The Rudolf Steiner Archive

63. On the Apocalypse IV

[ 1 ] Before continuing with the explanation of the apocalypses, I do not want to fail to repeat once more that this explanation of the apocalypses really has a true value only for those who have been in the theosophical movement for some time and approach the theosophical worldview with a certain benevolent understanding. There are some things that have to be said here that could easily give opponents of Theosophy the opportunity to impute all kinds of fantastic things to Theosophy. There are some things that have to be said that at first seem like a flight of fancy to the reasonable person, to the rationalist. One must be familiar with the way of thinking and feeling of a theosophist if one does not want to misunderstand too much of what is said in the Apocalypse.

[ 2 ] We must keep in mind the explanation I have given regarding the position of Christianity to Jesus the Christ, and also the explanation regarding the relationship of the apocalyptic to Jesus, if we want to understand the rest. The greatest value for grasping the world position of Christianity lies in the correct understanding of the saying: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” I have already pointed out that this saying has its significance in that Christianity has become, so to speak, the greatest world mystery, that through Christianity that which used to take place in the depths of the temples has been carried out onto the great world plan. I have already remarked that this does not in the least detract from the historical fact of what took place in Palestine between the years 1 and 33, but rather the one who sees through things is quite in favor of the conventional Christian tradition being an historical truth, so that in this respect Theosophy coincides with the beliefs of Christians on every single point. But this historical fact from the beginning of our era is also something else, and we understand the fact in the right sense if we grasp it as a mystical fact, if we realize that the Passion, the Death, the Resurrection, the Ascension, are world-historical events that took place earlier in the Mysteries. Christianity has a word that indicates how the ancient mystery relates to the fulfillment of that mystery in Christianity. Christianity calls everything that pointed to the Christ before the appearance of the Christ a “promise.” Those who see through things know that promise means nothing other than that the event that took place in Palestine was promised in the depths of the mysteries.

[ 3 ] We can understand this almost literally if we read the ancient scriptures. Let us go back to the mysteries in Greece. What took place in them, deeply mysterious, and known only to the initiates, was the suffering, death and resurrection of the Son of God. However, they experienced it because the initiates were prepared through schooling on higher planes. So in the mysteries, the initiates saw the suffering, death and resurrection of the Son of God. This was presented to them in their spiritual vision. That is the promise. And then this promise was fulfilled in Palestine. This explains the saying: Blessed are not only those who see in the mysteries, but also those who can believe, not only in the word shown to the mystic, but in the Word made flesh. That is the meaning of this saying. From this point of view, we must grasp the connection and the relationship in which the apocalyptic John stands to the mysteries of antiquity and to the Christian mystery, and who thus comes to stand between the mysteries of antiquity and the Christian mysteries. Then light is shed on many a word.

[ 4 ] In the Apocalypse, we are told that seven seals will be opened. What does the 'opening of seals' mean in the language in which the Apocalypse is written?

[ 5 ] From time immemorial, the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God had been foretold to the adepts. And the presentation of this mystery on the physical plane is called, in the language of the apocalypticist, the breaking of a seal. In the secret language, “unlocking a seal” means nothing other than to proclaim something that was previously only proclaimed to the initiated and that was previously only depicted in the mysteries. This goes so far that the image is accurate down to the last detail. What was later revealed had previously only been contemplated in the mysteries. During the time of the mysteries, there was no book in which what took place in the mysteries was written. Only later did such books come into being. And one of these books is the Gospel. What was previously presented in the mysteries is written in it, and what is written in it will be unsealed for those who will be ready for it.

[ 6 ] Who will be ready? Here is something that you must grasp in its full context in the Apocalypse. We have seen that something is being proclaimed to seven communities. You have seen that these communities represent the seven sub-races of the fifth root race. Who are the ones who proclaim? And who are the ones to whom it is proclaimed? From the esoteric point of view, we must consider the appearance of Christ in comparison with other appearances. If you have taken the last issue of “Lucifer” in your hands, you will have found something there that I will briefly repeat here. Humanity is guided in its evolution by great leaders. These leaders regulate the progress of humanity's evolution. In esoteric language, these leaders are called “Manus”. A Manu is therefore the one who, at the beginning of a race, gives the great impulse, the direction in which this race should develop. We are now in the fifth root race. When this fifth root race began its career after the downfall of the Atlantean, the fourth root race, it was given the great impulse by the Manu of our fifth root race. This Manu is not a human among humans in the same way as the other outstanding human individuals. Rather, this Manu was already at a high level of development before humanity was even filled with spirit on Earth. If we go back to the third root race, where the human spirit first flashed in the human body in the middle of the Lemurian period, we have such leaders of the human race. In those days, when men were young, when they were still children, they could not guide themselves. But their guides were not their own kind. These entities, who had already attained a higher development in an earlier evolution, which is not the human one, were so far advanced that they could be human guides before the spirit had incarnated in human bodies.

