THE

CHART OUTLINE OF BOOK OF REVELATION

Chapter 1 of the book is the prologue, and not diagrammed on the following chart. Chapters 6 thru 19 detail the contest between Christ's race of Israel and Satan's race of Edomites. SEALS are forces which influence entire age of Pisces concurrently. TRUMPETS announce injustices which Edom perpetrates against Israel during the entire age of Pisces. BOWLS of wrath are the natural consequences of Jewish evils, upon themselves.

PATMOS VISION

7 Churches ARE AGES TO COME

BEGIN HEAVEN

VISION

SEALS

INFLUENCE

TRUMPETS

RESULT of

TRUMPS

FOR

ISRAEL

INFLUENCE

BOWLS

RESULT of

BOWLS

FOR

EDOM

KINGDOM

GOD

CHAP 2 & 3

CHAP 6 - 7

CHAP 8 - 11

12 - 14

CHAP 15 - 16

17 - 19

CH 20 - 22

2:1-7

EPHESUS

2040-3788ad

INTRO

GOD'S

THRONE

(1) 6:1-2

0 to 2000 ad

LEO

White Horse

Lion/Physical/

Earth

8:6-7

LION

TO EARTH

_ Israel killed

(Inquisitions,

Stalin, WWII)

12:1-6

WOMAN

w/12 stars =

Israel. Flee dragon.

12:7-18

Michael vs.

Dragon

13:1-10

1^st Beast

Rom. Cath.

war against

saints.

15:1-8

7 Angels prepare

16:1-2

Pour on Earth

(Edom ailments)

17:1-5 Great

Harlot (R.C.)

on scarlet

beast of Edom/ Jews

17:6-13

Mystery:

Babylon,

Mother of

Harlots &

Abominatns.

17:14-18

Edom makes war against

Lamb

20:1-6

Ephesus

Satan Bound

20:7-15

1^st Resurrect.

2:8-11

SMYRNA

3788-5538ad

(2) 6:3-4

0 to 2000 ad

TAURUS

Red Horse

Calf/Emotions/

Sea

8:8-9

CALF

TO SEA

_ destroyed

16:3

Pour onto Sea

Edom suffers

Smyrna

Satan cast in

fire.

Great white

Throne.

2:12-17

PERGAMOS

5538-7287ad

(3) 6:5-6

0 to 2000 ad

AQUAR.

Black Horse

Man/Spiritual/

Rivers

8:10-11

MAN

TO RIVERS

(Drugs)

16:4-7

Pour on Rivers

Torment Jews

21:1-27

Pergamos

New heaven,

earth, and Jerusalem

2:18-19

THYATIRA

7287-9037ad

(4) 6:7-8

0 to 2000 ad

SCORPIO

Pale Grn Horse

Eagle/Mental/

Sun

8:12-13

EAGLE

TO SUN

_ dark.

Church strife.

16:8-9

Pour onto Sun

Jew mental

ailments

22:1-21

Thyatira

Heaven Scene -

Crystal Riv.

Tree of Life.

3:1-6

SARDIS

9037-10,786

(5) 6:9-11

1848 - 2000 AD

Saints under altar, waiting.

9:1-12

1848-2000 AD

WOE 1

Abyss/Locusts

5mo = 150 yrs

13:11-18

1848-2000

2^nd Beast

Jews bring mark/beast

14:1-5

About 2000

Lamb/144k

14:6-13

3 Angels announce.

14:14-20

Harvest

Judgment

16:10-11

1848-2000 AD

Pour on throne of Beast = pain &

blasphemy

18:1-24

Babylon is

Fallen.

Earth mourns,

Heaven

rejoices.

19:1-10

ALLELUIA

Lamb

marriage

supper.

19:11-21

Christ come.

Beast and F.Prophet in

Lake of fire

Then comes another Fall and another cycle of history. See the sine-wave diagram.

3:7-13

PHILADEL.

until 12,536

(6) 6:12 - 7:17

About 2000 AD

Earthquake. Day of wrath.

9:13 - 11:14

About 2000 AD

WOE 2

Armageddon

16:12-16

About 2000 AD

Pour on River Euphrates

Dragon/Beast/

F.Prophet gather

for Armageddon

3:14-22

LAODICEA

until 14,285

(7) 8:1-5

Christ Reign Begins.

11:15-19

WOE 3

WORLD

DISASTER

Then Christ.

16:17-21

Pour onto Air

"It is done"

World crash

While this diagram depicts only the twelve zodiac ages, you can draw onto your printed copy the church ages which will be described following this picture. Each church age is about 1715 years or so, consequently they do not coincide with the zodiac ages which are about 2,000 years each. All these dates are APPROXIMATE. The general concept is what I am attempting to illustrate, so that each person can interpret the book of Revelation for himself.

