Apocalypse of John
THE ALLEGED AUTHOR of Revelation was Jesus’s personal friend and
disciple, John (not to be confused with John the Baptist, a
different person). John appears to have been the most influential of
Jesus’s disciples, and an earlier biblical text that is attributed to
him, the Book of John, seems to come closest to conveying the strong
mystical leanings of Jesus’s backers and of the early Christian
church. For these and other reasons, the name of John has been an
important one to Christians and to a number of mystical
organizations. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that John’s name
would be chosen to convey the final and most colorful apocalypse in
the Bible.
The Revelation of St. John is the fifth and final work attributed to
John to appear in the New Testament. Some scholars believe that
Revelation was written by John while he was living in exile on the
Greek island of Patmos many years after the crucifixion of Christ.
Others are convinced that disciple John was not the author of
Revelation because Revelation was not discovered until about two
hundred years
after John’s lifetime. According to Joseph Free, writing in
his book,
Archaeology and Bible History, the linguistic qualities of
Revelation are inferior in some ways to the Book of John.
It is
argued that if Revelation was written five years after the Book of
John by the same person, Revelation should be linguistically equal
or superior to the earlier work. Another point is that Revelation
contains expressions from the Hebrew language that were not used in
John’s earlier writings. On the other hand, important similarities
between Revelation and other books of John have been noted,
especially in the repetition of certain words and phrases. Whatever
the true authorship of Revelation may be, the impact of this work
has been major.
Revelation is the first-person account of the author’s bizarre
meeting with a strange person he believed to be Jesus. Over a period
of a day or two, the author also met a number of unusual creatures
which showed him pictures of frightening future events. The author
was told by those creatures that Satan (the “anti-Christ”) would
take over the world. This would be followed by the Final Battle of
Armageddon during which the angels of God would battle the forces of
Satan. The Final Battle would bring about the banishment of Satan
from human society and the triumphant return (“Second Coming”) of
Jesus to reign over Earth for a thousand years.
The Book of Revelation is written in a wonderfully picturesque
manner. It is filled with complex and imaginative symbolism. Because
the pictures revealed to John were symbols, Revelation can be used
to predict an imminent ”End of the World” at almost any historical
epoch. The prophecy is constructed so that the symbols can be
interpreted to represent whatever historical events happen to be
occurring at the time one is living. This is precisely what has been
done with Revelation ever since it appeared, and it is still being
done today.
The question is, what caused the author’s “visions”? Was it lunacy? A
propensity to tell tall tales? Or was it something else? The author
seems sincere enough to rule out deceit. His straightforward manner
of narration tends to eliminate lunacy as the answer. That leaves
“something else.” The question is: what?
Upon analyzing the text of Revelation, we discover something rather
remarkable. It appears that the author had actually been drugged
and, while in that drugged state, was shown pictures in a book by
individuals who were wearing costumes and putting on a ceremony for
the author’s benefit. Let us look at the passages of Revelation which
suggest this.
John begins his story by telling us that he was at prayer. From a
further description, it seems that he was conducting his ritual
outdoors during daylight hours. Suddenly, a loud voice resounded
behind him. The voice commanded him to write down everything he was
about to see and hear, and to send the message to the seven Christian
churches in Asia [Turkey].
John turned around to see who was
speaking to him and, lo and behold, there he saw what he believed to
be seven golden candlesticks. Standing among the candlesticks was a
person whom the author described as:
. . . one who looked like the Son of man [Jesus], clothed with a garment down to the foot, and wearing about the chest a golden girdle [support]. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white
as snow; and his eyes were as flame of fire; And his feet were like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice was as the sound of many
waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his appearance was like the sun shines in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. And he laid his right hand upon me .............
REVELATION 1:13-17
There are striking similarities between this new “Jesus” and the
space age “angels” of earlier Biblical stories. The prophet
Ezekiel,
for example, had also met visitors with feet of brass. The above
passage from Revelation suggests that John’s “Jesus” may have been
garbed in a one-piece body suit extending from the neck down to
metal or metal-like boots.*
* The fact that the author mistook this creature for Jesus may be
further evidence that the author was not the original disciple
John. For convenience, however, I will continue to refer to the
author of Revelation as John.
The creature’s head was described as
“white like wool, as white as snow,” indicating an artificial head
covering or helmet. John’s claim that this creature had a voice “as
the sound of many waters,” that is, rumbling and thunderous, is also
reminiscent of Ezekiel’s angels and could have been caused by the
rumbling of nearby engines or by electronic amplification of the
creature’s voice. The “two-edged sword” protruding from the
creature’s mouth easily suggests a microphone or breathing pipe.
