The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.87 –A Medieval Couplet.
INTERPRETATION OF THE APOCALYPSE AS DRAWN FROM 2ND ESDRAS, DANIEL AND THE BOOK OF REVELATIONS WITH REFERENCES TO ISAIAH, JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL
The Events Of Esdras seem to have taken place just shortly after the fall of Jerusalem. It begins with a sorrowful tone as God prophesies the rejection of the Israelites for their disobedience. Ezra is sent to the people of Israel to warn them but they refuse to listen. Around that time, it can be connoted that God had been searching around the earth for hearts that were ready to receive him and he found such hearts among the gentiles.
The contrast of two mountains, both Holy to God were used. The first, Sinai, the second, Zion. Ezra is sent to the Israelites from Mount Sinai but his message is rejected. At once, God begins to speak to Gentiles instead and prophesies the coming of "their shepherd".
2 Esdras 2:34- 35.
"Wait for your shepherd who is coming very soon, at the end of age to give you Eternal Rest…"
This affirms Christian beliefs, Catholic to be more precise, that the "end of age" begins with the appearance of the Messiah.
Note however that, in most parallel prophecies, "end of age" is used and not "end of the world". "End Of Time" more accurately qualifies it but "End Of The Age" gives a perfect meaning. A meaning of an era that will end and herald in a new age beginning from the first appearance of the Messiah.
The Gentiles, the new chosen of God are entreated to flee from the darkness of the present age. Furthermore, verse 38 of the same chapter says, "Stand up and see the number of those who have received the Lord's mark and who share in his banquet".
There is a parallel verse in the book of revelations and it is interesting to note the word mark. Other versions of the Bible might say "those who have been sealed with the seal of the Lord. From Catholic Catechism, the mark is a Spiritual seal imprinted during baptism and strengthened/affirmed during confirmation.
These people are spoken of as having left the darkness of the present age and received shining white robes from the Lord. There is a parallel verse in the Book Of Revelations. In the Good News Bible, the robes are explained to be the good deeds of God's people but I think it would be more accurate to speak of the robes as the hearts of God's people.
In the Bible, when God chastises the Israelites for their disobedience, he entreats them to throw away their rags and put on new pure robes. In the parable of the Rich man's banquet, a lot of poor people are invited after the rich man's guests refuse to attend but among them is one man who is thrown out into the outer darkness to suffer for eternity for the simple reason that he was not dressed appropriately. Thus, I believe, the robes represent the hearts of the people. In Revelations their former robes are exchanged for pure white robes, presented to them by God's son Jesus. That act of exchange is the faith God's people have in Jesus' sacrifice and the faith that redeems them. The faith that makes them dead to sin and alive in Jesus. Now, I'd entreat all those who read this to get a copy of the picture of the Divine Mercy. If you can get a full body picture, you will understand more of what I speak about.
Jesus is seen standing, one hand touches his heart, and the other is in a position that resembles that of an instructor or teacher. From Jesus' Heart stream two distinct colours of Light, Crimson Red and Blue. If you look at this picture as though this is the first time you've seen it or stare intently at it, you would see that, the two streams of light flow downwards and form around Jesus what resembles a Royal Cape Of Blue and Red. The two colours of light represent the water and blood that streamed from the side of Jesus when he was pierced on the cross with a spear. And both have a unique significance though they both speak of the same thing.
Both represent the baptism Jesus went through.
The Blue Light
The Blue Light represents the first prerequisite to becoming a son of God, baptism by water. It represents a conscious act and practise of faith and at the same time, humility and meekness. Jesus said when John baptised him with water;
"Let it be so for now for in this way, we will do all that the Law requires".
So the blue light is baptism by water and a willingness to obey God in truth and perfection.
The Red Light
The Red Light represents baptism by fire and blood. There are two forms of purification in this world and in the spiritual, purification by water, which is cleansing and removal of stains, the cool purification and purification by fire which is refinement of an existing material that contains hidden within impurities, a clean essence. This purification is the purification undergone through suffering, endurance, persevering faith and at times, death. It is slow and painful and just as gold is weaned off impurities, it weans the followers of God off of the love of earthly things like money, material possessions, bodily desires and an unholy lust for mortal life i.e the love of life that leads to betrayal of God and people.
These two things reflect perfectly what is in the Heart Of Our Saviour and the prerequisites needed to fulfil his statutes. No person can make it into Heaven without fulfilling both requirements and attaining by means of the Grace Of God through his son Jesus Christ, a perfect union with Him, in Him and in His Divine Heart Of Great Mercy. So by faith we are justified through Jesus Christ but faith must be followed by Love and Love for God is shown by our earthly life. It does mortals no good to say they believe in God and at the same time live a life of spite and hatefulness.
To return to the Book Of Esdras, as I said, the first Mountain God places Ezra on is Mount Sinai where he speaks to the Jews and is rejected. The second is Mount Zion from which, Ezra is shown an enormous crowd beyond count. Standing in the Middle Of The Crowd is a man described as being of tall stature and yet of being young. His stature is described as being higher than any of the others and He is said to be placing a crown on the Head Of Each person.
2 Esdras 2:42-48.
Even in the Book Of Esdras written before the Birth Of Christ, the man is revealed to be the Son Of God and the people are those justified by faith, those who confessed their faith in Him during their Mortal Lives and have shed their old mortal robes for new immortal ones. They are given crowns and palm branches as symbols of their victory.
From then on, the theme of the second Book Of Esdras begins to take shape. The theme of a man disturbed by the evil around him, worried first for the fact that Jerusalem, God's chosen nation is destroyed while her enemies prosper, then delving deeper into a concern for the fate of the righteous and unrighteous and many times Ezra intercedes for the unrighteous and as many times as he does God affirms the salvation of a few over the damnation of many more and the promise of glory for the righteous and damnation of sinners. I will explore a few of these themes while trying to explain them as I am led by the Spirit to do so.
The First Theme: The Human Mind Cannot Comprehend the Workings Of God.
The angel that prominently reveals the truths regarding the end of age and time is the Angel Uriel associated closely with the Apocalypse and known commonly as the Angel that guards the Gates Of Tartarus.
I must say, I was quite amused when I read the 2nd Book Of Esdras recently and realized to my surprise that he expressed himself in a way quite similar to the way I express myself, with a lot of sarcasm so I was quick in relating to the topic he was discussing since that had always been a concern of mine since my youth. (And I am still quite youthful).
Ezra's first case was a complaint against God for how much he punished and ridiculed Jerusalem while allowing the sinful Babylonians to flourish. He goes so far as to even say to God;
2 Esdras 3:31
"You haven't given anyone the faintest hint as to how these ways of yours can be changed".
Which is I must say, a daring thing to say to God, and his case I must say was quite a good one, a very good one in fact. In an age where Israel was the only nation that knew God personally, they were still one of the poorest nations as compared to the Great Babylonia and others like Assyria. Ezra said to God that he thought that the Babylonians were prosperous because they were better than the Israelites but only got to Babylonia to discover more sin than he had ever seen in one place at one time. (Paraphrasing).
Uriel appears after Ezra makes his case and says first, "You can't even understand what happens in this world, do you then think you can possibly comprehend the workings of God Most High?"
This first statement, I noticed was quite uncharacteristic of an angel of the Lord who was sent to reveal hidden truths. In my Christian walk and study of scripture, most angels that appear to reveal truths first praise the person to whom they are sent to as being favoured by the Lord then proceed to answer any other questions, the prophet had but the first thing Uriel did was to rebuke Ezra for his ignorance.