THE BIG PICTURE

2008 note: It has been nearly ten years since I received the insights for the project of interpreting this revelation of God. Since John wrote it down, as he had received it, no person has solved its mysteries. Perhaps every theologian and preacher has made attempts to do so, but eventually abandoned the effort in frustration. For me, it was the fall of 1998 when Lisa and I were living in a tiny log cabin at Eagle, Alaska, a small bush village in the arctic on the Yukon River near the Canada border. For our home water supply, I hauled it in barrels from nearby American Creek on a small trailer behind my three-wheeler in summer and behind my snow machine in winter. We had no indoor plumbing, but we did have electricity from the town's diesel generator. The cabin was heated with a small fuel-oil pot burner, so we were cozy warm even when fifty or sixty degrees below zero outside. I had plenty of time to ponder the eternal verities since life was so simple and easy there. Lisa had her harp, so with that in my background, I felt like I was in heaven. The book of John's Revelation always felt like a warmth to me, but the symbology was beyond me; I never got caught up in any compulsion to interpret symbols which so many others had already done, and had done so differently from each other. As winter set in, I began to think about this mysterious book again; finally I prayed that if God would let me see what it meant that I would not share it with anyone else, at least until I became convinced such sharing was His will. Then the flow began; I wasn't hearing words, but merely felt guided. I started translating it from the Greek into English because the existing English versions all mistranslated certain Greek words consistently, thereby misleading readers. Beside the corrected translations, it was clear that several important keys were necessary to its interpretation. These keys were the secrets which would unlock the mystery and make the book a coherent and understandable revelation. But, some of the keys were so politically unacceptable that tradition-bound theologians, preachers, and Christians would likely reject them outright. Nevertheless, they were the very keys to unlock the book. For the next few months, I awoke early each morning, turned on the computer, and began to work. Lisa served me food occasionally, but I felt little interest in it. I worked until late each evening, finally going to bed where my mind continued to process wondrous insights. I felt all kinds of emotions: I was overwhelmed that God might grant me such breakthrough insights; I felt scared that my weak academic skills might cause me to miss the mark; I felt glorious as I watched the big picture develop in front of me; I trembled that my vanity or my theological education might prevent me from seeing aright. I was ecstatic, elated, and frightened; I was "beside myself." It seemed no time at all, and the work was done! Was I the only one in the world who knew the simplicity and the grandeur of God's divine plan? Was I not sitting on a treasure of more value than all this world's wealth? Me? The lifelong drifter who never made his mark in this life? Okay, sit back Roger, and let the dust settle while you ponder this more objectively. Were you just handed a real treasure or did you just make it up as you went along? Come on, get real here! Now, as I write these thoughts in 2008, I don't know if I'll ever understand just what happened there. As I reach for the notebook which holds this work, I still tremble because I feel that I am touching something far beyond me, something that I shouldn't touch without asking permission first. I feel so strongly that it shouldn't be limited to my possession alone; what if my house burns down? It needs to be in the hands of others, so it will be secure. It doesn't belong to me, and I don't want the responsibility anymore. For nearly ten years I have yearned for some sign from God which would permit me to release this book to others. I've pleaded, only to get silence in return. Now my world is crashing; the end is near; devastation looms threateningly on the near horizon; world leaders deliberately plan a worldwide destruction! God's signs in the sky tell us unmistakably that the kingdom of World is ending and the kingdom of Heaven is beginning. May I release it now, Father? So, this February of 2008 I sit down to review it carefully and to finetune it where necessary, in hopes that permission will be granted soon for me to publish it on my website of www.divinepageant.com . It doesn't belong to me; it belongs to those who would express the Father through their own lives, to those who were conceived with His Spirit indwelling, to those of His own family for which Jesus serves as the Head. And finally, I tell you that this commentary merely outlines the foundation of God's Revelation; there is so much more work to be done, of which this book just hints. I pray that others will consider some of these insights and take the ball which I carried so few steps of a long journey. I'm tired now, and I don't want to carry the ball anymore. I'm tired of this world, and yearn to leave it. I want to follow my Lord up that via dolorosa, to the altar of sacrifice where I can hand my Spirit back to Him from Whom it came. If you are reading this, then I will have published it, and I pray you consider it yours. The Holy Spirit will lead you from this point toward your own destiny. Walk confidently with His Presence.

1999 PostScript: It has been a few months since I completed this commentary on the book of Revelation. I set it aside for a few weeks, and then returned to it afresh to edit it to make it more readable and understandable. When I was working on it, everything seemed so simple! Now I am impressed at how difficult it will be for someone who doesn't already have the big picture in his mind.

This morning, while pondering this, it came to me that religions are built as compilations of many bits and pieces. Bits and pieces of doctrines are systematized by collecting together all passages which pertain to a specific topic, such as baptism, and then formulating a statement of belief which honors both the letter and the spirit of the passages. The resulting statement is a doctrine. The academic business of theology is of scholars who examine doctrines in greater detail, amplifying them. A collection of doctrines results in a religion, which then seeks to separate itself from all others to the degree that it can find nit-picking details to argue about. Preachers then pontificate from pulpits with great passion, just as though the details are foundations for salvation. What sits clearly in my mind at this moment is how shallow and unfulfilling religions are, by their very nature.

Seekers-of-truth who come to a Christian religion without any prior religious schooling, come with an innocence which must be like a perfume to God. The newly awakened seekers are not yet confused by countless details, but they are sincerely looking for answers to the same questions which have challenged philosophers forever. They want to know if there really is a God; what is the purpose of life; is there life after death; who am I; do I have a personal destiny that was designed by God; and so on. They want to know the big picture! From their naïveté they think that if they can just get some overall picture in their mind of what God's real plan might be, then they can fit the detail-pieces of the puzzle in place for their own walks toward God.

So, the Seeker looks to pulpit preachers who claim to have the only true answers while berating every other sect. The innocent and sincere child of God meets preachers who boldly tell him that unless he comes to that particular church and tithes there, he is in danger of going to hell. Not easily discouraged by such negative gospel, the naïve Seeker thinks that if he listens and learns, perhaps understanding will come to him and he will also attain such supreme confidence in having God's absolute truth. Then, because he is still naïve, the Seeker actually dares to THINK about spiritual matters, and begins to ask questions which trouble his mind, perhaps questions that came to him while reading the Bible and noticing passages which seem to be contradicting the preacher. The innocent Seeker wants to share his discoveries with his preacher, thinking he will be received with delight because he is genuinely searching and doing some real thinking. He is quite unprepared for preacher's indignation! Rather than finding a preacher who says, "yes, that seems to be a problem; let's study this and see what we can find," he meets preachers who threaten him with hell if he doesn't accept by faith whatever the preacher says, even if it does contradict scripture. Most preachers have so much experience in vomiting forth such an endless gush of babble that the Seeker leaves feeling like he has been assaulted. After a few experiences like that, the innocent Seeker-of-God is likely to turn away disappointed and angry. Religion has in this way betrayed our God and has done damage beyond measure. Preachers work so effectively against Christ that Satan need not concern himself with the Christian church. Rarely does a preacher dare to think for himself, trusting the Holy Spirit for insights; he merely preaches what he was taught. A genius critic, named John Jay Chapman (1862-1933) said, "Give a professor a false thesis in early life, and he will teach it till he dies. He has no way of correcting it." Theologians merely teach what they've been taught. It takes an independent thinker to see new visions. Institutional theology is stalled!

What is the crux of this problem? I think it is this; theologians do not have the big picture! They have doctorate degrees in details, but they don't know how the pieces of the puzzle fit together, nor do they know what that big picture might look like when finished. In the minds and hearts of God's innocent children, the Holy Spirit works a powerful urge to walk toward their Father by the process of seeking Truth. These newly awakened Seekers are filled with the Holy Spirit, and in their innocence they recognize errors to which theologians are inured. They are actually experiencing the New Covenant of Hebrews 8:10-12! Here is the Covenant which has applied to God's children since the time of Jesus, yet hardly a Christian has ever heard of it, and certainly not from a pulpit! Take a look at this New Covenant, and you will suddenly leap ahead of all those preachers who seem to be totally ignorant of it. It reads, ¹⁰"This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be to them God and they will be to me a people. ¹¹By no means shall they teach his fellow citizen and each one his brother saying 'know the Lord,' because all will know me, from the small to the great of them, ¹²because I will be merciful with their wrongdoings and of their sins, which I will by no means remember any longer." (literal translation from Greek text) I hear God saying in this contract which Jesus secured: "Preachers and teachers, stand aside; these are my children; I'll take over from here. I live in their hearts and minds now, and woe to any of you who burden us with sin which I no longer remember!" It is my personal opinion that no flower is as beautiful as a newly awakened Seeker, who hungers for God so desperately that he will forsake this whole world for the sake of his quest. When such a person comes to me with questions, I tremble, for I know the danger of trying to teach him anything. I explain that I have my opinions, but no absolute answers. I am convinced of many truths which I personally would die for, but I cannot guarantee that my truth, as I would explain it, is valid for him. That is not to say that I think Truth is relative, for it is not. But, each person is responsible for his own search, and I will not step between him and the Holy Spirit to take that responsibility upon myself. Especially after God has said so clearly there should be no more teachers!

I want to get back to the issue addressed at the beginning of this chapter; religious doctrines and details versus the big picture. It is this big picture which St. John presents in this Revelation. He presents it as clearly as he saw it, and even defines many of the symbols, but for two thousand years men have failed to put these symbol-pieces of the puzzle together to make the big picture.

Understanding this book of the Bible is kind of a catch-22 situation: unless you know some of the details you can't see the big-picture, and unless you see the big-picture you won't understand the details. I realize after I have finished this commentary that I wrote the book from my perspective of big-picture which I have in my mind, thinking that the details could be easily understood by anyone who reads this. Now, upon review, I see that it will not be quite so easy. I wish that I could outline the big-picture in a few sentences, but I cannot. Undertaking the study of the book of John's Revelations is a big task, but if you undertake it seriously and slowly and try to keep the whole developing picture in your mind, somewhere along the way the picture will appear to you and you will wonder at its simplicity.

INTRODUCTION

SUBJECT: "Revelation" is the English word for the Greek Απoκάλυψις/Apokalypsis (to uncover or unveil, to reveal), which is the very first word in the book. John introduces the writing as a revelation "of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him, to show His servants things which are necessary to occur in time soon as He signified by sending through his angel to His servant, John." The Son is revealing that which His Father gave Him, as a prophecy for the benefit of His "servants." It will be done in symbols, as the Greek word for "signified" indicates. Then, Jesus transmits the message through His messenger/angel, to this author, John.

AUTHOR: While some scholars debate which John might be the author, since he is not clearly defined, I will not debate that, but will assume this is the same John who was Jesus' disciple. Certainly this John and the author of the Gospel share the same belief that the Edomite Jews are children of the devil (John 8:44), the "synagogue (assembly, corporate body) of Satan." (Rev. 2:9 & 3:9), being the polar counterpart to the body of Christ. Ultimately, it doesn't matter which John is author, because the contents are the important matter. And once one sees the big picture through these two revelations, it is beyond dispute that his work was genuinely inspired by God. It is a coherent whole, whose message is absolutely awesome in meaning and in scope, far beyond what any other sacred writing has ever addressed. No student of this book will ever doubt the authenticity of its True Source!

OUTLINE OF REVELATION: The first three chapters describe a vision different from the vision which begins in chapter four. The first vision takes place ON the island of Patmos. The first six verses fulfill the common practice of introducing a writing. Verse 7 begins with "Behold, He comes," as John introduces Jesus as the One Who begins speaking in verse 8. In v. 11 John is instructed to write what he sees, and to send the message to the seven churches. John describes the striking appearance of Jesus, the source of the voice. Then John is instructed in v. 19 to write of things seen, and which are, and things to come, namely things past, present, and future. We will see that this is an important clue for interpreting the symbols.

Chapters 2 & 3 contain messages to the "seven churches," which according to this introduction are intended to serve as symbols. While the seven cities can be located on a map, being real cities, we must resist the temptation to interpret this revelation as a message to just those seven churches. Certainly, there were Christian groups which gathered for worship in those seven cities (one of them being John's hometown), but neither these groups nor cities were among the most prominent for the apostles work. It would be too strange to think that such a great and general revelation from Jesus Himself would be addressed to these few tiny groups while neglecting to mention any others! If the author was making this up, like a sermon, for the sake of a few groups in his local area, we could accept the seven churches as literal churches. But, if the revelator is Jesus, the head of the body of Christ, then we must accept the hint in the first verse that these are symbols, and the message will be to all His servants, meaningful in past-tense, present, and to the distant future, too.

Chapters 4 & 5 describe another vision, separate from the first one. Here John is called "aloft" to see the very throne of God.

Chapters 6 through 19 describe seven seals, with their corresponding seven trumpets and seven bowls. See the chart outline of the book to see how these events relate to each other.

Chapters 20 - 22 describe the events which transition us from Kingdom of "World" to Kingdom of "Heaven," with the binding of Satan and the first resurrection.

DATE OF WRITING: There are two chief theories of dating this book, one called "Neronic," which dates the book soon after Nero's death in 68 AD. Nero ruled from 54 to 68. The other theory dates the book during the reign of Domitian (81-96 AD). Most scholars have settled for the later dating, saying "about 90 AD." The reason scholars date the writing with Nero or Domitian is an attempt to match John's descriptions of persecution to a political reign of his time. If we accept the idea that Jesus is foretelling future events, then the political or historical events of the first century become secondary, and we must accept the writing for its prophetic and spiritual value without concern for whatever date it was written. Laodicea (3:17) is described as rich, but it was destroyed by earthquake in 61 AD, although quickly rebuilt. The church at Smyrna wasn't organized until 64 AD, so it must have been written after that, and after Laodicea had rebuilt. So, perhaps, any time after about 70 AD. But, again, these seven churches merely serve as models for a much greater prophetic message.

Interestingly, a couple of early writings, the Muratorian Fragment and the Monarchian Prologues, claim that Paul wrote to seven churches following the pattern of John's example in Revelation. This would date the Revelation prior to Paul's epistles of the early fifties. Of course, the Smyrna church didn't exist yet, but that would only be meaningful if we consider John to be the engineer of this writing; if Jesus is the engineer, then it could have been written long before Paul's epistles. Ultimately, we just don't know the date.

THEORIES OF INTERPRETATION: There are many theories. Until the present end-times period arrived, when God has finally permitted us the keys to the mystery of this book, all prior interpreters have been wildly speculating. They held in their hands a strangely shaped puzzle, all alone, by itself, and without seeing a picture on the box cover, they never could solve the puzzle.

Idealists see the revelations as being poetical or spiritual in nature, unrelated to actual historical events. This would permit any person's interpretation to be as valid as any other's, as long as there is no connection with reality.

Historicists interpret the revealed-events in a historical framework. This theory was promoted by Joachim of Floris (d. 1202), a monk who claimed to have a vision on Easter night which revealed God's plan for the ages. After his death, the Franciscans claimed themselves the true Christians of Joachim's vision, and interpreted Babylon not only as pagan Rome but also as papal Rome! Yes, the Franciscans did that! Identification of Babylon and Antichrist with the Roman Papacy was later also a conviction of Luther, Calvin, and ALL Protestant Reformers. It was this view, repugnant to the Roman Catholic Church, which prompted a very different interpretation in order to exempt the Papal office. Thus, the Futurist interpretation was contrived.

Futurists claim that all events, excepting the first three chapters of Rev. will happen during a three and a half year period at the end of the age. The Roman church objects to prophecies which call the papacy the anti-Christ. II Thessalonians 2 says the return of Christ cannot occur until AFTER the apostasy/rebellion comes and the "lawless one" is revealed. If that lawless one was the papacy, then all the historical events of Revelation could have happened over the past two thousand years. But, if that lawless one does not arrive until just prior to the end, then the papacy could not have been the anti-Christ and the events of Revelation have not yet begun to happen. A Jesuit priest, Francisco Ribera (1537-1591), attempted to solve this dilemma by a unique interpretation of Daniel Chapter 9. In the book of Daniel, Daniel was praying for the sins of Israel when Gabriel appeared to him, saying in 9:22 "Daniel, I am now come to teach you knowledge. ²³At the beginning of your prayer a word went forth, and I am come to tell you; for you are a man greatly beloved. Be instructed therefore by the decree, and understand by the vision. ²⁴Seventy weeks are set apart for your people and for the holy city; for sin to be ended and to seal up transgressions, to blot out iniquities, to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and the Prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy.

²⁵"Therefore, you are to know and understand, that from the going forth of the command for the answer for rebuilding Jerusalem until Christ the Prince are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. They shall indeed return and a street and a wall shall be built, and these times will be completed, ²⁶and after the sixty-two weeks, the anointed One shall be cut off, though there is no crime in Him; and He with the ruler who is coming, will destroy the city and the sanctuary. They shall be cut off with a flood, and to the end of the war which is rapidly completed he shall appoint the city to desolations.²⁷And one week shall establish the covenant with many; and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink offering shall be taken away; and upon the temple shall be an abomination of desolations; and at the end of a time, an end shall be put to the desolation."

Ribera proposed that the 69 weeks ended with the baptism of Jesus; the 70th week to be postponed until the end of the age when the anti-Christ would appear and rule, destroy the temple in Jerusalem, abolish the Christian religion, and conquer the world.

Certainly the Bible is sometimes confusing with its symbolism and metaphors, but never does God put upon us any such nonsense as making the seventieth week some distant future time which would not be the "seventieth" at all! That is as irrational as if I borrowed some money, promising to pay it back in 30 days, without telling my creditor that there will be a 20 year interval between the 29th and 30th day. But, the Roman Church desperately needed a straw to grasp, and this solution would have to serve. In the early 1800's this Jesuit thesis of Ribera was picked up by a Protestant, J.N. Darby, eventually getting into the Scofield Bible where it still serves to support a rapture fantasy.

"Rapture" is a belief among people who claim to be members of Christ's body, that they will be lifted off the earth for a time-out while Jesus, the Head of their body, defeats Satan without any help from His members. These so-called Christians appear to be simple escapists who fear dying for their Lord. Lacking any scriptural support, the rapture doctrine has a strong appeal among those who want peace rather than the war to which Christ calls us. "Don't think that I came to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword." (Matthew 10:34). Modern preachers don't point to that verse! Men like David ("one after God's own heart") and the early Martyrs are rare in our modern effeminate era.

Paradigms and Patterns

By using the hints given in the first chapter of past, present, and future, we will find that we are looking at paradigms which apply to all three periods. This method of interpretation recognizes the micro as a model or pattern for the macro, and past historical events as prophecies of future historical events. There is real order to God's design, and the study of one important Biblical event will help us to recognize later events of the same pattern. For instance, the 400 year Egypt sojourn, followed by liberation, a 40 yr. wilderness period, then the promised land — was a paradigm of 400 years in America, then liberation somewhere about 2000 AD or so, a subsequent wilderness period, and then the promised Kingdom of God age begins.

John's visions are described in symbols. Such symbols serve as descriptions of patterns which apply to different times and places.

NOTE: In the following translation and commentary, I have chosen to use the Greek names of Old Testament persons according to the Greek Septuagint of 285 BC rather than the 1,000 AD masoretic "Hebrew" translation which is commonly used for English Bibles. The Greek Septuagint was the Old Testament Bible used by Jesus, His disciples, along with everyone else at the time of Jesus and during the first century. Even the Jewish historians Philo of Alexandria and Josephus and Aristeas the Exegete, used the Greek Septuagint, for the simple reason that no "Hebrew" Old Testament existed yet. Consequently, I prefer the names of our beloved Patriarchs as they were known prior to Christ and during the first few centuries of the Christian church. Many of the Patriarch's names later had the letter "h" added to them by Jewish Masoretes, making them Aramaic in character rather than Greek. Noah should be "Noe." Abraham is properly "Abraam." Isaiah is properly "Esaias," and so forth. Wherever I think a name might not be easily recognized, I will provide the so-called "Hebrew" name in parentheses.

SACRIFICE

Sacrifice is the primary lesson of the Old Testament, and also the primary lesson of Jesus. That makes it the central theme of the Bible, and certainly should make it the central issue for Christians! Essentially, one must sacrifice his worldly life and values by dying to them, in order to transition to the kingdom of God.

Have you ever pondered the idea of "sacrifice"? What does it really mean? Why would God want anything sacrificed? Why should quality animals or food be burned up? Isn't that a strange thing? If we examine the subject of sacrifice, will we find anything really meaningful? There certainly is not much literature available about the subject, so perhaps others who studied it finally contented themselves to let it be an unsolved mystery.

Anyone who thinks about it sympathetically would probably come up with the idea that God wants us to give up the firstfruits of our work to Him in grateful thanks for the rain and sunshine that made the crops grow, for the blessing of healthy increase of the herd, or for some other blessing. Of course, it is proper appreciation toward God that we offer to Him the first and best part of that which we have. That is a simple understanding of sacrifice, and can easily apply to us as we tithe the top ten percent of our income.

Such giving is one thing, but what about that sacrificial killing of living things, which was practiced by our Hebrew ancestors. They killed sheep, cows, goats, and birds for the sacrificial altar. They drained blood from the animals and handled it specially. That seems to be more than a mere offering of thanks for His providence. One of the sacrifices was an atonement for sin. The people believed that death was the penalty for sin. Of course, if every person who sinned got killed, then every single descendant from Adam would have been killed, and our genetic line would have ended thousands of years ago. So, animals were killed as substitutes for men who sinned. Everyone understood that animals served as a symbol.

But the question still hangs: why is a death necessary? Philosophically, we might reason that this indicates something about God, that He demands perfection. If His child fails to be perfect or violates God's rules, then he has missed the mark and must die. The Greek word for sin is αμαρτια (hamartia) and was used throughout ancient history to mean "missing the mark," like an archer missing the bullseye of a target. So, the general definition of sin is simply that of falling short of perfection.

Where does the Bible first mention such sacrificial offering? We can understand the fact that a death penalty resulted from breaking that Old Covenant between God and man, from Sinai. After the ten commandments were made explicit, and the contract was signed by all Israel in unanimous acclamation, then it became clear that Israel must pay any breach-of-contract with its own death. For fourteen centuries between Moses and Jesus, animals were then substituted for individuals or groups of Israelites. But, it is actually true that sacrificial offerings were made long before Moses and the Sinai contract.

The first Biblical record of a sacrifice is that of Cain and Abel, where Cain offered agricultural produce and Abel offered the best from his animals. Isn't it interesting that such a religious ritual was being done from the very beginning of God's spiritual race? Obviously, they knew something about their relationship with God and performed actual rituals as part of that relationship. Unfortunately, we know extremely little about the religious beliefs and practices of our ancestors for that four thousand year period between Adam and Moses. I'm assuming Adam's birth at 5508 BC according to the Septuagint record, and Moses' exodus about 1456 BC. Because we know so little about religious practices prior to Moses, we tend to not ponder the subject. We are content to turn our attention to something more knowable, like the O.T. Law given by Moses. It is easy to make a religion from laws. But, let's put this into perspective. The Old Covenant of Moses was a contract for only about fifteen hundred years, until it was completed by Jesus, and replaced by a New Covenant which is not a contract of laws. So, if the contractual law of Moses existed for only that fifteen hundred year period, what was the basis of religious practice during the previous four thousand years? Right now, in 2000 AD, we are about 7500 years from Adam, so contract law has only applied during 1500 of those years, or twenty percent of our history. For four fifths of our Adamic history, we have not been held to any law contract with God. What did our ancient ancestors really know about God, and how did they relate to Him in their daily lives? This question is intensely interesting to me, with frustratingly few answers.

I think about those ancient times, and study the records available. One factor which seems relevant is the earth's magnetic-field strength, which has dropped to near-zero strength at our present day, according to scientific measurements. The peak of the magnetic-field strength was six thousand years ago, about the time of Noe's flood, when men lived many centuries. I speculate that with a decrease in that magnetic energy, not only physical health deteriorated but also mental capabilities and spiritual awareness. Several thousand years ago, we, as God's genetic lineage from Adam, knew God's will as the REAL essence of our lives. We knew His Spirit as that which empowered our minds. We memorized the historical record of our family and could recite it perfectly, word for word. Our communities were comprised ONLY of Adamic members who could meet the requirement of reciting their lineage back to our Grandfather, Adam. We had a spiritual relationship with our Father in ways unimaginable today, for we have become ever more ignorant with the weakening magnetic-field. As we became more spiritually ignorant, the devil's children became more dominant over us. Their instincts led them to create an earthly kingdom with physical materials and technological wonders. The modern society of wondrous inventions is the ultimate achievement by the devil of his kingdom of World. It is in conflict with any spiritual presence of God, and seduces men to devote themselves to it in idolatrous worship.

Now, for the past 150 years, God's children have suffered an increasing oppression. Our spiritual awareness is less than ever before, and the material enticements greater than ever before. Our Christian religions have become little more than social-gospel. The most gaudy, ostentatious, entertaining, and flourishing churches are today preaching methods of attaining "prosperity," just as though that was God's will for us, brazenly contradicting Jesus' example and teachings. Compared to this modern world of technological wonders, God's spiritual kingdom is a desert. Egypt and the Sinai are known to be symbols of world and spiritual-life respectively. God calls us out of World to the desert, just as He called our ancestors from Egypt to the Sinai. Jesus made this lesson clear with advice that we must die to this world, really reject it, along with that Matthew 6 passage about not worrying about food, drink, and shelter. And then there is His wonderful call: "foxes have holes, birds have nests; I have no place to lay my head, follow Me." (paraphrased) Obviously, we have lost our way, and our spiritual strength is so weak that rare few ever rise above this world to know a spiritual relationship with the Father, and with the Head of our body, Jesus.

I began this chapter with the question of sacrifice, what it might be, and it's possible meaning for us. Now, I'm going to state my ideas about this subject as forthrightly as I can. Sacrifice is the very essential purpose of God's anointed Son (His offspring, a genetic line of members of whom Jesus is the Head). We live in the kingdom of World, which is not our home. We are spirit-beings whose home is a spiritual kingdom, not this material/physical kingdom. We once lived in that spiritual kingdom, in Oneness with our Father, but we left it thousands of years ago, because we were attracted to the sensual experiences available in a kingdom of material limitations. It is the limitation of ignorance (darkness) that makes sensual thrills possible. The "apple" of the Fall was the forbidden-fruit of sex, an act contrary to God's will, that we found exciting, then and now. It was also that temptation to become gods by the intellectual activity of knowing good from evil. Rather than continue as Spirit-beings who were part of the Almighty God, we chose to become little gods of a limited World. So, we left our spiritual home for the sake of physical-sense gratifications, emotional pleasures, and finite powers. Now, in order to return to our Father, we must recognize the low-level of our estate and reject it. We must REALLY reject it, in ways that are meaningful rather than just shallow-ritual. We must DIE to this world! We must offer up to the flames whatever is most valuable, the most perfect of our herd or flock, the most precious of our treasures of gold, gems, and money. We express our contempt toward World treasures by offering them up to flames or by giving them away as worthless. Jesus said one must hate this world in order to be His disciple. While prosperity-cults want to make this pig-pen into their heaven, the truly spiritual person wants to reject this entire world in order to go back home. This is the lesson which Jesus demonstrated and clearly stated. Jesus is the Head of the body of Christ which is comprised of 144,000 Elect plus all the descendants of Israel who "overcome" the world. Jesus' letters to the seven churches encourage "overcomers" with promises of heavenly rewards.

