Apocalypse Unsealed: chapter 8
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Chapter Eight
THE FATE OF THE EARLY CHURCH
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was
silence in heaven about the space on half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God;
and to them were given seven trumpets.
3 And another angel came and stood at the altar,
having a golden censer; and there was given unto him
much incense, that he should offer it with the
prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which
was before the throne.
4 And the smoke of the insense, which came with the
prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of
the angel's hand.
The silence of half an hour indicates that it will be a very
short time until the tests to follow.
At the great Temple in Jerusalem, the altar of burnt-offering was
located in the court of the children of Israel. However, only
the Jewish priests were allowed to enter the court and to perform
the oblations and sacrifices. Now in the heavenly realm, it is
Jesus Christ, the altar angel, Who controls the accptance or
rejection of the burnt-offering.
Golden censer symbolizes perfect piety. Incense or perfume
symbolizes the fragrance of communion with God. "Thus
counselleth you the All-Knowing, the Faithful. We shall always
be with you; if We inhale the perfume of your fellowship, Our
heart will assuredly rejoice, for naught else can satisfy Us. To
this beareth witness every man of true
understanding."--Baha'u'llah_/1
5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with
fire
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of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there
were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an
earthquake.
6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets
prepared themselves to sound.
Fire in this instance symbolizes sacrifice and purificaiton. Fire
can also symbolize the rebuke of God, destruction or torment._/2
The voices are of those who fall into trials and temptations; the
thunder is the sound of the violation of the Covenant; the
lightning flashes are the anger and wrath of God._/3 These are
accompanied by the earthquake of doubts._/4
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail
and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon
the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt
up, and all green grass was burnt up.
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a
great mountain burning with fire was cast into the
sea: and the third part of the sea become blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in
the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of
the ships were destroyed.
This prophecy concerns the impending series of persecutions of
the Christians by Rome from 110 until 311 AD. It was during an
earlier persecution that John was banished to Patmos where he
wrote the Apocalypse.
The persecutions of the early Christians can be divided into
three series._/5 A minor persecution began under the Emperor
Nero in 64 AD as a result of Nero blaming the Christians for the
Great Fire of Rome. The first great persecution begain in 110 AD
as a result of the Roman State stigmatizing Christianity as a
crime. This anti-Christian campaign lasted sporadically until
238 AD. In the last phase of this persecution, attempts were
made to destroy the clergy as propagators of the Faith.
The second great persecution began under the Emperor Decius in
249 AD and was continued with increased vigor under
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the Emperor Diocletian. This last and most severe of the
anti-Christian campaigns resulted in executions, torture, church
burnings, and book burnings on a large scale._/6
In the prophecy, hail and fire mingled with blood symbolize tests
from heaven and wrath accompanied by death. Grass symbolizes the
common people who inhabit the earth; green grass symbolizes
righteous people._/7 Verse 7 says that one-third of the
spiritual leaders (trees) and all the righteous people will be
destroyed. This was the great persecution of 249-311 AD.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a
great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp,
and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and
upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood; and
the third part of the waters became wormwood; and
many men died of the waters, because they were made
bitter.
Constanine the Great (a great star) ended the persecutions and
made Christianity the official Faith of Rome. But in
attempting to unify his empire, Constantine, at the Council of
Nicea in 325 AD, enforced the theories of certain theologians
upon the Christians in the form of creed and dogma. The
spontaniety of the early Church was destroyed, and the Church,
formerly the oppressed, now became the oppressor. Constantine's
policy was continued by later Emperors and resulted in bitter
quarrels, heresies, and finally the great schism between the
Eastern and Western branches of the Church in 1054 AD.
Constantine became a "fallen star" and "Wormwood."_/9
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Constantine's influence was greatest over the churches that
eventually became the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Orthodox
Church consttuted a third of Christendom, another third
eventually formed the Western or Roman Church, and the last third
was constituted by the schismatic Asian and African churches.
Rivers and fountains symbolize the mainstreams of spiritual
guidance. "From time immemorial even unto this day, all the
kindreds and peoples of the earth have clung to ... fanciful and
unseemly thoughts, and thus have deprived themselves of the clear
waters streaming from the springs of purity and holiness..."
"They drink of the tainted water, and know it
not."--Baha'u'llah_/10
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part
of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the
moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the
third part of them was darkened, and the day shone
not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld and heard an angel flying through
the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe,
woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason
of the other voices of the trumpet of the three
angels, which are yet to sound!
