The Lion and the Lamb
Examine these verses and see what meaning is revealed:
“And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, 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. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.” Rev 5:5-7
One thing stands out here, which is overlooked by commentators, which is Christ is identified here as both a lion and a lamb. Why is he linked to two beasts which are diametrically opposite to each other?
A reader observes that the slaying of the lamb was the slaying of our lower nature. This seems right, but notice that the lion was not slain and yet its beastly nature is much more powerful than the submitting lamb.
To understand either animal as it relates to the unveiling of Christ in us we must look at both of them as a whole.
After describing the two beasts John says, “ And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.”
Who took the book? Was it the living lion or the lamb who appeared to have been slain?
There is a great mystery here and one must examine the words carefully.
First, notice that it doesn’t say the lamb was dead, but the scripture indicates the lamb was standing in such a manner to give the appearance of having been slain.
When Christ was crucified it seemed by all appearances he was dead, but as it turned out he rose again so it only appeared he was slain. He was not slain at all but came back with the power and strength of a lion, which put the fear of God in the hearts of all his enemies just as a powerful lion would.
Notice the key words describing the animals. The lion “prevailed” and the lamb appeared to have been “slain.”
It is interesting that followers in the Bible are often called sheep (mature lambs) but “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent taketh it by force.” Matt 11:12.
The path must be trod by the humble lamb, but in the end the lamb gets slain and it takes the power of the resurrected lion to take the kingdom by force and to open the seals.
The pilgrim treads the path as the humble lamb which is herded about and controlled by many shepherds, some good and some not so good. With each new shepherd he thinks he has found the ultimate truth, but each time this happens he finds he is only herded about until eventually he winds up on the kill floor. As the lamb faces death by the hands of those with whom he was supposed to trust, and all his friends flee to a safe distance, the lion is born from the humble lamb; he rises from what seemed to be a dead end, seizes kingdom and opens the seven seals which before were beyond his grasp.
Even so it is with us. Each of us must find the peaceful Christ consciousness within and humbly follow it even as a lamb follows his shepherd, until the point of tension is reached. Then, the initiate, or the lion part of the Christ, is resurrected and seizes the pillars of knowledge. The lion of Christ realizes the shepherds can only take him so far, even with the help of the lamb of Christ within.
Eventually, “Carpe Diem” comes to his consciousness and he finds he must not only seize the day, but he must seize the kingdom.
Seizing the kingdom is a great mystery and exact instructions for it cannot be put into earthly words. The path of the lamb can be put into words and followed and this takes the pilgrim to the threshold. At the threshold the revelation comes and the lion comes to life and has an innate knowing of how to take the scroll out of the right hand of power and open the seals.
Until that day comes the pilgrim must play the roll of the lamb of God, follow the highest he knows and as well as the promptings of the Christ within, even if it seems he will be slain.
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Matt 16:25-26
The lamb seems to have been slain, but rises with the strength of a lion and takes the kingdom. At that point the Christ within says: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Matt 28:18
All things are now possible, but he no longer wants all things. He wants to see the will of God done on the earth as it is in heaven and accepts that portion of the marvelous work which belongs to him.
We are told the lamb has “seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” What does this mean?
Externally the seven horns signify seven attempts in our recent cycle of history to establish the kingdom of God on the earth and the seven eyes symbolize seven revelations given to mankind. For instance, Buddha, Christ and Moses represent three of them. These revelations and attempts at the kingdom were “sent forth into all the earth,” just as the scripture says.
For the disciple on the threshold of achieving full Christ consciousness the seven horns represent seven cycles of his own personal evolution through a series of lives and the seven eyes represent the inner vision gained from the opening of the seven chakras. These seven eyes see into heaven as well as into all the earth(ly nature) and blend the two into a working whole.
The scripture ends with:
“And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.”
The disciple submits as the lamb until he approaches the throne and presence of God. He is afraid and weeps that neither he or anyone he knows can take the scroll out of the hand of the Presence. After a time, he gains courage and rises as the lion, enters the Presence and takes the light and knowledge from the throne of God.
Question: Why couldn’t Buddha, Krishna, or any of a host of immortal Sons of God open the seven seals?
JJ: Many of the ancient teachers came close but as DK says that the Christ was the first of humanity to perfectly align his seven centers and thus the first among humanity to open the seven seals. He will not be the last, however. Eventually millions will achieve this.
Question: Why didn’t the scripture say ‘Christos’ opened the seven seals.’ Then one could clearly interpret this as anyone who is ‘anointed to deliver’, or has Christ Consciousness.
JJ: The scripture makes it clear it was Christ. The symbolism thus could refer to an outward or inner Christ. We are interpreting the vision from the aspect of the inner Christ and meaning.
Reader Comment: But, unfortunately the scripture clearly favors a narrow interpretation, because of the reference to the personality Jesus Christ. (i.e. ‘the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David’.) This is definitely not Buddha, Krishna or anybody else for that matter.
JJ: The Bible thumper may have a narrow view but we do not have to have one. If you read over my post interpreting this you should find the interpretation follows the Law of Correspondences, yet quite cosmopolitan.
The black and white Christian will read only: “The Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.”
But if we apply the meaning behind the word symbols and original language we would read:
“The Lion (power) of joy, the foundation of love, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.”
Reader Comment: (Now, a Christian Fundamentalist would say, ‘It’s because they can’t. The fact Jesus Christ, the Root of David, hath prevailed indicates his unique position as the only ‘Son of God’. And the scripture clearly bears this out.)
JJ: This may apply to the black and white interpretation perhaps, but we are not black and white, are we?
The book was written to be interpreted on several levels and the black and white people need their words to go by as well as us.
Reader Comment: I thought all self-realized individuals would have their seven centers perfectly aligned. The fact Buddha and others did not comes as quite a revelation to me.
JJ: Here is the quote from DK on the subject: “All the seven centres in the etheric vehicle of the Christ were rightly adjusted, correctly aligned, truly awakened and functioning, and properly receptive of all the seven streams of energy coming from the seven planetary centres; these put Him en rapport, therefore, and in full realised contact, with the One in Whom He lived and moved and had His being. The physiological result of this complete “esoteric surrender of the seven” (as it is sometimes called) to the incoming spiritual energies, in their right order and rhythm, was the appearance in the Christ of a perfect endocrine system. All His glands (both major and minor) were functioning correctly; this produced a “perfect man”-physically perfect, emotionally stable and mentally controlled. In modern terms, the “pattern of the behaviour” of the Christ-due to the perfection of His glandular system, as an effect of correctly awakened and energised centres-made Him an expression of divine perfection to the entire world; HE WAS THE FIRST OF OUR HUMANITY TO ARRIVE AT THIS POINT IN EVOLUTION, AND “THE ELDEST IN A GREAT FAMILY OF BROTHERS,” AS ST. PAUL EXPRESSES IT. The current pictures of the Christ testify to their own complete inaccuracy, for they bear no witness to any glandular perfection; they are full of weakness and sweetness, but show little strength, alert power and aliveness. And the promise has gone forth that as He is, so may we be in this world.” Esoteric Healing Pages 61-62
March 26, 2005
Copyright by J J Dewey
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