And then he proceeds to do the thing for which prophets must fear God, a questionnaire of which no human could answer even a single question, and this was done quite nicely and badassedly to Job, if you have read the Book Of Job.
Uriel's first question is to how to weigh a kilogram of fire.
The second question is to how to measure a cubic metre of wind?
The third question is how to bring back a day that has passed.
And I beg you, don't be scientifically conceited enough to say you can answer a single one because those questions have deeper significance than you may realize.
Ezra denies the possibility of a human to ever answer those questions. Surprisingly, Uriel reveals that those questions were quite easy though he does not answer them. He then says;
"Wow, you couldn't answer these and you are questioning God? What if I had asked you how many dwelling places were at the bottom of the sea? How many rivers flow into the waters beneath the earth? How many rivers are above the dome of the sky? Where are the exits of the world of the dead? Where are the entrances to Paradise?" (Paraphrasing).
After badassedly butchering Ezra, he goes further to say, and I realize now why Uriel is considered as one of the most merciless angels in the service of the Lord, "If I had asked you these questions, you might have answered, I have never visited the waters below the earth or entered the world of the dead or entered Heaven. But all I asked you about is fire, wind, and the day that has just passed, things you experience so often and yet you have not answered me. You can't even understand what you have been familiar with since birth, how then can your little mind understand the ways of God Most High?
After the merciless butchering phase, Ezra collapses to the ground and says…and I love this guy's stubbornness, "it would have been better for us not to have been born into this world of sin and suffering, a world of which we cannot understand its happenings".
Uriel then narrates the story of a time he was walking in the woods and heard the trees plotting to push back the sea, at the same time, the sea was plotting to push back the trees, both without knowledge of the plots of the other yet all their plans were useless since the trees were destroyed by fire and the sand blocked the advance of the sea. Uriel then asked Ezra to judge which one of the two; the trees and sea was right?
Ezra replied that they were both at fault and Uriel affirmed his answer as right. Then Uriel concludes by asking Ezra why he couldn't answer his own problem if he could solve that question correctly for just as the waves and the trees have their place on the sea and land respectively, humans can only understand what goes on in their world and celestial beings what goes on in Heaven.
THE END OF AGE
Ezra then asks Uriel why then he was given the power to understand anything. He questions why God allows evil things to happen to good people. Uriel explains that, if he lives long enough, he will see surprising sights for the present age is rapidly passing away. Uriel explains that the present world is so imperfect and full of misery that it cannot hold all the blessings God has promised to the righteous. Uriel affirms that the evil Ezra talked of had been planted but the time of its harvesting had not yet arrived. He says, the evil and the world where the evil was planted must be removed before the new age comes where good is to be planted. The evil he speaks of is the sin that was sown in the heart of Adam at the beginning of time, Judgement day will be the day of its threshing.
Ezra asks for the length of time before all this takes place but Uriel rebukes him saying that he should not be in more of a hurry than God Most High for he(Ezra) is thinking only of himself whereas God has to think of everyone. In a mild way, this explains why even the Son Of God has no knowledge of the Day God has chosen to Judge everyone. It is a time, only God knows and its coming is determined by multiple factors, the one of which God is most concerned being the full multitude of the righteous to be saved. In the Revelation of the Apostle John, the Harvest is described as perfect, signifying the fact that God's patience and endurance will yield the full harvest of the righteous for which he had planned when he set the foundations of the earth and not a single soul will be lost to render the number imperfect. The declaration of a definite number in John signifies that, the harvest is predetermined and cannot be avoided or altered in anyway.
Uriel goes further to mention that, the questions Ezra is asking are the same concern of the souls of the righteous, waiting patiently in their places of keeping, waiting for their reward and the punishment of the wicked for the spilling of innocent blood. Uriel then mentions the name of a fifth angel I've seen in the Bible, once in the Book Of Esdras, his name is Jeremiel and he is the angel of God in charge of the souls of the righteous that are awaiting their judgement. He answers their questions concerning the judgement and the fate of the world. According to Jeremiel, all the events within time are predetermined and all the days have been numbered perfectly. Not a single event will be out of place and nothing that the Lord prophecies can and will be avoided.
Ezra then confesses the guilt of humanity, without excluding himself. He asks whether the righteous are made to wait for their reward because of our sins.
Uriel answers that "Can a pregnant woman keep her child from being born after the nine months are up?"
Ezra replies in the negative.
Uriel then likens the storage place of souls in the world of the dead to a womb. He compares the eagerness of the world of the dead to release its souls to a woman in labour pains wishing for her child to be born.
Ezra then asks for a comparison of the length of time past to the length of time to come.
Uriel beckons Ezra to his right and shows him a vision telling him to observe it closely.
Ezra looks and sees a blazing fire streak past leaving smoke in its wake and a rain cloud streaking past bringing a heavy downpour of rain till it passes over completely and leaves only a slight drizzle.
Uriel then says, just as the rain cloud and fire were greater than what they left behind, the time past is much longer than the time to come.
In the biblical timeline, the span of time from the birth of Jesus to the creation of Adam is approximately 4000yrs. We have experienced another 2000yrs. It is safe then to assume that the time to come before the second arrival of Jesus will not exceed 2000yrs if we rely on this prophecy yet it was said the time to come is much shorter at a time that preceeded the birth of Christ, so the world will definitely not have another two thousand years to go. From what we saw earlier, the birth of Jesus is what the angel called the beginning of "the end of age". Christians refer to this time as "the fullness of time" for God's plan has reached perfection. Funnily enough, the millennia that have passed since creation share parallelisms to the seven days of creation. Therefore and keep in mind that prophecies of God never conflict but complement, if you ratio each millennia to a day, we are presently in the sixth day of God's Epic and left only with one more day to go.
In Esdras 2nd Esdras 11-12, it is said;
"The whole history of the world is divided into twelve periods, and the tenth period has already arrived and it is half over; only two and a half parts remain".
The voice speaking to Ezra speaks from a Bush, though it is not said to be on fire as in the case of Moses but it reveals itself to be the same voice that spoke to Moses from the Burning Bush.
THE SIGNS OF THE END
Jesus had spoken of the signs of the end going far as to say, the end will not come at once, a lot must happen first, and then the end will come. The signs of the end are probably one of the reasons for which God has kept his final day of judgement a secret even to his own son. Just as in creation, light was created, then the sky, then the land and the seas and vegetation and the fish and the birds, then animals and humans, in a perfect sequence and not reverse order, the Bible tells us that things will not happen as haphazardly in the end of days as most people think but will follow a proper sequence.
This is how it is as revealed to Ezra.
Ezra asked Uriel whether he would be alive at the end of age but Uriel answered that he can tell Ezra some of the signs but it was not his mission to tell Ezra how long his life would be and that even he did not know how long Ezra would live proving God's sole and divine right to know how long a person's life can last. Only God knows a person's lifespan, not even the angels do. It is God's sole authority.
(A word of warning to Christians and other humans; angels are far wiser than humans, be they good or evil. They are experienced in reading signs and predicting future events. They might be able to predict how long you have left by observing your bodily characteristics just as doctors do. Even doctors of today can predict the lifespan of patients with incurable diseases though not as accurately. If a human can do this, how much more can angels who possess divine knowledge. If a prediction or prophecy comes to you, test the spirit behind it. No evil spirit can confess Jesus' human nature and sacrifice, his death and resurrection and his power to save. It was one of the reasons for which they originally rebelled and it would be like praising an enemy you have despised for so long. Moreover, they just can't, not that they won't but they can't because of their nature. A demon can assume the appearance of an angel and even go as far as taking the form of Jesus Christ Himself! However, they can never confess Jesus' divine and material nature and beyond that, his death and resurrection. They have the power to prophecy, and then they make sure that the prophecy comes true. A demon can ask you to expect someone to bring you money at exactly what time and then send the person to you at exactly that time. A demon can predict your death and then vex your mind to the extent of pushing you to fulfil that prophecy, most of the while deceiving you into thinking that you are avoiding it. They are tricky and very deceitful so be very careful with who or what you deal with. In the end, the power of life and death lies only with God, as long as you do not foolishly sell your soul to the devil. Regardless of sides, demons cannot operate in your life without permission. They need either God's permission or yours before they can operate, the same as angels so be sure not to invite any demons into your life).