After John regained his composure, “Jesus” commanded him to write
down the missives that “Jesus” wanted sent to various Christian
churches. Those letters constitute the first three chapters of
Revelation. The most interesting phase of John’s experience then
begins in chapter 4:
. .. / looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the
first voice which I heard, which sounded like a trumpet talking with
me; said Come up here, and I will show you things which must take
place hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, look, a throne was set in
heaven, and one [creature] sat on the throne. And the one who sat looked to me like a jasper and sardine stone:
and there was a rainbow around the throne looking like an emerald. And all around the throne were twenty-four seats: and upon the seats
I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments: and they
had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne came lightnings
and thunderings and voices:
and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which
are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal: and in
the midst of the throne, and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes in front and back.
REVELATION 4:1-6
The above passage can be viewed as the author being taken up through
the door of some sort of aircraft and finding himself face to face
with its occupants, as told by someone incapable of understanding the
experience. The quote contains two especially interesting elements:
first, John said that a voice from above sounded like a trumpet
talking with him. This strongly suggests a voice bellowing through a
loudspeaker. Second, the “lightnings and thunderings and voices”
emitting from the “throne” suggest that the throne had a television
or radio set of some kind. A modern-day human might well describe the
same experience this way:
“Well, yes, I was lifted up into a
rocketship. There I confronted the seated crew in their white
jumpsuits and helmets. They had some radio or TV reception going.”
The presence of seven candles and seven lamps
indicates that a ritual
had been prepared for the author. The ritual was replete with
costumes, theatrics, and sound effects— all designed to deeply
impress the message upon the author.
This is what happened when John
was shown the first scroll:
And I saw in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne a scroll
with writing on the inside and on the back side sealed with seven
seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy
to open the book, and to loosen the seals of it? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, nor from under the earth, was
able to open the book nor to look upon its contents. And I wept a great deal, because no man was found worthy to open and
to read the book, nor to look upon its contents. And one of the elders said to me, Weep not: look, the Lion [one of
the animals there] of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has
succeeded to open the book, and to loosen its seven seals. And I saw standing between the throne and the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, a Lamb in the manner of having been slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God
sent out to all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right
hand of the one who
sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and twenty-four
elders fell before the Lamb, each of them holding harps, and golden
containers full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book,
and to open the seals of it: for you were slain, and have redeemed
us to God by your blood from every family, language, people, and
nation: And have made us into kings and priests to God: and we shall reign
on earth. And I saw, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne
and the beasts and the elders: and they numbered ten thousand times
ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and
glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under
the earth, and those that are in the sea, and all that are in them,
heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be to him
that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the twenty-four
elders fell down
and worshipped him that lived for ever and ever.
REVELATION 5:1-14
The elders continued to fall at dramatic moments throughout the
ceremony. Each time they did so, they made quite an impression upon
John. Among their cries of “Amen!” and ”Alleluia!”, the author was
given the somber task of writing
down everything he was being shown and taught.
It has been pointed out that the experience John described is
identical to mystical ritual, especially of initiation into the
teachings of a
secret society. For this reason, some people believe
that Revelation is actually an account of an initiation ceremony
typical of many Brotherhood organizations—typical even today. These
observations are quite significant when they are coupled with the
evidence that John’s experience had an element of space opera. It
reveals
continued Custodial involvement in Brotherhood mysticism
after
the time of Christ and shows Custodians to be the ultimate source of
apocalyptic doctrines.
In the above passage from Revelation, we observe that John reacted
with strong emotions to what was going on around him. He was
especially prone to weeping on relatively little provocation. He
seemed unable to distinguish between ritual and apparent reality.
This raises questions about his mental state. A careful reading of
Revelation indicates that John’s mind may have been influenced by
drugs administered to him by the creatures. Modern psychiatry has
discovered that a number of drugs can be used to deeply implant
messages in a person’s mind.
This technique serves today as
an
intelligence tool in the United States, Russia, and elsewhere. The
probable drugging of John is exposed in Chapter 10 of Revelation. The
author was apparently outdoors again preparing to memorialize the
latest revelations when an “angel” flew down from the sky holding
something in its hand:
And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me
again, and said, Go and take the little scroll which is
open in the hand of the angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little scroll. And he said to me, Take it, and eat
it up; and it will make your belly bitter, but it will be
in your mouth as sweet as honey. And I took the little scroll out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and
as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said to me, You must preach again before many peoples and
nations, and tongues, and kings.