[ 7 ] These were superhuman entities. There are two types of such superhuman entities. The ones who, at a time when human beings were still children in a spiritual sense, had already progressed so far that they had reached a level that humanity will only reach in the distant future, these highly developed individuals, these Manus, are called “the holy spirits” in the esoteric language.

[ 8 ] Then there was a second type of being that was already closer to humans, but still superhuman in nature. They are called “sons of God.” And the next group of individualities were those who were already human among humans.

[ 9 ] If we go back to the middle of the Lemurian period and follow man in his development, then we have three stages of individualities within the evolution that has something to do with humanity. We have a high group of individualities that are far more exalted and that went through those stages of development in times long past that man will only attain in the distant future: the holy spirits. The second group are the Sons of the Gods; they are those who are nearer to men, but are still far above them. And the third group are those who, as men, were still children, but who, among the first men, were nevertheless the most advanced. They were called the “Fathers,” the “Pitris.”

[ 10 ] Thus there are three stages, and it is the entities of these three stages that lead men.

[ 11 ] If we now go back to the beginning of the fifth root race, we find at the beginning the superhuman Manu, who gave the great impulse. But then, in the course of the fifth root race, something very peculiar happens - namely, in the course of the fifth root race, human beings themselves come to such a point that some of them are able to take over the spiritual leadership of the human race. Those whom we call fathers or elders will then be able to lead humanity in the same way that the superhuman beings led people before. Thus, the leadership of humanity passes from the Manus to the human brothers themselves. The holy spirits, the sons of God, the fathers, were the guides of humanity in the successive periods. [...]

[ 12 ] When the Word took on human form - so the apocalyptic says in his language - this Word, the Logos, took on human form in the form of this Son, just as the Word had previously taken on human form in the form of a spirit. Or - since Christian esotericism calls the spirit “Engeb” - the Word was previously an angel before it became flesh. That is Christian esotericism. First there is the Word, the Logos, an angel. Then it has become flesh as the Son, and then it will become an elder, a father. That is the succession of stages. This is what the Christian initiates have always proclaimed. One must only understand their words in the right way.

[ 13 ] One of the most outstanding Christian initiates, Paul, could only express the deepest secrets in suggestive language. He also said what I have said in a suggestive way. When the Word was still an Angel, the Word was still on the supersensible plane. The Word is spoken from the clouds, from the supersensible, when the commandments are proclaimed. The time of the law is the time of the promise. When the word was an angel, that was the time of the law. Then the word became flesh. Later the word becomes an elder or a father. This is what Paul, who was initiated, proclaimed in his letter to the Galatians. There you will read what I have now said with the following words:

But the law is not of faith; but, “The man who does them will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree!”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, and we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is but one man's covenant, yet if it has been confirmed, and if nothing else is added, then nothing else, though it be added, is valid. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “Through the seed,” as of many, but as of one, “Your seed,” which is Christ. Now this I say, the covenant, that was confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, does not set aside the promise. For if an inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise, free of charge.

What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed to whom the promise belongs should come. And it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not for one mediator; but God is one. How is it that the law is opposed to God's promises? For far from it! But if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would truly have come by the law. [Gal 3,12-21]

[ 14 ] In other places, too, we find it stated that the Word was angelic, but later took on flesh. What happened as a result of the Word taking on flesh? It was proclaimed to the sub-races of the fifth root race, how they should develop in the future. The apocalypticist now presents to us in the letters to the seven churches how this development takes place. Not all reach the goal, not all those who have entered into the development also reach this goal in the time that is at issue here. Something special is happening here. But let us ask ourselves, in order to understand this correctly: how does the apocalyptic continue to present this to us, which was rightly handed down by the Fathers, by the Elders? Do the Elders themselves come to meet us in the Gospel? Yes, they come to meet us at the time when the angel became the Son. The Fathers are not yet ready to accept the Word within themselves. They had to be referred to the future. At the time of the promise, the fathers are not yet ready. They will only understand the word when they have reached the end of the fifth root race, where, within themselves, as fathers, they will only understand what remained veiled to them at the time of Christ, their master. The twelve disciples are the elders. They are destined to appear before the Christ again. Then, however, the book that was given to them sealed will be unsealed at the end of the fifth root race.