THE FIRST SIGN:- CONFUSION
In Esdras, the first sign mentioned is confusion. (2 Esdras 5:1-4).
This sign speaks of the hiding of the truth. The way of truth will be hidden and the age will be an age of faithlessness. There will be an increase in wickedness. In the Book Of Mark 13:5, confusion is the sign Jesus mentions first as well. Jesus speaks of the nemesis of the Holy Spirit, the Evil Spirit, the Deceptive Spirit that will possess men and lead them to claim to speak for Him (Jesus), thus ushering in an age of lies and wickedness. Jesus reveals that many will be deceived. Funnily enough, wickedness is the first sign revealed to Daniel as well through the vision of the four beasts and the ram and the goat. Daniel's revelation though is combined with the second sign. Coincidentally, one of the first terrifying revelations of John had to do with the breaking of the seals and the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
THE SECOND SIGN:- The Devastation Of A Country Coupled With Political Strife.
The second sign is the ruin and devastation of a country coupled with political strife. The country is said to have been the country Ezra saw ruling the world in his age. That country will be so ruined that no inhabitant or traveller will be seen there. That country will be in great confusion. The second sign prophesied to Ezra. The country is Babylonia, the world power that was ruling during the time of the Exile Of The Jews. Jesus speaks of wars amongst countries that will draw closer to his people but he says also that we should not be alarmed for the end will not come at once. In Revelations 17, more is revealed about Babylonia and its punishment. It is revealed that in the last days, Babylonia will be allied with a Kingdom that was once destroyed in the past, a Kingdom that had massive support from the Devil and His minions. As at the time of the Revelation Of John, that Kingdom had faded into the background. The expression used to denote the background to which it faded are the words "Abyss" which appears in Revelation 17 and the "Sea" from which the First Beast emerged, the beast which allied with Babylonia. Presently, that beast is still shrouded in mystery but will soon arise. The seven heads of that beast are said to represent seven hills on which the woman(Babylonia) sits. At the same time, those seven heads are seven kings. The woman(Babylonia) is seated atop the beast. Babylonia can thus be said of politically as having support from that Kingdom. Geographically, Babylonia will be said to have been occupying the space on the earth that the Beast/that Kingdom occupied in the past/built upon the foundation of that Kingdom. The mention of hills and connecting them to heads speak not only of a political figure/kingdom but has a duality to it which also suggests that there is a geographical land with seven hills. Seven hills that represent seven kings.
Note: Before I proceed, I wish for you all to note, that John was witnessing a different time than the one he lived in. So, if the angel were speaking to John, he would be speaking of the things that have happened in that age as past, the ones happening currently as present, and those to come as future. The Bible has more than one meaning for more than one time but there is a certain persistency in describing the characteristics of the Beast. It always has seven heads and ten horns regardless of which prophet it is revealed to.
To prove this, read what follows next, the beast/kingdom with seven heads and ten horns that was said to have died but will reappear, itself represents an eighth king. The beast has seven heads but the Bible says, it is itself an eighth king and is one of the seven that are going off to be destroyed. Eight and seven are different numbers. An eighth king cannot be one of seven kings going to be destroyed, not unless the Bible was not speaking of the King as a number but as sharing the traits of the other seven. Thus the eighth King is the beast itself, a person, and the one we know as the Antichrist. There will be ten other kings who will be ruling at the time of the beast, yet as at the time, John was seeing this, they had not yet began to rule in the future time John was witnessing. However, it is said that these ten kings/ten horns will rule for an hour with the beast. If I look at the present political arrangement of things, democracy, these ten kings will rule for a very short time, just one hour as equals with the beast. This means that, they will be leaders that would have had a little power before but then, they will assemble and unanimously vet the beast into power, relinquishing their individual powers to him, the eighth king. The Antichrist who is himself the fifth sign and whose actions and punishments are consistently coinciding with the blowing of the fifth trumpet, the breaking of the fifth seal and the pouring of the fifth bowl of God's anger.
Together, Babylonia, the Beast and this wicked alliance will fight God's people but before they succeed, the seventh trumpet will be blown and the seventh sign, Jesus Himself will appear to defend his people. For now, we are concerned with the second sign, Babylonia and the events surrounding her. After the defeat Of Babylonia by Jesus and his Holy People, the Beast and the Ten Kings, who ignorantly did not know that they were working to achieve God's purpose will realize just how much they have toiled in vain and how many empty promises they have come to believe. In rage, they will unite and destroy Babylonia in a single day and all other countries that profited from Babylonia's exploits will face severe economic crisis and regression. The Book Of Revelations and Isaiah 47 prove that Babylonia's judgement will be swift. In a single day, she will be destroyed.
THE THIRD SIGN:- Signs and Wonders.
The Angel Uriel proceeds to speak of the third sign. Signs and wonders.
The sun will suddenly start shining at night, and the moon in the daytime. Blood will drip from trees; stones will speak, nations will be in confusion, the courses of the stars will be changed. An unpopular king will rule and the birds will fly away, an unpopular king will begin to rule (the fifth sign), fishes will wash up on the Dead Sea. An unfamiliar voice will be heard by everyone at night. Chasms will appear in the earth and begin spouting flames, Wild animals will leave the forests and fields. Women will hear monsters during their monthly periods, fresh water will become salty. More of these signs are recorded in the Book Of Revelations, Daniel, Ezekiel and Esdras. Jesus also makes mention of a few. Basically, all natural laws on the earth and in the cosmos will be thrown out of balance.
THE FOURTH SIGN:- The Disappearance Of Truth.
At this point the One who stands between the Earth And Chaos will step out of the way. This is the point at which the Mystery Of The Kingdom Of God and The Kingdom Of The Devil will be fully revealed. Friends and family will turn against one another and righteousness will almost completely disappear. The world will be split into two clear distinct sides. There will be so much sin in abundance that one country will ask another country if a righteous man passed through it and the answer will always be "No". Corruption will increase. Those who work hard will have everything snatched away by evil men, dreams will be crushed.
These are the first four signs revealed to Ezra in his first revelation about the end. They are connected with the Book Of Revelations.
THE CONTINUATION OF THE REVELATION TO EZRA ABOUT THE SIGNS OF THE END, LINKED TO THE REVELATION OF THE APOSTLE JOHN
Some days after the first revelation given to Ezra, the Angel Uriel came to reveal more to him. Teaching him to learn from a pregnant woman, lessons about the earth. By observation, the children born by a woman in her youth are healthier and of much better stature than those born of her in her old age. The same applies to the earth and that is why humans are shorter now than they were in the past. Uriel replied one of Ezra's questions about why humans were not all created at the same time by saying that creation cannot move faster than its creator. In addition to that, the earth and its foundations would not be able to hold that many people. Uriel also revealed that God and only God would bring about the end of the world. He also said, there will be no waiting period between the present age and the next. To put it better, it's not like the earth will be destroyed and then left for a while to recover before the age of the Messiah comes but rather, the Present Age will flow continuously into the New Age so do not try to find a space between.
