3rd Michaelmas
Revelation 12: 1-17
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| Benjamin West |
And a momentous image was
unveiled in the world of spirit: a woman, clothed with the radiant power of the
sun, the moon under her feet, her head adorned with the crown of the twelve
stars of heaven. And she is with child and cries out in the labor and pain of
giving birth.
And at the same time, a second image was revealed in
the heavens: a great fiery-red dragon with seven heads and ten horns. On its
head, it has seven crowns and its tail is sweeping a third of all the stars in
heaven and dashing them onto the earth. And the dragon is standing before the
woman about to give birth so that when she bears the child he can devour it.
And she bore a child, a son ”who would shepherd all nations with a rod of
iron.” And the woman’s child was caught up to God and to his throne. And the
woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place that God keeps ready
there, so that they can take care of her for days numbering one thousand two
hundred sixty.
And a war flared up in the spirit world. Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon fought in the midst of
his own angels, but he was not strong enough, and there was no longer
any place for them in heaven. Down came the dragon, the giant, the serpent, the
evil one called both Satan and the devil, deceiver of all the world. Onto the
earth, he came hurtling down, and all his angels with him.
And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying:
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| Bernard Eyb |
Now can begin the working which proceeds from our God—
The power to heal the world,
The power to transform all being,
The power to draw everything into godly being.
Arisen is the spirit leadership of his Christ.
Overthrown is the accuser of our brothers,
He who accused them night and day before the countenance of God.
They have overcome him through the blood and the sacrificial power of
the Lamb
And by the divine Word to which they bore witness.
They did not love their own lives too dearly, nor did they fear death.
Therefore, rejoice you heavens
And all who lodge therein!
But woe to the earth and the sea:
For the Adversary has come down to you,
And he seethes with measureless fury,
For he knows that his time is short.
And when the dragon recognized that he had been
cast onto the earth, he began to persecute the woman who had borne the son.
Then the woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so that she could fly
into the desert to her appointed place, where she is to be nourished for a
cycle of time, for cycles of time, and for half a cycle of time, far from the
face of the serpent.
And the serpent opened his mouth and spewed out a
river of water after the woman so she would be swept off her feet by the river.
But then the earth came to the woman’s assistance; it opened its mouth and swallowed
the river which the dragon spewed from his mouth. And the dragon burned with
fury against the woman. He stormed away to make war on the rest of the woman’s
seed, people who keep to the divine world aims and who are united with the
destiny and witnessing of Jesus. As I saw this I was standing on the sandy
shore of the sea.
3rd
Michaelmas
October 13, 2019
Revelation 12: 1-17
 |
| Rosenkrantz |
In grand and
mysterious pictures, this reading from the Revelation to John places before our souls a kind of
mirror.
In this mirror, we
see the woman clothed in the sun, crowned with stars, the moon under her feet.
This is a picture of the great heavenly soul of all mankind. In the realm of
sleep, from the heavenly realm of night, all of humanity has collectively
labored to bring forth the shining, innocent Son of Humanity. In and from the
realm of the stars, all of humanity has labored to make manifest this shining
being who would shepherd all the nations.
But, of course, the
opposition appeared. Its seven crowned heads are the devouring negative
spiritual forces that have ever sought to threaten humanity’s great soul and to
prevent the birth. But the Son of Man was indeed born. He was not destroyed,
nor was humanity’s soul. And Michael expelled the dragon from the world of the
stars, from the night world. Humanity’s soul and all the good it brings forth
are safe in the realm of night.
The dragon of the
destructive soul forces can now only work on earth through our day being. Now
he tries to destroy human souls on earth one by one. But we have been given the
wings of the eagle, the far-seeing power of thought, of insight and oversight.
These wings help us rise above the threat of negative forces within the soul.
And our very earthly constitution, woven of wisdom, the secret, helpful
will-forces connected with our bodily nature, these will-forces help swallow
and neutralize our flooding passions. No feeling, however strong and negative,
lasts forever.
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| Roland Tiller |
The dragon, the old
enemy of mankind, continues his ancient war upon humankind by attacking individual
human souls. But Christ, the Son of Man, with Michael, his defender, has the
power to heal the world; He has the power to transform all being, the power to
elevate everything into godly being. Through the Christ-power of love, Michael
holds the dragon beneath his feet. He helps us raise all earthly being into
heavenly heights. He draws forth from our hearts the power to carry the earthly
contents of the day into the divine regions of the purified night. Through
Michael, our soul’s days, too, can now bring forth the heart’s bright
Sun-child, here on the earth.
