Under The Olive Tree

“In His Image”

“And let them make me a sanctuary . . . “

When the God of Israel commanded (the priests) Moses to make the Ark of the Covenant – He charged Moses to “make [them] after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount” – The Exodus 25

The Ark thus fashioned had mystical powers – it was better than a refrigerator – because the Israelites even put a bowl of manna in there – which they recorded “bred worms and stank” if they tried to keep it over night – they put a bowl of manna in the Ark “to be kept for your generations” and the manna didn’t rot.

Righteousness is the pattern.

Far too many preachers and pundits attempt to interpret the messages of the Ancient texts in current terms and viewpoints. There is a great deal of our perceptions that are based on our present surroundings and understandings. The High Priest of Jesus’ time was the heir of a thousand year fellowship of mystics – from Moses who spent 40 years listening to God while tending sheep in the wilderness down through generations of men dedicated to spending their lives as mediators between God and mankind.

These men did not watch television or go to the disco – they did not know about distant lands and cultures – save for those stories from traders and warriors who sojourned among them. Some were exemplars of their office – others were embroiled in commercial, military and political intrigue. They lived in a world that had little dramatic change in our view – for we are a generation that has experienced change in ways that are redefining who and what we are. For some, even what it means to be human.

During the illegal trial of Jesus of Nazareth before the Sanhedrin (transgressions of established jurisprudence not the least of which was the trial being held at night and in darkness) – the high priest Caiaphas “rent his clothes.” Similarly – after Jesus was crucified – the veil of the Temple (a curtain of either the inner or outer court depending on your particular persuasion) “was (also) rent in twain”. Why?

We may not be able to give an acceptable answer to the specific question – but one thing is certain – a rent is a violation of the integrity of the pattern. “Even the most perfect Earthly pattern could not inherit the righteousness of heaven.” – Apollos

Righteousness is the pattern.

And the evidence is everywhere – intrinsic as far as the creation is concerned. From the wonders of the sun and the moon and the stars – to seasons and kind – the seed, and the structure of the molecule and the atom – elements – earth and water – fire and air – the matrix and the sanctuary – when these exist in perfection with no rent or tear or violation . . .

Righteousness is the pattern.

“While the earth remaineth – seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” – The Ancient Texts

“The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast.” – Bob Dylan

Unless we begin to align our thoughts and actions with the pattern – we cannot prosper. God set the pattern. You might not like Him or the fashion of it – but ignoring and violating the pattern is futile – like trying to stop the rain – or empty the ocean with a cup.

The pattern exists – and it is written in stone – not as carnal commandments, “but after the power of and endless life.” – Apollos 7:16

The Ancient texts are overflowing with examples given as keys to this understanding, and mystics in diverse cultures have glimpsed through the veil and perceived these universal truths.

In like manner, the soothsayers and the Chaldeans have employed these truths for social and financial gain – and scientists have pursued the unlocking and manipulation of these codes of the matrix in a nearly pathological fervor – themselves understanding that the Masters of the Keys are destined to rule – their seat and authority a mandate from the God of Forces – as they access the powers of the pattern.

A rent then, is the violation of the pattern and the codes – the weakening of the foundations and the structures – and if serious enough – the beginning of destruction.

Caiaphas was keenly aware of the meaning of Jesus ministry and teaching – for Jesus claim to be the Son of God violated the pattern of man’s relationship with God as the high priest understood it – “and Caiaphas rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy.” – Matthew the Publican

And the rent of the Temple veil? Mark records that at the moment of Jesus’ death, “the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” – in this case exposing the pattern of the eternal, and revealing the power to restore mankind from the scourge of sin and death – the apocalypse – contact with the other world!

“God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” – Apollos 1:1

“But unto the son he sayeth . . . Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity.” Apollos 1:9

Righteousness is the pattern – “without spot or blemish – undefiled.”

When sinful man slew the Christ, tearing his body with scourgings and crucifixion – mankind’s rebellion against the righteous pattern that is set within every sphere of the Creation was manifest.

Envy and strife, emulations, greed, covetousness and lust, pride, selfishness, revenge, persecutions, murders, violations, imprisonments, brutality, degradations, infidelities, wickedness, excess, the forward the profane – all weaknesses in the character of fallen man – all symptoms of the rents and tears in the pattern of this present world – all bringing forth death instead of life.

History shows us that in every attempt of man to establish governments these rents and tears manifest themselves – and the empires crumble into ruins. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece, and Rome.

The Earth is a graveyard of the failed endeavors of man – the Third Reich, the League of Nations, the CCCP, Pol Pot, Chernobyl, Rwanda, Darfur – The Federal Republic . . .

all casualties of the rents and tears – though brilliantly conceived and dedicated – not “long endured.”

