Revelations
UB 1555 When in temporary exile
on Patmos, John wrote the Book of Revelation which you now have in
greatly abridged and distorted form. This Book of Revelation contains
the surviving fragments of a great revelation, large portions of which
were lost, other portions removed, subsequent to John’s writing.
Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven
opened,
And behold a white horse;
And he that sat on him
Was called Faithful and True;
And in righteousness he doth judge
and make war
Revelation 19:19 And I saw the beast,
and the kings of the earth,
And their armies, gathered
together to make
War on him that sat on the horse
and
Against his army.
Revelation 6:2 And I saw, and behold a white
horse;
And he that sat on him had a
bow;
And a crown was given
unto him;
And he went forth conquering and
to conquer.
White symbolizes cleanliness,
righteousness, and holiness. A horse is symbolic of a warrior. The crown
symbolizes sovereignty. The one on horseback is Melchizedek, the Faithful and
True, Son of God, who rapidly subdues the world’s leaders (kings) that are
bringing war to the peoples. Also, remember that Joseph, the chosen (elect) son
of Jacob, wore a crown and was a strong archer with a bow.
Melchizedek is God’s chosen Son, and just as Joseph, he is given a crown and a
bow, as well as sovereignty of our world. This is why 1Enoch calls Melchizedek
the Elect One. The crown follows the elect; those who stand up and elect
God’s will.
Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel
blew his trumpet,…
And loud voices in heaven, were
saying "The
Kingdom of the World has become the Kingdom
Of our Lord (God) and his Christ
(Messiah Melchizedek)
Notice carefully that this
kingdom is of the world and is not the inner spiritual kingdom of
heaven spoken of by Jesus, for he said on many occasions, "my kingdom is not
of this world."
The Book of Revelation is
stated in the Urantia Book to be a much deleted and edited version of
John’s original vision, which is stated to have been a profound and far reaching
prophecy. It should be noted however that the Urantia Book freely quotes
many passages of Revelation and explains their true meanings. Therefore,
I use Revelation sparingly and carefully in situations where it adds to
or expands the meaning of Old Testament prophesy, already previously developed.
Scripture is an organic whole, like a growing tree with many branchings off
the main trunk. Here are a few samples of Urantia Book quotes
regarding Revelation.
UB 599 It was at the conclusion
of the terminal mission of the Teacher Sons (at least that would be the
chronology on a normal world) that John wrote: "I saw a new heaven,
a new earth and the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared
as a princess adorned for the prince."
The comment in the Urantia Book
regarding this new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem leaves open the
possibility of this event occurring on our world at any time, even the upcoming
time of our presently ending age as our world is out of the usual order. Consider:
UB 599 The Trinity Teacher Sons
may return many times to the same world. But sooner or later, in connection
with the termination of one of their missions, the Planetary Prince is elevated
to the position of Planetary Sovereign, and the System Sovereign appears to
proclaim the entrance of such a world upon the era of light and life.
Do we dare speculate that
since Melchizedek is described in scripture as receiving sovereignty (crown) as
our Planetary Prince that our world may also enter the era of light and life at
the end of this age, when Melchizedek is elevated to the position of Planetary Sovereign.
One more example of the use of Revelation in the Urantia Book:
UB 538 John the Revelator saw a
vision of the arrival of a class of advancing mortals from the seventh mansion
world to their first heaven, the glories of Jerusem. He recorded; "And I
saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and those who gained the
victory over the beast that was originally in them, and over the image that persisted through
the mansion worlds and finally over the last mark and trace, standing on the
sea of glass, having the harps of God, and singing the song of deliverance from
mortal fear and death."
UB 538 …on the seventh mansion
world. Here you will be purged of all the remnants of unfortunate heredity,
unwholesome environment, and unspiritual planetary tendencies. The last
remnants of the ‘mark of the beast’ are here eradicated.
Notice, that the Urantia Book
adds quite a bit of information to the actual passage in scripture:
Revelation 15:2 And I saw what appeared
to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had conquered the beast
in its image and the number of his name, standing beside the sea of glass with
harps of God in their hands.
In the Urantia Book passage the
"mark of the Beast" refers to the animalistic, biologic, and
environmentally induced imperfections within man as opposed to the external
"mark of the beast" suggested by the actual text of
"Revelation". There are over a hundred places in the Urantia Book where
imagery from Revelation is discussed, as listed in Duane Faw’s Paramony of
the Urantia Book and the Bible. Perhaps some of the original meanings of
John’s vision could be reconstructed by using the information provided in the Urantia
Book.
The Book of Revelation contains a vision of the apostle John where John is
instructed to write messages to the seven churches. The seven churches are the
various types or groups of Christians living at the end of the age right before
Messiah Melchizedek arrives. These messages contain a divine assessment of the
pluses and minuses of each group or personality type existing at the end of the
age upon us now. All of the seven churches have considerable portions of
negative criticism except for one –the Church of Philadelphia:
Revelation 3:7 And to the church of
Philadelphia write: "This is the message from the one who is holy and
true. He (Jesus) has the key that belonged to David, and when he opens a door,
No one can close, and when he closes a door, No one can open it.