THE FIFTH SIGN:-THE ANTICHRIST
Now, this is the fifth sign, the Antichrist. For the Antichrist, I will be drawing heavily on Revelations and Daniel since they provide more information. First of all, I will speak from the Revelation Of Daniel. Read Daniel 7 for more info. In the Book Of Revelations, the Antichrist is revealed to be the Beast itself and at the same time one of its heads. In the Book Of Daniel, it is revealed to be an eleventh horn. Funny isn't it? In the Book Of Revelations, he is an eighth head when there are only seven heads. In Daniel, he is an eleventh horn on a beast with Ten Horns. He grows and tears out three other horns, overthrows three kings. In any case, the message here is that the Beast, the one whose number is 666 is a king unlike any other evil king to have ever ruled. Unlike any other king who ever ruled the Kingdom that will ally itself with Babylonia in the last days. Even, the Dragon, Satan will be in close communion with him. He will go so far as to publicly blaspheme against God and oppress God's people. He will attempt to change their religious festivals however, his rule will last for just one election term and he will not even rule for the full term for which he has been allotted. He will be destroyed completely and all power on earth will be handed to the followers of the Lamb.
Now, to study the Beast as he is revealed in the Book Of Revelations, he is revealed right after the vision of the Woman And The Dragon. In fact, those two visions flow into one another as though they are connected and this shows, the connection between the Birth Of The Lamb and His Triumph and the Reign Of The Antichrist and His final Defeat. God asks us to draw a comparison and a contrast from these two visions. The vision of the woman ends with the earth aiding the woman and swallowing the water the dragon sent after her. In cases where evil forces come into play and clash with forces of good when shown in revelations, water and sand represent a multitude of people. The water the dragon spat represents the multitude of armies with which he will attempt to overthrow God's People. The Woman represents two things. The first is Mary, the Mother Of Jesus. From that line, the revelation is meant to be looked at as a historical event. The second thing she represents is the Church Of God in the last days and at the same time also represents Jerusalem. This calls for a symbolic and prophetic analysis. In the last days, the Dragon will attack the Holy Church with a multitude of followers, but a great multitude of people who support the Church, a great multitude of people who love Jerusalem will absorb the attack. They will serve as a front and defend the Church/defend Jerusalem. In the end, they will repel the attack of the Dragon/Satan.
In Daniel's revelation of the evil King Of Syria, Daniel 11:34 says;
"While the killing is going on, God's people will receive a little help, even though many who join them will do so for selfish reasons".
Furious with the woman for his failure in taking her son and crushing her, he will go to fight against her descendants, the followers of Christ. The revelation doesn't leave that to your imagination for almost immediately after, it narrates how the Dragon attacks the Woman's descendants.
"And the Dragon Stood On the Seashore".
In literature, especially ones that have to do with mythology, epics and the clashes of spiritual forces, short sentences at the end of a story, prophecy, or say, a prologue connote a deep meaning, usually a sense of terrible foreboding and that is what I feel anytime I read those lines though short as they may be. Though it looks as though the Dragon does nothing, it still remains a fearful verse to read. To make matters worse, it marks the beginning of a new verse. Verse 18 of Revelations Chapter 12 and at the same time concludes Chapter 12 and marks the beginning of Chapter 13 making it a complete verse on its own, strategically positioned in the Book Of The Apocalypse in a Chapter with the same number as the tribes of Israel and marking a terrifying transition. Just like the verse that says "Jesus wept" adds a sense of profoundness to the passion of Christ in Gethsemane.
This sentence though short connotes a deep meaning. The Sea in every revelation, particularly to the prophets of Old and one of the things God used to lambast Ezra symbolizes for humanity in God's eyes, mystery. The land symbolizes familiarity. The seashore stands between the land and the sea. This means that the Dragon faded into the realm of mythology. He became not a complete reality but he wasn't completely a fantasy either. He became a myth, something between fact and fiction.
Right after the Dragon fades into the background, the beast appears out of the realm of mystery and mythology. It is the beast with seven heads and ten horns mentioned in Daniel and Revelations. The Beast is both a kingdom and a king unlike any other. His seven heads represent seven leaders and on each head was a name insulting to God. This symbolizes a Kingdom that has never accepted God. Since the beginning, all its great leaders have never acknowledged God and have blasphemed against him. In Revelations 17, the prophecy of the woman sitting on the red beast also makes mention of the fact that this is the same beast that came out of the sea and all over it were names insulting to God. Names in this context represents "identities". Identities God despises, identities that he hates to look at, identities whose very existence is insulting to him. These names symbolize the names of those that did not have their names written in the scroll of the Lamb before creation. The Dragon from the background offers the Beast vast support. The Dragon will not reveal itself completely during that time as that will defy the purpose of the Antichrist, to take away God's people by pretending to be the Christ. The Bible says further that one head of the Beast was fatally injured but healed miraculously. Right after that line, it says, the whole earth was amazed and followed the Beast. The preceding line still speaks of the Head that is unlike any other of the other Heads, at the same time, it seems to speak of that Head's attribute not as a Human Being/King but rather as a kingdom that vanished into obscurity but is revived. The Beast then proceeds to blaspheme against God, cursing God and oppressing His People. At this point, John warns Christians/followers Of Yahweh not to cling lustfully to life but to persevere in faith.
The second Beast came up out of the Earth. This means that it was a Beast people were familiar with. It is a figure known by everyone on the earth that also takes on the demeanour of a lamb, that also tries to imitate Christ falsely, yet it is a lying and deceitful spirit, it speaks like a dragon. It acts as a viceroy for the first beast and forces everyone in the world into its(the first beast's) submission. This Beast performs miracles and is allowed to deceive even God's people by means of these miracles. At this point, the Devil has finally succeeded in perverting one last truth about God he has not been able to till that moment, the Trinity. The Devil Himself takes on the role of a quasi-father, the Antichrist is a quasi-son and the second Beast is the lying false Spirit Jesus and many other Apostles warned against in the guise of a well-known public figure. This second Beast convinces the people to create an image of the first Beast. That image is most likely an organization with a similar organizational and hierarchical structure as the Beast itself, the Kingdom it once was and the Kingdom it will be in that age. But in the end, this trinity of evil will be thrown into the Second Death, the True Hell with all the wicked and fallen angels and people who have ever existed.
THE SIXTH SIGN:-RETURN FROM EXILE
The sixth sign coincides with the Seventh which is the Coming Of Jesus Christ. The Sixth Sign is the return of the Exiled Jews, it is only after the Jews all return from exile that the final seal will be put on the present age. This return means two things; the first is a physical exodus back to the Promised Land. The second is a conversion of the Jews. A return to obedience and acceptance of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, also a unification between Christianity and Judaism such that there will no more be a distinction between both. Isaiah says of the Exiled Jews in Isaiah 66:19 that God spared some Jews and exiled them to nations that have never heard of Him. Nations like Spain, Libya and Lydia, Tubal and Greece. Isaiah 56 also reflects a return. In 2 Esdras 13, Ezra is shown a similar vision of the Son Of Man as shown to Daniel. In Ezra's revelation, a man came up out of the sea with a frighteningly dazzling appearance. An army gathered to fight against him. This is the same revelation shown to John where an uncountable army laid siege to God's Holy City. In revelations, they symbolize Gog and Magog and were destroyed by fire which rained from the Heavens. In Esdras, we are shown the source of the Fire and its meaning. The man is said to have carved up a mountain, Mount Zion, on which he flies up to. Ezra says he tried to see the place or region from which the mountain was carved but couldn't. This signifies a sacred place that God does not wish to reveal yet. The crowd advanced to attack the man but without weapons, he defeated them all. He opened his mouth and out of his mouth came a combination of a stream of fire, a blazing wind and a storm of sparks with which he destroyed them all.
