The Apocalypse (or in translation from Greek - Revelation) of St. John the Theologian is the only prophetic book of the New Testament. It predicts the future destinies of humanity, the end of the world and the beginning of eternal life, and therefore, naturally, is placed at the end of Holy Scripture.
The Apocalypse is a mysterious and difficult to understand book, but at the same time it is the mysterious nature of this book that attracts the eyes of both believing Christians and simply inquisitive thinkers trying to unravel the meaning and significance of the visions described in it. There are a huge number of books about the Apocalypse, among which there are many works with all sorts of nonsense, in particular this applies to modern sectarian literature.
Despite the difficulty of understanding this book, the spiritually enlightened fathers and teachers of the Church have always regarded it with great reverence as a book inspired by God. Thus, Saint Dionysius of Alexandria writes: “The darkness of this book does not prevent me from being surprised at it. And if I do not understand everything in it, then only by my inability. more by faith than by reason, I find them only surpassing my understanding. " Blessed Jerome speaks in the same way about the Apocalypse: "It contains as many secrets as words. But what am I saying? Any praise for this book will be below her dignity."
During the service, the Apocalypse is not read because in ancient times the reading of the Holy Scripture during the service was always accompanied by an explanation of it, and the Apocalypse is very difficult to explain.
book author
The author of the apocalypse calls himself John (Rev. 1: 1, 4 and 9; 22: 8). According to the common opinion of the holy fathers of the Church, this was the Apostle John, the beloved disciple of Christ, who received the distinctive name "Theologian" for the height of his teaching about God the Word. Its authorship is confirmed both by the data in the Apocalypse itself, and by many other internal and external signs. The Gospel and three Epistles of the Council also belong to the inspired pen of the Apostle John the Theologian. The author of the Apocalypse says that he was on the island of Patmos "for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 1: 9). From church history it is known that of the apostles only St. John the Theologian was imprisoned on this island.
The proof of the authorship of the Apocalypse ap. John the Theologian is the similarity of this book with his Gospel and the Epistles, not only in spirit, but also in syllable, and, especially, in some characteristic expressions. So, for example, the apostolic preaching is called here "testimony" (Rev. 1: 2, 9; 20: 4; see: John 1: 7; 3:11; 21:24; 1 John 5: 9-11) ... The Lord Jesus Christ is called the "Word" (Rev. 19:13; see: John 1: 1, 14 and 1 John 1: 1) and the "Lamb" (Rev. 5: 6 and 17:14; see: John 1:36). The prophetic words of Zechariah: "and they will look upon Him, whom they pierced" (12:10), both in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse are quoted in the same way according to the Greek translation of the "Seventy Interpreters" (Rev. 1: 7 and John 19:37). Some differences between the language of the Apocalypse and other books of the Apostle John are explained both by the difference in content and by the circumstances of the origin of the writings of the holy Apostle. Saint John, a Jew by birth, although he was fluent in the Greek language, being imprisoned far from the living spoken Greek, naturally imposed the influence of his native language on the Apocalypse. For the open-minded reader of the Apocalypse, it is obvious that all its content bears the imprint of the great spirit of the Apostle of love and contemplation.
All ancient and later patristic testimonies are recognized as the author of the Apocalypse of St. John the Theologian. His disciple Saint Papias of Hieropolis calls the writer of the Apocalypse "Elder John," as the apostle himself calls himself in his epistles (2 John 1: 1 and 3 John 1: 1). Also important is the testimony of Saint Justin Martyr, who lived in Ephesus even before his conversion to Christianity, where the Apostle John had lived for a long time before him. Many holy fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries cite passages from the Apocalypse as from a divinely inspired book belonging to the pen of St. John the Theologian. One of them was Saint Hippolytus, Pope of Rome, who wrote an apology for the Apocalypse, a disciple of Irenaeus of Lyons. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen also acknowledge the holy Apostle John as the author of the Apocalypse. The later Church Fathers are equally convinced of this: the Monk Ephraim the Syrian, Epiphanius, Basil the Great, Ilarius, Athanasius the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Didim, Ambrose of Mediolan, Blessed Augustine and Blessed Jerome. Canon 33 of the Carthaginian Council, attributing the Apocalypse to Saint John the Theologian, places it among the other canonical books of Holy Scripture. Especially valuable is the testimony of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons regarding the author's belonging of the Apocalypse to Saint John the Theologian, since Saint Irenaeus was a disciple of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, who in turn was a disciple of Saint John the Theologian, leading the Church of Smyrna under his apostolic leadership.
Time, place and purpose of writing the Apocalypse
The ancient tradition dates the writing of the Apocalypse to the end of the 1st century. For example, Saint Irenaeus writes: "The Apocalypse appeared not long before this and almost in our time, at the end of the reign of Domitian." The historian Eusebius (the beginning of the 4th century reports that contemporary pagan writers mention the exile of the Apostle John to Patmos for testifying to the Divine Word, referring this event to the 15th year of the reign of Domitian. (Reigned 81-96 years after Christmas Christ).
Thus, the Apocalypse was written at the end of the first century, when each of the seven churches of Asia Minor, to which St. John turns, already had its own history and, in one way or another, a definite direction of religious life. Christianity with them was no longer in the first stage of purity and truth, and false Christianity was already trying to compete with the true one. Obviously, the work of the Apostle Paul, who preached for a long time in Ephesus, was a matter of the distant past.
Church writers of the first 3 centuries also agree in indicating the place of writing of the Apocalypse, which they recognize the island of Patmos, mentioned by the Apostle himself, as the place where he received revelations (Rev. 1: 9). Patmos is located in the Aegean Sea, south of the city of Ephesus and was a place of exile in ancient times.
In the first lines of the Apocalypse, Saint John indicates the purpose of writing the revelation: to predict the fate of the Church of Christ and the whole world. The mission of the Church of Christ was to revive the world through Christian preaching, to plant true faith in God in the souls of people, to teach them to live righteously, to show them the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. But not all people accepted Christian preaching favorably. Already in the first days after Pentecost, the Church faced enmity and conscious resistance to Christianity - first from the Jewish priests and scribes, then from the unbelieving Jews and pagans.
Already in the first year of Christianity, the bloody persecution of the preachers of the Gospel began. Gradually, this persecution began to take on an organized and systematic form. Jerusalem was the first center of the struggle against Christianity. Starting in the middle of the first century, Rome, led by the emperor Nero (reigned in 54-68 after the birth of Christ), joined the hostile camp. Persecution began in Rome, where many Christians shed their blood, including the chief apostles Peter and Paul. Since the end of the first century, the persecution of Christians has intensified. Emperor Domitian orders the systematic persecution of Christians, first in Asia Minor, and then in other parts of the Roman Empire. The Apostle John the Theologian, summoned to Rome and thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, remained unharmed. Domitian exiles the Apostle John to the island of Patmos, where the Apostle receives a revelation about the fate of the Church and the whole world. With short interruptions, the bloody persecution of the Church continued until 313, when Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan on freedom of religion.
In view of the beginning of the persecution, the Apostle John writes the Apocalypse to Christians in order to comfort them, instruct and strengthen them. He reveals the secret intentions of the enemies of the Church, whom he personifies in the beast that came out of the sea (as a representative of a hostile secular power) and in the beast that came out of the earth - a false prophet, as a representative of a hostile pseudo-religious power. He also discovers the main leader of the struggle against the Church - the devil, this ancient dragon, who groups the godless forces of mankind and directs them against the Church. But the suffering of believers is not in vain: through faithfulness to Christ and patience, they receive a well-deserved reward in Heaven. At the time determined by God, forces hostile to the Church will be judged and punished. After the Last Judgment and the punishment of the wicked, eternal blissful life will begin.
The purpose of writing the Apocalypse is to depict the forthcoming struggle of the Church with the forces of evil; show the methods by which the devil, with the assistance of his servants, fights against good and truth; provide guidance to believers on how to overcome temptation; depict the death of the enemies of the Church and the final victory of Christ over evil.
Content, plan and symbolism of the Apocalypse
The Apocalypse has always attracted the attention of Christians, especially at a time when various calamities and temptations began to excite social and church life with greater force. Meanwhile, the imagery and mystery of this book makes it very difficult to understand, and therefore for careless interpreters there is always a risk of going beyond the boundaries of truth to unrealizable hopes and beliefs. So, for example, the literal understanding of the images of this book gave rise and now continues to give a reason for the false teaching about the so-called "chiliasm" - the millennial kingdom of Christ on earth. The horrors of persecution experienced by Christians in the first century and interpreted in the light of the Apocalypse gave some reason to believe that the "last times" had come and the second coming of Christ was near. This opinion arose already in the first century.
Over the past 20 centuries, many interpretations of the Apocalypse of the most diverse nature have appeared. All these interpreters can be divided into four categories. Some of them attribute the visions and symbols of the Apocalypse to the "last times" - the end of the world, the appearance of the Antichrist and the Second Coming of Christ. Others give the Apocalypse a purely historical significance and limit its vision to historical events of the first century: persecution of Christians by pagan emperors. Still others try to find the realization of apocalyptic predictions in the historical events of their time. In their opinion, for example, the Pope is the Antichrist and all apocalyptic calamities are proclaimed, in fact, for the Roman Church, etc. The fourth, finally, see in the Apocalypse only an allegory, believing that the visions described in it have not so much prophetic as moral meaning. As we will see below, these points of view on the Apocalypse do not exclude, but complement each other.
The Apocalypse can only be correctly understood in the context of the entire Holy Scriptures. A feature of many prophetic visions - both Old Testament and New Testament - is the principle of combining several historical events in one vision. In other words, spiritually related events, separated from one another by many centuries and even millennia, merge into one prophetic picture that combines events from different historical eras.
An example of such a synthesis of events is the Savior's prophetic conversation about the end of the world. In it, the Lord speaks simultaneously about the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place 35 years after His crucifixion, and about the time before His second coming. (Matt. 24th chapter; Mr. 13th chapter; Luke 21st chapter. The reason for such a combination of events is that the first illustrates and explains the second.
Often, Old Testament predictions speak simultaneously of a beneficial change in human society in the New Testament time and of a new life in the Kingdom of Heaven. In this case, the first serves as the beginning of the second (Isa. (Isaiah) 4: 2-6; Isa. 11: 1-10; Is. 26, 60 and 65; Jer. (Jeremiah) 23: 5-6; Jer. 33: 6-11; Hab. (Habakkuk) 2:14; Sof. (Zephaniah) 3: 9-20). Old Testament prophecies about the destruction of Chaldean Babylon speak at the same time about the destruction of the kingdom of Antichrist (Isa. 13-14 and 21 ch.; Jer. 50-51 ch.). There are many similar examples of the merging of events in one prediction. This method of combining events on the basis of their internal unity is used in order to help a believer understand the essence of events on the basis of what he already knows, leaving aside secondary and non-explanatory historical details.
As we will see below, the Apocalypse consists of a series of multi-layered compositional visions. The seer shows the future in the perspective of the past and the present. So, for example, the multi-headed beast in 13-19 chap. - this is the Antichrist himself and his predecessors: Antiochus Epiphanes, so vividly described by the prophet Daniel and in the first two Maccabean books, - these are the Roman emperors Nero and Domitian, who persecuted the apostles of Christ, as well as the subsequent enemies of the Church.
Two witnesses of Christ in the 11th chap. - these are the denunciators of the antichrist (Enoch and Elijah), and their prototypes are the apostles Peter and Paul, as well as all the preachers of the Gospel who carry out their mission in a world hostile to Christianity. The false prophet in the 13th chapter is the personification of all those who plant false religions (Gnosticism, heresies, Mohammedanism, materialism, Hinduism, etc.), among which the most prominent representative will be the false prophet of the time of Antichrist. To understand why the Apostle John united various events and different people in one image, one must take into account that he wrote the Apocalypse not only for his contemporaries, but for Christians of all times, who were to endure similar persecution and sorrow. The Apostle John reveals common methods of deception, and also shows the sure way to avoid them in order to be faithful to Christ until death.
Likewise, the judgment of God, about which the Apocalypse speaks repeatedly, is the Last Judgment of God and all the private judgments of God over individual countries and people. This includes the trial of all mankind under Noah, and the trial of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah under Abraham, and the trial of Egypt under Moses, and the two-time trial of Judah (six centuries before Christ and again in the seventies of our era), and the trial over ancient Nineveh, Babylon, over the Roman Empire, over Byzantium and, more recently, over Russia. The reasons that caused God's righteous punishment were always the same: people's unbelief and lawlessness.
There is a certain timelessness in the Apocalypse. It follows from the fact that the Apostle John contemplated the fate of mankind not from an earthly, but from a heavenly perspective, where the Spirit of God led him. In an ideal world, the flow of time stops at the throne of the Almighty, and the present, the past and the future appear at the same time before the spiritual gaze. Obviously, therefore, the author of the Apocalypse describes some future events as past, and the past as present. For example, the war of angels in Heaven and the overthrow of the devil from there are events that happened even before the creation of the world, described by the Apostle John, as if they happened at the dawn of Christianity (Rev. Ch. 12). The resurrection of the martyrs and their reign in Heaven, which covers the entire New Testament era, is placed by them after the trial of the Antichrist and the false prophet (Rev. 20 ch.). Thus, the viewer does not tell about the chronological sequence of events, but reveals the essence of that great war between good and evil, which is going on simultaneously on several fronts and covers both the material and the angelic world.
There is no doubt that some of the predictions of the Apocalypse have already come true (for example, regarding the fate of the seven churches of Asia Minor). The fulfilled predictions should help us understand the remaining ones that have yet to be fulfilled. However, when applying the visions of the Apocalypse to certain specific events, it must be borne in mind that such visions contain elements of different eras. Only with the end of the fate of the world and the punishment of the last enemies of God, all the details of the apocalyptic visions will be realized.
The Apocalypse was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The correct understanding of it is most of all hindered by the departure of people from the faith and a truly Christian life, which always leads to a dullness, if not a complete loss of spiritual sight. The complete devotion of modern man to sinful passions is the reason that some modern interpreters of the Apocalypse want to see in it only one allegory, and even the Second Coming of Christ itself is taught to understand allegorically. Historical events and faces of our time convince us that to see only one allegory in the Apocalypse means to be spiritually blind, so much of what is happening now resembles terrible images and visions of the Apocalypse.
The method of presenting the Apocalypse is shown in the table attached here. As can be seen from it, the apostle simultaneously reveals to the reader several spheres of being. To the highest sphere belongs the Angelic world, the Church triumphant in Heaven, and the Church persecuted on earth. This sphere of good is headed and directed by the Lord Jesus Christ - the Son of God and the Savior of people. Below is the sphere of evil: the unbelieving world, sinners, false teachers, conscious fighters against God and demons. They are led by a dragon - a fallen angel. Throughout the entire existence of mankind, these spheres have been at war with each other. The Apostle John in his visions gradually reveals to the reader the different sides of the war between good and evil and reveals the process of spiritual self-determination in people, as a result of which some of them take the side of good, others - on the side of evil. During the development of the world conflict, the Judgment of God is constantly performed on individuals and nations. Before the end of the world, evil will increase excessively, and the earthly Church will become extremely weakened. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will come to earth, all people will be resurrected, and the Last Judgment of God will be over the world. The devil and his supporters will be condemned to eternal torment, while for the righteous, eternal, blessed life in Paradise will begin.
On sequential reading, the Apocalypse can be divided into the following parts.
An introductory picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who appeared, commanding John to write down the Revelation to the seven churches of Asia Minor (1st chapter).
Letters to the 7 churches of Asia Minor (chapters 2 and 3), in which, simultaneously with the instructions to these churches, the fate of the Church of Christ is traced - from the apostolic age to the end of the world.
The vision of God sitting on the throne, the Lamb and heavenly worship (chapters 4 and 5). This worship is complemented by visions in the chapters that follow.
The disclosure of the fate of mankind begins from the 6th chapter. The opening by the Lamb-Christ of the seven seals of the mysterious book serves as the beginning of the description of the different phases of the war between good and evil, between the Church and the devil. This war, which begins in the human soul, spreads to all aspects of human life, intensifies and becomes more and more terrible (up to the 20th chapter).
The voices of the seven angelic trumpets (chapters 7-10) announce the initial calamities that must befall people for their unbelief and sins. Damage to nature and the appearance of evil forces in the world are described. Before the onset of disasters, believers receive a blessed seal on their foreheads, which keeps them from moral evil and from the fate of the wicked.
The vision of the seven signs (chapters 11-14) shows humanity divided into two opposing and irreconcilable camps - good and evil. The good forces are concentrated in the Church of Christ, represented here in the form of the Woman, clothed in the sun (12th chapter), and the evil - in the kingdom of the beast-antichrist. The beast that came out of the sea is a symbol of evil secular power, and the beast that came out of the earth is a symbol of decayed religious power. In this part of the Apocalypse, for the first time, a conscious, extra-worldly evil creature is clearly revealed - the dragon-devil, who organizes and directs the war against the Church. The two witnesses of Christ here symbolize the preachers of the Gospel who fight with the beast.
The visions of the seven bowls (chapters 15-17) paint a grim picture of worldwide moral decay. The war against the Church becomes extremely tense (Armageddon) (Rev. 16:16), the trials become unbearably difficult. The image of Babylon the harlot depicts mankind apostate from God, concentrated in the capital of the kingdom of the antichrist beast. Evil power extends its influence to all areas of the life of sinful humanity, after which God's judgment over the powers of evil begins (here God's judgment over Babylon is described in general terms, as an introduction).
The following chapters (18-19) describe the judgment of Babylon in detail. It also shows the death of the perpetrators of evil among people - the Antichrist and the false prophet - representatives of both civil and heretical anti-Christian authorities.
Chapter 20 summarizes spiritual warfare and world history. She talks about the double defeat of the devil and the reign of the martyrs. Having suffered physically, they won spiritually and are already blissful in Heaven. It covers the entire period of the Church's existence, starting from the apostolic times. Gog and Magog personify the totality of all the theomachic forces, earthly and hell, who fought against the Church (Jerusalem) throughout Christian history. They are destroyed by the second coming of Christ. Finally, the devil is also subjected to eternal punishment, this ancient serpent, which laid the foundation for all iniquities, untruths and suffering in the Universe. The end of the 20th chapter tells about the general resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment and the punishment of the wicked. This short description summarizes the Last Judgment of humanity and the fallen angels and summarizes the drama of the universal war between good and evil.
The final two chapters (21-22) describe the new Heaven, the new Earth, and the blissful life of the saved. These are the brightest and most joyful chapters in the Bible.
Each new section of the Apocalypse usually begins with the words: "And I saw ..." - and ends with a description of the judgment of God. This description marks the end of the previous topic and the beginning of a new one. Between the main departments of the Apocalypse, the viewer sometimes inserts intermediate pictures that serve as a link between them. The table given here clearly shows the plan and sections of the Apocalypse. For the sake of compactness, we have combined the intermediate pictures together with the main ones. Going horizontally according to the given table, we see how the following areas are gradually revealed with greater completeness: Heavenly world; Church persecuted on earth; sinful and theomachous world; the underworld; war between them and the judgment of God.
Meaning of symbols and numbers. Symbols and allegories enable the viewer to talk about the essence of world events at a high level of generalization, so he makes wide use of them. So, for example, the eyes symbolize knowledge, many eyes - perfect knowledge. The horn is a symbol of power, power. Long robe denotes the priesthood; a crown is a royal dignity; whiteness - purity, purity; the city of Jerusalem, the temple and Israel - symbolize the Church. Numbers also have a symbolic meaning: three - symbolizes the Trinity, four - a symbol of peace and world order; seven means completeness and perfection; twelve - the people of God, the fullness of the Church (numbers derived from 12 have the same meaning, like 24 and 144,000). One third means some relatively small part. Three and a half years is a time of persecution. The number 666 will be specifically mentioned later in this brochure.
New Testament events are often depicted against the backdrop of homogeneous Old Testament events. For example, the calamities of the Church are described against the background of the suffering of the Israelites in Egypt, the temptation under the prophet Balaam, the persecution by the Queen Jezebel and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; the salvation of believers from the devil is depicted against the background of the salvation of the Israelites from Pharaoh under the prophet Moses; the godless power is represented in the form of Babylon and Egypt; the punishment of the atheist forces is depicted in the language of 10 Egyptian executions; the devil is identified with the serpent that seduced Adam and Eve; future heavenly bliss is depicted in the form of the Garden of Eden and the tree of life.
The main task of the author of the Apocalypse is to show how evil forces act, who organizes and directs them in the struggle against the Church; instruct and strengthen believers in faithfulness to Christ; show the complete defeat of the devil and his servants and the beginning of paradise bliss.
With all the symbolism and mystery of the Apocalypse, religious truths are revealed in it very clearly. So, for example, the Apocalypse points to the devil as the culprit of all the temptations and calamities of mankind. The tools with which he tries to destroy people are always the same: disbelief, disobedience to God, pride, sinful desires, lies, fear, doubts, etc. Despite all his cunning and experience, the devil is not able to destroy people who are devoted to God with all their hearts, because God protects them by His grace. The devil enslaves himself more and more apostates and sinners and pushes them into all sorts of abominations and crimes. He directs them against the Church and with their help produces violence and starts wars in the world. The Apocalypse clearly shows that in the end the devil and his servants will be defeated and punished, the righteousness of Christ will triumph, and a blessed life will come in the renewed world, which will not end.
Having thus made a cursory review of the content and symbolism of the Apocalypse, let us now dwell on some of its most important parts.
Letters to the Seven Churches (Ch. 2-3)
Seven churches - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea - were located in the southwestern part of Asia Minor (now Turkey). They were founded by the apostle Paul in the 40s of the first century. After his martyrdom in Rome around the year 67, the Apostle John the Theologian took charge of these churches, who cared for them for about forty years. Having found himself in captivity on the island of Patmos, the Apostle John wrote letters to these churches from there in order to prepare Christians for the impending persecution. The letters are addressed to the "angels" of these churches, i.e. bishops.
A careful study of the epistles to the seven churches of Asia Minor suggests that the destinies of the Church of Christ are inscribed in them, from the apostolic age to the time of the end of the world. At the same time, the forthcoming path of the New Testament Church, this "New Israel", is depicted against the background of the most important events in the life of Old Testament Israel, beginning with the Fall in Paradise and ending with the time of the Pharisees and Sadducees under the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle John uses Old Testament events as prototypes for the fate of the New Testament Church. Thus, three elements are intertwined in the letters to the seven churches:
b) a new, deeper interpretation of the Old Testament history; and
c) the future destinies of the Church.
The combination of these three elements in the letters to the seven churches is summarized in the table attached here.
Notes: The Ephesian church was the most populous, and had metropolitan status in relation to neighboring churches in Asia Minor. In the 431st year, the 3rd Ecumenical Council took place in Ephesus. Gradually, the lamp of Christianity in the Ephesian church went out, as the apostle John predicted. Pergamum was the political center of the western part of Asia Minor. It was dominated by paganism, with a lavish cult of deified pagan emperors. On a mountain near Pergamum, a pagan monument-altar, referred to in the Apocalypse as "the throne of Satan" (Rev. 2:13), stood majestically. The Nicolaites are ancient Gnostic heretics. Gnosticism was a dangerous temptation for the Church in the first centuries of Christianity. A fertile ground for the development of Gnostic ideas was the syncretic culture that arose in the empire of Alexander the Great, uniting East and West. The religious attitude of the East, with its belief in the eternal struggle between good and evil, spirit and matter, body and soul, light and darkness, in combination with the speculative method of Greek philosophy, gave rise to various Gnostic systems, which were characterized by the idea of the emanational origin of the world from the Absolute and about the multitude of intermediate levels of creation that connect the world with the Absolute. Naturally, with the spread of Christianity in the Hellenistic environment, there was a danger of its presentation in Gnostic terms and the transformation of Christian piety into one of the religious-philosophical Gnostic systems. Jesus Christ was perceived by the Gnostics as one of the mediators (eons) between the Absolute and the world.
One of the first disseminators of Gnosticism among Christians was someone named Nicholas - hence the name "Nicolaitans" in the Apocalypse. (It is believed that this was Nicholas, who, among the other six chosen men, was ordained by the apostles to the deacon's degree, see: Acts 6: 5). By distorting the Christian faith, the Gnostics encouraged moral licentiousness. Several Gnostic sects flourished in Asia Minor beginning in the middle of the first century. The apostles Peter, Paul and Jude warned Christians not to fall into the snares of these heretic lewd people. Prominent representatives of Gnosticism were the heretics Valentine, Marcion, and Basilides, who were opposed by the apostolic men and the early Church Fathers.
Ancient Gnostic sects have long disappeared, but Gnosticism as a fusion of heterogeneous philosophical and religious schools still exists in our time in Theosophy, Kabbalah, Freemasonry, modern Hinduism, yoga and other cults.
A vision of heavenly worship (chap. 4-5)
The Apostle John received revelation on the "Day of the Lord," that is, on Sunday. It should be assumed that, according to the apostolic custom, on this day he performed "the breaking of bread," i.e. Divine Liturgy and received Communion, therefore he "was in the Spirit," that is experienced a special inspired state, (Rev. 1:10).
And so, the first thing that he deserves to see is, as it were, the continuation of the divine service he performed - the heavenly Liturgy. The Apostle John describes this service in the 4th and 5th chapters of the Apocalypse. The Orthodox person recognizes here the familiar features of the Sunday Liturgy and the most important accessories of the altar: a throne, a seven-branched candlestick, a censer with smoking incense, a golden cup, etc. (These objects, shown to Moses on Mount Sinai, were also used in the Old Testament temple). The slain Lamb seen by the Apostle in the middle of the throne reminds the believer of the Communion, under the guise of bread lying on the throne; the souls of those killed for the word of God under the heavenly throne - an antimension with particles of the relics of the holy martyrs sewn into it; elders in light robes and with golden crowns on their heads - a host of clergymen who celebrate the Divine Liturgy in conciliarity. It is noteworthy here that even the exclamations and prayers themselves heard by the Apostle in Heaven express the essence of the prayers that the clergymen and singers say during the main part of the Liturgy - the Eucharistic Canon. The making of the righteous their garments by the "Blood of the Lamb" is reminiscent of the sacrament of Communion, through which believers sanctify their souls.
Thus, the apostle begins to reveal the fate of mankind with a description of the heavenly Liturgy, thereby emphasizing the spiritual significance of this Divine service and the need for the prayers of the saints for us.
Notes. The words "Lion of the tribe of Judah" refer to the Lord Jesus Christ and recall the prophecy of the patriarch Jacob about the Messiah (Gen. 49: 9-10), "The Seven Spirits of God" - the fullness of the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit, (see: Isa. 11: 2 and Zech. 4th ch.). Many eyes - symbolize omniscience. The twenty-four elders correspond to the twenty-four priestly orders established by King David for serving in the temple - two intercessors for each tribe of New Israel (1 Chron. 24: 1-18). The four mysterious animals that surround the throne are like the animals seen by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1: 5-19). They seem to be the beings closest to God. These faces - a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle - are taken by the Church as the emblems of the four Evangelists.
In the further description of the mountain world, there are many incomprehensible to us. From the Apocalypse we learn that the angelic world is immensely great. Disembodied spirits - angels, like people, are endowed by the Creator with reason and free will, but their spiritual abilities are many times superior to ours. Angels are completely devoted to God and serve Him by prayer and the fulfillment of His will. For example, they raise the prayers of the saints to the throne of God (Rev. 8: 3-4), help the righteous in achieving salvation (Rev. 7: 2-3; 14: 6-10; 19: 9), sympathize with the suffering and persecuted (Rev. 8:13; 12:12), according to the command of God, sinners are punished (Rev. 8: 7; 9:15; 15: 1; 16: 1). They are endowed with power and have power over nature and its elements (Rev. 10: 1; 18: 1). They wage war with the devil and his demons (Rev. 12: 7-10; 19: 17-21; 20: 1-3), take part in the judgment of the enemies of God (Rev. 19: 4).
The doctrine of the Apocalypse about the angelic world fundamentally subverts the doctrine of the ancient Gnostics, who recognized intermediate beings (eons) between the Absolute and the material world, who completely independently and independently of Him rule the world.
Among the saints whom the Apostle John sees in Heaven, there are two groups, or "faces:" these are martyrs and virgins. Historically, martyrdom is the first kind of holiness, and therefore the apostle begins with martyrs (6: 9-11). He sees their souls under the heavenly altar, which symbolizes the redemptive significance of their suffering and death, with which they participate in the sufferings of Christ and, as it were, complement them. The blood of the martyrs is likened to the blood of the Old Testament sacrifices, which flowed down under the altar of the Jerusalem temple. The history of Christianity testifies that the sufferings of the ancient martyrs served to the moral renewal of the decrepit pagan world. The ancient writer Tertulian wrote that the blood of the martyrs serves as a seed for new Christians. The persecution of believers will either subside or intensify during the further existence of the Church, and therefore it was revealed to the secret viewer that the new martyrs would have to supplement the number of the former.
Later, the Apostle John sees in Heaven a huge number of people whom no one could count - from all tribes, and tribes, and peoples, and languages; they stood in white robes with palm branches in their hands (Rev. 7: 9-17). What this innumerable host of the righteous has in common is that "they came from great tribulation." For all people, the path to Paradise is the same - through sorrow. Christ is the first Sufferer who took upon Himself the sins of the world as the Lamb of God. Palm branches are a symbol of victory over the devil.
In a special vision, the seer describes virgins, i.e. people who have given up the pleasures of marriage for the sake of the whole service of Christ. (Voluntary "eunuchs" for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, see about this: Matt. 19:12; Rev. 14: 1-5. In the Church, this feat was often carried out in monasticism). The Seer sees on the foreheads (forehead) of virgins written "the name of the Father," which indicates their moral beauty, reflecting the perfection of the Creator. The “new song,” which they sing and which no one can repeat, is an expression of the spiritual height that they have reached through the exploits of fasting, prayer and chastity. This purity is beyond the reach of the people of the worldly way of life.
The song of Moses, sung by the righteous in the next vision (Rev. 15: 2-8), resembles the thanksgiving hymn that the Israelites sang when, having crossed the Red Sea, they were saved from Egyptian bondage (Ex. 15 ch.). Likewise, New Testament Israel is saved from the power and influence of the devil, passing into a grace-filled life through the sacrament of baptism. In subsequent visions, the seer describes the saints several times. The "fine linen" (precious linen garment) in which they are clothed is a symbol of their righteousness. In the 19th chapter of the Apocalypse, the marriage song of the saved speaks of the approaching "marriage" between the Lamb and the saints, i.e. about the onset of the closest communion between God and the righteous, (Rev. 19: 1-9; 21: 3-4). The book of Revelation ends with a description of the blessed life of the saved nations (Rev. 21: 24-27; 22: 12-14 and 17). These are the brightest and most joyful pages in the Bible, showing the triumphant Church in the Kingdom of glory.
Thus, as the fate of the world is revealed in the Apocalypse, the Apostle John gradually directs the spiritual gaze of believers to the Kingdom of Heaven - to the ultimate goal of earthly wandering. He seems to be forced and reluctant to speak about the dark events in the sinful world.
Removal of seven seals. The Vision of the Four Horsemen (Chapter 6)
The vision of the seven seals is the introduction to the subsequent revelations of the Apocalypse. The opening of the first four seals reveals the four horsemen who symbolize the four factors that characterize the entire history of mankind. The first two factors are the cause, the second two are the effect. The crowned rider on a white horse "came out to conquer." He personifies those good beginnings, natural and gracious, which the Creator put into a person: the image of God, moral purity and innocence, striving for goodness and perfection, the ability to believe and love, and individual "talents" with which a person is born, as well as gracious gifts Of the Holy Spirit, which he receives in the Church. According to the Creator's thought, these good principles should have “overcome,” that is, determine the happy future of humanity. But man, already in Eden, succumbed to the temptation of the tempter. Nature, damaged by sin, passed on to his descendants; therefore, people are prone to sin from an early age. From repeated sins, evil inclinations are further intensified in them. So a person, instead of spiritually growing and improving, falls under the destructive action of his own passions, indulges in various sinful desires, begins to envy and enmity. All crimes in the world (violence, wars and all kinds of disasters) arise from internal discord in a person.
The destructive action of passions is symbolized by the red horse and rider who took the world away from people. Yielding to his erratic sinful desires, a person squanders the talents given to him by God, becomes poor physically and spiritually. In public life, however, enmity and wars lead to the weakening and decay of society, to the loss of its spiritual and material resources. This internal and external impoverishment of humanity is symbolized by a black horse with a rider holding a measure (or scales) in his hand. Finally, the complete loss of God's gifts leads to spiritual death, and the ultimate consequence of enmity and wars is the death of people and the disintegration of society. This sad fate of people is symbolized by the pale horse.
The four apocalyptic horsemen outline the history of mankind in the most general terms. First - the blissful life in Eden of our ancestors, called to "reign" over nature (white horse), then - their fall (red horse), after which the life of their descendants was filled with various calamities and mutual destruction (black and pale horses). Apocalyptic horses also symbolize the life of individual states with their periods of prosperity and decline. Here is the life path of each person - with his childish purity, naivety, great potential, which are darkened by a stormy youth, when a person wastes his strength, health and eventually dies. Here is the history of the Church: the spiritual fervor of Christians in apostolic times and the efforts of the Church to renew human society; the emergence of heresies and schisms in the Church itself, and the persecution of the Church by pagan society. The church weakens, goes into the catacombs, and some local churches disappear altogether.
Thus, the vision of the four horsemen summarizes the factors that characterize the life of sinful humanity. Subsequent chapters of the Apocalypse will develop this topic deeper. But by removing the fifth seal, the seer also shows the bright side of human misery. Christians, having suffered physically, have overcome spiritually; now they are in Paradise! (Rev. 6: 9-11) Their feat brings them an eternal reward, and they reign with Christ, as described in the 20th chapter. The transition to a more detailed description of the calamities of the Church and the strengthening of the godless forces is marked by the lifting of the seventh seal.
Seven pipes. The imprinting of the chosen ones. The beginning of disasters and the defeat of nature (7-11 chap.)
Angelic trumpets foreshadow calamities for humanity, both physical and spiritual. But before the beginning of the disasters, the Apostle John sees an angel laying a seal on the foreheads of the sons of New Israel (Rev. 7: 1-8). "Israel" is the New Testament Church here. The imprinting symbolizes the chosenness and grace-filled patronage. This vision is reminiscent of the sacrament of Confirmation, during which the "seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit is imposed on the forehead of the newly baptized." It also reminds us of the sign of the cross, the ones who are protected by which "resist the enemy." People who are not protected by the blessed seal are harmed by the "locust" that came out of the abyss, that is, from the devilish power, (Rev. 9: 4). The prophet Ezekiel describes a similar imprinting of the righteous citizens of ancient Jerusalem before it was taken by the Chaldean hordes. Then, as well as now, the mysterious seal was placed in order to save the righteous from the fate of the wicked (Ezek. 9: 4). When the 12 tribes (tribes) of Israel are enumerated by name, the tribe of Dan is deliberately omitted. Some see this as an indication of the origin of the Antichrist from this tribe. The basis for this opinion is the mysterious words of the patriarch Jacob regarding the future of Dan's descendants: "a serpent on the road, a viper on the way" (Gen. 49:17).
Thus, this vision serves as an introduction to the subsequent description of the persecution of the Church. Measurement of the temple of God in the 11th chap. has the same meaning as the sealing of the sons of Israel: the preservation of the children of the Church from evil. The Temple of God, like the Wife clothed in the sun, and the city of Jerusalem are different symbols of the Church of Christ. The main idea of these visions is that the Church is holy and dear to God. God allows persecution for the sake of moral improvement of believers, but protects them from enslavement to evil and from the same fate with the fighters against God.
Before the opening of the seventh seal, there is silence "as if for half an hour," (Rev. 8: 1). It is the silence before the storm that will stir the world in the time of Antichrist. (The modern process of disarmament as a result of the collapse of communism is not a break that is given to people to turn to God?). Before the onset of disasters, the Apostle John sees the saints fervently praying for mercy on people (Rev. 8: 3-5).
Disasters in nature. Following this, the trumpet sounds of each of the seven angels are heard, after which various disasters begin. First, a third of the vegetation perishes, then a third of fish and other sea creatures, followed by the poisoning of rivers and water sources. The fall of hail and fire, a flaming mountain and a luminous star to the ground, apparently, allegorically indicates the enormous dimensions of these disasters. Is this not a prediction of global pollution and destruction of nature, which is observed today? If so, then the ecological catastrophe foreshadows the coming of the Antichrist. More and more defiling the image of God in themselves, people cease to appreciate and love His wonderful world. With their waste they pollute lakes, rivers and seas; spilled oil affects huge coastal spaces; destroy forests and jungles, exterminate many species of animals, fish and birds. From the poisoning of nature, both the guilty themselves and the innocent victims of their cruel greed fall ill and die. The words: "The name of the third star is wormwood ... And many of the people died from the waters, because they became bitter" remind of the Chernobyl disaster, because "Chernobyl" means wormwood. But what does the defeat of the third part of the sun and stars and their eclipse mean? (Rev. 8:12). Obviously, here we are talking about air pollution to such a state where sunlight and starlight, reaching the earth, seems less bright. (For example, due to air pollution, the sky in Los Angeles usually looks dirty brown in color, while at night there are almost no stars above the city, except for the brightest).
The story of the locust (the fifth trumpet, (Rev. 9: 1-11)), which came out of the abyss, speaks of the strengthening of demonic power among people. It is headed by "Apollyon," which means "destroyer" - the devil. As people lose the grace of God with their unbelief and sins, the spiritual emptiness that forms in them is more and more filled with demonic power, which torments them with doubts and various passions.
Apocalyptic wars. The trumpet of the sixth angel sets in motion a huge army across the Euphrates River, from which a third of the people perish (Rev. 9: 13-21). In the biblical view, the Euphrates River marks the line behind which the nations hostile to God are concentrated, threatening Jerusalem with war and extermination. For the Roman Empire, the Euphrates River served as a bulwark against the attack of the eastern peoples. The ninth chapter of the Apocalypse is written against the backdrop of the cruel and bloody Judeo-Roman war of 66-70 AD, which is still fresh in the memory of the Apostle John. This war had three phases (Rev. 8:13). The first phase of the war, in which Gasius Florus led the Roman forces, lasted five months, from May to September 66 (five locust months, Rev. 9: 5 and 10). Soon the second phase of the war began, from October to November 66, in which the Syrian governor Cestius led four Roman legions (four angels at the Euphrates River, Rev. 9:14). This phase of the war was especially devastating for the Jews. The third phase of the war, led by Flavian, lasted three and a half years - from April 67th to September 70th, and ended with the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple and the dispersion of the captured Jews across the Roman Empire. This bloody Roman-Jewish war became a prototype of the terrible wars of the last times, which the Savior pointed out in His conversation on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 24: 7).
The attributes of the infernal locust and the Euphrates horde can be recognized as modern weapons of mass destruction - tanks, cannons, bombers and nuclear missiles. Further chapters of the Apocalypse describe all the intensifying wars of the end times (Rev. 11: 7; 16: 12-16; 17:14; 19: 11-19 and 20: 7-8). The words "the river Euphrates has dried up, so that the path of the kings from the rising of the sun" (Rev. 16:12) may be ready to indicate the "yellow danger." It should be borne in mind that the description of apocalyptic wars has the features of real wars, but ultimately refers to spiritual war, and proper names and numbers have an allegorical meaning. So the Apostle Paul explains: "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spirits of wickedness in high places" (Eph. 6:12). The name Armageddon is composed of two words: "Ar" (in Hebrew - plain) and "Megiddo" (area in the north of the Holy Land, near Mount Carmel, where in ancient times Barak defeated the army of Sisera, and the prophet Elijah destroyed more than five hundred priests of Baal), ( Rev. 16:16 & 17:14; Judges 4: 2-16; 1 Kings 18:40). In the light of these biblical events, Armageddon symbolizes the defeat of the God-fighting forces by Christ. The names Gog and Magog in ch. 20 recall the prophecy of Ezekiel about the invasion of Jerusalem of countless hordes led by Gog from the land of Magog (in the south of the Caspian Sea), (Ezekiel 38-39; Rev. 20: 7-8). Ezekiel dates this prophecy to messianic times. In the Apocalypse, the besieging of the "camp of saints and the city of the beloved" (ie the Church) by the hordes of Gog and Magog and the extermination of these hordes by heavenly fire must be understood in the sense of the complete defeat of the atheist forces, human and demonic, by the Second Coming of Christ.
As for the physical calamities and punishments of sinners, often mentioned in the Apocalypse, the viewer himself explains that God allows them to be admonished in order to bring sinners to repentance (Rev. 9:21). But the apostle notes with sorrow that people do not heed the call of God, they continue to sin and serve demons. They, as if "biting the bit," rush to their own destruction.
A vision of two witnesses (11: 2-12). The 10th and 11th chapters are intermediate between the visions of the 7 trumpets and the 7 signs. In the two witnesses of God, some holy fathers see the Old Testament righteous Enoch and Elijah (Or Moses and Elijah). It is known that Enoch and Elijah were taken alive to Heaven (Gen. 5:24; 4 Kings 2:11), and before the end of the world they will come to earth to expose the falsity of Antichrist and call people to faithfulness to God. The executions that these witnesses will bring on people resemble the miracles performed by the prophets Moses and Elijah (Ex. 7-12 chap.; 1 Kings 17: 1; 4 Kings 1:10). For the Apostle John, the prototypes of the two apocalyptic witnesses could have been the apostles Peter and Paul, who had recently suffered in Rome from Nero. Apparently, the two witnesses in the Apocalypse symbolize other witnesses of Christ, spreading the Gospel in a hostile pagan world and often stamping their sermon with a martyr's death. The words "Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was also crucified" (Rev. 11: 8), indicate the city of Jerusalem, in which the Lord Jesus Christ suffered, many prophets and early Christians. (Some suggest that during the time of the Antichrist, Jerusalem will become the capital of the world state. However, they provide an economic justification for this opinion).
Seven signs (12-14 chap.). Church and kingdom of the beast
The further, the clearer the viewer reveals to the readers the division of humanity into two opposite camps - the Church and the kingdom of the beast. In the previous chapters, the apostle John began to introduce readers to the Church, talking about the sealed, the Jerusalem temple, and the two witnesses, and in chapter 12 he shows the Church in all her heavenly glory. At the same time, he identifies her main enemy - the devil-dragon. The vision of the Woman, clothed in the sun, and the dragon makes it obvious that the war between good and evil goes beyond the material world and extends to the world of angels. The Apostle shows that in the world of disembodied spirits there is a conscious evil being who, with desperate persistence, is waging a war against God's faithful angels and people. This war of good and evil, permeating the entire existence of mankind, began in the angelic world before the creation of the material world. As we have already said, the viewer describes this war in different parts of the Apocalypse, not in its chronological sequence, but in different fragments, or phases.
The vision of the Woman reminds the reader of God's promise to Adam and Eve about the Messiah (the Seed of the Woman), who will erase the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). One would think that in the 12th chapter the Wife refers to the Virgin Mary. However, from the further narrative, which speaks of other descendants of the Wife (Christians), it is clear that here the Wife must mean the Church. The woman's sunshine symbolizes the moral perfection of the saints and the grace-filled illumination of the Church with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The twelve stars symbolize the twelve tribes of New Israel - i.e. the totality of Christian nations. The torment of the Wife during childbirth symbolizes the exploits, hardships and sufferings of the servants of the Church (prophets, apostles and their successors), suffered by them when spreading the Gospel in the world and when establishing Christian virtues among their spiritual children. ("My children, for whom I am again in the throes of birth, until Christ is portrayed in you," - said the Apostle Paul to Galatian Christians (Gal. 4:19)).
The firstborn of the Wife, "who was to rule all nations with an iron rod," is the Lord Jesus Christ (Ps. 2: 9; Rev. 12: 5 and 19:15). He is the New Adam who has become the head of the Church. The "rapture" of the Infant, obviously, indicates the ascension of Christ to Heaven, where He sat down "at the right hand of the Father" and since then rules the destinies of the world.
"The dragon with his tail pulled away from Heaven a third of the stars and threw them to the ground," (Rev. 12: 4). By these stars, the interpreters understand the angels whom the proud Devil-Dennitsa rebelled against God, as a result of which a war took place in Heaven. (This was the first revolution in the universe!). Archangel Michael took the floor at the head of the good angels. The angels who rebelled against God were defeated and could not stay in Heaven. Having fallen away from God, they turned from good angels to demons (demons). Their underworld kingdom, called the abyss or hell, became a place of darkness and suffering. According to the holy fathers, the war described here by the Apostle John took place in the angelic world even before the creation of the material world. It is cited here in order to explain to the reader that the dragon, which will persecute the Church in further visions of the Apocalypse, is the fallen Dennitsa - the primordial enemy of God.
So, having been defeated in Heaven, the dragon with all its fury takes up arms against the Woman-Church. His weapons are many different temptations, which he casts on the Woman like a stormy river. But she saves herself from temptation by fleeing into the desert, that is, by voluntary abandonment of the benefits and comforts of life, with which the dragon tries to captivate her. The two wings of the Wife are prayer and fasting, by which Christians are spiritualized and made inaccessible to the dragon crawling on the earth like a serpent (Gen. 3:14; Mark 9:29). (It should be remembered that from the first centuries many zealous Christians had literally moved into the desert, leaving noisy cities full of temptations. Christians have no idea. ”Monasticism flourished in the East in the 4-7 centuries, when in the desert places of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor many monasteries were formed, numbering hundreds and thousands of monks and nuns. From the Middle East monasticism spread to Athos, and from there - to Russia, where in pre-revolutionary times there were more than a thousand monasteries and sketes).
Note. The expression "time, times and half a time" - 1260 days or 42 months (Rev. 12: 6-15) - corresponds to three and a half years and symbolically denotes a period of persecution. The Savior's public ministry lasted three and a half years. For about the same time, the persecution of believers continued under King Antiochus Epiphanes, emperors Nero and Domitian. At the same time, the numbers in the Apocalypse should be understood allegorically (see above).
The beast that came out of the sea, and the beast that came out of the land. From. Chapters 13-14
Most of the holy fathers understand the Antichrist as the "beast from the sea", and the false prophet by the "beast from the earth". The sea symbolizes the unbelieving mass of people, always agitated and overwhelmed by passions. From the further narration about the beast and from the parallel narration of the prophet Daniel (Dan. 7-8 chap.). it should be concluded that the "beast" is the entire theomachous empire of the antichrist. In appearance, the dragon-devil and the beast that came out of the sea, to which the dragon transferred its power, are similar to each other. Their external attributes speak of their dexterity, cruelty and moral ugliness. The heads and horns of the beast symbolize the godless states that make up the anti-Christian empire, as well as their rulers ("kings"). The message about the fatal wound of one of the heads of the beast and about its healing is mysterious. In due time, the events themselves will shed light on the meaning of these words. The historical basis for this allegory could be the conviction of many contemporaries of the Apostle John that the slain Nero came to life and that he would soon return with the Parthian troops (located across the Euphrates River (Rev. 9:14 and 16:12)) to take revenge on his enemies. There may be here an indication of the partial defeat of the theomachy paganism by the Christian faith and the revival of paganism during the period of general apostasy from Christianity. Others see here an indication of the defeat of God-fighting Judaism in the 70s of our era. "They are not Jews, but a congregation of Satan," the Lord said to John (Rev. 2: 9; 3: 9). (Read more about this in our brochure "Christian Doctrine of the End of the World").
Note. There are similarities between the beast of the Apocalypse and the four beasts of the prophet Daniel, who personified the four ancient pagan empires (Dan. 7th chapter). The fourth beast belonged to the Roman Empire, and the tenth horn of the last beast meant the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes - the prototype of the coming Antichrist, whom the archangel Gabriel called "despicable" (Dan. 11:21). The characteristics and deeds of the apocalyptic beast also have much in common with the tenth horn of the prophet Daniel, (Dan. 7: 8-12; 20-25; 8: 10-26; 11: 21-45). The first two Maccabean books serve as a vivid illustration of the times before the end of the world.
Then the viewer describes the beast that came out of the earth, which he later calls the false prophet. The earth here symbolizes the complete absence of spirituality in the teaching of the false prophet: everything is saturated with materialism and pleasing sin-loving flesh. The false prophet deceives people with false miracles and makes them worship the first beast. "He had two horns like a lamb, and spoke like a dragon" (Rev. 13:11), - that is, he looked meek and peaceful, but his speeches were filled with flattery and lies.
As in the 11th chapter, two witnesses symbolize all the servants of Christ, so, obviously, the two beasts of the 13th chapter. symbolize the totality of all haters of Christianity. The beast from the sea is a symbol of civil godless power, and the beast from the earth is the totality of false teachers and any perverted church power. (In other words, the Antichrist will come from a civilian environment, under the guise of a civil leader, preached and praised by false prophets or false prophets who have betrayed their religious beliefs).
Just as during the time of the Savior's earthly life, both these powers, civil and religious, in the person of Pilate and the Jewish high priests united in condemning Christ to be crucified, so throughout the history of mankind, these two powers often unite in the struggle against faith and for the persecution of believers. As already mentioned, the Apocalypse describes not only the distant future, but also constantly repeating - for different peoples at one time. And the Antichrist is also his own for all, appearing during the time of anarchy, when "the one who is holding back is taken." Examples: the prophet Balaam and the Moabite king; Queen Jezebel and her priests; false prophets and princes before the destruction of Israel and later Jews, "apostates from the holy covenant" and king Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 8:23; 1 Mac. and 2 Mac. 9 chap.), adherents of the Mosaic law and Roman rulers in apostolic times. In New Testament times, heretical false teachers weakened the Church by their schisms and thereby contributed to the conquering successes of the Arabs and Turks, who flooded and ruined the Orthodox East; Russian free-thinkers and populists prepared the ground for the revolution; modern false teachers seduce unstable Christians into various sects and cults. All of them are false prophets who contribute to the success of the godless forces. The apocalypse vividly reveals the mutual support between the dragon-devil and both beasts. Here, each of them has their own selfish calculations: the devil longs to worship himself, the Antichrist seeks power, and the false prophet seeks his material gain. The Church, calling people to faith in God and to the strengthening of virtues, serves as a hindrance to them, and they jointly fight against it.
Inscription of the Beast
(Rev. 13: 16-17; 14: 9-11; 15: 2; 19:20; 20: 4). In the language of the Holy Scriptures, to wear a seal (or mark) on oneself means belonging or subordination to someone. We have already said that the seal (or the name of God) on the foreheads of believers means their God's chosenness and, therefore, God's protection over them, (Rev. 3:12; 7: 2-3; 9: 4; 14: 1; 22: 4). The activities of the false prophet, described in the 13th chapter of the Apocalypse, convinces that the kingdom of the beast will be of a religious and political nature. By creating an alliance of different states, it will simultaneously plant a new religion instead of the Christian faith. Therefore, submitting to the Antichrist (allegorically, to take the seal of the beast on your forehead or on your right hand) will be tantamount to renouncing Christ, which will entail the deprivation of the Kingdom of Heaven. (The symbolism of the seal is drawn from the custom of antiquity, when warriors burned the names of their leaders on their hands or on their foreheads, and slaves - voluntarily or forcibly - took the seal of the name of their master. Pagans, devoted to some deity, often wore a tattoo of this deity) ...
The possibility is not excluded that in the time of the Antichrist an improved computer registration will be introduced, similar to modern bank cards. The improvement will consist in the fact that the computer code invisible to the eye will not be printed on a plastic card, as it is now, but directly on the human body. This code, readable by an electronic or magnetic "eye", will be transmitted to a central computer, which will store all information about the person, personal and financial. Thus, the establishment of personal codes directly in public will replace the need for money, passports, visas, tickets, checks, credit cards and other personal documents. Thanks to the individual coding, all monetary transactions - receiving salaries and paying off debts - can be carried out directly in the computer. In the absence of money, the robber will have nothing to take from the person. The state, in principle, will be able to control crime more easily, since the movements of people will be known to it thanks to the central computer. It seems that in such a positive aspect this personal coding system will be proposed. In practice, it will also be used for religious and political control over people, when “no one will be allowed to buy or sell except for the one who has this mark” (Rev. 13:17).
Of course, the thought expressed here about stamping codes on humans is speculation. The point is not in electromagnetic signs, but in fidelity or betrayal of Christ! Throughout the history of Christianity, pressure on believers from the anti-Christian government took various forms: making a formal sacrifice to an idol, accepting Mohammedanism, joining an atheist or anti-Christian organization. In the language of the Apocalypse, this is the acceptance of the "mark of the beast:" the acquisition of temporary advantages at the cost of renouncing Christ.
The number of the beast - 666
(Rev. 13:18). The meaning of this number is still a mystery. Obviously, it will lend itself to deciphering when the very circumstances favor it. Some interpreters in the number 666 see a decrease in the number 777, which in turn means threefold perfection, completeness. With this understanding of the symbolism of this number, the Antichrist, striving in everything to show his superiority over Christ, in fact, in everything will turn out to be imperfect. In ancient times, the calculation of a name was based on the fact that the letters of the alphabets had a numerical meaning. For example, in Greek (and in Church Slavonic) "A" was equal to 1, B = 2, G = 3, etc. A similar numerical meaning of letters exists in Latin and Hebrew. Each name could be calculated arithmetically by adding the numerical value of the letters. For example, the name Jesus, written in Greek, is 888 (possibly denoting supreme perfection). There are a huge number of proper names, which, by the sum of their letters translated into numbers, give 666. For example, the name Nero Caesar, written in Hebrew letters. In this case, if the proper name of the Antichrist was known, then it would not require special wisdom to calculate its numerical value. Maybe here it is necessary to look for a solution to the riddle on a principled plane, but it is not clear in what direction. The beast of the Apocalypse is both the Antichrist and his state. Perhaps during the time of the Antichrist, the initials will be introduced, denoting a new worldwide movement? By the will of God, the personal name of the Antichrist is for the time being hidden from idle curiosity. When the time comes, those who follow will decipher it.
Speaking image of the beast
It is difficult to understand the meaning of the words about the false prophet: “And it was given to him to put a spirit in the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast spoke and acted so that everyone who would not worship the image of the beast would be killed” (Rev. 13:15). The reason for this allegory could have been the requirement of Antiochus Epiphanes that the Jews bow to the statue of Jupiter erected by him in the Jerusalem temple. Later, the emperor Domitian demanded that all the inhabitants of the Roman Empire bow to his image. Domitian was the first emperor to demand divine veneration for himself during his lifetime and to be called "our Lord and God." Sometimes, for a greater impression, priests hid behind the statues of the emperor, who spoke from there on his behalf. Christians who did not bow to the image of Domitian were ordered to be executed, but to give gifts to those who bowed. Maybe in the prophecy of the Apocalypse we are talking about some kind of apparatus like a TV, which will transmit the image of the Antichrist and at the same time monitor how people react to it. In any case, in our time, films and television are widely used to inculcate anti-Christian ideas, to accustom people to cruelty and vulgarity. Daily indiscriminate watching TV kills the good and the holy in a person. Isn't the TV the forerunner of the talking image of the beast?
Seven bowls. Strengthening the godless power. The judgment of sinners 15-17 chap.
In this part of the Apocalypse, the viewer describes the kingdom of the beast, which reached its apogee of power and control over people's lives. Apostasy from the true faith embraces almost all of humanity, and the Church reaches extreme exhaustion: "And it was given to him to wage war with the saints and to overcome them" (Rev. 13: 7). To encourage the believers who remained faithful to Christ, the Apostle John lifts their gaze to the heavenly world and shows a great crowd of righteous people who, like the Israelites who were saved from Pharaoh under Moses, sing a song of victory (Ex. 14-15 chap.).
But as the end of the power of the pharaohs came, so the days of anti-Christian rule were numbered. The next chapters (chapters 16-20). in bright strokes, they draw God's judgment over the theomists. The defeat of nature in the 16th ch. similar to the description in chapter 8, but here it reaches worldwide proportions and makes a terrifying impression. (As before, obviously, the destruction of nature is carried out by people themselves - by wars and industrial waste). The increased heat from the sun, from which people suffer, may be associated with the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere and the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to the Savior's prediction, in the last year before the end of the world, living conditions will become so unbearable that “if God had not shortened those days, no flesh would have been saved” (Matt. 24:22).
The description of judgment and punishment in chapters 16-20 of the Apocalypse follows the order of increasing guilt of God's enemies: first, people who have taken the mark of the beast are punished, and the capital of the anti-Christian empire is "Babylon," then the Antichrist and the false prophet, and finally the devil.
The story of the defeat of Babylon is given twice: first in general terms at the end of the 16th chapter, and in more detail in chapters 18-19. Babylon is portrayed as a harlot sitting on a beast. The name Babylon resembles Chaldean Babylon, in which in the Old Testament times the atheist power was concentrated. (Chaldean troops destroyed ancient Jerusalem in 586 BC). When describing the luxury of a "harlot," the Apostle John had in mind the wealthy Rome with its port city. But many features of apocalyptic Babylon do not apply to ancient Rome and obviously refer to the capital of the Antichrist.
Equally mysterious is the explanation of the angel at the end of chapter 17 about the "mystery of Babylon" in details relating to the Antichrist and his kingdom. These details are likely to be understood in the future when the time is right. Some allegories are taken from the description of Rome, which stood on seven hills, and its theomachous emperors. "Five kings (heads of the beast) fell" - these are the first five Roman emperors - from Julius Caesar to Claudius. The sixth head is Nero, the seventh is Vespasian. "And the beast, which was and which is not, is the eighth, and (he is) from among the seven" - this is Domitian, who revived Nero in the popular imagination. He is the antichrist of the first century. But, probably, the symbolism of the 17th chapter will receive a new explanation during the time of the last antichrist.
The trial of Babylon, the antichrist and the false prophet (ch. 18-19)
The seer in vivid and vivid colors paints a picture of the fall of the capital of the atheist state, which he calls Babylon. This description is similar to the predictions of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah about the death of Chaldean Babylon in 539 BC (Isa. 13-14 chap.; Isa. 21: 9; Jer. 50-51 chap.). There are many similarities between the past and future centers of world evil. The punishment of the antichrist (the beast) and the false prophet is especially described. As we have already said, the "beast" is both the definite personality of the last theomachist and, at the same time, the personification of all theomachist power in general. A false prophet is the last false prophet (assistant to the antichrist), as well as the personification of any pseudo-religious and perverted church authority.
It is important to understand that in the story of the punishment of Babylon, the Antichrist, the false prophet (in ch. 17-19). and the devil (in chapter 20), the apostle John follows not a chronological, but a principled method of presentation, which we will now explain.
Taken together, Scripture teaches that the atheist kingdom will end its existence at the time of the Second Coming of Christ, and then the Antichrist and the false prophet will perish. The terrible judgment of God over the world will take place in the order of increasing guilt of the accused. (“The time for judgment to begin with the house of God. If it begins with us first, what is the end of those who disobey the word of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17; Matt. 25: 31-46). sinners, then - the conscious enemies of God, and finally - the main culprits of all iniquity in the world - demons and the devil). In this order, the Apostle John also narrates about the judgment of the enemies of God in chapters 17-20. At the same time, the apostle precedes the judgment of each category of the guilty (apostates, antichrist, false prophet and, finally, the devil) by describing their guilt. Therefore, the impression arises that first Babylon will be destroyed, some time later the Antichrist and the false prophet will be punished, after which the kingdom of the saints will come on earth, and after a very long time the devil will come out to deceive the nations and then he will be punished by God. In reality, the Apocalypse deals with parallel events. This method of exposition of the Apostle John should be taken into account for the correct interpretation of the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse. (See: "The Failure of Chiliasm" in the pamphlet on the end of the world).
1000-year Kingdom of the Saints. Devil's judgment (chapter 20). Raising the Dead and the Last Judgment
The twenty chapter, telling about the kingdom of the saints and about the double defeat of the devil, covers the entire period of the existence of Christianity. It sums up the chapter 12 drama about the dragon's persecution of the Wife-Church. The first time the devil was struck by the death of the Savior on the cross. Then he was deprived of power over the world, “bound” and “imprisoned in the abyss” for 1000 years (ie for a very long time, Rev. 20: 3). "Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out," said the Lord before His sufferings (John 12:31). As we know from the 12th chapter. The Apocalypse and from other places of Holy Scripture, the devil even after the death of the Savior on the cross had the opportunity to tempt the believers and create intrigues for them, but he no longer had power over them. The Lord said to His disciples: "Behold, I give you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19).
Only just before the end of the world, when, as a result of the mass deviation of people from the faith, the "retainer" will be taken from the environment (2 Thess. 2: 7), the devil will again prevail over sinful humanity, but for a short time. Then he will lead the last desperate struggle against the Church (Jerusalem), sending against her hordes of "Gog and Magog," but he will be defeated by Christ a second time and finally ("I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against her" (Matt. 16:18). The hordes of Gog and Magog symbolize the totality of all the godless forces, human and hell, which the devil will unite in his insane war against Christ. Thus, the ever-increasing struggle with the Church throughout history ends in the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse with the complete defeat of the devil and his servants. Chapter 1 summarizes the spiritual side of this struggle and shows its end.
The bright side of the persecution of believers is that, having suffered physically, they spiritually overcame the devil, because they remained faithful to Christ. From the moment of their martyrdom, they reign with Christ and "judge" the world, taking part in the fate of the Church and all mankind. (Therefore, we turn to them for help, and this is where the Orthodox veneration of the saints follows (Rev. 20: 4). The Lord foretold the glorious fate of those suffering for faith: “He who believes in me, even if he dies, will come to life” (John 11:25) ...
The "first resurrection" in the Apocalypse is a spiritual rebirth, which begins from the moment of baptism of a believer, intensifies his Christian deeds and reaches its highest state at the moment of martyrdom for Christ's sake. The promise is related to the spiritually reborn: "The time is coming, and it has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and when they hear they will come to life." The words of the 10th verse of the 20th chapter are concluding: the devil, who deceived people, "was cast into the lake of fire." Thus ends the story of the condemnation of apostates, a false prophet, antichrist and the devil.
The 20th chapter ends with a description of the Last Judgment. Before him, there must be a general resurrection of the dead - a physical one, which the apostle calls the "second" resurrection. All people will be physically resurrected - both the righteous and the sinners. After the general resurrection, "the books were opened ... and the dead were judged according to what was written in the books." Obviously, then, before the throne of the Judge, the spiritual state of each person will be revealed. All dark deeds, evil words, secret thoughts and desires - everything carefully hidden and even forgotten - will suddenly surface and become obvious to everyone. It will be a terrible sight!
As there are two resurrections, so there are two deaths. "The first death" is a state of unbelief and sin, in which people lived who did not accept the Gospel. "The second death" is the doom to eternal alienation from God. This description is very concise, since the apostle has already spoken about the Judgment several times earlier (see: Rev. 6: 12-17; 10: 7; 11:15; 14: 14-20; 16: 17-21; 19:19 -21 and 20: 11-15). Here the apostle sums up the Last Judgment (The prophet Daniel briefly tells about this at the beginning of the 12th chapter). With this brief description, the Apostle John completes the description of the history of mankind and proceeds to describe the eternal life of the righteous.
New Heaven and New Earth. Eternal bliss (21-22 chap.)
The last two chapters of the book of the Apocalypse are the brightest and most joyful pages of the Bible. They describe the blessedness of the righteous on the renewed Earth, where God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of the sufferers, where there will be no more death, no weeping, no outcry, no sickness. Life will begin, which will not end.
So, the book of the Apocalypse was written during the intensified persecution of the Church. Its purpose is to strengthen and comfort believers in the face of the challenges ahead. It reveals the ways and tricks by which the devil and his servants try to destroy the believers; she teaches how to overcome temptations. The book of the Apocalypse calls on believers to be attentive to their state of mind, not to be afraid of suffering and death for Christ's sake. She shows the joyful life of the saints in heaven and calls to unite with them. Believers, although sometimes they have many enemies, have even more defenders in the person of angels, saints and, especially, Christ the Victor.
The book Apocalypse, brighter and more clearly than other books of the Holy Scriptures, reveals the drama of the struggle between evil and good in the history of mankind and shows more fully the triumph of Good and Life.
It is called "Revelation". And "revelation" is the Greek "apocalypse". It is therefore reasonable that the book of Revelation is also called the Apocalypse.
Many people think that the apocalypse is a nuclear war that will completely destroy life on. Also, in some dictionaries, this word is defined as "the end of the world." However, the Greek word for "apocalypse" is mainly rendered as "discovery" or "disclosure." It is for this reason that the last book of the Bible was called "Revelation." It does not just tell about the end of the world inevitable for humanity. This book describes and reveals divine truths about beautiful hope for the future.
Yes, indeed in Scripture the apocalypse is described as a war. But this is the war of Almighty God. And it will not be a nuclear disaster or anything like it. Such a catastrophe implies the complete destruction of life as such. But the biblical book "Revelation" tells believers what kind of war it will be: the war of God with evil and its consequences. Absolutely all of humanity will not be destroyed. Only those people who deliberately sin against God and resist his power, who do evil and rampage will undergo destruction.
How to find the book "Revelation" in the Bible
You can read in detail how the apocalypse will take place, preceding this, what humanity will need to do, can be found in the last book of the Bible. Find the book "Revelation" there. It is the completion of the Bible and therefore is at the end. It is enough just to open the last pages of Scripture.In some translations of the Bible, the translators did not place the "Revelation" last. In order not to have difficulties in searching, it is worth looking into the table of contents and finding the page from which this part begins.
"Revelation" contains 22 chapters. This book is the favorite apostle of Jesus Christ - John. Its writing was completed in AD 98.
It is quite difficult to read and understand the book "Revelation" the first time, because it is written in symbols. While reading this book, you can look at other sources that would help to grasp its meaning.
A Brief Description of the Book of Revelation
This book describes the culmination of the entire biblical story. If the first book of the Bible tells how the first people were deprived of the opportunity to live in wonderful conditions on earth. And the latest Bible book says that people will again have such an opportunity. God really wants us to be happy. Therefore, at the very beginning of this book there are these words: "Happy is he who reads ... the words of this prophecy."The Revelation of John the Evangelist is the last book of the Bible. Its author was one of the disciples of Jesus Christ - the Apostle John. He wrote it around the 90s from being in exile on the island of Patmos.
Revealing God's Mystery
Sometimes this book is called the Apocalypse, because this is how the word “Revelation” sounds in translation from the Greek language. It would be a mistake to think that God's Revelation is contained only in this final book of Holy Scripture. The entire Bible is an initiation into the mysteries of God's purpose. The last book is the completion, a generalization of all Divine truths "sown" in the very first biblical book - Genesis, and consistently developing in the subsequent chapters of the Old, and especially
Prophecies in Scripture
The Revelation of John the Evangelist is also a book of prophecy. The visions that the author received from Christ are mainly of the future. Although in the eyes of God, who exists outside of time, all these events have already occurred and are shown to the seer. Therefore, the narration is carried out using the past tense verbs. This is important if you read Revelation not out of idle curiosity about predictions, but as a part of the Church of Christ, which finally defeated Satan here and became the magnificent New Jerusalem. Believers can exclaim with gratitude: “Glory to the Lord! Everything has already happened. "
Summary of the Revelation of St. John the Divine
The final book of the Bible tells how the Antichrist (the incarnation of Satan) was born on earth, how the Lord Jesus Christ came a second time, how a battle took place between them, and God's enemy was cast into the lake of fire. The revelation of John the Theologian tells how the end of the world and the judgment over all people took place, and how the Church became free from grief, sin and death.
Seven churches
John's first vision was the Son of Man (Jesus Christ) in the midst of seven golden lamps, which symbolize the seven churches. Through the mouth of John, God addresses each of them, characterizing its essence and giving her promises. These seven represent the one Church at different times of its existence. The first, Ephesian - this is its initial stage, the second - in Smyrna - characterizes the Christian church in the period of persecution, the third, Pergamon, corresponds to the times when God's meeting became too mundane. The fourth - in Thyatira - personifies the church that has departed from God's truths, turned into an administrative apparatus. Bible scholars say it fits with the medieval Roman Catholic religious system. While the fifth church in Sardis recalls the reformation, the gathering of believers in Philadelphia symbolizes the return to the truth that all who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ are members of His Universal Church. The seventh, Laodicean, represents the times when the believers "died out" in their zeal, became: "not cold and not hot." Such a church makes Christ sick, he is ready to “vomit out of his mouth” (Rev. 3:16).
Who is around the throne
From the fourth chapter, the Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse) tells about the throne seen in heaven with the Lamb (Jesus Christ) sitting on it, surrounded by 24 elders and 4 animals worshiping Him. Elders denote angels, and animals - living beings on earth. The one who looks like a lion symbolizes wild animals, like a calf - livestock. The one with the "face of a man" represents humanity, and the one like the eagle represents the kingdom of birds. There are no reptiles and animals living in the water, because they will not be in the coming kingdom of God either. The Redeemer is worthy to remove the seven seals from the time-sealed scroll.
Seven seals and seven trumpets
First seal: a white horse with a rider symbolizes the gospel. The second seal - a red horse with a rider means countless wars. The third - a black horse and its rider foreshadow hungry times, the fourth - a pale horse with its rider signifies the spread of death. The fifth seal is the cry of the martyrs for revenge, the sixth is anger, sorrow, warning to the living. And, finally, the seventh seal opens with silence, and then with a loud praise of the Lord and the fulfillment of His plan. Seven angels sounded seven trumpets, judging the earth, waters, luminaries, over living people. The seventh trumpet proclaims the eternal kingdom of Christ, the judgment of the dead, the reward of the prophets.
Great drama
From the 12th chapter, the Revelation of John the Theologian shows the events that are destined to happen next. The Apostle sees the Woman, clothed in the sun, who suffers in childbirth, she is persecuted by the Woman - the type of the church, the child - Christ, the dragon - Satan. The baby is raptured to God. There is a war between the devil and the archangel Michael. God's enemy is cast down to earth. The dragon drives the woman and others "from her seed."
Three harvests
Then the seer tells of two beasts that emerged from the sea (Antichrist) and from the earth (the False Prophet). This is the devil's attempt to seduce the inhabitants of the earth. The deceived people accept the number of the beast - 666. Further, it is said about three symbolic harvests, personifying the one hundred and forty-four thousand righteous men ascended to God before the great tribulation, the righteous who heeded the gospel during the time of sorrow and were caught up to God for this. The third harvest is the Gentiles cast into the "crush of the fury of God." Angels appear, carrying the Gospel to the people, announcing the fall of Babylon (the symbol of sin), warning those who worship the beast and have accepted its seal.
End of old times
These visions are followed by images of the pouring out of the seven bowls of anger on the unrepentant Earth. Satan deceives sinners to go into battle with Christ. Armageddon takes place - the last battle, after which the "ancient serpent" was thrown into the abyss and imprisoned there for a thousand years. Then John shows how the chosen saints have ruled the earth with Christ for a thousand years. Then Satan was released to deceive the nations, the last rebellion of people who did not submit to God, the judgment of the living and the dead, and the final death of Satan and his followers in the lake of fire take place.
God's plan came true
New Heaven and New Earth are presented in the last two chapters of the Revelation of John the Theologian. The interpretation of this part of the book goes back to the idea that God's kingdom - Heavenly Jerusalem - descends to Earth, and not vice versa. The holy city, saturated with God's nature, becomes the dwelling place of God and His redeemed people. Here the river of water of life flows and grows the very thing that Adam and Eve once neglected, and therefore were torn away from him.
The Apocalypse (or in translation from Greek - Revelation) of St. John the Theologian is the only prophetic book of the New Testament. It predicts the future destinies of humanity, the end of the world and the beginning of eternal life, and therefore, naturally, is placed at the end of Holy Scripture.
The Apocalypse is a mysterious and difficult to understand book, but at the same time it is the mysterious nature of this book that attracts the eyes of both believing Christians and simply inquisitive thinkers trying to unravel the meaning and significance of the visions described in it. There are a huge number of books about the Apocalypse, among which there are many works with all sorts of nonsense, in particular this applies to modern sectarian literature.
Despite the difficulty of understanding this book, the spiritually enlightened fathers and teachers of the Church have always regarded it with great reverence as a book inspired by God. Thus, Saint Dionysius of Alexandria writes: “The darkness of this book does not prevent one from being surprised at it. And if I do not understand everything in it, it is only because of my inability. I cannot be the judge of the truths contained in it, and measure them by the poverty of my mind; guided more by faith than by reason, I find them only surpassing my understanding. " Blessed Jerome says about the Apocalypse in the same way: “It contains as many secrets as words. But what am I saying? Any praise for this book will be below her dignity. "
During the service, the Apocalypse is not read because in ancient times the reading of the Holy Scripture during the service was always accompanied by an explanation of it, and the Apocalypse is very difficult to explain.
The author of the apocalypse calls himself John (Rev. 1: 1, 4 and 9; 22: 8). According to the common opinion of the holy fathers of the Church, this was the Apostle John, the beloved disciple of Christ, who received the distinctive name “Theologian. " Its authorship is confirmed both by the data in the Apocalypse itself, and by many other internal and external signs. The Gospel and three Epistles of the Council also belong to the inspired pen of the Apostle John the Theologian. The author of the Apocalypse says that he was on the island of Patmos "for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 1: 9). From church history it is known that of the apostles only St. John the Theologian was imprisoned on this island.
The proof of the authorship of the Apocalypse ap. John the Theologian is the similarity of this book with his Gospel and the Epistles, not only in spirit, but also in syllable, and, especially, in some characteristic expressions. So, for example, the apostolic preaching is called here "testimony" (Rev. 1: 2, 9; 20: 4; see: John 1: 7; 3:11; 21:24; 1 John 5: 9-11) ... The Lord Jesus Christ is called “the Word” (Rev. 19:13; see: John 1: 1, 14 and 1 John 1: 1) and “Lamb” (Rev. 5: 6 and 17:14; see: John 1:36). The prophetic words of Zechariah: “and they will look upon Him, whom they pierced” (12:10), both in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse are quoted in the same way according to the Greek translation of the “Seventy Interpreters” (Rev. 1: 7 and John 19:37). Some differences between the language of the Apocalypse and other books of the Apostle John are explained both by the difference in content and by the circumstances of the origin of the writings of the holy Apostle. Saint John, a Jew by birth, although he was fluent in the Greek language, being imprisoned far from the living spoken Greek, naturally imposed the influence of his native language on the Apocalypse. For the open-minded reader of the Apocalypse, it is obvious that all its content bears the imprint of the great spirit of the Apostle of love and contemplation.
All ancient and later patristic testimonies are recognized as the author of the Apocalypse of St. John the Theologian. His disciple Saint Papias of Hieropolis calls the writer of the Apocalypse "the elder John," as the apostle himself calls himself in his epistles (2 John 1: 1 and 3 John 1: 1). Also important is the testimony of Saint Justin Martyr, who lived in Ephesus even before his conversion to Christianity, where the Apostle John had lived for a long time before him. Many holy fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries cite passages from the Apocalypse as from a divinely inspired book belonging to the pen of St. John the Theologian. One of them was Saint Hippolytus, Pope of Rome, who wrote an apology for the Apocalypse, a disciple of Irenaeus of Lyons. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen also acknowledge the holy Apostle John as the author of the Apocalypse. The later Church Fathers are equally convinced of this: the Monk Ephraim the Syrian, Epiphanius, Basil the Great, Ilarius, Athanasius the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Didim, Ambrose of Mediolan, Blessed Augustine and Blessed Jerome. Canon 33 of the Carthaginian Council, attributing the Apocalypse to Saint John the Theologian, places it among the other canonical books of Holy Scripture. Especially valuable is the testimony of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons regarding the author's belonging of the Apocalypse to Saint John the Theologian, since Saint Irenaeus was a disciple of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, who in turn was a disciple of Saint John the Theologian, leading the Church of Smyrna under his apostolic leadership.
The ancient tradition dates the writing of the Apocalypse to the end of the 1st century. For example, Saint Irenaeus writes: "The Apocalypse appeared not long before this and almost in our time, at the end of the reign of Domitian." The historian Eusebius (the beginning of the 4th century reports that contemporary pagan writers mention the exile of the Apostle John to Patmos for testifying to the Divine Word, referring this event to the 15th year of the reign of Domitian. (Reigned 81-96 years after Christmas Christ).
Thus, the Apocalypse was written at the end of the first century, when each of the seven churches of Asia Minor, to which St. John turns, already had its own history and, in one way or another, a definite direction of religious life. Christianity with them was no longer in the first stage of purity and truth, and false Christianity was already trying to compete with the true one. Obviously, the work of the Apostle Paul, who preached for a long time in Ephesus, was a matter of the distant past.
Church writers of the first 3 centuries also agree in indicating the place of writing of the Apocalypse, which they recognize the island of Patmos, mentioned by the Apostle himself, as the place where he received revelations (Rev. 1: 9). Patmos is located in the Aegean Sea, south of the city of Ephesus and was a place of exile in ancient times.
In the first lines of the Apocalypse, Saint John indicates the purpose of writing the revelation: to predict the fate of the Church of Christ and the whole world. The mission of the Church of Christ was to revive the world through Christian preaching, to plant true faith in God in the souls of people, to teach them to live righteously, to show them the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. But not all people accepted Christian preaching favorably. Already in the first days after Pentecost, the Church faced enmity and conscious resistance to Christianity - first from the Jewish priests and scribes, then from the unbelieving Jews and pagans.
Already in the first year of Christianity, the bloody persecution of the preachers of the Gospel began. Gradually, this persecution began to take on an organized and systematic form. Jerusalem was the first center of the struggle against Christianity. Starting in the middle of the first century, Rome, led by the emperor Nero (reigned in 54-68 after the birth of Christ), joined the hostile camp. Persecution began in Rome, where many Christians shed their blood, including the chief apostles Peter and Paul. Since the end of the first century, the persecution of Christians has intensified. Emperor Domitian orders the systematic persecution of Christians, first in Asia Minor, and then in other parts of the Roman Empire. The Apostle John the Theologian, summoned to Rome and thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, remained unharmed. Domitian exiles the Apostle John to the island of Patmos, where the Apostle receives a revelation about the fate of the Church and the whole world. With short interruptions, the bloody persecution of the Church continued until 313, when Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan on freedom of religion.
In view of the beginning of the persecution, the Apostle John writes the Apocalypse to Christians in order to comfort them, instruct and strengthen them. He reveals the secret intentions of the enemies of the Church, whom he personifies in the beast that came out of the sea (as a representative of a hostile secular power) and in the beast that came out of the earth - a false prophet, as a representative of a hostile pseudo-religious power. He also discovers the main leader of the struggle against the Church - the devil, this ancient dragon, who groups the godless forces of mankind and directs them against the Church. But the suffering of believers is not in vain: through faithfulness to Christ and patience, they receive a well-deserved reward in Heaven. At the time determined by God, forces hostile to the Church will be judged and punished. After the Last Judgment and the punishment of the wicked, eternal blissful life will begin.
The purpose of writing the Apocalypse is to depict the forthcoming struggle of the Church with the forces of evil; show the methods by which the devil, with the assistance of his servants, fights against good and truth; provide guidance to believers on how to overcome temptation; depict the death of the enemies of the Church and the final victory of Christ over evil.
The Apocalypse has always attracted the attention of Christians, especially at a time when various calamities and temptations began to excite social and church life with greater force. Meanwhile, the imagery and mystery of this book makes it very difficult to understand, and therefore for careless interpreters there is always a risk of going beyond the boundaries of truth to unrealizable hopes and beliefs. So, for example, the literal understanding of the images of this book gave rise and now continues to give rise to a false teaching about the so-called "chiliasm" - the millennial kingdom of Christ on earth. The horrors of persecution experienced by Christians in the first century and interpreted in the light of the Apocalypse gave some reason to believe that “the last times” had come and the second coming of Christ was near. This opinion arose already in the first century.
Over the past 20 centuries, many interpretations of the Apocalypse of the most diverse nature have appeared. All these interpreters can be divided into four categories. Some of them attribute the visions and symbols of the Apocalypse to the “last times” - the end of the world, the appearance of the Antichrist and the Second Coming of Christ. Others give the Apocalypse a purely historical significance and limit its vision to historical events of the first century: persecution of Christians by pagan emperors. Still others try to find the realization of apocalyptic predictions in the historical events of their time. In their opinion, for example, the Pope is the Antichrist and all apocalyptic calamities are proclaimed, in fact, for the Roman Church, etc. The fourth, finally, see in the Apocalypse only an allegory, believing that the visions described in it have not so much prophetic as moral meaning. As we will see below, these points of view on the Apocalypse do not exclude, but complement each other.
The Apocalypse can only be correctly understood in the context of the entire Holy Scriptures. A feature of many prophetic visions - both Old Testament and New Testament - is the principle of combining several historical events in one vision. In other words, spiritually related events, separated from one another by many centuries and even millennia, merge into one prophetic picture that combines events from different historical eras.
An example of such a synthesis of events is the Savior's prophetic conversation about the end of the world. In it, the Lord speaks simultaneously about the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place 35 years after His crucifixion, and about the time before His second coming. (Matt. 24th chapter; Mr. 13th chapter; Luke 21st chapter. The reason for such a combination of events is that the first illustrates and explains the second.
Often, Old Testament predictions speak simultaneously of a beneficial change in human society in the New Testament time and of a new life in the Kingdom of Heaven. In this case, the first serves as the beginning of the second (Isa. (Isaiah) 4: 2-6; Isa. 11: 1-10; Is. 26, 60 and 65; Jer. (Jeremiah) 23: 5-6; Jer. 33: 6-11; Hab. (Habakkuk) 2:14; Sof. (Zephaniah) 3: 9-20). Old Testament prophecies about the destruction of Chaldean Babylon speak at the same time about the destruction of the kingdom of Antichrist (Isa. 13-14 and 21 ch.; Jer. 50-51 ch.). There are many similar examples of the merging of events in one prediction. This method of combining events on the basis of their internal unity is used in order to help a believer understand the essence of events on the basis of what he already knows, leaving aside secondary and non-explanatory historical details.
As we will see below, the Apocalypse consists of a series of multi-layered compositional visions. The seer shows the future in the perspective of the past and the present. So, for example, the multi-headed beast in 13-19 chap. - this is the Antichrist himself and his predecessors: Antiochus Epiphanes, so vividly described by the prophet Daniel and in the first two Maccabean books, - these are the Roman emperors Nero and Domitian, who persecuted the apostles of Christ, as well as the subsequent enemies of the Church.
Two witnesses of Christ in the 11th chap. - these are the denunciators of the antichrist (Enoch and Elijah), and their prototypes are the apostles Peter and Paul, as well as all the preachers of the Gospel who carry out their mission in a world hostile to Christianity. The false prophet in the 13th chapter is the personification of all those who plant false religions (Gnosticism, heresies, Mohammedanism, materialism, Hinduism, etc.), among which the most prominent representative will be the false prophet of the time of Antichrist. To understand why the Apostle John united various events and different people in one image, one must take into account that he wrote the Apocalypse not only for his contemporaries, but for Christians of all times, who were to endure similar persecution and sorrow. The Apostle John reveals common methods of deception, and also shows the sure way to avoid them in order to be faithful to Christ until death.
Likewise, the judgment of God, about which the Apocalypse speaks repeatedly, is the Last Judgment of God and all the private judgments of God over individual countries and people. This includes the trial of all mankind under Noah, and the trial of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah under Abraham, and the trial of Egypt under Moses, and the two-time trial of Judah (six centuries before Christ and again in the seventies of our era), and the trial over ancient Nineveh, Babylon, over the Roman Empire, over Byzantium and, more recently, over Russia. The reasons that caused God's righteous punishment were always the same: people's unbelief and lawlessness.
There is a certain timelessness in the Apocalypse. It follows from the fact that the Apostle John contemplated the fate of mankind not from an earthly, but from a heavenly perspective, where the Spirit of God led him. In an ideal world, the flow of time stops at the throne of the Almighty, and the present, the past and the future appear at the same time before the spiritual gaze. Obviously, therefore, the author of the Apocalypse describes some future events as past, and the past as present. For example, the war of angels in Heaven and the overthrow of the devil from there are events that happened even before the creation of the world, described by the Apostle John, as if they happened at the dawn of Christianity (Rev. Ch. 12). The resurrection of the martyrs and their reign in Heaven, which covers the entire New Testament era, is placed by them after the trial of the Antichrist and the false prophet (Rev. 20 ch.). Thus, the viewer does not tell about the chronological sequence of events, but reveals the essence of that great war between good and evil, which is going on simultaneously on several fronts and covers both the material and the angelic world.
There is no doubt that some of the predictions of the Apocalypse have already come true (for example, regarding the fate of the seven churches of Asia Minor). The fulfilled predictions should help us understand the remaining ones that have yet to be fulfilled. However, when applying the visions of the Apocalypse to certain specific events, it must be borne in mind that such visions contain elements of different eras. Only with the end of the fate of the world and the punishment of the last enemies of God, all the details of the apocalyptic visions will be realized.
The Apocalypse was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The correct understanding of it is most of all hindered by the departure of people from the faith and a truly Christian life, which always leads to a dullness, if not a complete loss of spiritual sight. The complete devotion of modern man to sinful passions is the reason that some modern interpreters of the Apocalypse want to see in it only one allegory, and even the Second Coming of Christ itself is taught to understand allegorically. Historical events and faces of our time convince us that to see only one allegory in the Apocalypse means to be spiritually blind, so much of what is happening now resembles terrible images and visions of the Apocalypse.
The method of presenting the Apocalypse is shown in the table attached here. As can be seen from it, the apostle simultaneously reveals to the reader several spheres of being. To the highest sphere belongs the Angelic world, the Church triumphant in Heaven, and the Church persecuted on earth. This sphere of good is headed and directed by the Lord Jesus Christ - the Son of God and the Savior of people. Below is the sphere of evil: the unbelieving world, sinners, false teachers, conscious fighters against God and demons. They are led by a dragon - a fallen angel. Throughout the entire existence of mankind, these spheres have been at war with each other. The Apostle John in his visions gradually reveals to the reader the different sides of the war between good and evil and reveals the process of spiritual self-determination in people, as a result of which some of them take the side of good, others - on the side of evil. During the development of the world conflict, the Judgment of God is constantly performed on individuals and nations. Before the end of the world, evil will increase excessively, and the earthly Church will become extremely weakened. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will come to earth, all people will be resurrected, and the Last Judgment of God will be over the world. The devil and his supporters will be condemned to eternal torment, while for the righteous, eternal, blessed life in Paradise will begin.
On sequential reading, the Apocalypse can be divided into the following parts.
An introductory picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who appeared, commanding John to write down the Revelation to the seven churches of Asia Minor (1st chapter).
Letters to the 7 churches of Asia Minor (chapters 2 and 3), in which, simultaneously with the instructions to these churches, the fate of the Church of Christ is traced - from the apostolic age to the end of the world.
The vision of God sitting on the throne, the Lamb and heavenly worship (chapters 4 and 5). This worship is complemented by visions in the chapters that follow.
The disclosure of the fate of mankind begins from the 6th chapter. The opening by the Lamb-Christ of the seven seals of the mysterious book serves as the beginning of the description of the different phases of the war between good and evil, between the Church and the devil. This war, which begins in the human soul, spreads to all aspects of human life, intensifies and becomes more and more terrible (up to the 20th chapter).
The voices of the seven angelic trumpets (chapters 7-10) announce the initial calamities that must befall people for their unbelief and sins. Damage to nature and the appearance of evil forces in the world are described. Before the onset of disasters, believers receive a blessed seal on their foreheads, which keeps them from moral evil and from the fate of the wicked.
The vision of the seven signs (chapters 11-14) shows humanity divided into two opposing and irreconcilable camps - good and evil. The good forces are concentrated in the Church of Christ, represented here in the form of the Woman, clothed in the sun (12th chapter), and the evil - in the kingdom of the beast-antichrist. The beast that came out of the sea is a symbol of evil secular power, and the beast that came out of the earth is a symbol of decayed religious power. In this part of the Apocalypse, for the first time, a conscious, extra-worldly evil creature is clearly revealed - the dragon-devil, who organizes and directs the war against the Church. The two witnesses of Christ here symbolize the preachers of the Gospel who fight with the beast.
The visions of the seven bowls (chapters 15-17) paint a grim picture of worldwide moral decay. The war against the Church becomes extremely tense (Armageddon) (Rev. 16:16), the trials become unbearably difficult. The image of Babylon the harlot depicts mankind apostate from God, concentrated in the capital of the kingdom of the antichrist beast. Evil power extends its influence to all areas of the life of sinful humanity, after which God's judgment over the powers of evil begins (here God's judgment over Babylon is described in general terms, as an introduction).
The following chapters (18-19) describe the judgment of Babylon in detail. It also shows the death of the perpetrators of evil among people - the Antichrist and the false prophet - representatives of both civil and heretical anti-Christian authorities.
Chapter 20 summarizes spiritual warfare and world history. She talks about the double defeat of the devil and the reign of the martyrs. Having suffered physically, they won spiritually and are already blissful in Heaven. It covers the entire period of the Church's existence, starting from the apostolic times. Gog and Magog personify the totality of all the theomachic forces, earthly and hell, who fought against the Church (Jerusalem) throughout Christian history. They are destroyed by the second coming of Christ. Finally, the devil is also subjected to eternal punishment, this ancient serpent, which laid the foundation for all iniquities, untruths and suffering in the Universe. The end of the 20th chapter tells about the general resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment and the punishment of the wicked. This short description summarizes the Last Judgment of humanity and the fallen angels and summarizes the drama of the universal war between good and evil.
The final two chapters (21-22) describe the new Heaven, the new Earth, and the blissful life of the saved. These are the brightest and most joyful chapters in the Bible.
Each new section of the Apocalypse usually begins with the words: "And I saw ..." - and ends with a description of the judgment of God. This description marks the end of the previous topic and the beginning of a new one. Between the main departments of the Apocalypse, the viewer sometimes inserts intermediate pictures that serve as a link between them. The table given here clearly shows the plan and sections of the Apocalypse. For the sake of compactness, we have combined the intermediate pictures together with the main ones. Going horizontally according to the given table, we see how the following areas are gradually revealed with greater completeness: Heavenly world; Church persecuted on earth; sinful and theomachous world; the underworld; war between them and the judgment of God.
Meaning of symbols and numbers. Symbols and allegories enable the viewer to talk about the essence of world events at a high level of generalization, so he makes wide use of them. So, for example, the eyes symbolize knowledge, many eyes - perfect knowledge. The horn is a symbol of power, power. Long robe denotes the priesthood; a crown is a royal dignity; whiteness - purity, purity; the city of Jerusalem, the temple and Israel - symbolize the Church. Numbers also have a symbolic meaning: three - symbolizes the Trinity, four - a symbol of peace and world order; seven means completeness and perfection; twelve - the people of God, the fullness of the Church (numbers derived from 12 have the same meaning, like 24 and 144,000). One third means some relatively small part. Three and a half years is a time of persecution. The number 666 will be specifically mentioned later in this brochure.
New Testament events are often depicted against the backdrop of homogeneous Old Testament events. For example, the calamities of the Church are described against the background of the suffering of the Israelites in Egypt, the temptation under the prophet Balaam, the persecution by the Queen Jezebel and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; the salvation of believers from the devil is depicted against the background of the salvation of the Israelites from Pharaoh under the prophet Moses; the godless power is represented in the form of Babylon and Egypt; the punishment of the atheist forces is depicted in the language of 10 Egyptian executions; the devil is identified with the serpent that seduced Adam and Eve; future heavenly bliss is depicted in the form of the Garden of Eden and the tree of life.
The main task of the author of the Apocalypse is to show how evil forces act, who organizes and directs them in the struggle against the Church; instruct and strengthen believers in faithfulness to Christ; show the complete defeat of the devil and his servants and the beginning of paradise bliss.
With all the symbolism and mystery of the Apocalypse, religious truths are revealed in it very clearly. So, for example, the Apocalypse points to the devil as the culprit of all the temptations and calamities of mankind. The tools with which he tries to destroy people are always the same: disbelief, disobedience to God, pride, sinful desires, lies, fear, doubts, etc. Despite all his cunning and experience, the devil is not able to destroy people who are devoted to God with all their hearts, because God protects them by His grace. The devil enslaves himself more and more apostates and sinners and pushes them into all sorts of abominations and crimes. He directs them against the Church and with their help produces violence and starts wars in the world. The Apocalypse clearly shows that in the end the devil and his servants will be defeated and punished, the righteousness of Christ will triumph, and a blessed life will come in the renewed world, which will not end.
Having thus made a cursory review of the content and symbolism of the Apocalypse, let us now dwell on some of its most important parts.
Letters to the Seven Churches (Ch. 2-3).
Seven churches - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea - were located in the southwestern part of Asia Minor (now Turkey). They were founded by the apostle Paul in the 40s of the first century. After his martyrdom in Rome around the year 67, the Apostle John the Theologian took charge of these churches, who cared for them for about forty years. Having found himself in captivity on the island of Patmos, the Apostle John wrote letters to these churches from there in order to prepare Christians for the impending persecution. The letters are addressed to the "angels" of these churches, i.e. bishops.
A careful study of the epistles to the seven churches of Asia Minor suggests that the destinies of the Church of Christ are inscribed in them, from the apostolic age to the time of the end of the world. At the same time, the forthcoming path of the New Testament Church, this "New Israel," is depicted against the background of the most important events in the life of Old Testament Israel, starting with the fall in Paradise and ending with the time of the Pharisees and Sadducees under the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle John uses Old Testament events as prototypes for the fate of the New Testament Church. Thus, three elements are intertwined in the letters to the seven churches:
B) a new, deeper interpretation of the Old Testament history; and
C) the future destinies of the Church.
The combination of these three elements in the letters to the seven churches is summarized in the table attached here.
Notes: The Ephesian church was the most populous, and had metropolitan status in relation to neighboring churches in Asia Minor. In the 431st year, the 3rd Ecumenical Council took place in Ephesus. Gradually, the lamp of Christianity in the Ephesian church went out, as the apostle John predicted. Pergamum was the political center of the western part of Asia Minor. It was dominated by paganism, with a lavish cult of deified pagan emperors. On a mountain near Pergamum, a pagan monument-altar, referred to in the Apocalypse as "the throne of Satan" (Rev. 2:13), stood majestically. The Nicolaites are ancient Gnostic heretics. Gnosticism was a dangerous temptation for the Church in the first centuries of Christianity. A fertile ground for the development of Gnostic ideas was the syncretic culture that arose in the empire of Alexander the Great, uniting East and West. The religious attitude of the East, with its belief in the eternal struggle between good and evil, spirit and matter, body and soul, light and darkness, in combination with the speculative method of Greek philosophy, gave rise to various Gnostic systems, which were characterized by the idea of the emanational origin of the world from the Absolute and about the multitude of intermediate levels of creation that connect the world with the Absolute. Naturally, with the spread of Christianity in the Hellenistic environment, there was a danger of its presentation in Gnostic terms and the transformation of Christian piety into one of the religious-philosophical Gnostic systems. Jesus Christ was perceived by the Gnostics as one of the mediators (eons) between the Absolute and the world.
One of the first disseminators of Gnosticism among Christians was someone named Nicholas - hence the name "Nicolaitans" in the Apocalypse. (It is believed that this was Nicholas, who, among the other six chosen men, was ordained by the apostles to the deacon's degree, see: Acts 6: 5). By distorting the Christian faith, the Gnostics encouraged moral licentiousness. Several Gnostic sects flourished in Asia Minor beginning in the middle of the first century. The apostles Peter, Paul and Jude warned Christians not to fall into the snares of these heretic lewd people. Prominent representatives of Gnosticism were the heretics Valentine, Marcion, and Basilides, who were opposed by the apostolic men and the early Church Fathers.
Ancient Gnostic sects have long disappeared, but Gnosticism as a fusion of heterogeneous philosophical and religious schools still exists in our time in Theosophy, Kabbalah, Freemasonry, modern Hinduism, yoga and other cults.
A vision of heavenly worship (chap. 4-5).
The Apostle John received revelation on the "Day of the Lord," that is, on Sunday. It should be assumed that, according to the apostolic custom, on this day he performed “the breaking of bread,” that is, Divine Liturgy and received Communion, therefore he “was in the Spirit,” that is experienced a special inspired state, (Rev. 1:10).
And so, the first thing that he deserves to see is, as it were, the continuation of the divine service he performed - the heavenly Liturgy. The Apostle John describes this service in the 4th and 5th chapters of the Apocalypse. The Orthodox person recognizes here the familiar features of the Sunday Liturgy and the most important accessories of the altar: a throne, a seven-branched candlestick, a censer with smoking incense, a golden cup, etc. (These objects, shown to Moses on Mount Sinai, were also used in the Old Testament temple). The slain Lamb seen by the Apostle in the middle of the throne reminds the believer of the Communion, under the guise of bread lying on the throne; the souls of those killed for the word of God under the heavenly throne - an antimension with particles of the relics of the holy martyrs sewn into it; elders in light robes and with golden crowns on their heads - a host of clergymen who celebrate the Divine Liturgy in conciliarity. It is noteworthy here that even the exclamations and prayers themselves heard by the Apostle in Heaven express the essence of the prayers that the clergymen and singers say during the main part of the Liturgy - the Eucharistic Canon. The making of the righteous their garments by the "Blood of the Lamb" is reminiscent of the sacrament of Communion, through which believers sanctify their souls.
Thus, the apostle begins to reveal the fate of mankind with a description of the heavenly Liturgy, thereby emphasizing the spiritual significance of this Divine service and the need for the prayers of the saints for us.
Notes. The words "Lion from the tribe of Judah" refer to the Lord Jesus Christ and recall the prophecy of the patriarch Jacob about the Messiah (Gen. 49: 9-10), "The Seven Spirits of God" - the fullness of the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit, (see: Isa. 11: 2 and Zech. 4th ch.). Many eyes - symbolize omniscience. The twenty-four elders correspond to the twenty-four priestly orders established by King David for serving in the temple - two intercessors for each tribe of New Israel (1 Chron. 24: 1-18). The four mysterious animals that surround the throne are like the animals seen by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1: 5-19). They seem to be the beings closest to God. These faces - a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle - are taken by the Church as the emblems of the four Evangelists.
In the further description of the mountain world, there are many incomprehensible to us. From the Apocalypse we learn that the angelic world is immensely great. Disembodied spirits - angels, like people, are endowed by the Creator with reason and free will, but their spiritual abilities are many times superior to ours. Angels are completely devoted to God and serve Him by prayer and the fulfillment of His will. For example, they raise the prayers of the saints to the throne of God (Rev. 8: 3-4), help the righteous in achieving salvation (Rev. 7: 2-3; 14: 6-10; 19: 9), sympathize with the suffering and persecuted (Rev. 8:13; 12:12), according to the command of God, sinners are punished (Rev. 8: 7; 9:15; 15: 1; 16: 1). They are endowed with power and have power over nature and its elements (Rev. 10: 1; 18: 1). They wage war with the devil and his demons (Rev. 12: 7-10; 19: 17-21; 20: 1-3), take part in the judgment of the enemies of God (Rev. 19: 4).
The doctrine of the Apocalypse about the angelic world fundamentally subverts the doctrine of the ancient Gnostics, who recognized intermediate beings (eons) between the Absolute and the material world, who completely independently and independently of Him rule the world.
Among the saints whom the Apostle John sees in Heaven, there are two groups, or "faces:" these are martyrs and virgins. Historically, martyrdom is the first kind of holiness, and therefore the apostle begins with martyrs (6: 9-11). He sees their souls under the heavenly altar, which symbolizes the redemptive significance of their suffering and death, with which they participate in the sufferings of Christ and, as it were, complement them. The blood of the martyrs is likened to the blood of the Old Testament sacrifices, which flowed down under the altar of the Jerusalem temple. The history of Christianity testifies that the sufferings of the ancient martyrs served to the moral renewal of the decrepit pagan world. The ancient writer Tertulian wrote that the blood of the martyrs serves as a seed for new Christians. The persecution of believers will either subside or intensify during the further existence of the Church, and therefore it was revealed to the secret viewer that the new martyrs would have to supplement the number of the former.
Later, the Apostle John sees in Heaven a huge number of people whom no one could count - from all tribes, and tribes, and peoples, and languages; they stood in white robes with palm branches in their hands (Rev. 7: 9-17). What this innumerable host of righteous people have in common is that "they came from great tribulation." For all people, the path to Paradise is the same - through sorrow. Christ is the first Sufferer who took upon Himself the sins of the world as the Lamb of God. Palm branches are a symbol of victory over the devil.
In a special vision, the seer describes virgins, i.e. people who have given up the pleasures of marriage for the sake of the whole service of Christ. (Voluntary "eunuchs" for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, see about this: Matt. 19:12; Rev. 14: 1-5. In the Church, this feat was often carried out in monasticism). The Seer sees on the foreheads (forehead) of virgins written "the name of the Father," which indicates their moral beauty, reflecting the perfection of the Creator. The “new song,” which they sing and which no one can repeat, is an expression of the spiritual height that they have reached through the exploits of fasting, prayer and chastity. This purity is beyond the reach of the people of the worldly way of life.
The song of Moses, sung by the righteous in the next vision (Rev. 15: 2-8), resembles the thanksgiving hymn that the Israelites sang when, having crossed the Red Sea, they were saved from Egyptian bondage (Ex. 15 ch.). Likewise, New Testament Israel is saved from the power and influence of the devil, passing into a grace-filled life through the sacrament of baptism. In subsequent visions, the seer describes the saints several times. The “fine linen” (precious linen garment) in which they are clothed is a symbol of their righteousness. In the 19th chapter of the Apocalypse, the marriage song of the saved speaks of the approaching "marriage" between the Lamb and the saints, i.e. about the onset of the closest communion between God and the righteous, (Rev. 19: 1-9; 21: 3-4). The book of Revelation ends with a description of the blessed life of the saved nations (Rev. 21: 24-27; 22: 12-14 and 17). These are the brightest and most joyful pages in the Bible, showing the triumphant Church in the Kingdom of glory.
Thus, as the fate of the world is revealed in the Apocalypse, the Apostle John gradually directs the spiritual gaze of believers to the Kingdom of Heaven - to the ultimate goal of earthly wandering. He seems to be forced and reluctant to speak about the dark events in the sinful world.
Removal of seven seals.
The vision of the four horsemen (6th chap.).
The vision of the seven seals is the introduction to the subsequent revelations of the Apocalypse. The opening of the first four seals reveals the four horsemen who symbolize the four factors that characterize the entire history of mankind. The first two factors are the cause, the second two are the effect. The crowned rider on a white horse "came out to conquer." He personifies those good beginnings, natural and gracious, which the Creator put into a person: the image of God, moral purity and innocence, striving for goodness and perfection, the ability to believe and love, and individual "talents" with which a person is born, as well as gracious gifts Of the Holy Spirit, which he receives in the Church. According to the Creator's thought, these good principles should have “overcome”, i.e. determine the happy future of humanity. But man, already in Eden, succumbed to the temptation of the tempter. Nature, damaged by sin, passed on to his descendants; therefore, people are prone to sin from an early age. From repeated sins, evil inclinations are further intensified in them. So a person, instead of spiritually growing and improving, falls under the destructive action of his own passions, indulges in various sinful desires, begins to envy and enmity. All crimes in the world (violence, wars and all kinds of disasters) arise from internal discord in a person.
The destructive action of passions is symbolized by the red horse and rider who took the world away from people. Yielding to his erratic sinful desires, a person squanders the talents given to him by God, becomes poor physically and spiritually. In public life, however, enmity and wars lead to the weakening and decay of society, to the loss of its spiritual and material resources. This internal and external impoverishment of humanity is symbolized by a black horse with a rider holding a measure (or scales) in his hand. Finally, the complete loss of God's gifts leads to spiritual death, and the ultimate consequence of enmity and wars is the death of people and the disintegration of society. This sad fate of people is symbolized by the pale horse.
The four apocalyptic horsemen outline the history of mankind in the most general terms. First - the blissful life in Eden of our ancestors, called to "reign" over nature (white horse), then - their fall (red horse), after which the life of their descendants was filled with various calamities and mutual destruction (black and pale horses). Apocalyptic horses also symbolize the life of individual states with their periods of prosperity and decline. Here is the life path of each person - with his childish purity, naivety, great potential, which are darkened by a stormy youth, when a person wastes his strength, health and eventually dies. Here is the history of the Church: the spiritual fervor of Christians in apostolic times and the efforts of the Church to renew human society; the emergence of heresies and schisms in the Church itself, and the persecution of the Church by pagan society. The church weakens, goes into the catacombs, and some local churches disappear altogether.
