Whited Sepulchres
Uranda September 13, 1944
One of the most remarkable chapters in the whole Bible dealing with world conditions, with that which is taking place and that which is to come, is the 18th Chapter of Revelation. We have gathered to consider those things that are so wonderful and full of life in the world as it now is. In this world of turmoil with so many disturbing conditions, the only course that can be followed with certainty and surety and any degree of peace and tranquility, is that which is charted according to that which God has revealed, and we always find in the Way that He provides, more joy, happiness, peace and satisfaction of living than in any other way that there is. I shall read: “And after these things I saw ...” You have seen something the beauty of the river, the trees, the loveliness of this place. It is something that you know, that is a reality. You have seen. And so the Revelator is talking about things he saw, and as we look into them we find that, through his vision, we can see many important, fascinating and helpful things. “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”
Before I read further, let us be certain that you understand what the symbolism portrays. You will remember that after the Fall, the process of dispersion is pictured as the tower of Babel. Of course, the tower of Babel as pictured in the Bible, while there may have been an actual structure, is symbolic of the effort of human beings to overthrow their limitations and, through self-activity, achieve a tower of being and stature equal to God. Prior to the Fall only one language had been used, after that many nations developed. The word “Babylon” itself means “confusion.” The tower of Babel referred to confusion of tongues, and Babylon as mentioned in the Bible is an expression of confusion. But it is spoken of as a great city—“Babylon the great.” If we went to London or to New York, or almost any great city—these are the two greatest—we should find them to be cities of confusion, should we not? There is a great deal of confusion. But Babylon here represents the structure that man has made from the standpoint of the whole world—the man made structure of the world, all that human beings have done, not just in one city, nation or continent, but all over the world, their activities in commerce, greed, etc., their desires to achieve, through self-active effort, power and wealth. In other words, we have to recognize that the term Babylon simply means the man-made world of today, all over, everywhere. As we consider this, what do we find?
There are many, many people who find things beautiful and lovely and who are working sincerely in all fields for what they conceive to be a better world, and their actions are certainly to be commended. But when we get on the inside of what we might call big business, of whatever type, and as we behold the things that make the man-made world function, what makes the wheels go around? What do we find? When we get back behind the scenes we find that selfishness and greed and lust and all those things are the controlling factors, although they sometimes have a nice outer coating. If the real basic activities of human beings, from the standpoint of the controlling factors in our own land and in every other land, could be spread out where all the people could see them, I wonder what the reaction would be. Jesus once spoke of whited sepulchres which within are full of dead men’s bones. That is a good description. Man fell, and the world function has fallen. And what do we find here? “And is become the habitation of devils.” What does the term mean? It means all of the hateful thoughts and ideas and desires which man in his selfish self-activity expresses. “… and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” This is the meanness expressed by mind and action—complete disregard of others: selfishness.
“For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” That is speaking of the processes of communication, the interchange between nations, for the further building up of what we might call a world empire of commerce whereby many individuals think to gain still greater wealth and power in order to dominate the lives of human beings. We find that structure in the world today. It speaks of the merchants of the earth waxing rich through the abundance of her delicacies. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-from-of-babylon-uranda-may-30-1954.html]
We go back one hundred years or less, and here in this district at least, life was a comparatively simple thing, free of the complexities, the things that human beings think they have to have these days in order to get along. Unless we consider this we cannot understand world conditions, national or international. Suppose you were to try to write out a list of all kinds of electric devices, etc., that have been brought into the market in the last fifty years or so, that are required if you are functioning according to those requirements, that are supposed to make life easy for you. But do these things make life easier, or do they simply complicate and speed it up, constituting, in so many instances, a drain upon one’s nervous energy, so that there is no longer a peaceful, relaxed expression of life?
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” That is the call that is going forth into all the world now, and all of the earnest ones of whatever nation, tongue or creed who are properly turning to God and are responding to that call, are included. They are being called to “come out of her,” that they do not become embroiled, immersed, in these needless things, in these complexities of the unreal life. “For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.” She, referring to Babylon, simply indicates this outer world, the world of commerce and industry and all of the functions that are supposed to give man power and wealth, including political positions.
