeness, manifested by the 'breath of life' and the 'tree of life', is the source of the authority with which people have dominion over every living thing (cf. Genesis 1:28). God places the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' in the centre of his consciousness as an interface to connect this authority with his 'knowledge and memory appropriate to man,' which is capable of subduing the earth.¹

 1. cf. Genesis 1:28, 2:15, 3:23 

The two people in Genesis were the first two, even for God. So, God actually made two trees grow in the middle of the garden because if they take the fruit of the 'tree of life' and eat it, that would be a sign that the spontaneity of the 'breath of life' has been exerted in them and connected to the 'tree of life.' But finally, the two never ate the fruit of the 'tree of life.' That is because God's words of prohibition (cf. Genesis 2:16-17) had been blurred (cf. Genesis 2:9, 3:3). Accidental information had developed between the first two people. 

Since all creatures have knowledge and memory appropriate to their species and spontaneity to respond to God's command, 'Let there be …,' the unconscious thinking mechanism that judges things is at work, and they can live following what God wants. So, it is natural that when several of the same species gather, information is exchanged, and accidental information develops among them. Of all the accidental information that emerges among species of living beings, the most advanced one is that of humans, who are able to subdue the earth. 

Furthermore, when a person incorporates accidental information into his knowledge and memory, a trial-and-error process occurs in his unconscious thinking mechanism (cf. Genesis 3:1-5). Then, the judgements that appear in his consciousness after a delay develop episodic memories unique to humans (cf. Genesis 3:6). That is a sign that the 'knowledge and memory appropriate to man' is temporarily connected to the 'breath of life,' skipping the 'tree of life,' via the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil.' The process above led the two in Genesis into actually taking and eating the fruit forbidden by God, which was an act that could never have happened by spontaneity that responds to God's command, 'Let there be ...,' alone.

Maria K. M.