REVELATION 10:8-11
Most Christians believe that the little scroll offered to John was
an actual document, the contents of which the author magically came
to know by eating the scroll. Our clue that it was probably paper, or
something else, saturated with a drug lies in John’s testimony that
the scroll was sweet to the taste but caused a bitter reaction in
the stomach.
Interestingly, an almost identical experience had been
reported by Ezekiel:
And when I looked, a hand [of an angel] was put before me; and a
scroll was in it; And he spread it before me; and it had writing inside and out: and
there were written lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Additionally, he said to me, Son of man, eat what you are finding;
eat this scroll, and go to speak to the house [people] of Israel. So, I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat
that scroll. And he
said to me, Son of man, make your belly eat, and fill your bowels
with this scroll that I give you. Then I ate it; and it was in my
mouth as sweet as honey. And he said to me, Son of man, go, get yourself over to the house of
Israel, and speak with my words to them.
EZEKIEL 2:9-10, 3:1-4
Many people mistakenly believe that John actually
saw the future
historical events he prophesized in Revelation. It has been pointed
out by Christian and non-Christian scholars alike that John’s
“visions” of the future were simply illustrations drawn on scrolls.
This is especially evident in John’s “vision” of the Creature with
seven heads and ten horns:
And I stood upon the sand of the sea,
and saw a beast rise up out of
the sea,
having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his
heads blasphemous names.
REVELATION 13:1
The fact that actual words (blasphemous names)
were written upon the
heads of this creature reveal that John was looking at an
illustration with labels—much like an old-fashioned political
cartoon. Although the author does not specifically say so, it is
likely that many other “visions” on the scrolls were labeled in a
similar fashion.
There can be no doubt that, as literature, the Book of Revelation
is
a colorful, dramatic, and hard-hitting work. As the basis for a
religious philosophy, however, it has all the pitfalls of the
apocalypses which came before it. As we shall see, the prophecy made
in Revelation has been fulfilled at least a half-dozen times in
world history, complete with global catastrophe followed by “Second
Comings.”
Not once has this brought about a thousand years of peace
and spiritual salvation. All it has done is set the stage for the
next catastrophe. Today, as we stand on a massive nuclear powder keg,
perhaps it is time to reevaluate the usefulness of apocalyptic
belief before the world is plunged into yet another “final battle.”
Yes, spiritual salvation and a thousand years of peace are goals well
worth having, and are long overdue, but there is no need to pay the
price of an Armageddon to achieve them.
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The Plagues of Justinian
As WE LEAVE the time of Jesus and enter the A.D. years, history
becomes firmer and personalities come into better focus.
Documentation is better.
Even so, the same historical patterns we
have studied continue undiminished. To those who find what we have
looked at thus far completely unbelievable, I can only share that
feeling with full empathy. The view of history I am presenting seems
to demand an understanding that the factors which lie at the bottom
of human turmoil may be extremely bizarre factors, and perhaps that
is why they have never been resolved.
After the lifetime of Jesus, the Christian church grew rapidly. In
its early years, Christianity attracted a large number of genuine
humanitarians who were enthused by the message Jesus tried to put
forth. Early Christian leaders, despite the Essene influence, were
able to promote a rather benign religion with many benefits. Jesus
had not failed entirely. Early Christians gave people the hope that
they could achieve spiritual salvation by acquiring knowledge, by
engaging in
ethical conduct, by unburdening themselves through confession of
wrongdoing, and by making amends for those transgressions that
caused a person to suffer guilt.
Given the benign character of the early Christian church, it did not
need a harsh code of ethics. The severest punishment a person could
suffer in most Christian sects at that time was excommunication,
i.e., being kicked out. That was considered a very severe
punishment, however (equivalent to our modern death penalty), because
an individual was considered doomed to eternal spiritual
deterioration if he or she was excommunicated.
A priest was obliged
to do everything he could to appeal to a person’s reason
before excommunicating him. The primary cause for excommunication
was criminal or grossly immoral behavior.
For about the first three hundred years of its existence,
Christianity remained an unofficial religion and was often
persecuted. A number of political leaders eventually became converts
and, under them, Christianity began to change. The humanitarian
foundation created by Jesus eroded as Christianity became more
political.
The political transformation of Christianity got its first big push
in the West Roman Empire with the Christian conversion of its
ruler, Constantine I the Great.*
* In the late 3rd century A.D., Roman emperor Diocletian appointed
three additional Caesars (emperors) to help him govern the Roman
empire. The empire was split into eastern and western divisions for
administrative convenience, each with a separate emperor. From 324
to 337 A.D., however, Constantine ruled both the East and West Roman
Empire as sole emperor.
