The Rudolf Steiner Archive

8. The Apocalypse of John

[ 1 ] The Apocalypse, the secret revelation of St. John, is a strange document at the end of the New Testament. You only need to read the first words to get a sense of the mysterious nature of the writing: "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God has given to him to show his servants how the necessary events will shortly take place; this is sent in signs by God's angel to his servant John" (1:1). What is revealed here is "sent in signs". The literal sense must therefore not be accepted as such, but a deeper meaning must be sought, for which the literal sense is only signs. But much still points to such a "secret meaning". John addresses seven churches in Asia. This cannot be referring to real churches. For the number seven is the sacred symbolic number, which must be chosen precisely for the sake of its symbolic meaning. The real number of the Asian churches would have been a different one. And how John comes to the revelation also points to the mysterious: "I was in the Spirit on the day of the Lord, and I heard behind me a voice like a trumpet saying, 'Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches'" (1:10-11). So we are dealing with a revelation that John received in the Spirit. And it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. What has been revealed to the world through Christ Jesus appears shrouded in a secret meaning. Such a secret meaning must therefore be sought in the teaching of Christ. This revelation relates to ordinary Christianity in the same way that mystery revelation related to popular religion in pre-Christian times. The attempt thus seems justified to treat this apocalypse as a mystery.

[ 2 ] The Apocalypse is addressed to seven communities. What is meant by this? You only need to pick out one of the messages to recognize the meaning. In the first, it says: "Write to the angel of the community in Ephesus: This is written by the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lights. I know your deeds and what you have endured, and also your perseverance," and that you will not support the wicked, and that you have called to account those who call themselves apostles and are not, and that you have recognized them as false. And you have perseverance, and you have built your work on my name, and you have not grown weary in it. But I require of you that you attain to your most excellent love. Consider what you have fallen away from, change your mind and do the most excellent deeds. But if not, I will come and move your light from its place, unless you change your mind. But you have this, that you despise the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also despise. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the communities: "To the victor I will give food from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God" (2:1-7). - This is the message addressed to the angel of the first community. The angel, who is to be thought of as the community spirit, is on the path that is marked out in Christianity. He is able to distinguish the false confessors of Christianity from the true ones. He wants to be Christian; and he has based his work on the name of Christ. But it is demanded of him that he should not obstruct the way to the most excellent love by any error. The possibility is held up to him of how a wrong direction can be pursued through such errors. Through Christ Jesus the way is marked out to reach the divine. We need perseverance in order to progress in the sense in which the first impulse is given. You can also think you have grasped the right meaning too early. This happens when one allows oneself to be led by Christ part of the way and then abandons this leadership by giving in to false ideas about it. As a result, one falls back into the lowly human. One departs from the "most excellent love". The knowledge clinging to the sensual-understandable is lifted into a higher sphere by being spiritualized, deified into wisdom. If it does not achieve this elevation, it remains in the transient. Christ Jesus has shown the way to the eternal. Knowledge must follow the path that leads to deification with undiminished perseverance. It must follow in love the traces that transform it into wisdom. The Nicolaitans were a sect that took Christianity too lightly. They saw only one thing: Christ is the divine word, the eternal wisdom that is born in man. So, they concluded, human wisdom is the divine word. According to this, one only needed to pursue human knowledge in order to realize the divine in the world. But this is not how the meaning of Christian wisdom can be interpreted. Knowledge, which is initially human wisdom, is just as transient as everything else if it is not first transformed into divine wisdom. You are not like that, says the "Spirit" to the angel of Ephesus; you did not merely insist on human wisdom. You have persevered on the path of Christianity. But you must not believe that the most excellent love is not necessary if the goal is to be reached. What is needed is a love that far surpasses all other loves. Only such a love is the "most excellent love". The path to the divine is an infinite one; and one must understand that when one reaches the first stage, this can only be the preparation for ascending to ever higher stages. Thus the first of the messages shows how they are to be interpreted. The meaning of the others can be found in a similar way.