“How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” How about the time prior to this war? Many people thought that there would not be another war. The world was living deliciously, buying new cars, and everything was on the up and up. Everybody was forgetting God, because they were enjoying all of these outer things to such a degree. But what happened? “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” That relates to the coming of this great world conflict. “... for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Does that mean that the Lord God deliberately brought about world conditions to make this war, that He is responsible for this war with all its horrors? No, it is never God's will that any should suffer, but the Laws of God are established and He is not going to change them. He provided man with an opportunity for happiness and all the joys of living, but when man disregarded them, what happened? There were conflicts, perverted conditions, and as God intensifies these conditions, there is bound to be an adverse result. From the use of electricity we can have light and warmth—or we can be killed by it. As long as we harmonize with the laws and the principles of electricity, we do not have any trouble, but suppose I were to reach up and cut this wire right in two and start playing around with the bared ends. I would have violated the laws of electricity, and the result would be very painful.
It is the same with God's Laws. They can provide everything that is lovely if one harmonizes with them, but the human tendency is to go and do something that one should not do. That is the way man got into this state in the first place, by doing something that he was told not to do. God does not set up these conditions arbitrarily. He does not tell us not to do the things that would be delightful to do. He simply tells us not to do the things that are going to hurt us. He shows us the right use of the forces which He places within our reach. If a person uses that strong current of electricity wrongly, he is judging himself. The result is brought on by himself. The laws which established the current of electricity made it possible to allow the proper use of it; but these laws were established by the Lord—then these are the laws by which the individual is judged. It is the Lord who provided these currents, opportunities and blessings, and consequently, when they are misused there is a disturbance. God provides the law and the principle in the first place, and He says, use it this way and it will be lovely—use it that way and you will hurt yourself. When an individual takes it upon himself to use it the wrong way, then it may be said that he judges himself. While this point may be comparatively clear in your minds, it is something that the world stumbles upon all the time.
“And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city; for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble. And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.”
Now, I want you to notice the list of merchandise given here, and if you can name one single thing in all the multitude of things that we buy in the earth today that is not included, directly or indirectly, I should like you to name it. It covers the list pretty well. Name one thing, with all of our inventions, our manufactured articles, that does not come, directly or indirectly, within that list. It talks of chariots—we have automobiles, airplanes, and so on. It talks about all of the things that relate to foods, all up and down the line. “... and slaves, and souls of men.” So often men and women sell their souls for a little bit of gain in the world. They let themselves be put in the position of being slaves, prevented from expressing the beauty and the loveliness that is natural to the individual.
You know, once human beings get the shell off, and once they begin to let that which is natural and of themselves come forth, while they have different features and some may be considered more handsome than others, they are all lovely until they start acting in an unlovely manner. Did you ever stop to think about that? Then what really matters is not so much the outer appearance, but it is letting that which you really are come forth, letting the lovely expression of your being shine out in joy and peace and happiness and blessing to others, that which brings delight, that which is fitting, in proper order. What is it that prevents, in so many cases, this manifestation?
We are speaking here of slaves and men and women selling their souls. What is it that brings about this condition? What is hate? It is a feeling of violent animosity because of unlovely acts in both parties, or at least in one; and if one individual hates another individual for being unlovely, then the one who hates is unlovely, too. Did you ever see anything really beautiful and inspiring in hate? How about greed? How about selfishness? No. And yet, from the standpoint of this commerce, what is it that is most appealed to in human beings by those merchants who are building up Babylon? It is jealousy, greed, selfishness, inordinate pride of various kinds.
Have you noticed that practically every piece of advertising, almost without any exception, appeals to some unlovely characteristic or tendency in human beings? It may be dressed up very nicely, and you may question it at first glance, but when you go into it you will find that the primary sales appeal that is used is directed towards these unlovely traits of human character. Now, when that sales appeal is repeated and repeated until the person is so stirred up that he is driven by this force of greed, this get and get and get—is he a slave or not? He has become a slave, and he is selling his soul to get something. And when he gets it, is he happy? And then he swells up in pride and he goes to work to get something else, and he is a slave all over again, and he is selling his soul all over again, forgetting to see the beauties all around him, forgetting to enjoy life. That is what is taking place, is it not? But does that not keep stirring up the unlovely in human beings? Every human being is fine and lovely until he starts doing and saying unlovely things.
