Go Directly to God

2006-11-10 05:00:00

And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.  (Revelation 22:6)

Notice that we have a repeat of the statement that the things in this book will "shortly be done."

2,000 years has passed and yet the Christian world thinks that most of the things predicted in the book are yet to come. Among these are the coming of the Beast, the comet, the great war, moon turning to blood and much more, heavens being rolled up and of course the coming of Christ.

Obviously, 2,000 years is not a short time so the orthodox interpretation is missing the key to the book.

The meaning of a short time though makes sense when we realize that the whole book contains symbolic teachings concerning the evolution of the consciousness of the disciple. When the seeker studies and understands the principles in this book it is only a short time that passes before the understanding kicks in and his consciousness evolves according to the words of this book.

Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.  (Revelation 22:7)

When the disciple understands the hidden teachings the consciousness of Christ will "quickly" come to him.

There are not many "sayings," or actual teachings in the Book of Revelation as seen through orthodox eyes. Most of the book contains predictions and visions with little to "keep" in the normal sense. It is only when we realize that the symbols and predictions contain hidden meaning that we realize that this statement makes sense. When the truth is seen, then the seeker sees there are many teachings to absorb and to keep.

  "...And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God." 
Revelation 22:8-9

It is interesting that this verse is a close replica to the one in chapter 19. Some scholars wonder why John made this repetition. Some even consider it to be a mistake. Others wonder how John could have made such a duplicate error within such a short period of time.

Actually, if we note the subtle differences in the wording the picture becomes clear.

There are two major differences in the wording. Let us look at the first:

And I fell at his feet to worship him.  (Revelation 19:10)

"I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel..."  (Revelation 22:8)

Notice the two misguided approaches to worship made by John. In the first instance he was so enamored by the vision given him by the angel that he thought it right to worship the angel directly.

In the second instance he fell down, not to worship the angel, but to worship at the feet of the angel. Obviously he was attempting to worship God, but at the feet of the angel. After being corrected, instead of seeing the angel as a thing to worship he saw him as an intermediary between himself and God. He somehow thought that God would be more pleased or pay more attention to him if he used the angel as leverage.

John was corrected by the angel in both instances and was told:  "See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant."

Humanity still has not learned the lesson taught to John by the angel. In place of worshiping God they still worship saints, apostles, the Virgin Mary, gurus, images, stones and numerous other items.

In place of going directly to God they make John's second mistake of seeking an authority (the Beast) that takes the place of God. They will seek a priest, a prophet, a teacher, a leader, a guru who will tell them what God wants them to do. Teachers are fine and have their use just as the angel had its purpose, but when the disciple refuses to seek verification and worship through his own soul and relies on another mortal like himself for the voice of God, a great, yet common, mistake has been made.

Here is the second difference in the wording of the two verses:

"...I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."  (Revelation 19:10)

"...for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God."  (Revelation 22:9)

In the first instance where John tried to directly worship the angel he was reminded of the importance of a testimony of Jesus. Why was this important? Because a true understand of Jesus and his teachings will cause the disciple to worship God directly and not through a man. Notice that even Jesus avoided adoration of himself as a man:

16  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
Matthew 19:16-17

Here we see that Jesus had a similar attitude as did the angel.

In the second instance the angel tells John that he is merely one of those who "keep the sayings of this book."

If one understands the Book of Revelation he will comprehend that he needs no intermediary between him and God, that to make real progress on the path to becoming like Christ he must go within and there discover the true kingdom of God.

Here are the next verses:

10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Revelation 22:10-13

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.
Albert Einstein