[ 15 ] But there is something else special going on during evolution. We are told what it will look like when the fifth root race is ready to decide whether to survive into the sixth root race. I will only hint at what I will explain in more detail in the following lessons. And as we will hear, the onset of the sixth root race is announced with the trumpets:

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. [Rev 8,12]

[ 16 ] This is the third that was left behind, which would not have been necessary. The letters to the churches contain not only exhortations but also sharp reprimands. Not all of them reach their goal. The third part falls away completely from evolution. So we have one third that will reach the goal, a middle third that will be left behind, and a last third that will not reach its goal and will fall away completely. One third does not reach its goal, a second third will only reach its goal later, which together makes two thirds, and only one third of those who started the evolution will have reached the corresponding stage of evolution by the end of the fifth root race.

[ 17 ] 72 elders were called to enter into evolution and should develop further. The exhortations to the seven churches that they had to lead show us that only a third of them will reach the goal. If we take one third of the 72 elders, we come to 24 elders who will still be there when the seven seals of the book are revealed. This revelation of the majesty of God is something that has been proclaimed with the appearance of Christ. In the fourth chapter of the Apocalypse it says:

After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven; and the first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.

And immediately I was in the Spirit. And behold, a throne was set in heaven, and on the throne sat one; and he that sat was like to look upon like the stone jasper and sardius; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like to look upon like an emerald. And around the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white robes, and golden crowns on their heads.

And out from the throne came lightning, thunder, and voices. And before the throne were seven lamps of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And each of the four beasts had six wings, and they were full of eyes all around, and they had no rest day or night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and who is coming!”

And when the beasts gave glory and honor and thanks to him who sat on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fell down before him who sat on the throne, and worshiped him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: Lord, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.

[ 18 ] This is the future stage of evolution, where those who have overcome will have become real fathers.

[ 19 ] I said that what took place in the depths of the mysteries will be unsealed later. Now I have told you that in the Greek mysteries the appearance of Christ on earth was depicted. What was then a secret was revealed through the appearance of Christ. We could have gone into the Greek mysteries and there we would have seen suffering, death, resurrection and ascension. The seven seals will fall in the future. If a mystery is also proclaimed then, it will again be a mystery whose seal will fall in a later future.

[ 20 ] I will tell you a mystery, as far as it can be told in our configuration, a mystery that has been celebrated since the time of the ancient Indian Rishis and is of the deepest significance. I will try to express it symbolically in the following way:

[ 21 ] There is a horse with its front hoof raised. On this horse is a divine figure with a bow. He gives a certain sign, then the horse steps on a snake's head with its front hoof. This is the horse Kalki. This shows that everything that is still of a lower nature will fall away, that a future will come when the Son of God - that is, the one sitting on the horse - will come and, as king, adorned with the crown, will bring the revelation of what is hidden in the book with the seven seals. This is a mystery that you can find everywhere.

[ 22 ] I could only hint at it very superficially. But even today it is still something that can only be experienced and seen as a mystery by an apocalypticist, but which will be revealed to us in the future in the same way that John revealed to us and wrote down the unsealing of the old world. Then we shall understand that it points to the time when the elders, the fathers, will receive the revelation of what underlies this mystery and will appear when it is unsealed.

[ 23 ] The sixth chapter of the Apocalypse reads:

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, “Come and see.” And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering, and to conquer. And when he opened the second seal, I heard the other beast say, “Come and see.” [Rev 6,1-3]

[ 24 ] This is repeated four times. The unsealing of the mystery of the Fathers, as contained in Christianity, is the most significant word spoken in the Mysteries. Where does man come from? Where is he evolving to? From Father to Father. This is revealed in the Father through the Mediator.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

[ 25 ] You see, the entire evolution of the world, the past and the future, is truly expressed in the Apocalypse. These are, by the way, only the most elementary allusions. One must first be able to use the words of the Apocalypse in their true sense. We will learn more and more about them.