In 2 Esdras, it is at that time that the New Jerusalem will be revealed. In Ezra's vision, Mount Zion was interpreted as representing the New Jerusalem, not carved out by human hands. The flame that came out of the man's mouth represents him confronting them with their wicked plans and the torments they must endure. The storm meant that he would confront them for their godlessness and the fire meant that he would easily destroy them by means of the Law. This is the same interpretation of the Double-Edged Sword that comes out of the Mouth Of God.
After that is over and done with, He will call a peace loving people to himself. These people were explained as being the ten tribes of Israel who were taken into captivity by King Shalmaneser of Assyria and deported to a foreign land east of the Euphrates. From then on, they migrated further East to avoid being corrupted by the Gentiles, crossing rivers which God miraculously parted in the place called Arzareth and finally, they settled in a land no one had ever lived in before. Those are the people that will return from exile bringing others as gifts and crossing rivers God will once again part miraculously. Those people have been miraculously concealed from the rest of the world such that they cannot be recognized and will be protected until the day the Messiah calls them back to the land he has promised them.
Esdras 13:51-52
"Then I said, 'Lord and Master, please tell me why the man came up out of the sea'".
He answered, "No one can explore the bottom of the sea to find out what is there. In the same way, no human being can see my son or those who come with him until the day that has been fixed".
On this note, from my study of the prophecies, I have realized that the evils that are prophesied seldom head east. In Daniel's vision of the Ram and the Goat. The ram butted its horns to the south, the west and the north. The goat attacked it from the west and defeated it. The horns of the goat grew and one pointed towards the East and the Promised Land. It looked like that horn was hell-bent on crushing all of God's people but it is only when this horn tried this deed that it is said that it grew strong enough to attack the armies of Heaven, the Stars themselves(Angels). The direction East is hardly mentioned in prophecies connoting to evil. At this juncture, I would like to urge Christians to pray for Jerusalem. Don't be proud that God is punishing them for their past rebellion because in this age, if Jerusalem falls, all Christians will suffer and our sufferings begin with the fall of Jerusalem. If Jerusalem prospers, we all too shall prosper. The sixth bowl of God's anger dries up the Euphrates to provide a way for the Kings that come from the East, the exiles.
Note(jeremiah 16)(Isaiah 66)The return from exile.(Isaiah 56)(Isaiah 47).
THE SEVENTH SIGN(THE ALPHA AND OMEGA SIGN):-JESUS CHRIST COMES IN GLORY
John's gospel is one of the most powerful and his gospel adds more power and meaning to his revelations. Of all gospels written in the Bible, John is the one writer whose theme focuses on affirming the Divinity of Christ right from the beginning of his gospel
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the word was God. He existed before the beginning and nothing came to be except through him but the world knew him not". (Paraphrasing John 1:1).
It is most likely for the reason that John knew that Jesus existed before creation that he did not see the need to write about Jesus' birth. Yet the book of John complements the Synoptic gospels to provide a full meaning and understanding of the Divinity and Material Nature Of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Jesus was and is not 50% human, 50% God but 100% human and 100% God. He is completely human and at the same time, completely God, a perfect bridge between the Celestial and Material world. And at the same time, he is always Alpha and Omega, the Alpha Sign and the Omega Sign, always marking the beginning and the end. He marks the beginning of the Old Testament and its end and marks the beginning of the New Testament and its end. His birth marks the beginning of the End Of Age and his second coming marks its end. And still, his second coming marks the beginning of the New Age and his final triumph over the Devil marks the End Of The Present Material World. His Crowning And Judgement Of Humanity marks the beginning of a New Material and Immaterial Cosmos until eternity. He is always the beginning, and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.
The Vision Of the Woman and the Dragon recounts his birth and the Devil's attempt to destroy him through the evil king, Herod. The Devil fails and attempts to kill him many times before his crucifixion. Then, the Devil attempts to humiliate him and kill him by crucifixion unaware that he is himself being used by God to accomplish His(God's) Divine Plan. By the time the Devil realizes his mistake, it is too late and he(the Devil) is stripped of his dominion. From that moment, the Devil fades into the background and the world proceeds towards the path of science and logic. As Science evolves, mankind gains the ability to understand the things that happen around him more and more. A sense of conceit is created in mankind's heart and due to this conceit, the revelations are hidden for if man understands the sea as he believes in his conceit that he does, he cannot know that in God's eyes, it denotes mystery for mankind. The Devil laughs at all that is going on, for to him; it serves him better to be known only as a myth, a superstition, religious nonsense. For if mankind learnt to believe in the existence of the Devil, then it would become easier to believe in the existence of God. It does not matter to the Devil whether man knows him or not. What matters is that mankind doesn't know and does not accept God. This goes on till evil and good are seen now, only as emotions and not Spiritual forces. All of this is hidden within the words of John;
"And the Dragon stood on the Seashore". (Good News Bible).
From then on, the events surrounding the Antichrist begin to unfold.
In the Book Of Esdras, the Salvation Of The Just and Damnation Of The Wicked is mentioned by the Angel Uriel in Ezra's third vision after the mention of earthquakes, national rebellions, international intrigues, unstable leaders and confused rulers.
The Angel mentions that just as these signs will happen on earth, signs and wonders will also happen in heaven. Thus there is a distinction made between Celestial Signs And Terrestrial Signs.
Then, the Angel speaks of the Salvation Of the Just and the Damnation Of The Wicked.
The Just are mentioned as those who will survive and will be saved. They are saved, and just for two reasons alone. The first is their good works, the second is their faith. The Angel uses the preposition 'Or' between them to show that there will be two Kinds of Just people, those that will survive by a very close shave and those who will survive very obviously. They can also be said as those who had faith and accepted God and complemented their Faith by their Good Works and those that will be saved solely by their faith in God and by His Just and Loving Mercy.
For the Evil ones, many things categorize them,
They ignored God's ways and held them in contempt.
They ignored God in their lifetimes though they accepted his blessings.
They Scorned God's law.
They refused to repent while they had the chance to do so.
In the Book Of Revelations, the Coming Of The Messiah, Jesus Christ happens right after the fall of Babylon. The vision of the Wedding Feast Of The Lamb happens right after the vision of the fall of Babylon. From the revelations, we know that the Bride is the New Jerusalem. It is in this vision that the clean shining linen is interpreted as being the Good Deeds of God's people and this shining linen is given to the Bride to wear. Thus the New Jerusalem will be built upon the foundations and clothed in the Glory Of The Good Deeds Of God's people. After this vision comes the vision of the Rider with the White Horse, who wears many crowns and whose name is "Faithful and True". His name is also called "The Word Of God". Jesus Christ. A celestial army follows behind him and out of his mouth came a sharp sword with which he will defeat all nations. On his robe and thigh are said to be the words "King Of kings and Lord of lords". He will rule over the nations with an iron rod and trample out the wine in the winepress of the furious anger of God.
This act of trampling out the wine possibly connotes two meanings. For the righteous, it connotes mercy. For the unrighteous, it connotes judgement. Every human being is a sinner and sin angers God. Sin fills up the winepress of the furious anger of God. This wine is what is poured into the seven bowls of God's anger. The wine in the winepress of God's furious anger is made from grapes cut from the earth. The grapevine of evil that was sown in the heart of Adam in the beginning and grew into something very huge. Thus the unrighteous are made to drink of all the evil that has happened since the beginning of the world. When these grapes are squeezed into the winepress of God's anger outside the city, the flood from them is said to be three hundred kilometres long and nearly two metres deep. Jesus "trampling out" the wine could be to prevent the winepress from filling up and "trampling" is such a strong word as compared to "stepping".