[ 3 ] John, turning around, saw "seven golden lights" and "in the midst of the lights the image of the Son of Man, with a long robe and a golden belt around his loins; and his head and hair were shining white like white wool or snow, and his eyes were sparkling with fire". We are instructed (1:20) that "the seven lights are seven communions". This expresses that the lights are seven different ways to reach the divine. They are all more or less imperfect. And the Son of Man "had seven stars in his right hand" (1:16). "The seven stars are the angels of the seven communities" (1:20). The "leading spirits" (demons) known from mystery wisdom have here become the leading angels of the "communities". These communities are presented as bodies for spiritual entities. And the angels are the souls of these "bodies", just as the human souls are the leading powers of the human bodies. The communities are the paths to the divine in imperfection; and the community souls should become the guides on these paths. To do this, they themselves must become such that the leader for them is the Being who has the "seven stars" in his right hand. "And out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face in its splendor was like the shining sun" (1:16). This sword is also present in mystery wisdom. The one to be initiated was frightened by a "drawn sword". This points to the situation in which the one who wants to reach the experience of the divine comes, so that the "face" of wisdom "may shine for him with a brightness like the sun". John also passes through such a situation. It is to be a test of his strength. "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead: and he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Be not dismayed" (1:17). The one to be initiated must go through the experiences that a person usually only goes through when passing through death. The one who guides him must lead beyond the areas in which birth and death have meaning. The initiate enters a new life, "and I was dead, and behold, I have come to life through the cycles of life; and I have the keys of death and of the realm of the dead" (1:18). - Thus prepared, John is led to the mysteries of existence. "After this I looked, and behold, the door to heaven was opened; and the first voice that was heard sounded to me like a trumpet, saying, 'Come up here, and I will show you what will happen after this'" (4:1). The messages to the seven spirits of the communities announce to John what is to happen in the sensual-physical world in order to prepare the way for Christianity; the following, which he sees "in the spirit", leads him to the spiritual source of things, which is hidden behind the physical development, but is to be brought about as a next spiritualized age through the physical development. The initiate experiences what is to happen in the future as a spiritual experience in the present. "And immediately I was raptured into the spiritual. And I saw a throne in heaven, and someone sitting on the throne. And the one seated resembled the stone jasper and sardis; and a rainbow surrounded the throne, like an emerald" (4:3-4). This describes the primal source of the sensual world in the images in which it is clothed for the seer. "And around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the twenty-four thrones sat elders clothed in white flowing robes, with crowns of gold on their heads" (4:4). - Beings far advanced on the path of wisdom thus surround the source of existence, to behold its infinite essence and to bear witness to it. "And in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living beings with eyes in front and behind. And the first creature was like a lion, and the second like a bull, and the third was like a man, and the fourth like a flying eagle. And each of the living creatures had six wings, and they had eyes within and without, and they cried out without ceasing by day and by night, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come' (4:6-8). It is not difficult to recognize that the four living beings signify the supersensible life that underlies the sensual forms of life. They raise their voices later, when the trumpets sound, that is, when the life imprinted in sensual forms has been transformed into spiritual life.

[ 4 ] In the right hand of him who sat on the throne is the book in which the path to the highest wisdom is marked out (5, 1). Only one is worthy to open the book. "Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the book and its seven seals" (5:5). The book has seven seals. Sevenfold is the wisdom of man. The fact that it is described as sevenfold is again connected with the holiness of the number seven. ^{1The meaning of the number seven is explained in my "Geheimwissenschaft", Leipzig 1910 [28th ed. Dornach 1968]} The mystical wisdom of Philo describes the eternal world thoughts that express themselves in things as seals. Human wisdom seeks these thoughts of creation. But divine truth is only found in the book that is sealed with them. First the basic ideas of creation must be revealed, the seals opened, then what is written in the book will become apparent. Jesus, the Lion, is able to open the seals. He has given the thoughts of creation a direction that leads through them to wisdom. - The Lamb who was slain and whom God purchased with his blood, the Jesus who brought the Christ into himself, who has thus passed through the life-death mystery in the highest sense, opens the book (5:9-10). And the living beings explain what they know with each of the seals (chapter 6). When the first seal is opened, John sees a white horse on which a rider is sitting with a bow. ^{2The meanings of the apocalyptic signs can only be hinted at very briefly here. One could, of course, go much deeper into all these things. But this is not within the scope of this book.} The first world power, an embodiment of the idea of creation, becomes visible. It is brought in the right direction by the new rider, by Christianity. The dispute is appeased by the new faith. When the second seal is opened, a red horse becomes visible, on which a rider is again sitting. He takes peace, the second world power from the earth, so that mankind does not neglect the care of the divine through lax behavior. At the third victory opening, the world power of justice appears, guided by Christianity; at the fourth, the religious power, which is given a new prestige through Christianity. - The meaning of the four living beings thus becomes clear. They are the four main world powers that are to receive new leadership through Christianity: war: the lion, peaceful work: the bull, justice: the being with the human face, and religious upsurge: the eagle. The significance of the third being is clear from the fact that when the third seal is opened it is said: "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny" (6, 6), and that the rider holds a pair of scales. And when the fourth seal is opened, a horseman becomes visible whose name was "Death, and hell followed him". Religious justice is the horseman (6:8).

[ 5 ] And when the fifth seal is opened, the souls of those who have already worked in the spirit of Christianity appear. The very idea of creation embodied in Christianity comes to light here. But this Christianity initially only refers to the first Christian community, which is transient like other forms of creation. The sixth seal is opened (chapter 7); it is shown that the spiritual world of Christianity is an eternal one. The people appear filled with this spiritual world, from which Christianity itself has emerged. It is sanctified by its own creation. "And I heard the number of them that were sealed, an hundred and four and forty thousand, of all the families of the children of Israel" (7:4). These are those who prepared themselves for eternity before there was Christianity and who were transformed by the impulse of Christ. - The seventh seal is opened. It becomes clear what the true Christianity of the world is really to become. The seven angels who "stand before God" (8:2) appear. These seven angels are spirits of the old mystery view translated back into Christian terms. They are therefore the spirits that lead to the view of God in a truly Christian way. What now takes place is therefore itself a leading to God; it is an "initiation" that is granted to John. Their proclamations accompany the signs necessary for initiations. The first angel trumpets. "And there was a hail of fire mingled with blood, and it fell on the earth. And the third part of the earth was burned up, and the third part of the trees was burned up, and all the green grass was burned up" (8:7). And it is similar with the proclamations, the trumpet sounds of the other angels. - Here we also see that it was not merely a matter of an initiation in the old sense, but of a new one, which was to take the place of the old one. Christianity was not to be for a select few like the old mysteries. It was to be for the whole of humanity. Christianity was to be a popular religion; the truth was to be prepared for everyone who had "ears to hear". The ancient mystics were chosen from among many; the trumpets of Christianity sound for everyone who wants to hear them. It is up to him to come. For this reason, the horrors that accompany this initiation of mankind appear to be magnified to a tremendous degree. What is to become of the earth and its inhabitants in the distant future is revealed to John in his initiation. It is based on the idea that for the initiate in the higher worlds it is possible to foresee what will only be realized in the future for the lower world. The seven messages represent the significance of Christianity for the present, the seven seals that which is being prepared for the future in the present through Christianity. For the uninitiated, the future is veiled, sealed; in the initiation it is unsealed. When the time on earth for which the seven messages apply is over, a more spiritual time will begin. Then life will no longer flow as it appears in sensual forms, but will also be an outward reflection of its supersensible forms. These supersensible forms will be represented by the four animals and the other sigils. In a still later future, the form of the earth will appear, which the initiate will experience through the trumpets. Thus the initiate experiences prophetically what is to happen. And the initiate in the Christian sense experiences how the Christ impulse intervenes in earthly life and continues to have an effect. And after it has been shown how everything that is too attached to the transient to attain true Christianity has found death, the strong angel appears with the open booklet and gives it to John: "And he said to me, 'Take it and devour it; and it will be bitter in your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey'" (10:9). So John should not just read the booklet; he should take it all in; he should penetrate himself with its contents. What good is all knowledge if a person is not completely imbued with it? Wisdom should become life; man should not merely recognize the divine, man should become deified. Such wisdom, as it is written in the book, hurts the perishable nature: "it will be bitter in the stomach"; but it makes the eternal nature all the more happy: "but in your mouth it will be sweet like honey." - Only through such initiation can Christianity become present on earth. It kills everything that belongs to the lower nature. "And their dead bodies shall lie in the place of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, whose Christ also was crucified" (11:8). This refers to the confessors of Christ. They will be mistreated by the powers of corruption. But what will be mistreated are only the perishable members of human nature, over which they will then have triumphed in their true nature. Their fate will thus be a reflection of the exemplary fate of Christ Jesus. "Spiritual Sodom and Egypt" is the symbol for life that persists in the external and does not change through the impulse of Christ. Christ is crucified everywhere in the lower nature. Where this lower nature prevails, everything remains dead. People cover the squares of the cities as corpses. Those who will overcome this, who will bring the crucified Christ to life, will hear the trumpet of the seventh angel: "The kingdoms of the world of our Lord and of his Christ have come into being, and he will reign from age to age" (11:15). "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple" (11:19). In the contemplation of these events, the ancient battle between the lower and higher natures is renewed for the initiate. For everything that the initiate had to go through before must be repeated in the one who walks the Christian paths. Just as Osiris was once threatened by the evil Typhon, so even now the "great dragon, the old serpent" (12:9) must be overcome. The woman, the human soul, gives birth to the lower knowledge, which is an adverse power if it does not increase to wisdom. Man must pass through this lower knowledge. Here in the Apocalypse this lower knowledge appears as the "old serpent". In all mystical wisdom, the serpent has always been the symbol of knowledge. Man can be seduced by this serpent, by knowledge, if he does not bring forth the Son of God within him, who crushes the serpent's head. "And the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (12:9). You can read from these words what Christianity wanted to be. A new kind of initiation. What was achieved in the mysteries was to be achieved in a new form. For in them, too, the serpent was to be overcome. But not in the same way as before. The many mysteries were to be replaced by the one, the original mystery, the Christian mystery. Jesus, in whom the Logos became flesh, was to be the initiator of an entire humanity. And this humanity was to become his own mystery community. Not the separation of the chosen ones, but the unification of all was to take place. According to his maturity, everyone should be able to become a Myst. The message resounds to all; he who has an ear to hear it hastens to hear its secrets. The voice of the heart should decide for each individual. This one or that one should not be led into the mystery temples, but the word should be spoken to all; one person will then be able to hear it less strongly, another more strongly. It is up to the demon, the angel in a person's own breast, how far he can be initiated. The whole world is a temple of mysteries. Not only those shall be blessed who see in the special Mystery Temples the miraculous performances that are to give them a guarantee for the eternal, but "Blessed are they that see not, and yet believe" (John 20:29). Even if they initially grope in the dark, perhaps the light will still come to them. Nothing should be withheld from anyone; the way should be open to everyone. -The Apocalypse then goes on to describe the dangers that can threaten the Christian from the Antichrist, and how the Christian must nevertheless triumph. All other gods are absorbed into the one Christian divinity: "And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to give it light, for the revelation of God enlightens it, and its lamp is the Lamb" (21:23). It is the mystery of the "Revelation of St. John" that the mysteries should no longer be closed. "And he saith unto me, Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book: for the Godhead is at hand" (22:10). - The author of the Apocalypse explained his belief about the relationship between his church and the old churches. He wanted to speak about the mysteries themselves in a spiritual mystery. The author wrote his mystery on the island of Patmos. He is said to have received the "revelation" in a grotto. This message itself expresses the mystery character of the revelation. Christianity therefore emerged from the mysteries. Its wisdom is born in the Apocalypse itself as a mystery; but as a mystery that wants to go beyond the framework of the old mystery world. The individual mystery is to become a universal mystery. - A contradiction could be found in the fact that it is said here that the secrets of the mysteries have been revealed through Christianity, and that then again a Christian mystery is seen in the experience of the spiritual visions of the apocalyptic. The contradiction is resolved as soon as one considers that the secrets of the ancient mysteries were revealed through the events in Palestine. This has revealed what was previously concealed in the mysteries. A new mystery is now that which has been introduced into the development of the world through the appearance of Christ. The old initiate experienced in the spiritual world how the development points to the still "hidden Christ"; the Christian initiate experiences the hidden effects of the "revealed Christ".