The one who is holy and true,
with the key of David, is Jesus Christ who holds the keys to the spiritual
kingdom of heaven within. He says to the church of Philadelphia:
Revelation 3:8 I know your works.
Behold, I have set an open door before you, which no one is able to shut; I
know that you have but little power; and that you have kept my word (or have
been faithful to my message: Phillips
translation) and have not denied my Name (Jesus).
This is a group that Jesus gives
wholehearted approval (an open door), living at the end of The Age, who are
true to the message of Jesus, the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. Consider
the "door" which Jesus speaks of:
Revelations 3:20 ‘Behold, I
stand at the door and knock,’ if anyone hears my voice and opens his door, I
will come in to dine and eat with him and he with Me "The kingdom of heaven
is the will of God enthroned in the heart of man." (UB 1487) And so, the door of the kingdom of heaven is always
open to the members of the church of Philadelphia because they already know God
and seek to do His Will, i.e. they already understand the kingdom of heaven.
Now we need to know more about this church of Philadelphia:
Philadelphia, not a very large
city, was a busy commercial center. It was the meeting point of roads from
Sardis, from the coast and from regions in the Northeast and Southeast.
(Handbook on Revelation to John –United Bible Societies) The final letter to
the church of Philadelphia takes us to the ultimate evolutionary stage –full
knowledge of consciousness, a state beyond duality… (Revelation, Peter Lorie,
Simon & Schuster) From the very beginning Philadelphia was seen as a
monument to the possibility of divinity within mankind. The Greek word
"philadelphiers" means one who loves his brother"… Founded in
around l50 B.C., it was situated on high ground and
formed a perfect geographical position for trade. It was known as a gateway to
the East…We can suppose that for John, Philadelphia would have epitomized the
ideal of a city which had balance, good will, and good judgment. This gives us
a good allegory for the final stage of human spiritual evolution –that of
enlightenment, the ultimate consciousness, a state that brings perfect balance.
At this stage according to all Eastern and Western traditions, there is no
duality, but a oneness with life and all existence. The other six letters of
Revelation can be exemplified by the opposites of the Zodiac signs –Leo and
Aquarius, Gemini and Sagittarius, for
example. Here we have characteristics that are in opposition to one another,
whereas in the final stage of human development (as symbolized by Philadelphia)
we become one with existence –enlightened. (Peter Lorie, Revelation).
Now, lets look at the missing
links contained in the Urantia Book regarding Philadelphia:
UB 1869 Within a short time
after the destruction of Jerusalem, Antioch became the headquarters of Pauline
Christianity; while Philadelphia remained the center of the Abnerian Kingdom
of heaven. From Antioch the Pauline version of the Teachings of Jesus and
the teaching about Jesus spread to all the Western World; from
Philadelphia the missionaries of the Abnerian Kingdom of heaven spread
throughout Mesopotamia and Arabia until the later times when these
uncompromising emissaries of the teachings of Jesus were overwhelmed by the
sudden rise of Islam.
UB 1832 …the believers at
Philadelphia held more strictly to the religion of Jesus, as he lived and
taught, than any other group on earth.
Now prophecy is true both in the
context of the time of its writing and in the time of its prophetic future
fulfillment. And so, the church of Philadelphia spoken of in Revelation as existing in the
latter days (now) would have characteristics like the church of Philadelphia
existing at the time of John’s vision and writing. One might then expect this
congregation or church of the latter days Philadelphia to be a group, like
Abner’s, true to the message of Jesus (the gospel of the kingdom of heaven),
and to be concerned with issues of brotherly love such as the brotherhood of
man predicated on the Fatherhood of God. This is exactly the effect of the
Urantia Book, ie; to explain and inspire the living of the kingdom of heaven
within; the true way, the true gospel of Jesus that the apostles did not
understand. The Urantia Book actually brings into being this latter day church
of Philadelphia. The Urantia Book teaches the doing of God's Will. The elect
are those who choose (elect) God's Will. Now if we integrate these concepts
from Revelation about the Church of Philadelphia with the concepts of Enoch,
one could envision a group in the latter days that:
1. is blessed with book(s) of
joy and great wisdom
2. that give them knowledge of
the way of God which they practice and point out to others; (the choosing of
God's Will)
3. that know the true message of
Jesus and are faithful to it, (the choosing of God's Will)
4. and have reached the
enlightenment stage of brotherly love.
5. live in the latter days, the
time of tribulation, in a distant generation from Enoch.
6. have but little worldly
power, probably a small group.
7. Are found among ‘gentile’
Christians.
These descriptions from Enoch
and Revelation seem to mesh very well. The "elect" congregation is
one and the same as the "church of Philadelphia." Also, consider this
line of scripture addressed to the church of Philadelphia:
Revelations 3:11 I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
Above quotes are from the book,
"The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand", by Edmund J. Roache.