When the rider on the white horse comes, it is an event all nations will see. The "opening of the heavens" connotes the revealing of a celestial mystery. Jesus' second coming will be an event everyone will see and this is the first mention of his coming in the book of revelations as an event. The beast gathers armies with the kings of the earth to fight the rider, the Messiah. The Beast and the kings of the earth are material elements. This is one of the few visions, that almost lack symbolism but is narrated as a historical event. One symbolism used however is the Sword that comes out of the mouth of the rider and slays his enemies, yet from the revelation, a battle is not shown. The prophets of old were exceptional in describing battles in visions, going so far as to describe the sound of the weapons clashing. Even in the Greek Version of Esther, Mordecai's vision was described in such cataclysmic detail making mention of the sound the two dragons in his vision made. Visions Of God described his voice in many ways, likening it to the sound of thunder, trumpets, the clashing of a thousand swords, or the roar of the sea. Prophets of old never left out the sensory experiences of the visions they had. They described sight, sound, smell at times and even feeling and taste, yet in the vision of the coming of the rider on the white horse, there was no mention of anything that connoted to a cataclysmic war being fought.
Funnily enough, armies gather, yet without a fight, the beast and false prophet are taken prisoner almost immediately and extremely easily. The kings and other armies were immediately killed after with the sword that comes out of the mouth of the Rider, and all the birds ate all they could of their flesh.
The word sword in revelations of old connoted many things, war, death. In the New Testament, that word is used first in the life of Jesus by Simeon whom Jesus was presented to in the Temple by Mary and Joseph. But the word sword here meant "deep sorrow". The sword was prophesied to pierce the Heart Of Jesus' Mother Mary.
The Sword mentioned in revelations is the same as the fire, blazing wind and storm that Ezra saw in his vision of the Son Of Man. In many Biblical texts, the tongue is likened to a Sword with the power to heal and to destroy. In modern times, the saying, "the pen is mightier than the Sword" holds true and is often used. The "Sword" thus mentioned in revelations represents words. (Another evidence of Jesus' love for puns huh? Sword and Words contain the same letters and number of letters in English). Words uttered by the Son Of God, who is "The Word Of God". Words of condemnation. The false prophet and beast are immediately seized and cast into Hell but the evil kings and armies are not killed by Jesus physically. They are condemned as Jesus reveals to them all the torments they will face for eternity. Their spirits are utterly destroyed. They are killed by his words and become "living corpses" so to speak. They are left to live on with the condemnation Jesus has pronounced upon them.
The Birds mentioned that eat their flesh are "scavengers". Scavengers are likened in many Biblical texts to demons. In the prophecy Jesus gave of what has come to be known as rapture, two people in the same place experience different things, one is taken away and the other is left. When his disciples ask where the others are taken to, he answers grimly;
"Where there is a corpse, there the vultures gather".
The "vultures" in this context refer to demons whom the evil people will be handed over to.
In Jewish tradition as well, evil spirits were believed to hang around places of death such as burial sites. No wonder a demoniac approached Jesus from the burial sites in Gadarenes.
However, this is not the time for their destruction. Jesus reveals the splendid city of New Jerusalem in front of the Righteous and unrighteous built upon the twelve foundations, the apostles and protected by twelve gates, the twelve tribes of Israel. It is at this point that Jesus calls the exiles of the East to come into the city along with the people of present day Jerusalem and the Gentiles whom the exiles will be bringing to him to present as gifts.
The unrighteous are killed more as they witness this great beauty and watch the righteous enter the city. They witness the gates of the city close to them forever and are left to ponder their eternal fate of damnation.
The unrighteous will still be around after the revelation of the New Jerusalem. It is connoted that the New Jerusalem will be involved in trade with outside nations.
Read Revelations 21:26.
However, nothing impure will enter the city. The gates of the city will always be open. The unrighteous will be allowed to look in at it from a distance but will never be allowed to enter. The symbolic name for this city is "Mount Zion" for it is not made of human hands.
At the coming of the rider and the revelation of this city, an angel descends from Heaven holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a heavy chain. He seizes Satan and chains Satan for a thousand years, after which he would be released for a little while.
With the one who coordinates evil, out of the way, the mastermind behind evil sealed, the sting of evil is almost not felt for evil has no one to coordinate it anymore. For the righteous, they are wiped clean of sin and are impervious to it due to their transfiguration by Jesus Christ. The "vultures" that eat the flesh of the kings are the remnant forces of evil and sin that are left to roam the world. They feel its effects and are still vulnerable to diseases, pain, sorrow and death and the other vestiges of sin while they are made to see the righteous with great power and no weaknesses. The righteous are proclaimed as Kings and rule the world with Christ for a thousand years, but the dead are not resurrected yet, except for those that died in Christ, the martyrs whose death were offered to Christ as a sacrifice. Those that are resurrected in this first raising need not fear the second death for their raising is a confirmation of their righteousness. However, there is a connotation that not all the dead that are not resurrected are going to be damned for John doesn't call them 'evil' or 'unrighteous'. At the same time, he does not call them 'good' or 'righteous'. They are not qualified with any adjectives. They are only called, "the rest of the dead". This connotes the possibility that not all the ones Jesus will proclaim "innocent" on the day of Judgement will rule with him for a thousand years on earth in the New Jerusalem that precedes the Judgement but after.
When the fullness of a thousand years is achieved after the descent of the New Jerusalem, Satan will once more be released and once more coordinate the evil that was left almost insentient in the world and in the hearts of the unrighteous after New Jerusalem's establishment. They will be deceived into thinking they can overthrow God's Messiah, Jesus Christ and will form a final front to attack New Jerusalem. Their numbers here are expressed with the word "Sand" which shows that they are almost beyond count. However, without the use of any weapons, God Himself destroys them all with fire. Then the Devil who deceives them is cast into his Judgement, the Second Death, the lake of fire and sulphur where the Beast and False Prophets Have been cast before him. Their torment there is Eternal.
Note about Hell:
Do not let anyone deceive you into believing that it is the Devil that torments the souls in Hell. The Devil himself will be undergoing a torment surpassing everyone else's and won't have the time, luxury or power to torment anyone else. The torment is as a result of God's righteous anger and He alone holds power over Hell and Judgement. The Devil has no power in Hell.
FROM OMEGA TO ALPHA AGAIN
After the Judgement of the Devil, the Throne Of Judgement will be set in place. Earth and Heaven, the Present Material Cosmos Will Flee from God's presence to be seen no more. From the Book Of Esdras, Mercy and Patience will vanish completely and be replaced by Judgement. The Good and Evil in People's Hearts will be revealed and reward and punishment will follow at once. Hell will appear at one side and Paradise on the other.
The Sea will surrender its dead and Death and Hades will Surrender theirs as well. The fallen angels bound early in history will be brought before God as well.
God's first words to the multitude of people gathered are;
"Look! I am the one you have denied and refused to serve; it is my commands you have rejected. Look around you; there is joy and peace in one direction, fire and torment in the other"-Taken from 2nd Esdras.
On that Day, there will be no sun, moon or stars, no cloud, thunder or any other elements, no seasons, heat, frost, cold, hail, rain or dew, no daylight nor other form of light except for the Light Of The Glory Of God which will allow everyone to see. From the revelation given to Esdras, that single day will be the equivalent of seven earthly years.