In order to be free, we find it perfectly permissible to utilize these things out here in the world, but not to be slaves to them, not to be driven by a desire to get this, that, or the other thing, not driven by greed or selfishness; and so we can stop selling our souls to get these things, and we are no longer slaves. We may be bound about by limitations, but we are free inside. You may say, “You are not telling us anything new,” but perhaps you have caught a new vision of this—and also, I am helping you to see the various principles by which you can help to convey these things to others as the opportunity presents itself, because we are here to learn various ways and means of presenting principles by which human beings can be released out of prison into the sunshine of God’s Love, where peace and joy abound, so that they are no longer slaves.
Right here comes a recognition of what is involved from the standpoint of world activities. We see how these things influence individuals and the world from the standpoint of nations. What started the war? You cannot point to any one individual, or to any two or three, and say, “They were the guilty ones.” They were guilty, perhaps, but they are not the only ones. This does not detract from their guilt; there is nothing to provide any leniency towards the obviously guilty ones. But what were the conditions back of all this? Most people do not go back that far. I will illustrate just this much from the standpoint of Germany. Germany attempted to have a democracy. That democracy, in form at least, existed for about twenty years, roughly speaking. Then it fell. Why did it fall? Because that democracy was refused support by the other nations of the world. Not one single one of the great powers of the world reached out a helping hand. When I say that, I am not condoning Hitler or any of the atrocities that the Nazis have perpetrated, but I am only pointing out that when there is something rotten underneath, it boils out on top; and you cannot tell me that any one man like Hitler was entirely responsible for it, as far as that is concerned. You talk about the Japanese. I have no brief for them. But, right up until the day of Pearl Harbor, who was it that was selling them oil, scrap iron, loading them up with it, shipping it right out of the United States of America over there to Japan? And what did the Japanese use it for? Who was selling it, and for what reason? Because of greed—the desire to get; to get, money. And why did Japan buy it? So that they could use it in order to get, to get, to get. That is what starts wars.
Then there is this business of individual wants and selfish desires. Have you ever seen any quarrels started along that line, any disturbances made manifest, any little private wars? I wonder. Then there are disturbances between states, between all kinds of corporations and organizations—all the way down the line from the war conflict to the little feud that you had last time with your sister, brother, friend. Could there be a world conflict if there was not any of this spirit and attitude in the world? Just suppose human beings were no longer slaves, no longer striving to get things. You may say, “There would not be any ambition.” But how would you have a war? You could not make a quarrel between neighbors, or anywhere, and how could you have a war? I think right there you have as clear a recognition of what world conditions are as you can get. The cause of world conditions is there, and the way of removing those ill conditions. But is there any hope of doing that so long as man is in control as he now is? What is it that can bring a change?
A change will come only to the degree that the individual experiences what it means to live a spiritual life. You have reached a point where you have been greatly freed from these shackles that bind so many people. You are no longer so strongly driven by desires to get this, that and the other thing. Some of you are not completely free yet, but you are coming along nicely. To the degree that you are no longer under that strife, is there anything left in life to make you happy? Do you have to have this strife that is sometimes mistakenly called ambition? Do you still have any ambition, although you may be free of that strife. Why yes. Oh, you do! What is true ambition? It is ambition to serve, to give joy, and you know, sometimes I think we are a little selfish, too, because of a surety the more happiness we give to others, the more we get back. You cannot help but be happy when you make others happy too, and the ambition to serve and to let the Light shine and to experience all those things that are so lovely and so free, provided in such abundance by the Lord, does not leave one in a hopeless state, bored to death. He becomes a free man, free to live instead of being a slave.