Unless the New World Order is built on redemption – “the curse is cast.”

History has condemned men who attempted to formulate and establish empires that aspired to become the guiding light and principles for generations to come. You need but utter a single name to establish a mandate of judgment and righteous abhorrence – Hitler! – a name so despised that his blood family renounce it in their own lifetimes.

But there were others – Lenin and Stalin – Idi Amin – Ceausescu – Napoleon – Mussolini – Pinochet – Tito – the Bilderburgers and the Club of Rome – the Caesars and the Czars. Men with visions of the federation of mankind – man as the master of his world – man as the master of the universe – living in peace, productivity, security, diversity – men with a vision to establish a culture and government so advanced that it would transcend the flaws and aberrations of the heart, and the mind, and the soul of man. All their visions based on the transforming power of ideas and social structure – of a transforming culture and government – and of mankind raising himself to the challenge.

Today Humanism and Evolution – and science and pharmacology are seen as the gateways to utopias thus conceived – and still with all attempts to establish such Utopian societies failing in the most basic component of their design – the untransformed human heart.

An obscure carpenter from a tiny Middle Eastern village said it best, “Keep they heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.”

“For out of the heart of man come murders and adulteries – and all excess, extortion, volition, perniciousness and concupiscence, idolatries, hatreds, lust and greed, insubordinations, rebellions, witchcrafts, departures from that which is pure and holy and lovely.” – The Fool

When you depart from the pattern then behold, for destruction is at hand – and the Destroyer is upon us. If you look closely you will see him there lurking in the shadows – seeking to overthrow and devour – subtle and having the eyes of the bottomless pit – and a tongue speaking lies – and a heart consumed with evil.

Mankind’s final attempt to establish his final government and New World Order will bring forth a time of trial that will try men’s souls. It is soon coming upon us – and the time of escape is far past – “as darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people.´- Isaiah

“The walls and the towers tumbling down.” – The Finn

“And they rent their garments – and cried, ‘Alas, Alas – that Great city wherein were made rich all the merchants of the Earth, for thy judgements are come. Alas! Alas! Alas Babylon!’”

“For in one hour is so great riches come to naught.” - the Beloved Apostle

Peter the Fisherman left his tiny village on the shores of Galilee to follow an itinerant preacher, a man who some thought was mad – or even worse – possessed of an evil spirit. But the Fisherman was transformed, so much so that the record states that even his shadow could heal the sick. This man Peter’s words and testimony come down to us through the centuries, “we have not followed cunningly devised fables . . .”

If we are honest with ourselves as human beings – and we take the time to reflect on the universal failures of man in his attempts to become the master of his destiny – our only reasonable response in acknowledging the monumental failures of empires past, is to accept the futility of such endeavors – and to reach beyond ourselves for the power and wisdom needed for our transformation. To do less is to lay the foundations of our new order in the sands of our own limited abilities and our vast weaknesses and sins, and then face the sure truth that “a house built on the sand in foolishness and pride is destined to fall.” – Ossian

“Prepare thine ark with truth, and righteousness at the helm, bring neither guile nor dissimulation on board – neither hatred, nor envy, nor strife – lest we once again be forced to abandon ship against some cruel reef of brutality and excess – and our deliverance be lost beneath the waves, and the tumult, and the Great Confusion, the fear and the loathing, the destruction, and we perish in the violence of the storm that is forever brewing in our hearts.” - The Finn

In the course of establishing its mandate – every empire has been forced to employ extreme prejudice against the rebellious, the non-conformists – the free thinkers – the incorrigible – the prostitute and the thief – the poet and the priest – and always to its own unraveling. – for therein lies the nature of the Beast.

The challenge that has been set before us is not addressed through monastic studies and persuasions – neither by power and might, incarceration, humiliation or executions, neither by apathy nor abdication. Nor will it be solved through the establishment of governments or consensus alone – for these supply but a meager restraint, the purpose of which is to provide the framework for the universal citizen to be nurtured and to grow to full stature – else all of these – emancipation, fraternity, equality, autonomy, liberty, justice – jeer and mock us as fleeting apparitions of sustenance to the wayward and famished – and as elusive riches and treasures imagined – pots of gold at the ends of rainbows.

The challenge that is set before us is to learn what the true and righteous pattern is – and to fashion ourselves accordingly.

“For the time is far spent that thou shouldest awaken from slumber – and brace thyself with the icy waters of truth – and lift thine eyes to the consequences of they transgressions and thy sins.

Righteousness is the pattern.” – Ossian