The Judgement proceeds, the standard of performance, what determines who passes and who fails are the three things Paul speaks of, Faith, Hope and Love.
Faith cannot exist without Hope and Without Love, Faith is a mere belief and not Faith. One cannot do without the other.
If you believe in God's existence and do not believe in the resurrection, you leave out the requirement of Hope thus what you have is a belief and not an assurance of salvation. It is just like any other person who believes in fairies, dragons or Santa Claus, or any deity that is not God Most High.
There is no Faith Without Hope.
But if you have Love alone, you have all three.
If Love dwells in your Heart, you are within God and He is Within you and His Spirit Lives in You. Love is expressed in the Corporal acts Of Mercy which Jesus speaks about, doing to the least of His Brothers, clothing the naked, feeding the Hungry, giving Water to the Thirsty, Visiting the Sick and Those in Prison and the other commandments that follow after the First Three. The First Three commandments are the Expression Of Faith and Love for God. The others, expression Of Love for neighbour. Finally, they are crowned with Hope, the Death and Resurrection Of Jesus Christ, Our Saviour. From God's words I stated above, one requirement of Salvation is Faith. However, not all the People that Jesus Says "I do not know you, depart from me you wicked and sinful person!" will be Atheists or people that had no faith in him. Likewise, I find it difficult to believe that all people that have not known him but lived lives of Love will also be told to leave his presence.
Jesus Himself said;
"He who lives in Love, lives in Me, and I in Him".
Love is God and God is Love. Love can only be expressed by those with the Spirit Of God. Any other thing may resemble it but is not Love, just like we see in these days that the word Love is used in a lot of instances where it is profaned. I can't say that those who doubted Jesus' Divinity in their lifetimes will all be condemned even if they performed acts of Love but it is not my place to say that all of them will be saved either or even some of them. That is in the hands of Jesus.
However, in the revelation of John and in that Of Esdras, it is said clearly that everyone will be judged according to what they have done.
This is precisely why James says, "Faith without works is dead" and why Jesus says, "not all who call me Master on that day will be saved."
If everyone were going to be saved by their mere belief in God's existence, then all the demons would be saved as well for they all believe.
So to say, "I believe in God, I believe in Jesus" when you see your brother in need and not help him is just like the demons who see God all the time and believe in him even more than we can because they have seen him.
It is also why Paul says, Faith, Hope and Love, these three are important but Love outshines them all.
Faith and Hope are things you carry within you, Love is the only one you can carry within you and bring outside you. When you bring Love out of you, you carry with it Faith as well, and the Hope that Follows is not meant for you because you believe but for those around you who have lost Faith in Hope.
Thus Love=Deeds
And it is deeds that are going to be judged and the motives behind those deeds, "thoughts" as well as the effects of those deeds, "consequences".
It is also why Jesus says, "the prostitutes and tax collectors are going to Paradise ahead of you" when he spoke to the religious leaders of his time.
Which would you say is more important to God;
"A sinner who performs good deeds and through the good he does erases his/her past sins?" or
"A religious person who believes in the existence of God and lives a life of wickedness and in so doing compounds his/her judgement?"
In the end we are judged according to our deeds. Deeds and Belief come together to form Faith. Faith without accompanying deeds is "mere belief" and that, the demons have more than enough of.
Another affirmation of this is the words of the Apostle James that say in James 4:17;
"So then, those who do not do the good that they should are guilty of sin".
Books are opened and one more book is opened, "The Book Of Life" also called "The Book Of The Living". Which could also be called "The Story Of The Living".
Whoever did not have their names written within this Book are thrown into the "Lake Of Fire", the Second Death, Hell.
According to our Catholic beliefs, deeds will be judged and then thoughts. It is said in the Bible that our deeds will be tested by the fire of God's truth and if they survive the testing, they will attain perfection and live forever in Paradise for all to see. These are the deeds that Jesus says "follows the righteous". Deeds that do not survive are destroyed.
The deed itself is like gold in its raw state, covered in impurities as the motives of most humans are not always completely pure. However, as God's truth tests these deeds, the impurities fall off one after another. If nothing is left after the impurities fall off, it's like a material that resembles gold but was so intertwined with impurities that it itself became impure and was destroyed during the refinement. In other words "Quasi-gold". Deeds that survive follow their performer into Paradise. This is why every action performed on Earth has an Eternal Implication just as the Fall Of The Devil in the Beginning and the Sin Of Adam have implications that have lasted until today and will last for Eternity in the Lake Of Fire.
Every person will be shown as well, how their individual actions affected those around them and these will be laid bare for everyone to see from Adam to the last person who will be born. For the righteous, how their good inspired other people who would have been damned had they not performed that good as well as how the misfortunes in their lives and their reactions to their misfortunes saved the souls of many around them whom they may or may not have known and how their single actions influenced many and were passed down from generation to generation till now and how their lives fitted perfectly into God's Divine Plan. They will also be shown the other side of the coin, how what they did not do also affected things and people around them either positively or negatively.
For the evil, they will be shown how their wickedness led to the downfall of many others apart from themselves and at the same time, how their wicked persecution of the righteous and the reaction of the righteous to those persecutions, saved many others, yet it is the righteous that will receive the credit that comes from the good that God allowed to come out of the evil of the unrighteous so the puzzle of God's Divine Plan will be fitted so perfectly that everyone will marvel and finally understand why God allowed so much evil to happen in the world.
At the same time, the righteous will be filled with the same zeal God has and the hatred of the wicked that he has so a mother who is saved will not feel any pity for a son or daughter who is condemned and vice versa. This scenario is shown by the strict, almost cold manner in which Abraham chastised the Rich man in the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus.
Uriel himself uses this parable;
"A father cannot send his son to be sick for him, or eat or sleep or be healed for him. An owner cannot send his slave to do all these for him nor can a person send his best friend. Likewise, Judgement day is final and sets the seal on truth for all to see. In the same way, on that day, no one will be able to pray for another person. Each will be rewarded or punished according to his righteousness or unrighteousness."
2 Esdras 7: 114-115
"Self-indulgence and disloyalty will be eliminated. Righteousness and truth will reach their full maturity.
So on Judgement Day, no one will be able to have mercy on those who have been condemned and no one will be able to harm those who have been acquitted".
The Righteous will then be ushered into Paradise, the Victory they have won by the blood of the Lamb and the Unrighteous will be bundled together just as sheaves of wheat are bundled together and they will be thrown into the Second Death.
Concerning, the New Jerusalem, I might have to study the events surrounding its coming a little deeper for it is revealed that the Coming Of Jesus and his thousand year rule precede the Judgement. From the Book Of Esdras, the New Jerusalem is revealed at the Second Coming Of Jesus. From the Revelation Of John, the Wedding Feast Of The Lamb also precedes the Judgement but before the judgement, the Book Of Revelations says "the Bride has prepared herself and is clothed with clean linen".
The Second Coming Of Christ and the first defeat of the crowd, "The Great Chastising" then follows, then the thousand year rule.
The words "New Jerusalem" are only seen after the Final Judgement and the establishment of a new cosmos in the revelation of John. Yet at the same time, during its revelation, John speaks of trade between New Jerusalem and other Nations.
In the Book Of Esdras, "New Jerusalem" is revealed at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
After the Final Judgement, the establishment of a New Cosmos happens immediately. The present Cosmos, the Heavens and the Earth disappear along with the "deep raging waters" that were divided by the Sky during creation.
