http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSMdGEfDQNE
I googled Mount Ruapehu on which the ring appeared in this November and found this link:
One version of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings was filmed on Mount Ruapehu which was “Mount Doom” in the story.
The mystery continued to unfold for me as I have never read Tolkien’s books or seen any of the movies, so I didn’t know the plot. Thank goodness for the synopsis at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings
Here is a quote from this synopsis on Wiki:
“Long before the start of the novel the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring [at Mount Doom] in the year 1600 of the Second Age to gain power over other rings held by the leaders of Men, Elves and Dwarves.”“At the edge of the Cracks of Doom [also on Mount Doom], Frodo is unable to resist the Ring, and claims it for himself. Gollum suddenly reappears, struggles with Frodo for the Ring and bites off Frodo's finger, Ring and all. However in doing so he falls into the fire, taking the Ring with him, and the One Ring is thus destroyed. In the instant of its destruction, Sauron perishes, his armies begin to retreat, his tower crumbles into dust, the Ringwraiths disintegrate, and the War of the Ring finally ends.”
And from this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracks_of_Doom
“Mount Doom is a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth…. The Sammath Naur ("Cracks of Doom") is a chasm located deep within the mountain. The mountain represents the endpoint of Frodo Baggins' quest to destroy the Ring which is recounted in The Lord of the Rings. The chasm is the site where the One Ring was originally forged by the Dark Lord Sauron and the only place it can be unmade.”
Continuing on in my research, I found this more detailed description of the malevolent powers of the One Ring as well as its strange attraction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Ring“One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.”
“A person wearing the Ring would enter a shadowy world revealing the physical world from a different aspect, and from which physical objects were harder to see. The wearer was mostly invisible to ordinary beings…. The Ring dimmed the wearer's sight, while at the same time sharpening the other senses…. The Ring slowly but inevitably corrupted its bearer, regardless of the bearer's initial intent. Whether this effect was specifically designed into the Ring's magic or simply a consequence of its evil origins is unknown. For this reason the Wise, including Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel, refused to wield it themselves, but determined instead that it should be destroyed. The corrupting power of the ring was apparently stronger on individuals more inclined to evil and selfishness.”
If you read my blog you know I perceive and prophecy the grace of God through turbulent times. However, this does not mean I am not naïve about the end of times when the Antichrist will rise up to rule over earthly kingdoms until Jesus Christ returns in victory. Could this ring on the mountain represented as Mount Doom in the film be a sign of these end of times? Could it also be a warning to not be seduced by the powers of this world? And could the ring also be a sign of hope of the ultimate wedding ring, the marriage of Christ with his bride, the church? God is often beautifully multi-faceted and not simple in His signs.
There is nothing “average” transpiring in the world today. It’s a world of extremes and polarity. In the midst of this chaos, fervent Christians are getting refined like gold. The crazier and more turbulent things get in the world, it seems the calmer and more relaxed I’m getting. I can finally see how Jesus slept in the boat during a violent storm. Emotions that superficially previously seemed like mild depression and oppression to me I realize are quite the contrary: a quiet, restful, satiated drunkenness. How way off my perspective has been at times, as if traversing from the four dimensions of this earthly world into supernatural buoyancy and seeing how He sees from His highest perspective. Jesus asked us to abide in Him, dwell in His Spirit, and He in us, and that He would give us something the world couldn’t give: peace. In this way we enter His Hebrews 3 and 4 rest. I view this unusual ring above the mountain as the same polarity. The world’s One Ring may tempt with its earthly pleasures. The Lord’s wedding ring beckons with the highest reality for our souls. There is much going on spiritually and I am grateful to have been born for such a time as this. I hope you are, too.
I feel to share something I wrote in my journal on September 9, 2011 which I believe shows the heart of God. I never intended to share it so you will see I am raw and transparent in my journal. I believe many Christians give to get. I did for most of my Christian years, that I had to tithe and offer like clockwork in order to receive. But I realize the Lord wants something far more precious than my money, which is His money anyway. He wants our hearts, every single aspect of our hearts. That living offering is the greatest, costliest, most beautiful offering to Him we can give. Here is my journal entry in September:
“My old religious mindset felt I should give $__ to __ this evening to sort of prep things with God… since I don’t have enough money to pay property taxes. I saw the Lord put His hand on my hand when I reached into my pocket for my wallet. Then He placed my hand on my heart with His hand covering my hand. He said, “I want your heart, and for you to trust Me.” This has been such an emotionally difficult two years for me, completely trusting He will provide and never knowing in advance where it will come from. I haven’t had the freedom to buy things impulsively, but usually the things I would have bought I wouldn’t need anyway. I’ve stopped really wanting all the superfluous stuff and started more deeply appreciating what I have already. It’s been calming and restful. It’s been a place of Hebrews 3 and 4 deep intimacy, perhaps like Adam and Eve experienced in the garden of Eden.”
I have two real estate transactions this month that I did not foresee when I journaled the above in September. The commissions are enough to not only pay this winter’s property tax bill but also next spring’s. Such has been my life the last two years. He is far more gracious and kind and good and dependable than we sometimes have faith for ourselves. Far, far, far more. Far, far, far more. I pray you might rest securely in His steady provision. He provides the most comfortable blanket wrapped around you and the warmest home in the world. And when we abide there, with no attachment to mammon or our abilities outside of Him, and understand how to be His ambassadors of rest and trust (which I am learning more deeply), we can then better help others to come in and care for them. I perceive in this place of Eden’s rest and fertile soil of the heart is where the great multiplication begins. So that roots grow deep for tall trees of life for the healing of nations rather than weeds spread that choke. I pray He takes the lingering ring of the world off your finger, as He did for me and will continue to do, and slip on His refined ring and be your steady and dependable husband. And that you and He may step out into the world and heal.
