1999-4-18 12:27:00
Glenys writes:
"How do the two witnesses in Revelation fit in with the eight principle men? Are the former real people or just symbolic descriptions? Why are the great spiritual movers and shakers in our history (and future, it seems) men only, rather than men and women? Is it a reflection of societal values or a characteristic of the present 'dispensation' that has been determined by a higher power? I am not asking this from a pro feminist viewpoint but because I am genuinely curious. Wouldn't the return of Christ be more successful if over half the world's population were represented in the leadership representing that return? I'm aware of the argument that there is no male or female 'in the Lord' but find that doesn't really address the question. In fact, it raises the question that if that is true, then why aren't there more women, etc."
JJ:
Part of the answer to your question on the sexes is that as more advanced entities pay off their karma, they can choose the sex where they can accomplish their work. Because of male dominance there has just been more opportunity for the teachers in the male gender.
This is part of the answer, but if I go any further we will have a complete shift of topics here because of the controversy and interest. I do plan on covering this thoroughly in the not too distant future and assure you that those who soak it all in will be satisfied with the equality of things in the end.
Christian legend has it that the two witnesses are to be Moses and Elijah. The originators of this legend probably believed in reincarnation, but modern Christianity does not. Orthodox believers think that Moses and Elijah will just materialize in Jerusalem in the last days.
In Zechariah we read about the two final entities who make up the BRANCH. To understand the symbolism read the first part of the chapter where is seen a vision:
"Here is a lamp-stand meets my eyes, all of gold. A bowl this lamp-stand has at the top of it, and from the bowl run seven pipes, to feed the seven lamps that crown it. And there axe two olive trees hanging over it, one to the right, and one to the left of the bowl...." (Zech 4:1-4)
The bowl here is a symbol of the Christ, the lamp stand is the Father and the seven golden lamps are seven disciples who have been tried as gold. The seven pipes are the seven magnetic threads that link the consciousness of Christ with the seven disciples.
The scripture then continues:
"Then I asked him about the two olive trees, to right and left of the lamp-stand; and there was more I would know. What are the two olive-shoots close beside the two golden taps that feed yonder pipes of gold? What said he, cans't thou not tell? Not I, my Lord, I answered. What should these be he said, but the two newly anointed ones that stand in his presence, who is Master of the whole earth?" (Zech 4:11-14 [Knox Version])
Not only are the seven disciples fed spiritual force by the Christ, but also by two branches from the olive trees. The two olive trees and the golden bowl symbolize the three aspects of the godhead: The Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The first olive branch is a disciple representing the power of the Father, similar to Moses. The bowl is the Christ feeding the disciples directly. The second olive branch is a companion disciple to the first, but he represents the aspect of the Holy Ghost, or the aspect of active intelligence. This is a correspondence to Aaron, the Spokesman for Moses.
The seven disciples, plus the two olive branches equal nine entities in the BRANCH, the number of initiation. The seven disciples also correspond to the seven rays and one of them plus the one like Moses will be on ray one and have direct contact with Shamballa energy and work toward the coming of the Ancient of Days as prophesied of by Daniel as well as the coming of the Christ. If we add to the number nine the highest on this earth who represent the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost we then have a BRANCH with the number of twelve, the number of the tribes of Israel and the apostles of Jesus.
We have a repeat mentioning of the seven disciples in the New Testament. John wrote:
"And in the midst of the Elders stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God SENT FORTH INTO ALL THE EARTH." (Rev 5:6)
Micah also mentions these seven:
"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth that is to be ruler in Israel (Christ); whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (He has had the experience of many lifetimes.) [...] And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then we shall raise against him SEVEN SHEPHERDS, and eight principle men." Micah 5:2&5
The "seven shepherds" are again the seven disciples and they shall hold back the power of antichrist forces from preventing the materialization of the New Age. Jesus said that others would do greater things than he had done and in the near future we will see this accomplished with his assistance.
The two olive branches are also mentioned in the book of Revelation. They are commonly called the two witnesses:
3 "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 "And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6 "These have power to shut the heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
7 "And when they shall have finished their testimony the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill them.
8 "And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 "And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell upon the earth.
11 "And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
13 "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell and in the earthquake was slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant was affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven."
(Rev 11:3-13)
This scripture has several interpretations which are true correspondences, but at this time we will deal with its physical externalization which has been discounted by many.
Many have claimed to be the fulfillment of this prophecy. Most notably the Bahai's believe the Bab and Bahaullah to be the two servants, then many other lesser men have been put in that comparison. The Bab and Bahaullah did not work together and did not die together nor were their dead bodies seen by the entire world. The correspondences do not match here and to make them do so one would have to do some good astral spiritualization of meaning.