What does the 14th verse say? “And the fruits that thy soul lusteth after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.” What happens to all of these things that man has made? When things really get tough—the world catastrophe—and people lose their possessions, then those who are all wrapped up in their things lose themselves, don’t they? In losing the things, they lose themselves. But in regard to those who have something inside, those who are using the things but are not lost in them, when the things are gone they have that real quality, that real something that stands—the true basis of courage, steadfastness, certainty and assurance in the outworking of things. It is they, who are already freed from those things, who are going to be able to stand.
Blessed Ones, talking about world conditions, we can recognize in the general trend of affairs that for about two years after the close of the European war there will be, in all probability, a reasonable upward swing. Things will continue to go along. There will be a lot of trouble, turmoil, dissatisfaction, but according to the present trend, unless there are radical changes, we can expect a fairly prosperous period. It might be three or four years, but right in there about that time there probably will be a drag—there will be a period of deflation, or the bottom dropping out of things; maybe it will be deflation from inflation. That will certainly take things away from a lot of people. The world is heading into a time of still greater trouble. During this period of world trouble, some people will turn to God, but not all by any means. Some people still have the idea that they can go to church on Sunday and say, “I believe thus and so,” and then go on during the week and never give spiritual things a thought; cheat their brother man, then go to church another Sunday, and that is all that is necessary. They never think of coming to know God and living with Him all of the while. Until people begin to live with and know God, there is going to be trouble. When things get tough, people turn to God; when the way gets easy, they forget Him. As long as that keeps up things are going to get tougher and tougher and worse and worse, until people remember to remember God always.
“The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing. And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls. For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city. And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness; for in one hour is she made desolate.”
In the 20th verse those who walk in the Way of God are told what attitude to take in such a time. While there are many points of interest that we might talk about in relation to world conditions, you will find that what you really need is given here. As these difficulties arise and world troubles appear and losses occur, and all the rest of it, what is to be your attitude? “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.”
“And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all” In other words, the world structure produced through mass confusion will be thrown down sooner or later, and shall be thrown down with violence and shall be found no more at all. It is going to come to an end, and something wonderful and beautiful is going to take its place.
“And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.” And all nations are deceived now, believe me. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2015/11/excerpts-from-lightning-gracevan-duzen.html] “And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”
This great city Babylon, then, is the cause of all this slaying on the face of the earth—and that means every man, woman and child who dies in such a conflict as the world now faces. Suppose we were to take away the commerce in bullets and weapons of war, and remove the causes of war in the hearts and minds of men. There would not be any war. And here is the world condition as it is coming, and as it shall work out.
Those who have it in their hearts to function in an attitude of destruction will keep on until they have destroyed themselves. They may destroy a lot of comparatively innocent people too, but evil is destroying itself from the face of the earth, and those who remain and carry through will be those who have already let themselves be set free from slavery, from the merchandise of Babylon. Instead of trying to figure out just what shape world events will take, and how and why and so on, troubling your minds about a lot of things, and trying to unravel the mystery of the unreal, I think you will find here in this Chapter all you really need to know about world events. Do you see anything in relation to world events that has been omitted here? We cannot tell what human beings are going to do. But we know what God is going to do, and as long as we work with Him and remember to keep free so that we are not slaves to the commerce of the world babel of confusion—whether it falls, or rises, or stands for a bit before it topples—we know that all things will work out in the right way.
What are we doing? We are seeking to render service to others, that they may find what it means to be free from slavery, from bondage to all these things, because our own beloved country is one of the most idolatrous of all nations. There are more metals here to make idols out of—new kinds of metal. All down the line we worship the things that we want to get, and we make idols of those possessions. They will pass away some day. If we are wrapped up in them, we shall pass away with them. If we are not, we shall have a chance to carry through.
Our Beloved Master, by reason of Thy all-enfolding Love the Way is prepared, and all things are working together in perfection. We thank Thee that the movement of world currents and world events is of value to us only as it opens opportunities for us to serve Thee and our brother man, and, also, that it gives us the privilege of letting our Light shine, that we may do all that is possible to bring courage, peace, hope, truth and understanding, and the healing and soothing touch of Thy Presence and Thy Love, to all who will receive. In the Christ. Au-men.
© emissaries of divine light