This prophecy concerns the invasion of Western Rome beginning
with the Visigoths under Alaric the Bold in 408 AD. This was a
prelude to further invasions of the West by Vandals, Huns, etc..
It was the beginning of the Dark Age in Europe.
The smiting of the West resulted in a third part of the Christian
hierarchy (sun, moon, and stars) being separated from the
mainstream of Christianity. The Church became darkened for a
third part of a Lord's Day and for a third part of the ensuing
night.
The Lord's Day commenced with the Advent of Jesus Christ (circa 1
AD) and ended with the Advent of Muhammad (circa
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622 AD), a period of about six centuries. Thus the Day was
darkened for about one-third of the Lord's Day or the two
centuries from 408 to 622 AD. A "Night" is the period between
two Divine Revelations when the Sun of
Truth is not manifest among men.* *_Selected Writings of
It began soon after the Ascension Baha'u'llah_, p. 129 fn.
of MuhammadÅ and ended with the
and ended with the Declaration of ÅBeginning with the
the Bab in 1844 AD, a period of advent of the "beast"
about twelve centuries. Verse 12 circa 666. The beast is
also says that the Day did not the Umayyad dynasty, to be
shine for one-third of the "Night," introduced in Chapter 9.
that is, the period from the middle
of the seventh century until the middle of the eleventh century
AD, the end of the Dark Age of Europe.
The three woes to come are the dawnings of the Lord's Days of
Muhammad, the Bab, and Baha'u'llah. That a "woe" signals a Day
of the Lord is made clear by Ezekiel._/11 'Abdu'l-Baha says,
"Therefore it is certain that the day of woe is the Day of the
Lord; for in that day woe is for the neglectful, woe is for the
sinners, woe is for the ignorant."_/12
In astrological symbolism, the three woes correspond to what
astrologers call the "fiery triplicity," that is, Sagittarius,
Aries and Leo. Sagittarius the Archer, to be introduced in
Chapter 9, represents the fiery wrath of god that will attend the
Manifestation of Muhammad. The wrath of Aries the Lamb,
corresponding to that of the Bab's Manifestation, was previewed
in [Revelations] 6:16. The wrath of Leo the Lion corresponds to
that of the Manifestation of Baha'u'llah. This will be the
subject of the last 9 chapters.
In each new age, "wrath" attends the judgement of the
mischiefmakers of the dying civilization. Following His role as
a "bringer of the wrath of God," the Manifestation assumes His
role as one of the Pillars of the Age. This is why the signs of
Jesus are both a Lamb and a Fish, and the signs of the Bab are
both a Lamb and a Man.
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Notes to Chapter Eight
1. _Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah_, p. 316.
2. E.g., Isaiah 1:25, 10:17, 30:27-33, 33:11, 66:15-16; Amos 2:5;
Psalm 29:7-8, 83:14-15; Malachi 3:2-3; Jeremiah 13:9; Hebrews
12:29.
3. See Revelations 4:5.
4. _Some Answered Questions_, p. 71.
5. See, e.g., Ref. 30. Compare the events of Chapters 8 through
13 with _The Secret of Divine Civilization_, pp. 85-91. Three
was the number associated with creative acts. Thus the thirds
denote dismemberment and destruction.
6. Reference 14, p. 89.
7. E.g., Isaiah 40:6-7; I Peter 1:24; Psalm 72:6.
8. The ark or ship was a prominent symbol for the early Christian
Church. See Reference 14, pp. 79, 80, 82, 88; _The Covenant of
Baha'u'llah_ pp. 84-85.
9. Reference 14, Chapter 6. Constantine did not introduce
contention among the Christians. For many centuries, hot
philosophical debate seems to have been a characteristic of the
people of that region. However the quarrels between the various
schools of thought were embittered beyond reconciliation by the
insistance of the totalitarian Constantine and his successors
that there be only one tolerated opinion and that all others must
be suppressed.
10. _Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah_, pp. 21, 41.
11. Ezekiel 30:2-3.
12. _Some Answered Questions_, p. 66. <11 #1> The 7 trumpets
announce events meaningful to the history of Christendom. The
last 3 trumpets also announce the 3 woes but are not necessarily
synchronous with them. The 5th trumpet v. 9:1 announces the woe
experienced by the Christians attending the Advent of Muhammad.
The 1st woe ends at [Revelations] v. 9:12. The 6th trumpet v.
9:13-15 announces the "Hour," i.e., the 2nd woe, but gives its
date as 391 years after the fall of Constantinople. The 2nd woe
actually begins at v. 11:11 and ends at 11:14. The 7th trumpet
v. 11:15 announces the 3rd woe and the new Jerusalem.