A number of historians believe that
Constantine was already leaning in the direction of becoming a
Christian because his father was a monotheist. Contemporaries of
Constantine have noted, however, that Constantine’s true conversion
came as the result of a reported vision he had in 312 A.D. Several
different accounts have been recorded of that vision.
According to
Socrates, who wrote about it in the fifth century A.D.:
. . as he was marching at the head of his troops, a
preternatural vision transcending all description
appeared to him. In fact, at about that time of the day when the sun,
having passed the meridian, began to decline towards the West, he saw
a pillar of light in the form of a cross on which was inscribed “in
this conquer.”
The appearance of the sign struck him with amazement,
and doubting his own eyes, he asked those around him if they could
see what he did, and, as they unanimously declared that they could,
the emperor’s mind was strengthened by this divine and
miraculous apparition. On the following night, while he slept,
he saw Christ, who directed him to make a standard [flag] according to the
pattern he had been shown, and to use it against his enemies as a
guarantee of victory.
Obedient to the divine command, he had a
standard made in the form of a cross, which is preserved in
the palace until this day...1
The truth of Constantine’s vision is disputed by those who would
attribute it to mere legend-making.
Others might view the aerial
cross as an unusual reflection of the setting sun, followed by a
dream. Some theorists might even argue that it was another
manifestation of the UFO phenomenon with its continuing links to
apocalyptic religion.
Whatever the truth of the story is,
Constantine’s purported vision of a bright light in the sky followed
by the appearance of “Jesus” the next night is stated to be the
event which pushed Constantine into the arms of apocalyptic
Christianity. He issued the famous “Edict of Milan” one year later.
The Edict officially granted tolerance to the Christian religion
within the Roman Empire, ending almost three centuries of Roman
persecution.
Constantine was responsible for other significant changes to
Christianity. It was he who convened, and often attended, the
Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. At that time, many Christians, such as
the Gnostics, strongly resisted efforts by Constantine and others to
deify Jesus. The Gnostics simply saw Jesus as an honest spiritual
teacher. The Nicene Council met in large part to put an end to such
resistance and to create a divine image of Jesus.
With this purpose in mind, the Council created the famous Nicene Creed which
made belief in Jesus as “the Son of God ” a cornerstone of Christian
faith. To enforce these often unpopular tenets, Constantine put the
power of the state at the disposal of the newly “Romanized”
Christian church.
Constantine’s reign was notable for another achievement. It marked
the beginning of the European Middle Ages.
Constantine is credited
with laying the foundation for medieval serfdom and feudalism. As
in the Hindu caste system, Constantine made most occupations
hereditary. He decreed that the “coloni” (a class of tenant fanners) were to be permanently attached to the soil on which they lived.
Constantine’s “Romanized” Christianity (which came to be known as
Roman Catholicism) and his oppressive feudalism caused Christianity
to move sharply away from the surviving maverick teachings of Jesus
into a nearly complete Custodial system.
As time progressed and official changes to Christian doctrine
continued to be made, two new crimes emerged: “heresy” (speaking
out against established dogma) and “paganism” (not adhering to
Christianity at all). In the earliest days of the Church, Christian
leaders felt that people could only be made Christians by appealing
to their reason, and that no one could be, or should be, forced.
After Constantine, leaders of the new Roman orthodoxies took an
entirely different view. They demanded obedience as a matter of law,
and belief on the basis of faith alone rather than reason. With
those changes came new punishments.
No longer was excommunication the
severest penalty of the Church, although it was still practiced.
Physical and economic sanctions were also applied. Many devoted
Christians became victimized by the new laws when they would not
agree to the new Roman orthodoxies. Those victims correctly saw that
the Church was moving away from Jesus’s true teachings.
The new Christian teachings were given a great boost at the end of
the fourth century A.D. by East Roman Emperor Theodosius I.
Theodosius issued at least eighteen laws aimed at punishing those
people who rejected the doctrines established by the Nicene Council.
He made Christianity the official state religion and closed down
many pagan temples by force. He ordered Christian armies to burn
down the famous Alexandrian Library, which was a world book
depository and center of learning.
The Alexandrian Library contained
priceless historical, scientific, and literary records from all over
the world-gathered over a period of seven hundred years.
Although some of the library had already been ravaged by earlier wars,
the destruction by Theodosius’s army obliterated what remained.
Because most of the documents were one-of-a-kind, a great deal of
recorded history and learning was lost.