On the other hand Mormonism and the Bahai movements themselves are much better correspondences to the two prophets if one were to do some logical spiritualizing of meaning. They both prophesied to the world and were hated by the power of the Antichrist, and both have been slain of their effective life. Their dead bodies are still lying in the streets of Sodom and Egypt for the entire world to see. The world rejoices over the fact that they no longer disturb the status quo of their lives. Yet the truth they stood for will be resurrected and recognized by the world.
It should be obvious that the more literal physical fulfillment of this prophecy has not yet transpired. For one thing, until recently it has not been possible for "they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations" to all view their dead bodies lying, on the streets in an instantaneous manner. This could only be done over television through satellite hookups.
After these two servants have finished their work it will be found that the correspondences are accurate, but fulfillment will not be exactly as the average reader will expect. Although it is possible that they could turn water into blood, for instance, a more probable fulfillment may be on a more astral level. Water is a symbol of the emotions which truth always greatly disturbs and often turns it into blood, a symbol of anger and violence. As "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence." (Matt 11:12). The fire coming out of their mouths could be the fire of the Spirit of truth which slays the beast of error.
Exactly how close the prophecy comes to a literal fulfillment depends on the freewill of men and circumstances that freewill will bring about. The prophecy of Jonah was meant to teach that freewill can always control events. The following prophecy of the first coming of Christ was not fulfilled the way many expected: "He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." (Isa 53:10). Nevertheless, there are numerous ways the prophecy was fulfilled.
A prophecy which is believed creates a thought-form from the power of thought and feeling, and its fulfillment is often more predicated on the shape of the thought than on the original will of God. A prophecy can be made to be fulfilled. If it was not uttered in the first place, a corresponding event would not have been produced. Words can actually create events. Jesus admitted that he chose Judas knowing that he would betray him "that the scripture may be fulfilled." (John 13:18). If the scripture had not been written it is possible that the Christ would have had no need to pick a Judas. However, he had studied the scriptures and was aware of the prophecies concerning the Christ and wanted to strengthen the power of his mission by fulfilling all of them that the faith of the people would be strengthened.
We are told the two witnesses are to prophesy for 1260 days. We again have this number which is a symbol of the apostasy. This equals three and one half years or periods of time. In the same chapter we see that the outer court of the temple is trampled under foot for "forty-two months." This again equals three and one half years or periods. Finally, we are told that the bodies of the prophets would lie dead in the streets for three and one half days. Again we have the corresponding period of three and one half. These may or may not have literal fulfillment in days, months, or years, but will have correspondences in periods of time.
Apparently, any correspondence to these prophets will be hated by the world for the people will rejoice over their deaths and even send gifts to one another. Their message will be backed up by a certain power over the elements which people will think comes from the devil. Their dead bodies will "lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." (Rev 11:8). The majority of Christians believe that this refers to Jerusalem because the Lord was crucified there, but this is not necessarily the case. We are told that the city where the two prophets will lay will "spiritually" signify Sodom, Egypt, and where the Lord was crucified.
The Sodom referred to is from the days of Lot, and Egypt from the days of Moses, and Jerusalem from the days of Jesus signifying three of the most corrupt peoples in history. If the two prophets were to lie in the streets of Jerusalem as the world expects, the people may be somewhat hesitant in rejoicing at their death. On the other hand, if they were to lie in the streets of Salt Lake City (which also has a "dead sea") or another similar city few would make the connection. Whatever city it is, it will suffer corruption as did Sodom, and will hold people in spiritual bondage through strong authority as did Egypt, and would reject our Lord, if he were to make a visit, as did Jerusalem.
Thus we conclude the exegesis on the BRANCH with its nine extensions. Concerning those representing the BRANCH we are told:
"And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him (The overshadowing), the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his lions, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." (Isa 11:2-5)
Here we have a clear description of the characteristics of the BRANCH or a member thereof. His most outstanding trait is that he will not judge by appearances, but his judgment will always be fair.
Members of the BRANCH will lead us into the millennial conditions which are the hope of all religions. The BRANCH actually has more than one correspondence. We mentioned one which is a group of nine people who will shortly surface. The other correspondence will be in the appearance of nine Avatars over an extended period of time that will bring the golden age into fruition. It will take one hundred and fifty years to bring in what we may term the Lesser Golden Age and thousands of years to bring in the Greater Golden Age. Over these two periods will be two correspondences to the BRANCH in addition to the group of nine who will work fairly simultaneously. These nine may even have successors, but they may not necessarily be a member of the BRANCH.
Eventually, there may be several inspired groups in several different locations on the earth forming a righteous BRANCH through whom the Masters may work. "By their fruits you may know them."
Copyright © 1999 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved