2006-7-8 05:25:00
Here are the next verses:
1 "And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
2 " And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image."
(Revelation 16:1-2)
As I said, the seven angels represent the final seven labors of the disciple "upon the earth," or among mortal humans centered in lower consciousness.
In the first labor the disciple pours a vial of the wrath, or passion, of the God within upon the earth. In other words, he teaches about true physical order, health and freedom.
Those who have the Mark of The Beast do not listen and suffer "a noisome and grievous sore."
"Noisome" comes from the Greek KAKOS which is usually translated as "evil" and implies a bad nature or wrong mode of thinking.
"Grievous" comes from PONEROS which implies difficult labor, toils, peril or, in a physical sense, disease.
"Sore" comes from HELKOS which implies a "wound," a "sore" or an "ulcer."
This tells us that those who have the mark of the Beast will suffer ill health, will labor in drudgery as if they were a slave and work to support organizations and stone buildings rather than the living spirit.
These will reject the true messengers who can help them and instead listen to their orthodox authorities who only guide them toward ill health and slavery. The sad thing is that those who have the mark are so misled that they accept their fate without reservation.
"And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea." (Revelation 16:3)
The sea stands for the emotional nature. Here the disciple's message strikes at the heart of the feeling nature. The natural man instinctively rejects the message of a true teacher. Those who worship the outward authorities of the Beast will hate the inner authority of the message from the inner Christ.
Jesus said:
"If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." (John 14:23)
Also:
5 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
(John 15:5-6)
In other words, if the words of Christ, as taught by a true teacher, are rejected the person becomes as a dead branch with no life giving fluid running through his veins.
Those who follow the Beast may be walking around as if alive, but their blood is as a dead man and gives no spiritual life. Those who live upon the sea of hateful and bitter emotions despise the good, the beautiful and the true. They die as to the things of the Spirit.
"And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood." (Revelation 16:4)
The rivers and fountains represent the knowledge and teachings of God which feeds the people and stimulates their spiritual life. This knowledge has been corrupted by the authorities of the Beast. To guide the people into the light the disciple teaches the original meaning and intent behind the prophets and avatars of old. Because this runs contrary to what the representatives of the Beast teach, the disciple's words are rejected. Instead of being fed with living waters the followers of the Beast drink blood. How is this?
The scriptures explain:
5 "And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 "For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
7 "And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments."
(Revelation 16:5-7)
The followers of the Beast drink blood because they seek to injure or shed the blood of messengers who bring the truly living waters. In seeking to take innocent life rather than receive life they are symbolically drinking blood that does not satisfy the spirit.
The next verses read:
8 "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 "And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
10 "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 "And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."
(Revelation 16:8-11)
"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true."
-- Robert Wilensky (In a speech at a 1996 conference.)
Copyright © 2006 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved