From Image to Reality (Part 2)

Introduction: Image, Revelation, and the New Jerusalem.

Here follows St. Paul's description of that Armor of God we need put on for our progression through the apocalyptic unfolding given to us and for us in the Book of Revelation:

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

It is only when we are so armored, that we can with the Archangel Michael participate in the three great Revelation events so challenging to understand.  And yet, with the aid of anthroposophy, the new knowledge brought to us by the great spiritual achievements of Rudolf Steiner, we can now begin to achieve an understanding of these events, how they are related and how they relate to the Being Realization of the Image of Man.

 1: The Michael Battle in Heaven (Rev.12) begins with the woman, "clothed with the sun.... And she was with child and cried out in the labor and pain of giving birth."  and then continues, "see, a great fiery red dragon with seven heads and ten horns... stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so he could devour the child when it was born." But the Dragon is overthrown my Michael and his followers, and the Child "is caught up to God."

2: The Rider on the White Horse (Rev.19): "He is clad in a blood-sprinkled robe whose name is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven, clad in pure white linen follow him on white horses.... And on his robe and thigh is written: KING OF ALL KINGS, LORD OF ALL LORDS." And the two great Adversaries and all who follow them are then overthrown.

3: And I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth (Rev. 21)  and I saw also the holy city, the New Jerusalem, which "In its beauty of form it was like a bride adorned for marriage,"

All that follows right to the end of John's Revelation  reveals  great insights concerning the progression of how we, who in the Beginning were Man in the mere Image of God, can now freely bring about its Realization of Being that fulfills the Image, a Realization that profoundly relates us to the birth of the New Jerusalem.

Secure in the knowledge of the significance of the Great Turning Point of Time, we can commence  this great journey of Knowledge and Will with those activities which cannot but ensure that we come to the Marriage Feast in our pure White Garment.

The Literal Cannot Understand

(Revelation: 7:13-17)

Soiled were my garments

At the Paradise Time,

But I’m striving to clean them

With will I’ve made mine.

Who of the world can understand,

A world now literal grown,

How pure white I’m now making my garments

In the Blood on Golgotha sown?

11/13/07