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.
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| Lamb and His Bride, Douce Apocalypse |
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 eleventh, hyacinth,
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
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| Syriac Maronite icon |
November 18, 2012
Revelation 21: 1-27
Today’s reading is a mighty picture of the future of the
soul of humanity. She is described as a city, the place of the many. She is the
place where all of the soul work of humankind has been collected. And at the
same time, this collective soul is a bride. She has suffered the pains and
travails of life on earth. She has come through the Great Suffering, and out of
her suffering, and the virtues they have created, God has created a new
dwelling place for her. The city is founded on the twelve great virtues
humankind has always striven for, such as endurance, insight, a sense for
truth, great-heartedness.
Like the oyster, her suffering has been transformed into
twelve great pearls of great price—they have become the twelve gateways into
the city of transformation. They are the entrances to the place where the
radiant Lamb of Offering, humankind’s Bridegroom dwells. Wisdom born of
suffering suffuses the city with a light that reflects and magnifies the golden
light of God.
We are shown the great vision, the goal of human evolution.
It is the picture of what humanity has achieved in the spirit, and the union of
humankind’s soul with her Beloved Creator.
Each communion service, each Act of Consecration,
contributes to the forming and polishing of the foundations of mankind’s future
dwelling. It gives us the pattern for our work: listening to God’s words,
cleansing and offering ourselves to his work of transformation, receiving his
strength for the Great Work of building the future.