The "Sea" mentioned in Revelations 21 seems nothing like the one we've come to know by our logical faculties. For the Heavens and Earth disappear first before the Sea, just like the Sea existed before the Creation Of the Earth.
It is here that John says, the New Jerusalem descends, dressed like a bride to meet her husband. From then on, God establishes his home with humanity, His Law prevails and he finally becomes "All In All". Within all of Creation, just as all of Creation comes to dwell within him.
Finally, God's Divine Plan reaches completion. He sure is going to have a lot of time to plan a New Drama after that, except, with the New Drama, there will be another Epic but this time, without an antagonist. (Hard to imagine huh?).
THE EAST AND ITS SYMBOLISM
God prophesied through his prophets in the past, all the evils that will happen in the Final Days. However, He also promised that during those days, He will offer Divine Protection to His People.
First of all, from the revelations given to Ezekiel, the East connotes Mercy, though not from much that is said than from the events that take place during his second vision particularly. In Ezekiel's first vision, when God came to declare judgement on Jerusalem, he came from the North. The punishment God declared on Jerusalem through Ezekiel was very harsh. In fact, Ezekiel was made to act out the siege of Jerusalem in a very humiliating and painful way.
However, as God's presence rose to leave the Temple, he paused at the East Gate Of The Temple before heading further East and out of sight. This vision though not too sharply, shows the love of one who has to leave a place he loves or one who is driven out of a place he loves. It was almost as though God was looking back at Jerusalem and shedding silent tears which Ezekiel couldn't see. Then God headed East in the direction of the land to which the exiles deported by King Shalmaneser of Assyria were dwelling.
When God prophesied against Babylonia in Jeremiah 50, Babylonia's judgement was prophesied to come from the North.
In Daniel's vision of the Ram and the Goat, the Ram butted its horns to the West, North and South.
The Goat, another evil omen came heading from the west and destroyed the Ram. The Goat had its horn broken and replaced by horns that faced different directions, out of one of the four horns grew a little horn whose power extended towards the East and The Promised Land. I explained this earlier.
The Judgement on the Evil King Of Syria prophesied in Daniel comes from the East and the North.
Note: The Eagle prophesied in 2nd Esdras 11 also connotes to the Beast that came out of the Sea that John saw in his revelation which is also the fourth and final amongst the four beasts Daniel saw in his vision. There are similarities between the horn that overthrew three horns and three wings on the eagle that will rule at the end of time. But before I say anything more, the Angel Uriel himself said that the Eagle was the fourth kingdom Daniel saw in his vision though he says as well that Daniel was given a different interpretation. Concerning the three kings, they are overthrown by the Beast/Antichrist.
Of their deaths, it is said in Esdras, that one of them will die in great agony on his bed; one will kill the other and will himself be killed in Battle.
Another interesting thing concerning the Seven Bowls of God's anger which are said to be the final expression of God's wrath has to do with the Sixth Bowl which is poured on the Euphrates to provide a way for the returning exiles who are described as "The Kings that Come From The East". Unlike the other six bowls whose purpose is to punish mankind for its unrighteousness, that one bowl's purpose was to make a way for people that have been long lost. That bowl signifies hope and mercy even in the face of God's terrifying judgement.
Yet at the same time, the East connotes Judgement, righteous judgement.
Of all entrances to the Garden Of Eden, the one God guarded and sealed off was the Eastern entrance.
In an additional prophecy of Esdras, he prophesies God making use of Arab armies that come from the East to punish people for their sins.
However, in that same prophecy, Ezra prophesies "storm clouds" moving from the North, South and West to bring violence and bloodshed upon the earth. However, "winds" from the East prevail and push back the "storm clouds" about to bring destruction. This shares a connection to Daniel's vision of the Ram and the Goat and John's vision of the Woman and The Dragon and at the same time, Daniel's vision of the Evil King Of Syria and his judgement.
God confused the language of the world as they built the Tower Of Babel in an Eastern land where they were wandering in order to limit mankind's pride and vanity.
East therefore seems to symbolize a Sacred Direction For God denoting his Mercy and Righteous Judgement.
CATEGORIZATION OF THE SIGNS OF THE END
Celestial Signs.
Terrestrial Signs.
The Sequential Signs.
The Heralding Signs.
CELESTIAL SIGNS:
To explain the celestial signs, I need to expand a little on the differences between the physical world where we live and the Spiritual. The spiritual world is primarily a world of symbols. However, that does not mean that the things that exist within the spiritual world are absent in the physical.
The physical world is where the Bible derives its literal interpretation. The moral is a code of conduct that governs both the physical and the spiritual.
The spiritual world is the source of the allegorical interpretation of the Bible and the Anagogical focuses on connecting things that happen in the spiritual as they are manifested in the physical with relation to time.
Eg. Matthew 16:19;
"And so I tell you Peter: you are the rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in Heaven, and what you permit on earth, will be permitted in Heaven."
Matthew 18:18-20.
"And so I tell you: what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in Heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in Heaven, AND I TELL YOU MORE, WHENEVER TWO OF YOU AGREE ON EARTH ABOUT ANYTHING YOU PRAY FOR, IT WILL BE DONE FOR YOU BY MY FATHER IN HEAVEN".
Matthew 7:13-14
"Go in through the narrow Gate because the gate to Hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it".
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us".
In many of Jesus' parables and other sayings, he explained the Kingdom Of Heaven to his disciples in figurative language. He tried to put it in a literal way that his disciples who were very much human would understand.
In John's vision of the Apocalypse, particularly the vision of the scrolls, he actually saw Jesus in the form of "a Lamb".
Revelations 5:6
"Then I saw a Lamb standing in the centre of the throne, surrounded by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb appeared to have been killed. It had seven horns and eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that have been sent throughout the whole earth".
In Ezra's vision of the Eagle, in the second book of Esdras, he saw Jesus in the form of an enraged lion confronting the wicked Eagle.
I explained the meaning of the fire, flame and wind that came out of Jesus' mouth which John saw as a Sword as interpreted to Ezra by the angel Uriel.
Celestial signs are thus "literal" to spiritual beings and our world would thus be "allegorical to them" just as their world is "allegorical to us" and ours is "literal" according to our understanding.
Spiritually, Jesus confronting the evil armies at the end of age would be exactly as John foresaw it with a Sword coming forth to slay them and leaving corpses for the birds of prey to devour.
Literally, the human eye would just see Jesus scolding them in rage and their trembling and their morale being crushed.
The "Beast" Spiritually has the exact forms as revealed to John, Ezra and Daniel but "literally", it's a person/a group of people and an organization.
Thus the celestial signs are symbolic to us humans but very much literal to spiritual beings.
THE TERRESTRIAL SIGNS:
The terrestrial signs operate around the anagogical principle of cause and effect. They are symptoms/effects/events that occur as a result of something that has already occurred spiritually. They are the signs that humans perceive and are familiar with and are what are known by humans as "literal", "realistic" and the like. The terrestrial signs though operate around celestial principles. Some of the principles being:
Depression precedes physical sickness. (A broken spirit will result in a broken body).
When two elephants fight, the ground suffers. (When spiritual forces clash, it manifests in nature).
At the same time, an imbalance in the celestial laws can cause a chain of terrestrial events that become almost impossible to break when relying on human logic. Most of the strife in our world happens due to our disregard for celestial principles.
Eg. In the realm of the spiritual, wisdom and knowledge take precedence over strength. Spiritual beings
WHAT IS HEAVEN LIKE? (2 Esdras 8:51-62)
The Seven Stages
WHAT IS HELL LIKE? (2 Esdras 7:75-101)
The Seven Stages