Oil and Revelation

Posted June 23, 2010
Maryellen writes:
In revelations it talks about seal judgments, trumpet judgments and bowls of wrath along with the third of the sea being filled with blood…….(maybe oil) indicating the End Times. Can anyone comment on what these things might mean?
I’m doing a little inside experiment with a good friend who interprets the bible literally.

JJ
As I’ve said the Book of Revelations will never have an exact literal interpretation but the most correct meaning is that is describes the progress of the disciple from the birth of Christ in the heart to becoming a Christ himself. I have written that there will be incidents that will be close correspondents to the book and will make many think the whole thing is coming to pass but then a complete correspondence will be missing.

Below is a section from my book, “The Unveiling” interpreting the scripture you mention.

The Mountain of Fire
“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.” Rev 8:8-9

First we had destruction on land (including trees and grass) and now we have destruction of the sea, which includes fish (and other creatures with life or soul) and ships.

So what is the difference between the earth and the sea?

The earth represents the slight rising of consciousness acquired by those who seek meaning in life though religion and philosophy. As we said, the trees represent the powerful authorities and the grass the followers, but all are reaching above sea level in search of the kingdom of heaven.

The sea represents the rest of humanity. Just like three quarters of the surface of the earth is covered with the seas even so is most of humanity not that interested in the meaning of life, spirituality, philosophy and religion.

The average person just wants to merge with the masses, not get noticed for his beliefs and live his life. He is a drop of water in the sea of human beings that never stand out or get their 15 minutes of fame.

On another level the earth represents the conscious self of humanity and the sea the subconscious. Those who search for meaning and are exploring consciousness are represented by earth. Those who do not, but retreat away from contemplation to be led by instinct and emotion are the masses who have little purpose and are driven as the waves of the sea.

The creatures who had life (or “soul” Greek) are the leaders and reasonably successful among the non spiritual masses and have no spiritual agenda themselves but just want the good life. These are midlevel leaders in politics, business, finance, education, the arts etc.

The ships represent the rich and famous who sail above the crowd and are enjoying their 15 minutes of fame.

So what was the great mountain burning with fire burning (apparently from heaven) that was cast into the sea?

A mountain signifies high consciousness or a kingdom. In the case of the disciple (or disciples) who tread the path of the Christ this mountain from heaven represents a work of light and love, or the consciousness of Christ manifested among men. It burns with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

The Son of man, who is the Son of God, has seen a vision of the will of God and he seeks to bring this high consciousness and divine ideas (mountain from heaven) to not only the seekers and the religious, but to make it available to all the masses of people, the high and low.

When the divine idea gains weight, as a mountain, he plunges it into the sea of people where the fire continues to burn even amidst the great waters. When such contact is made with the masses (waters) they turn to blood.

One third of those who are touched by the higher consciousness are never the same turn from colorless water to passionate red.

Jesus said that people will either be for or against him. Even so, those effected by the Christ Consciousness among the masses will be black or white and passionately for or against the ideas and ideals promoted by the disciple.

Look at the current beliefs of the masses. They are either passionately for or against abortion, for or against the death penalty, for or against public prayer etc. This black and white attitude extends to all their beliefs.

The instilling of the waters (common people) with passion (red blood) causes a third of the life in the sea to die and the ships on the surface to be destroyed. The leaders, the rich the famous lose their hold on the masses when they come to life and start examining the pros and cons of the various teachings that filter down to them.

If a leader, a teacher, a rich man or a movie star voices an opinion different from the passion of the people it will be as if their ship that sails upon the sea of people is destroyed.

The Star from Heaven
“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” Rev 8:10-11

Some read this and believe it means an asteroid will hit the earth before the end of times while others have made the connection that “Chernobyl” is a Russian word for the wormwood plant. Many Bible believers think the third angel sounded when the nuclear disaster occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

Fortunately, an asteroid is not likely in the near future and the correspondence between the Chernobyl disaster and Revelation does not match up. For one thing, a third part of the rivers did not become polluted and there is little literal connection between any past drinking of radioactive waters and death.

The scripture makes much more sense when spiritual symbology is used.

With the second angel a great mountain (kingdom of God – higher consciousness) fell upon the seas (masses of people).

This time a great star burning like a lamp falls upon the rivers and fountains (springs) of waters. This sounds like a great falling star that lights up the whole sky.

So, what does a star mean in this context?

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Earlier we said that stars represent fixed beliefs and the stars falling to the earth represent shattered belief systems that were thought to never change, like a fixed star.

This time instead of stars plural we have one great star falling. To understand this fully we have to add another element of meaning.

A star can also refer to an avatar, a great teacher or leader who will shatter belief systems. This meaning is indicated in the Book of Revelation itself:

The seven stars are the angels (messengers) of the seven churches (belief systems): and the seven candlesticks which thousawest are the seven churches. Rev 1:20

“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars.” Rev 3:1

Here we see that a star is a messenger representing a spiritual philosophy (church) and also one of the seven spirits before the throne of God. By extension this would also represent the seven chakras as they manifest internally.

A great and fiery star fell from heaven. What does this mean? The meaning has several levels but the same principle manifests throughout.

The disciple recently opened the seventh seal and peered into heaven and beheld a strange silence for half an hour. In the silence he perceived the will of God as never before and became on fire about bringing that which is in heaven to the earth.

If we correspond the star to a spiritual teacher then we have a great messenger (star) ablaze with the light of knowledge concerning the will of God falling upon a third of the rivers and springs.

What do the rivers and springs represent? These give life to the trees (aspiring teachers) and the grass (spiritual followers). The rivers and the streams thus represent the knowledge and love of God, which feeds the people and stimulates their spiritual life.

As the next manifestation of the will of God falls from heaven (source of revelation) to add to the sources of knowledge on the earth a great disturbance happens. When the new knowledge is presented many do not like what they hear. The new doctrine is as bitter as wormwood to them. They are like the people in Jesus’ home town. When he tried to teach them they rushed upon him, grabbed him and tried to throw him over a cliff.

What he said was a bitter pill (wormwood) for them to swallow, for the star (Jesus) that fell into their fountains of knowledge shook their belief system (fixed star).

“…and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”

Many refuse to be nourished by the new and living waters and without this nourishment they dry up and die spiritually.
Copyright 2010 by J J Dewey