[ 26 ] This evening I only wanted to evoke a feeling that one can delve into this writing and then realize that it is of unfathomable depth. That is the only thing I can still assure. This Apocalypse is one of those writings that truly inspire humility and devotion, and through which one learns what the Indian esotericist calls “faith”. There is an experience that teaches us this faith in the deepest sense. It is this: After we have endeavored to understand such a writing, we first think we know something about it. But when we try to pursue it further and then approach it again, we find that our earlier interpretation was quite childish. We see that only now do we really understand the matter. And when we have done that and live for a while and pick up the book again, we feel the same way as the last time. If you have experienced this a few times, you will have “shraddha”, faith. You will then become more and more absorbed and also find more and more in it. That is the inexhaustible source of such scriptures, which we can read with firm confidence, but can never learn everything from them. At the same time, it is an incentive to be humble towards such scriptures, to research in them and to continue this research forever. It then becomes clear to us that, however profound an explanation may appear to be, it will become even more profound in the future. From this then springs the awareness that the best that is given to man does not come from human imperfection, but from divine perfection, because it is divine wisdom, that is the revelation of divine wisdom. Documents of wisdom are given to us in these books. Our understanding of them is still weak, because these writings come to us not from human beings, from below, but from the gods, from above. We must develop ourselves upwards to understand them. This gives the esotericist a sense of the truth of the saying, in which he must live, which must become his guiding principle, which must increasingly permeate the theosophist, because it is not knowledge of dogmas, not knowledge of doctrines that constitutes the theosophist, but being permeated by the wisdom of this saying, being filled in his attitude with what the saying contains. The saying is:

The Supreme—it has existed from the very beginning.
The Supreme—it is understood by humankind at the end of days.

Afterword

[ 27 ] Before addressing the expected questions, I would like to preface this with one most important point. The Theosophical Society is not one that demands the acceptance of a dogma or the acceptance of an individual’s insights. We are a completely free association with regard to our truths. The Society is merely a place where these truths are represented, depending on what the individual has to say about them, so that, especially when it comes to the most difficult problems, you may well find that, stemming from the theosophical spirit, a diversity emerges between what the individual personalities proclaim. You need not think that one is in any way opposing the other; for we know that the truth stands high above us and that we can only approach this truth from various angles. It is as if we were viewing a city from different vantage points. Depending on the perspective, things may appear somewhat different to us. Everyone can and must present things only as they see them. And regarding the question of the Christ problem, there is indeed not unity but a diversity of views, which, however, will likely lead to a unification of views in the coming years. But the situation today is still such that each person can only proclaim what their own view dictates. In doing so, they do not oppose that of another, but may perhaps contribute to the harmonization of views. Among a group of those who can speak on such matters, there is the view that the birth of Jesus of Nazareth took place 105 years before our era, and that the manner of death was not crucifixion but stoning. I have never made a secret of the fact that I cannot subscribe to this view, but that I must present what I know about it. Nor have I ever made a secret of the fact that my view is that we must hold fast to the so-called tradition as it stands, and also hold fast to it with regard to the historical course of events, insofar as it arises from a genuine insight that can then rectify the view presented in the Gospels. Now you must not find it strange that two occult teachers can hold different views on one and the same point. Consider that two travelers who come to a foreign land and give travel accounts of it often agree very little, in that, although both have seen the same thing, they describe what happened quite differently. If this is already possible on the physical plane, then it is readily understandable that such differences can arise on the higher planes as well. For on these higher planes, observation is indeed certain, but by no means easier than on the physical plane. The perspectives through which one views a phenomenon are so difficult to disentangle that a shift in perspective can occur very easily. The following, for example, can happen: If you observe an event in the occult realm that took place 1,900 years ago, you may have two figures side by side. These two figures, even though they appear side by side in the occult field, may be 100 years apart. Thus: Although you see the things together, they may be related to events 100 years earlier or 100 years later. I do not mean to say anything more than this, but only to suggest that observation is subject to such errors. I could therefore say nothing better than that I must remain at the standpoint of tradition. This also applies to the crucifixion, for it is occultly difficult to distinguish a crucifixion from a stoning. It is therefore not surprising when two opinions arise.

From the Q&A

Was Christ's death culpable or innocent?

[ 28 ] Socrates also seems to have been condemned to death innocently. Aeschylus was condemned to death because he had revealed a secret of the mysteries. That is why Socrates was also condemned. Betrayal of the mysteries was punished by death under all circumstances, even in the community in which Jesus lived. It was also said of Jesus: You cannot live with this man, because he does too many signs. In the resurrection of Lazarus, the reason for the condemnation is found. Renan has noticed very well that the resurrection of Lazarus is connected with the condemnation of Christ. But this reason is never given. This is one of those cases where evolution causes tragedy. The death of Jesus was not a death based on karma. Karma begins at one level and once ends.

Was the suffering necessary for the establishment of his teaching?

[ 29 ] This is connected with involution and evolution. Involution had to take place in death. No mustard seed can develop unless it first dissolves into the soil.