So, I believe that Adam's son, Abel, understood why he was offering the prized animals of his flock, that he was expressing contempt for such worldly possessions, that he was a prodigal turning from the pig-pen toward the long walk back home. Abel's offering expressed the idea of division, dividing his value of God's spiritual kingdom from the despised kingdom of world; he loved the spiritual and hated the world. His values were being proven by offering-up his most prized worldly treasures to the flames. Cain, as a child of the devil, probably made his offering as an attempt to appease God and win His favor, but did not feel genuine contempt for his earthly possessions. He did not see the difference between spiritual and worldly values. The Greek Septuagint reads differently from the Edomite's Masoretic Hebrew text in Genesis 4:6,7 where God says to Cain, "Why are you sorrowful and why is your countenance fallen? Have you not sinned if you brought it rightly, but did not divide it rightly? Be still, to you shall be his submission, and you shall rule over him." Cain brought the offering properly, but failed to make the division in his values. [Sidenote: here we also see the first promise of dominion given to Satan's racial offspring, the Cain race which was later renewed with Esau, to whom Abraam also renewed the promise of dominion over God's children. Esau's progeny became the Edomites who took over Judea, Jerusalem, the Temple, and the racial term of "Jews."]

That is what "sacrifice" is all about! It is offering up to the flames our worldly values and possessions, an offering which serves also as a prophecy of the end-time disaster. Six-thousand years ago, the world of Adam's family was destroyed by water, and soon it will be destroyed by fire. Fire from natural gas, petroleum fuels, burning plastics, wood, and volcanic eruptions will consume most everything of our present world, the final sacrifice necessary before we can have the spiritual kingdom of heaven. God's Elect should be willing and eager to present this sacrifice to our Father, laying our homes and belongings and all worldly treasures on the altar for destruction. Even more than that, we should present ourselves to God's altar for sacrifice, for we are members of the Christ, God's anointed Son, who must DIE to this world before we can live again in God's "heaven." Jesus demonstrated the way, and told us that we would experience the same things as we follow Him. "These things shall happen to you." If we want heaven, we must reject world, even consigning it to the flames of destruction. That includes earthly possessions which we hold dear and every earthly goal which we might desire for ourselves or our children, and our own lives, too. All must go! Just as the Israelites left their homes behind to cross the Red Sea, being liberated from Egypt (World) into the DESERT of Sinai (the spiritual kingdom), so must we welcome the coming conflagration and rejoice to watch our world go up in flames in our final sacrifice.

SYMBOLOGY IN REVELATION

7 LAMPS OF FIRE = the seven Spirits at God's throne = God's Holy Spirit

BABYLON =The materialistic society ideal of the Edomite race, Papacy, Communists.

BEAST = Edomite/Jewish dominion over money, commerce, culture.

CALF =Emotional Mind

DIADEMS = rulers, lords, princes, individuals of great authority

DRAGON = China.

DRAGON or SERPENT = Satan, acting through Edom

EAGLE = Mental or Rational Mind

EARTHQUAKE = either a political upheaval, or a geophysical seismic event

FALSE PROPHET = Islam and Mormons

FINE LINEN = righteous deeds of the saints (Rev. 19:8)

GREAT HARLOT = Roman Catholic Church. (Rev. 17)

HEADS = various faces thru which Satan acts (Edomites as Judeans; Roman Catholic, Hapsburgs, Rothschilds, U.N.)

HORNS = kingships, positions of authority (cf. Daniel 8:21)

JERUSALEM = the "City" of God, being the corpus of His own people

LAMPSTAND = church. namely the seven churches. Rev. 1:20

LION = Physical Mind

LIVING BEINGS = The Four Minds

MAN = Spiritual Mind

OVERCOMER = One who overcomes the beast, its image & the number of its name. Rev. 15:2

STAR = force or supernatural influence, often the function of an angel. Rev. 1:20

TEMPLE = the body of Christ in whom God lives

WATER or SEA = multitudes of people (sometimes the emotional mind dark races)

WHEELS = living power, with Ezekiel the cycles of Time

WIND = Spirit

WINGS = like "arms," the extension of one's performance, modes or qualities

KEYS TO THE MYSTERY OF THE BOOK

The book of Revelation has always been a riddle, which has not been solved since St. John wrote it. After you know the solution, it will be clear why it hasn't been solved. God has hidden information for the end-times, which, if understood during past centuries, might have thwarted His great plan. Prophecy serves the purpose of hiding information from nearly everyone, while setting information forth publicly in symbols where it is available to those who have spiritual minds. This permits God to reveal information to individuals at His pleasure, while keeping it hidden from all others. When Jesus' friends asked why He spoke in riddles, He answered that He could not speak clearly to the masses "lest they understand . . ." I would preface this work by telling you that I made a deal with God, that if He would reveal His truths to me I would refrain from telling it publicly, perhaps even telling no one. The contents which follow are perhaps meant for no one else, perhaps for one of a thousand or two of ten thousand. I share this work with some hesitation, and if I share this copy with you, I ask that you protect it with equal concern, lest you arouse God's displeasure unwittingly.

The Revelation of John is a difficult work because there are several keys needed to unlock its mysteries. Until these end-times some keys were not available. I want to present the Keys here.

KEY 1: The diagram of history is plotted along a SINE-WAVE CURVE. This curve is an electronics diagram of cycles, showing frequency, which is the time span of the cycle, and amplitude: the amount of energy above & below the zero line.

The frequency of one cycle of history is about 25,000 years. Scientists don't know the exact length of one Precession-of-Equinoxes, but calculate it to be between 24,000 and 26,000 years. The amplitude of the cycle is the strength of the earth's magnetic field. It's strength has decreased to nearly zero right now, and sometime after it reaches zero there will be a reversal of the earth's magnetic-field polarity which will trigger end-time cataclysmic disasters of earthquakes, volcanoes, land subsidence, tidal waves, and electro-magnetic "nature" reversal, followed by plagues. This results in a sort of "dimensional" shift, whereby "matter" no longer appears quite so solid to the Elect. I am assuming the magnetic field reversal will happen somewhere about year 2,000 or so, to begin a 40 year "wilderness" period (like the Moses' Exodus model). I'm confident of the theme of this grand pageant, but not of the exact dates for end-time events. I'm speculating about them.

