The Unveiling Begins
Unveiling the Christ
The great unveiling begins with these words:
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” Rev 1:1-3
There are several interesting statements here that are ignored by many commentators.
(1) The book is a “Revelation of Jesus Christ.”
“Revelation” here comes from the Greek APOKALUPSIS. Does this Greek word look a little familiar? It should, for it is the word from which “Apocalypse” is derived. The book is sometimes called “The Book of Revelation” and other times “The Apocalypse,” but in reality the name is the same. “Apocalypse” is the Greek rendition but “Revelation” is the English of the same original word.
Let us examine the Greek word a little more carefully. APOKALUPSIS is translated in a variety of ways including, “revelation, be revealed, to lighten, manifestation, coming and appearing.” It is derived from the Greek APOKALUPTO which means “to take off the cover.” This is perhaps the reason the Concordant Version translates the word as “unveiling.” In fact, their translation does not name the book Revelation, or the Apocalypse, but “The Unveiling Of Jesus Christ.”
“Unveiling” has a deeper meaning than the word “revelation.” A revelation of Jesus Christ could occur by having a brief vision and seeing his image. But an unveiling is a different story. A brief vision could not do this. To unveil Jesus Christ would imply the revealing of His mystery, layer after layer until there is a full understanding of the Master Himself.
I, therefore, submit that the purpose of the Book is much more than a mere revelation that there is such a being as the Christ. There is also an unfolding of a mystery like the unfolding of a flower by the power of the light of the sun. Keep this thought in mind as we proceed.
(2) John was shown things “which must shortly come to pass.”
This seems to be an odd statement indeed when almost 2000 years has passed since it was written and most believe that the events have still not come to pass. Where is the great comet striking the earth? Where is the antichrist and where are the waters that are turned to blood, etc? 2000 years is not a short time by any standard, yet the scripture says these things would shortly come to pass.
Now note the end of verse three: “the time is at hand.”
Not only is the time short, but the time is at hand. Is it possible that all predictions within the book have already happened, or perhaps they repeat themselves on a cyclic nature? This is a good question to keep in mind as we examine the Book.
(3) “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” Verse 3
This is a very interesting statement. Why?
Because most people who read the book do not feel blessed. Many feel almost cursed with fear instead because of all the calamities predicted there. How can you feel blessed when you feel that a good portion of the earth may be destroyed and many loved ones will suffer great calamities?
Is it possible the book is misunderstood, that the real purpose is to unveil Jesus Christ and such an unveiling will bring a blessing and not a curse?
This is more than a possibility. This is the reality we will explore.
The Creative Seven
“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne.” Rev 1:4
Let us first examine the phrase “seven churches which are in Asia.”
Asia, in the days of John, was not the same Asia of today. Back then it was a Roman province, which included part of Asia Minor bordering the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
The word “church” comes from the Greek EKKLESIA which means “called, or gathered out.” The word Asia is thought to come from the Semitic root ASU which is believed to mean “sunrise or light.”
We therefore see the subtle meaning hidden in word origins in that John is writing to the groups gathered out from darkness with an eye toward a greater light.
It is interesting that seven is John’s favorite number to use in his book as it is repeated 59 times. Quite often in his writings the number seven corresponds to the seven chakras or energy centers in the body, but the number in reference to the churches refers to something even more fundamental. Each of the seven churches is under the influence of one of the seven creative rays.
John talks in this verse about the seven spirits before the throne who represent the seven great beings manifesting seven creative energies or rays that permeate and create all things in our reality. They manifest as the seven colors of the rainbow as well as the seven notes in the musical scale.
There has been much written on the seven rays as they manifest through humanity. Each of them has a different influence on individuals and groups. Each individual has some influence from all the rays, but there will be one in particular that will dominate within that person.
Let us give a brief rundown of them:
First, we have the three major rays corresponding to the Holy Trinity.
Ray One is often called the Ray of Power and is associated with God the Father. It is sometimes divided into Will, Power and Purpose.
Those who gravitate to government, leadership and positions of power are often under the influence of this ray.
Ray Two is called the Teaching Ray and represents the Son of the Father. It is also called the ray of Love-Wisdom.
Christ was the perfect manifestation of this ray and demonstrated it through his love, understanding and wisdom.
Ray Three is representative of the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. It is usually called the Ray of Active Intelligence and governs the earth itself and brings us into a mysterious relationship with Saturn, which is also governed by this ray.
Many of the intellectuals of the world as well as abstract thinkers, philosophers and mathematicians are influenced by Ray Three.
2) Second, we have the remaining 4 rays, which have less influence
Ray Four is called the Ray of Harmony through Conflict, which stimulates creative energies in us.
Ray Five is often called the Ray of Science or Concrete Knowledge. This ray influences people to search for solid provable answers to their questions.
Ray Six is the Ray of Devotion or Idealism and has been the dominant ray among humanity over the past two thousand years which has been ruled by Pisces. This governs our lower emotions and feeling nature. Those strong in ray six will have significant emotional power and often have what we call emotional intelligence. They love to devote themselves to an ideal and are often religious, but not always.
Ray Seven governs ceremonial law and order, or organizations. This governs the Age of Aquarius that we are now entering.
The person influenced by this ray will take an interest in ceremony, not only of a religious nature, but in his family and in the various organizations of which he is a member. He will gravitate to groups or form his own. and will seek to accomplish by making the complex simple through an ordered mind.
The next phrase reads: “Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come;”
This refers to the One God who is always found within the deepest recesses of our consciousness. God is not only in us now, but he “was” in us in the past, even when we could not perceive him. His presence will be with us in the future. All of us are forever linked to God. We can only attempt to ignore that link, but no matter what we do it was with us in our past, is with us in our present and shall be in our future.
The last phrase of the verse reads: “and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;”
The seven spirits represents seven entities, which represent the seven creative rays.
There are seven great entities who are masters of these rays upon this earth. There are also seven even greater entities who represent the seven rays as manifested through seven sacred planets in our solar system, of which the earth is not one.
Then there are seven greater entities still representing seven solar systems, of which the sun and the planets represent the Ray of Love Wisdom verifying that our God is indeed Love.
Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties. Aesop (620 BC – 560 BC)
Nov 24, 2006
Easy Access to All the Writings
For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE
JJ’s Amazon page HERE
Check out JJ’s Facebook Group HERE
Follow JJ on Twitter @JosephJDewey HERE
Check out JJ’s videos on TikTok HERE