Subduing the Ego
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.” Rev 20:1
After humanity is enlightened enough to discern true authority from false authority to the extent that false authority can no longer take the place of the inner spirit of God that is within us, “an angel came down from heaven.”
Again, the angel is a messenger, but a very special and powerful one who brings with him higher consciousness (heaven) and represents the Ancient of Days to fulfill the following prophesy of Daniel:
“I beheld, and the same horn (Beast) made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Dan 7:21-22
The Ancient of Days is unlikely to come in person in the coming age, but most likely will overshadow a disciple. This will enable this person to work with great power upon the earth. Just as Christ works with love and wisdom, as has no other, even so will this messenger wield great power for the good of humanity.
“…having the key of the bottomless pit”
As explained earlier, the bottomless pit refers to the emotional/astral world. The reason the Beast had such great power to deceive is because emotion, rather than reason, governs so many. This messenger has the “key” to this bottomless pit. In other words, part of his great power is mastery of the emotional world. He is not only master of the emotions within himself (as all advanced disciples are) but he can direct the emotional attention of humanity toward that which is real, rather than that which deceives.
To this day, no one has ever been able to do this, but this scripture tells us that such a day will come.
And he had “a great chain in his hand.”
This emphasizes the power that this future messenger will hold. He will need all possible power to fulfill the next verse:
“And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,” Rev 20:2
The spreading on the earth of the consciousness of Christ neutralizes the Beast and his agents (the false prophets), but they will soon return if their source of power is not also bound. This powerful messenger realizes that he must go after the source and slay the Dragon, “that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan.”
The Dragon represents the lower ego, which receives power through the lower emotions. Unless the out-of-control egos of humanity are somehow checked this new deadly wound will again be healed and false authority will govern the world just as it did before. To prevent this he will take action:
“And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled:” Rev 20:3
To control the ego, one must control the emotions. The false ego originated in the bottomless pit of the emotional world. To prevent the ego from deceiving the world, the messenger teaches the people to recognize the source of the ego and directs the attention of the world toward high ideals to which the emotions can respond.
The realization of humanity that the emotions can all be directed toward brotherhood and unity sends the adversary of the love of Christ to the bottomless pit. When humanity then sees the difference between the world as it was – when ruled by the Dragon compared to universal brotherhood – something wonderful happens. The Dragon is shut up and sealed by the power of an awakened humanity.
This period of peace and higher awareness lasts for 1000 years. The time period may not be exact by any means; the number is to signify a long period of time.
“and after that he must be loosed a little season.”
Notice it does not say the Dragon or serpent was destroyed but was just imprisoned. After the cycle of brotherhood is complete, the desire for the ego will be reborn and many will again be captivated by a god without.
The Two Resurrections
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the Beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” Rev 20:4-7
To understand these verses we must examine them as a whole. There are two groups of people here: those who escaped the mark of the Beast and endured whatever persecution necessary for the sake of truth, and those who did not stand up for truth and bore the mark.
The first group of the faithful is to come forth in the first resurrection and “live and reign with Christ for a thousand years.” The unfaithful are to come forth in the second or possibly later resurrection.
What are these two resurrections? They are described in the other famous book authored by John.
“The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28-29
The word “damnation” is from one of the most mistranslated words in the Bible, the Greek word KRISIS.
Translators don’t quite seem to know how to handle it and have rendered it according to their bias rather than giving the actual meaning. In the King James Version it is translated as “accusation, condemnation, damnation, and judgment,” but none of these portray the word accurately.
The modern English word “crisis” (which is derived from the Greek word KRISIS) is a more accurate rendering than the Bible translations. The actual Greek word implies a decision that brings correction. It is hard to give the meaning of this word with one English word, but the word “correction” would probably be the closest.
We thus have a resurrection of life where people will experience the life of Christ manifested within and without. These are they who will be reborn on the earth when the Christ himself, or the presence of Christ working through disciples, will be here on a fairly peaceful and stable Earth.
The second resurrection will come after the New Age of Peace becomes somewhat shaky again. Then, those in need of correction will incarnate again into not-so-peaceful situations so they can learn their needed lessons and work off some of their negative karma.
We are told the faithful who reap the resurrection of life will receive numerous benefits as they return to life during the Age of Peace. Among them are:
(1) “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.”
The thrones are the positions of power throughout the earth. Presently, and in past ages, most of them are held by those who worship personal power and the authority of the Beast. Finally, in the New Age, these positions will be held by the most enlightened who will govern with wisdom and judgment.
(2) “…they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
They will go in and out of incarnation and find pasture during the Age of Peace where Christ consciousness dominates.
(3) “…they shall be priests of God and of Christ.”
They shall not only rule in the governments of Earth but shall be spiritual teachers and true servants of God and of humanity.
“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,” Verse 7
Nothing good lasts forever in this round. After all the good souls have had a chance to enter the New Age, the not-so-good start incarnating again and causing trouble. This releases negative adversarial power that upsets the fragile balance that ensures peace and brotherhood.
I’ll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there’s evidence of any thinking going on inside it. Terry Pratchett
Sept 22, 2006
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