See the diagram of "God's Divine Paradigm" as history is plotted on a sine-wave curve, in which half the cycle is negative and half positive. The negative period of history, now ending, was manifested as a kingdom of "World." The intelligence (design/purpose/mind) which rules that negative period is called the "devil." During this half cycle of negative energy, we experience a physical/material world in which decay and death define the parameters of what we call "life." During the positive half cycle, Christ reigns over the Kingdom of God, and the nature of "Life" is quite different. Until one understands these cyclic patterns, much of the Bible is a mystery, and the secrets of John's Revelation are completely hidden.

KEY 2: John's Revelation describes SEVEN PROGRAMS, five of which run simultaneously. Some theologians have recognized similarities in Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls, but didn't know what to do with that insight because they didn't understand the cyclic patterns of history. See the Chart: CHRIST'S SEVEN STARS, for the layout of seven periods of history and the seven paradigms of the book.

Column "1" lists the seven churches, each represented by its star, which is an angel (force) that represents a TIME period. These seven periods define the future kingdom of Heaven, from the time of Christ's Second Coming, for the next 12,000 or so years until rulership changes from Christ to the Devil again.

Columns "2" through "6" outline the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls, as they define the time from Christ's birth until the end of the age of Pisces when the great "earthquake" disaster of Matthew 24 brings this age to close. The first four Seals, Trumps, and Bowls represent influences that are active THROUGHOUT the entire age of Pisces. The fifth of each pertains to the 150 year period between 1848 and 2000. The sixth & seventh pertain to "End-Time" events, which mostly occur within one year's time, perhaps around 2,000A.D. or so.

Column "7" indicates events for the future, during the first half of Christ's reign, from the time of His Second Coming until we reach the apex of spiritual perfection, in the age of Thyatira.

KEY 3: The seven lampstands represent the seven churches of chapters 2 & 3, and the seven Stars in Jesus' right hand are the angels of those seven churches. The Star/angels represent PERIODS OF TIME during future Ages. Certainly, one cannot dismiss the fact that God is speaking useful messages to the seven existing churches of Asia and to churches in general, and that is good material for sermons, but it is a radically different notion to consider these messages as descriptions of periods of time. Stars are angels, or forces, of God. There are many types of forces, some which scientists haven't yet identified. Time is a force which scientists struggle to understand better, and it becomes more elusive as it is studied. It is now known to particle physicists and quantum-mechanic physics that time is relative to the perceiver, and that it goes backwards as well as forwards. Time is not an absolute, but is a projection from the mind of God, within which we live and experience life. It is through "time" and through His Elect that God functions and experiences life. Time and the Elect are ultimately the same thing, as John tries to describe in this vision.

It is not enough to say that God expresses Himself "through" time; there is something far greater to this subject, and I hardly know how to say it. But, here it is: John considers time to be God. The first verse of Revelation speaks of "time," and three verses later God is identified as "the one who (that which) is and who was and who is to come." God IS the past, the present, and the future. In this commentary on Revelation, we will diagram patterns of history as cyclic patterns, or models which are repeated cycle after cycle according to a definite plan. What is being revealed to us is the identity of the path of time, which is God. The seven "stars" in Jesus' right hand are symbols of separate pieces of God: time periods!

Now, I want to propose a new idea for you. As God lives through His Elect, these Elect express and reveal God. We are all symbols of characteristics of God. Seven stars are symbols of "time periods." The 144,000 Elect are symbols of time periods (of God's expression) made up of the twelve sons of Jacob. The highest level of "time" symbol is that of twelve Zodiac signs which underlie the entire Bible. Each of the Zodiac periods, of 2,100± years, directly corresponds to a "Tribe" period, each of which can then be sub-divided into twelve shorter cycles of 170± years, and each short-cycle period can be divided into twelve shorter segments of ca. 14 years, and these can all be diagrammed on sine-wave curves, whereupon the historical patterns become obvious. We are getting a look at God, but understanding what we see is yet another matter. The number "12" represents the historical course of the 12 tribes of Israelites, while the number "7" represents their spiritual course. The Time-line half-cycle can be divided by 12 and by 7 to define the physical and spiritual paradigms of the process, which comprise God's expression of Himself.

Without understanding the long term cyclic patterns of history, one might never guess that the Stars of the churches are symbols of time periods. One precedent for this interpretation is found in the Old Testament where Joseph interpreted cows and corn-stalks (of the Pharao's dream) as time periods.

John's visions, in this book of Revelation, are far more complex than most other visions, permitting interpretation of symbols on several different levels. We can easily see some literal value in the messages to these seven churches, relative to their own specific situations. As allegory, we can apply those messages to all churches in general. As symbols for time-periods, those churches represent periods of time in the future Kingdom of God during the coming ages of Christ's reign, during the half cycle from ca. 2040 AD until ca. 14,500 AD. The seven Stars & Churches are diagrammed on the "Seven Stars" chart, in Column "1," but those future time periods do NOT correlate with the times of the Seals and the other columns that occur within this age of Pisces. The model of seven time-periods is also applicable to seven specific divisions of the Kingdom of World, of the past 12,000 years. So, the seven are a model, a paradigm, describing the natural process of civilization's ascent and descent.