Verse 7 also underscores another important point that is often neglected. Even if we assume that this is a reference to Jesus, ‘Every eye will see him even those who pierced him’ may indicate that some of those who were on earth at the time the Son of God (if we assume the verse refers to Jesus) or the Son of Man (if we accept His previous incarnation) walked the earth will also come back to earth, i.e. re-incarnate at this time. On the other hand, we may see in this the fact that the World of Matter encompasses the visible and invisible planes, the Gross and Ethereal spheres and hence, human spirits in gross physical cloaks and those regarded as dead who continue to exist in ethereal and finer spheres. No matter where the human spirit exists at the time of judgment, they must confront the Judge, the Creative Will of God.
The revelation concerning the second coming looks ahead to the time of the judgment and foresees mourning, and indeed the purification that follows His advent brings much suffering and mourning, especially, for the majority who still refuse to acknowledge Him and live according to His words.
The Son of Man comes in the authority of His Father as the beginning and the end. The phrase Alpha and Omega means the beginning and the end and applies to the activity of the Almighty in Creation, since before Creation came into existence, there was no beginning and no end. This is because Creation as the work of God has a beginning, which lies in the Holy Spirit of God and an end, which will also necessarily lie in the Holy Spirit. God Himself does not have a beginning or an end. Since Creation is the work of the Holy Spirit, this phrase describes Him and not the Son of God, Jesus. The wound He bears has been misinterpreted as the wound inflicted on Christ on the cross and so the passage has been seen as referring to Jesus.
If we accept that the passage refers to the Holy Spirit, then wound as indicated earlier may refer to a previous Light incarnation (see above) or allegorically to the failure of humanity, those who pierced him indicating the whole of fallen humanity. This latter, I believe, is the more correct interpretation. The Failure of humanity in subsequent Creation is seen and has been described from the Light as an open wound that cannot be healed except with the Truth (Abd-ru-shin).
It is important to bear in mind that there is only One God who we experience as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We must understand the concept of the Trinity as One if we are to understand The Revelation. This is a book about the activity of ‘He who is and who was and who is to come’. This early in The Revelation, this description is appropriate. However, if today in our present epoch, we accept or assume that the Son of Man has come into Creation as prophesied by Christ and repeatedly indicated in the later parts of the revelation, then the last part of verse 8 could surely be rephrased as “who is, and who was and who has come.”
The Seven Churches (Rev. 1:9-11)
19 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
After the introduction and greetings, John begins his narrative with admonitions to the Churches or World Communities. This is the target audience of The Revelation, the world communities of human spirits who in their wandering have brought disharmony and disorder. The Revelation, therefore, calls on these world communities, of which there are seven, including our own Universe, to recognize their position and the impending Judgment. The symbolism of seven not surprisingly is frequent in the revelation. Creation, both spiritual and material, is arranged in sevens (Abd-ru-shin).
John first identifies with the lot of striving human spirits, particularly, of the Christians of the time, and clearly identifies the location where he wrote the work as the island of Patmos. It is not clearly stated whether he was here as a prisoner for the word (as often argued) or whether he was in Patmos to deepen his understanding and for spread of the word. The prevailing opinion is that he was imprisoned on Patmos, a small island in the Aegean Sea at the time. However, as indicated earlier, there is the real probability that although the transcriber was on earth, the original vision was received on Patmos in Spiritual Creation by John and transmitted to a medium, perhaps another John, on earth. This is borne out by the fact that the author tells us in verse 1 that an angel mediated the vision to him while he was in the spirit (v10).
In this regard, it is important to remember that the earthly author of the Revelation is not known for certain and may not be John the disciple as often assumed. The author may consider the message more relevant than himself, and simply passed on the vision as John unfolded it without identifying himself (see introduction).
John tells us that he was in the spirit, which probably indicates that he was not in the physical planes at all, supporting the above view. However, this may also be interpreted to mean that his experiences on that particular Lord’s Day happened outside the physical body. This is not a case of concentration. We are not told that he was deep in thought or that he was meditating, but that he was in another dimension, which nevertheless was identical with him. The important message of the Lord for our time, the Grail Message tells us that indeed John was on the spiritual Island of Patmos and not on the earthly Patmos, which again emphasizes the double significance of the named cities.
In this state, in Patmos, John hears behind him a loud voice like a trumpet. He did not state that the words were addressed to him but the instruction was clear and is apparently for John. It is possible that the words were directed to the whole of Creation as the word trumpet implies a warning, and John is the mediator from the Spiritual to the Material Creation. It is most likely that the voice is that of the Arch Angel mentioned in v1 as mediating the revelation.
The fact that the fate of human spirits in various planes of Matter is the central theme of revelations is introduced early in the Message to the church communities and emphasized by the contents of the book (scroll) with seven seals. The admonition to the seven churches was given interactively as the Son of Man walks amongst the seven lampstands (Rev. 2:1). As the Judge of the Worlds walks amongst the golden lampstands, i.e. through the Worlds of Matter, He admonishes them through their guardian angels. This journeying through the Worlds of Matter implies a personal experiencing of the events in the Worlds of Matter and does not present the picture of a God completely detached from His Creation in a remote heaven from where He dispenses punishment and reward.
The message follows a characteristic pattern underlying the fact that the human spirits in the Worlds of Matter have existed over epochs, have had repeated opportunities to mature which they have used indifferently and that now the Judgment is imminent. The admonition is generally in the form that they must now overcome or face spiritual death at individual levels, i.e. eternal separation from God or a complete destruction of their Worlds (their lampstand will be removed from the presence of the Creator).
The loud voice came from behind John with a command to write a book and send it to the seven churches. This command emphasizes the importance and diverse nature of the communities. John did not merely see a vision or receive a prophecy. Nor was this just an auditory phenomenon, but vivid living pictures that did not arise from him, but beyond him and which he was allowed to see. The voice like a trumpet commands John to write the whole revelation and not just a part of it and send it to the seven churches. Thus, the Revelation is for the whole world