4th November Trinity
Revelation 21: 1-27
And I beheld the events in the spirit out of which a new heaven and a new earth proceeded. For the earlier heaven and the earlier earth were gone, and the billowing ocean is no more.
And further I saw the Holy City, untouched by the earthly, coming forth out of the being of God, descending out of the spiritual worlds: the New Jerusalem.
She appeared in her beauty like a bride who has adorned herself for the bridegroom.
And I heard a powerful voice coming from the throne that said: “Behold the Dwelling of God in the midst of humanity. For He will indeed dwell in your midst, and the people will be His people.
‘”God himself will be with them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eye. There will be no more [bodily pain, nor soul pain, nor any other burdens of the inmost being] death, nor sorrow, nor weeping [uproar] nor any other sound of pain, for the old world is gone.”
And He who was seated on the throne said: “Behold: I am creating all anew.”
And He said, “Write, for it is these words that shall make faith and knowledge into true reality.”
And He said to me: “It is accomplished! I AM the Alpha and the Omega, World Beginning and World Goal. To the thirsty I will give from the springs of the waters of life, outside the workings of destiny, as grace. He who overcomes, he shall inherit all this. ‘I will be His God, and to me He will be like a son.’
“Those however who were cowardly [the spineless], and who had no trust [the faithless, unbelieving], who were servants of evil and perverted the image of Man [the despicable, vile, foul], who wanted to destroy the sacred [murderers], who went along impure paths of soul [sexually immoral, whoremongers], who worked with forces of evil [witches, practitioners of the magic arts], who bound themselves to evil beings [idolaters, idol-worshippers]—and all who served the Lie [liars of every kind]—their share will be on the lake which burns as with fire and sulfur; that is the second death, the death of the soul [the death after death].”
And there came to me one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls filled with the last seven plagues of the world; and he spoke with me and said, “Come, I will show you the eternal Feminine, the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
And he carried me in spirit-form up to a great high mountain, and let me see how the Holy City, Jerusalem, the City of Peace, descended out of the spiritual worlds, coming forth from the being of God, wrapped in the most intimate splendor of the revelation of God.
Her shining [gleaming] is like that of a precious gemstone, like the stone jasper, clear as crystal.
Her walls are of mighty size and height; she has twelve gates and at the gates stand twelve angels. On the gates are written the names of the twelve sons of Israel; three gates from the East, three gates from the North, three gates from the South, and three gates from the West.
And the wall of the City rests on twelve sacred foundations, and the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb work in them.
And he who spoke with me carried a golden measuring rod, in order to measure the City and her gates and her walls.
And the City is spread out in a square; her length is the same as her width. And he measured the City with the measuring rod. It measured twelve thousand miles; the length and breadth and height were alike. And he measured her walls at one hundred forty-four cubits [ells], the measure of a man, which now the angel was using.
The covering of her walls was of jasper, and the City herself of purified gold, clear as glass. And the sacred foundation of the wall were adorned with every precious stone:
the first, a jasper,
the second, a sapphire,
the third, a chalcedony,
the fourth, emerald,
the fifth sardonyx,
the sixth, carnelian,
the seventh, chrysolite,
the eighth, beryl,
the ninth, topaz,
the tenth, chrysoprase
the twelfth, an amethyst.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls, and each of the gates made of a single pearl. And the city was of purified gold, like a transparent crystal.
I did not see a temple in the City, for the Lord God, Ruler of All, is her sanctuary, and the Lamb.
And the City needs neither sun nor moon, for she shines from within; for the shining revelation of God is streaming brightness in her, and her light is the Lamb.
And all nations shall walk in her light, and the rulers of the earth will carry their spiritual treasures into her. And her gates will never be closed by day, for there, night will be no more.
And all the shining treasures of the revelations of the world, and all the spiritual worth of the nations will be brought into her.
And nothing can enter which is not spiritualized, nothing which perverts the image of Man, nothing which remains under the power of the Lie, but rather only those who are written into the Book of Life of the Lamb.
4th November Trinity
Revelation 21: 1 – 27
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| 7th Seal, Arild Rosenkrantz |
Today’s reading is also about seeds—as it says, “…the events
out of which a new heaven and a new earth proceeded. For the earlier earth and
the earlier heaven were gone.” Rev. 21:1
The reading is a consoling picture, and a mighty promise: that all endings
contain the seeds of new beginnings. And that those seeds of a new heaven and a
new earth are already forming, here, now. They are forming out of the inner and
outer deeds and sufferings of all of humanity.
Some of our deeds will not survive the transformation. Like
the husk of a seed that falls away, there are negative human elements that can
only go down to destruction. But John gives the foundation of the new in the
image of the twelve precious gemstones, the gold and the pearls. These
gemstones are images of the human virtues, like courage, perseverance,
generosity. These virtues are themselves capable of further metamorphosis. They
contain seeds for transformation. Courage can become the power to redeem;
perseverance can develop into the steadfastness of loyalty; generosity grows into
love.
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