Matters continued to worsen. By the middle of the sixth century
A.D., the death penalty came into use against heretics and pagans. A
campaign of genocide was ordered by East Roman emperor, Justinian,
to more quickly establish the Christian orthodoxies. In
Byzantine alone, an estimated 100,000 people were murdered. Under
Justinian, the hunting of heretics became a frequent activity and
the practice of burning heretics at the stake began.
Justinian also introduced more changes to Christian doctrine. He
convened the Second Synod of Constantinople in 553 A.D. The Synod was
neither attended nor, apparently, sanctioned by the Pope in Rome. At
that time, in fact, many of the changes to Christian doctrine in the
eastern Roman empire had not yet reached the Papacy, although they
eventually would. The Second Synod issued a decree banning the
doctrine of “past lifetimes,” or “reincarnation,” even though the
doctrine was an important one to Jesus.
The Synod decreed:
If anyone assert the fabulous pre-existence of souls
and shall submit to the monstrous doctrine that follows
from it, let him be anathema [excommunicated].2
In deference to that decree, all but very veiled references to
“pre-existence” were taken out of the Bible.
Belief in preexistence
was declared heresy. This suppression was enforced throughout the
western Christian world and in its sciences. The idea of personal
pre-existence still remains,
to a very large degree, a Western religious and scientific heresy.
Christianity was shaped into a powerful institution under the East
Roman emperors. True to the pattern of history, “Romanized”
Christianity was another Brotherhood faction that could be counted
on to do battle with other Brotherhood factions, thereby helping to
generate nonstop warfare between human beings. The new orthodox
Christianity was placed in opposition to all other religions,
including the East Roman Mystery Schools, which Justinian banned.
We have just observed a snowballing of historical events triggered by
Constantine’s vision. This period marked one of mankind’s “End of
the World” episodes, highlighted by religious “visions,” cataclysmic
genocides, and the creation of a new world social order promising,
but not delivering, Utopia. Another important “End of the World”
element was also present. A massive plague struck, accompanied by
reports of unusual aerial phenomena.
Between 540 A.D. and 592 A.D., when Justinian was carrying out his
Christian “reforms,” a bubonic plague engulfed the East Roman Empire
and spread to Europe. The epidemic began inside Justinian’s realm,
and so it was named “Justinian’s Plague.” Justinian’s Plague was one
of the most devastating plagues of history and many people at the time
believed it to be a punishment from God. In fact, the word “plague”
comes from the Latin word for “blow ” or “wound.” Plague has been
nicknamed “God’s Disease,” i.e., a blow or wound from God.
One reason people thought plague to be from God was the frequent
appearance of unusual aerial phenomena in conjunction with outbreaks
of the plague. One chronicler of Justinian’s Plague was the famous
historian, Gregory of Tours, who documented a number of unusual
events from the plague years. Gregory reports that just before
Justinian’s Plague invaded the Auvergne region of France in 567
A.D., three or four brilliant lights appeared around the sun and the
heavens appeared to be on fire.
This may have been a natural “sun
dog” effect; however, other unusual celestial phenomena were also
seen in the area. Another historian reported a similar event
twenty-three years later in another part of France: Avignon.
“Strange sights” were reported in the sky and the ground was
sometimes as brightly illuminated at night as in the day. Shortly
thereafter, a disastrous outbreak of the plague occurred there.
Gregory reported a sighting in Rome consisting of an immense
“dragon” which floated through the city and down to the sea,
followed by a severe outbreak of the plague immediately thereafter.
Such reports chillingly suggest the unthinkable: that Justinian’s
Plague was caused by biological warfare agents spread by Custodial
aircraft.
It would be a repetition of similar plagues reported in
the Bible and ancient Mesopotamian texts. By the time of Justinian’s
Plague, however, the Custodians were “invisible.” They were hidden
behind Brotherhood secrecy and veils of religious myth, yet they
were
apparently no less concerned about keeping their slave race
oppressed. We will see a great deal more evidence of UFO activity
associated with plagues in the upcoming chapter on the Black Death.
According to apocalyptic prophecy, an event like Justinian’s Plague
is supposed to herald the coming of a new “Messiah” or messenger
from “God.” Sure enough, such a figure did arrive. His name was
Mohammed. He was born during Justinian’s reign at a time when the
Plague was still raging. Proclaimed in adulthood as the new
“saviour,” Mohammed became the leader of a new monotheistic
apocalyptic religion: Islam.
Like Moses and Jesus before
him, Mohammed appears to have been a sincere man, but his new
religion nevertheless became a faction which created new religious
“issues” for people to endlessly fight over.
Like Moses and Jesus,
Mohammed was supported by the corrupted Brotherhood.
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