Thus, the vision of the four horsemen summarizes the factors that characterize the life of sinful humanity. Subsequent chapters of the Apocalypse will develop this topic deeper. But by removing the fifth seal, the seer also shows the bright side of human misery. Christians, having suffered physically, have overcome spiritually; now they are in Paradise! (Rev. 6: 9-11) Their feat brings them an eternal reward, and they reign with Christ, as described in the 20th chapter. The transition to a more detailed description of the calamities of the Church and the strengthening of the godless forces is marked by the lifting of the seventh seal.
Seven pipes.
The imprinting of the chosen ones.
The beginning of disasters and the defeat of nature (7-11 chap.).
Angelic trumpets foreshadow calamities for humanity, both physical and spiritual. But before the beginning of the disasters, the Apostle John sees an angel laying a seal on the foreheads of the sons of New Israel (Rev. 7: 1-8). "Israel" is the New Testament Church here. The imprinting symbolizes the chosenness and grace-filled patronage. This vision is reminiscent of the sacrament of Confirmation, during which the “seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit” is placed on the forehead of the newly baptized. It also reminds us of the sign of the cross, the ones who are protected by which "resist the enemy." People who are not protected by the blessed seal are harmed by the "locust" that came out of the abyss, that is, from the devilish power, (Rev. 9: 4). The prophet Ezekiel describes a similar imprinting of the righteous citizens of ancient Jerusalem before it was taken by the Chaldean hordes. Then, as well as now, the mysterious seal was placed in order to save the righteous from the fate of the wicked (Ezek. 9: 4). When the 12 tribes (tribes) of Israel are enumerated by name, the tribe of Dan is deliberately omitted. Some see this as an indication of the origin of the Antichrist from this tribe. This opinion is based on the mysterious words of the patriarch Jacob regarding the future of Dan's descendants: “a serpent on the way, a viper on the way” (Gen. 49:17).
Thus, this vision serves as an introduction to the subsequent description of the persecution of the Church. Measurement of the temple of God in the 11th chap. has the same meaning as the sealing of the sons of Israel: the preservation of the children of the Church from evil. The Temple of God, like the Wife clothed in the sun, and the city of Jerusalem are different symbols of the Church of Christ. The main idea of these visions is that the Church is holy and dear to God. God allows persecution for the sake of moral improvement of believers, but protects them from enslavement to evil and from the same fate with the fighters against God.
Before the opening of the seventh seal, there is silence “as if for half an hour,” (Rev. 8: 1). It is the silence before the storm that will stir the world in the time of Antichrist. (The modern process of disarmament as a result of the collapse of communism is not a break that is given to people to turn to God?). Before the onset of disasters, the Apostle John sees the saints fervently praying for mercy on people (Rev. 8: 3-5).
Disasters in nature. Following this, the trumpet sounds of each of the seven angels are heard, after which various disasters begin. First, a third of the vegetation perishes, then a third of fish and other sea creatures, followed by the poisoning of rivers and water sources. The fall of hail and fire, a flaming mountain and a luminous star to the ground, apparently, allegorically indicates the enormous dimensions of these disasters. Is this not a prediction of global pollution and destruction of nature, which is observed today? If so, then the ecological catastrophe foreshadows the coming of the Antichrist. More and more defiling the image of God in themselves, people cease to appreciate and love His wonderful world. With their waste they pollute lakes, rivers and seas; spilled oil affects huge coastal spaces; destroy forests and jungles, exterminate many species of animals, fish and birds. From the poisoning of nature, both the guilty themselves and the innocent victims of their cruel greed fall ill and die. The words: "The name of the third star is wormwood ... And many of the people died from the waters, because they became bitter" remind of the Chernobyl disaster, because "Chernobyl" means wormwood. But what does the defeat of the third part of the sun and stars and their eclipse mean? (Rev. 8:12). Obviously, here we are talking about air pollution to such a state where sunlight and starlight, reaching the earth, seems less bright. (For example, due to air pollution, the sky in Los Angeles usually looks dirty brown in color, while at night there are almost no stars above the city, except for the brightest).
The story of the locust (the fifth trumpet, (Rev. 9: 1-11)), which came out of the abyss, speaks of the strengthening of demonic power among people. It is headed by "Apollyon," which means "destroyer" - the devil. As people lose the grace of God with their unbelief and sins, the spiritual emptiness that forms in them is more and more filled with demonic power, which torments them with doubts and various passions.
Apocalyptic wars. The trumpet of the sixth angel sets in motion a huge army across the Euphrates River, from which a third of the people perish (Rev. 9: 13-21). In the biblical view, the Euphrates River marks the line behind which the nations hostile to God are concentrated, threatening Jerusalem with war and extermination. For the Roman Empire, the Euphrates River served as a bulwark against the attack of the eastern peoples. The ninth chapter of the Apocalypse is written against the backdrop of the cruel and bloody Judeo-Roman war of 66-70 AD, which is still fresh in the memory of the Apostle John. This war had three phases (Rev. 8:13). The first phase of the war, in which Gasius Florus led the Roman forces, lasted five months, from May to September 66 (five locust months, Rev. 9: 5 and 10). Soon the second phase of the war began, from October to November 66, in which the Syrian governor Cestius led four Roman legions (four angels at the Euphrates River, Rev. 9:14). This phase of the war was especially devastating for the Jews. The third phase of the war, led by Flavian, lasted three and a half years - from April 67th to September 70th, and ended with the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple and the dispersion of the captured Jews across the Roman Empire. This bloody Roman-Jewish war became a prototype of the terrible wars of the last times, which the Savior pointed out in His conversation on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 24: 7).
The attributes of the infernal locust and the Euphrates horde can be recognized as modern weapons of mass destruction - tanks, cannons, bombers and nuclear missiles. Further chapters of the Apocalypse describe all the intensifying wars of the end times (Rev. 11: 7; 16: 12-16; 17:14; 19: 11-19 and 20: 7-8). The words "the river Euphrates dried up, so that the way for the kings from the rising of the sun was ready" (Rev. 16:12) may indicate a "yellow danger." It should be borne in mind that the description of apocalyptic wars has the features of real wars, but ultimately refers to spiritual war, and proper names and numbers have an allegorical meaning. This is how the Apostle Paul explains: “Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spirits of wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). The name Armageddon is composed of two words: "Ar" (in Hebrew - plain) and "Megiddo" (area in the north of the Holy Land, near Mount Carmel, where in ancient times Barak defeated the army of Sisera, and the prophet Elijah destroyed more than five hundred priests of Baal), ( Rev. 16:16 & 17:14; Judges 4: 2-16; 1 Kings 18:40). In the light of these biblical events, Armageddon symbolizes the defeat of the God-fighting forces by Christ. The names Gog and Magog in ch. 20 recall the prophecy of Ezekiel about the invasion of Jerusalem of countless hordes led by Gog from the land of Magog (in the south of the Caspian Sea), (Ezekiel 38-39; Rev. 20: 7-8). Ezekiel dates this prophecy to messianic times. In the Apocalypse, the besieging of the “camp of saints and the city of the beloved” (ie the Church) by the hordes of Gog and Magog and the extermination of these hordes by heavenly fire must be understood in the sense of the complete defeat of the atheist forces, human and demonic, by the Second Coming of Christ.
As for the physical calamities and punishments of sinners, often mentioned in the Apocalypse, the viewer himself explains that God allows them to be admonished in order to bring sinners to repentance (Rev. 9:21). But the apostle notes with sorrow that people do not heed the call of God, they continue to sin and serve demons. They, as if "biting the bit," rush to their own death.
A vision of two witnesses (11: 2-12). The 10th and 11th chapters are intermediate between the visions of the 7 trumpets and the 7 signs. In the two witnesses of God, some holy fathers see the Old Testament righteous Enoch and Elijah (Or Moses and Elijah). It is known that Enoch and Elijah were taken alive to Heaven (Gen. 5:24; 4 Kings 2:11), and before the end of the world they will come to earth to expose the falsity of Antichrist and call people to faithfulness to God. The executions that these witnesses will bring on people resemble the miracles performed by the prophets Moses and Elijah (Ex. 7-12 chap.; 1 Kings 17: 1; 4 Kings 1:10). For the Apostle John, the prototypes of the two apocalyptic witnesses could have been the apostles Peter and Paul, who had recently suffered in Rome from Nero. Apparently, the two witnesses in the Apocalypse symbolize other witnesses of Christ, spreading the Gospel in a hostile pagan world and often stamping their sermon with a martyr's death. The words “Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was also crucified” (Rev. 11: 8), indicate the city of Jerusalem, in which the Lord Jesus Christ suffered, many prophets and early Christians. (Some suggest that during the time of the Antichrist, Jerusalem will become the capital of the world state. However, they provide an economic justification for this opinion).
Seven signs (12-14 chap.).
Church and kingdom of the beast.
The further, the clearer the viewer reveals to the readers the division of humanity into two opposite camps - the Church and the kingdom of the beast. In the previous chapters, the apostle John began to introduce readers to the Church, talking about the sealed, the Jerusalem temple, and the two witnesses, and in chapter 12 he shows the Church in all her heavenly glory. At the same time, he identifies her main enemy - the devil-dragon. The vision of the Woman, clothed in the sun, and the dragon makes it obvious that the war between good and evil goes beyond the material world and extends to the world of angels. The Apostle shows that in the world of disembodied spirits there is a conscious evil being who, with desperate persistence, is waging a war against God's faithful angels and people. This war of good and evil, permeating the entire existence of mankind, began in the angelic world before the creation of the material world. As we have already said, the viewer describes this war in different parts of the Apocalypse, not in its chronological sequence, but in different fragments, or phases.
The vision of the Woman reminds the reader of God's promise to Adam and Eve about the Messiah (the Seed of the Woman), who will erase the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). One would think that in the 12th chapter the Wife refers to the Virgin Mary. However, from the further narrative, which speaks of other descendants of the Wife (Christians), it is clear that here the Wife must mean the Church. The woman's sunshine symbolizes the moral perfection of the saints and the grace-filled illumination of the Church with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The twelve stars symbolize the twelve tribes of New Israel - i.e. the totality of Christian nations. The torment of the Wife during childbirth symbolizes the exploits, hardships and sufferings of the servants of the Church (prophets, apostles and their successors), suffered by them when spreading the Gospel in the world and when establishing Christian virtues among their spiritual children. (“My children, for whom I am again in the throes of birth, until Christ is portrayed in you,” the Apostle Paul said to the Galatian Christians (Galatians 4:19)).
The firstborn of the Wife, “Who was to rule all nations with an iron rod,” is the Lord Jesus Christ (Ps. 2: 9; Rev. 12: 5 and 19:15). He is the New Adam who has become the head of the Church. The “rapture” of the Infant, obviously, indicates the ascension of Christ to Heaven, where He sat down “at the right hand of the Father” and since then rules the destinies of the world.
“The dragon with his tail pulled away from Heaven a third of the stars and threw them to the ground,” (Rev. 12: 4). By these stars, the interpreters understand the angels whom the proud Devil-Dennitsa rebelled against God, as a result of which a war took place in Heaven. (This was the first revolution in the universe!). Archangel Michael took the floor at the head of the good angels. The angels who rebelled against God were defeated and could not stay in Heaven. Having fallen away from God, they turned from good angels to demons (demons). Their underworld kingdom, called the abyss or hell, became a place of darkness and suffering. According to the holy fathers, the war described here by the Apostle John took place in the angelic world even before the creation of the material world. It is cited here in order to explain to the reader that the dragon, which will persecute the Church in further visions of the Apocalypse, is the fallen Dennitsa - the primordial enemy of God.
So, having been defeated in Heaven, the dragon with all its fury takes up arms against the Woman-Church. His weapons are many different temptations, which he casts on the Woman like a stormy river. But she saves herself from temptation by fleeing into the desert, that is, by voluntary abandonment of the benefits and comforts of life, with which the dragon tries to captivate her. The two wings of the Wife are prayer and fasting, by which Christians are spiritualized and made inaccessible to the dragon crawling on the earth like a serpent (Gen. 3:14; Mark 9:29). (It should be remembered that from the first centuries many zealous Christians had literally moved into the desert, leaving noisy cities full of temptations. Christians have no idea. ”Monasticism flourished in the East in the 4-7 centuries, when in the desert places of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor many monasteries were formed, numbering hundreds and thousands of monks and nuns. From the Middle East monasticism spread to Athos, and from there - to Russia, where in pre-revolutionary times there were more than a thousand monasteries and sketes).
Note. The expression "time, times and half a time" - 1260 days or 42 months (Rev. 12: 6-15) - corresponds to three and a half years and symbolically denotes a period of persecution. The Savior's public ministry lasted three and a half years. For about the same time, the persecution of believers continued under King Antiochus Epiphanes, emperors Nero and Domitian. At the same time, the numbers in the Apocalypse should be understood allegorically.
The beast that came out of the sea, and the beast that came out of the land.
(Rev. 13-14 chapters).
Most of the holy fathers understand the Antichrist as the “beast from the sea”, and the false prophet by the “beast from the earth”. The sea symbolizes the unbelieving mass of people, always agitated and overwhelmed by passions. From the further narration about the beast and from the parallel narration of the prophet Daniel (Dan. 7-8 chap.). it should be concluded that the "beast" is the entire theomachous empire of the antichrist. In appearance, the dragon-devil and the beast that came out of the sea, to which the dragon transferred its power, are similar to each other. Their external attributes speak of their dexterity, cruelty and moral ugliness. The heads and horns of the beast symbolize the godless states that make up the anti-Christian empire, as well as their rulers ("kings"). The message about the fatal wound of one of the heads of the beast and about its healing is mysterious. In due time, the events themselves will shed light on the meaning of these words. The historical basis for this allegory could be the conviction of many contemporaries of the Apostle John that the slain Nero came to life and that he would soon return with the Parthian troops (located across the Euphrates River (Rev. 9:14 and 16:12)) to take revenge on his enemies. There may be here an indication of the partial defeat of the theomachy paganism by the Christian faith and the revival of paganism during the period of general apostasy from Christianity. Others see here an indication of the defeat of God-fighting Judaism in the 70s of our era. “They are not Jews, but a congregation of Satan,” the Lord said to John (Rev. 2: 9; 3: 9). (See more about this in our brochure "Christian Doctrine of the End of the World").
Note. There are similarities between the beast of the Apocalypse and the four beasts of the prophet Daniel, who personified the four ancient pagan empires (Dan. 7th chapter). The fourth beast belonged to the Roman Empire, and the tenth horn of the last beast meant the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes - the prototype of the coming Antichrist, whom the archangel Gabriel called "despicable" (Dan. 11:21). The characteristics and deeds of the apocalyptic beast also have much in common with the tenth horn of the prophet Daniel, (Dan. 7: 8-12; 20-25; 8: 10-26; 11: 21-45). The first two Maccabean books serve as a vivid illustration of the times before the end of the world.
Then the viewer describes the beast that came out of the earth, which he later calls the false prophet. The earth here symbolizes the complete absence of spirituality in the teaching of the false prophet: everything is saturated with materialism and pleasing sin-loving flesh. The false prophet deceives people with false miracles and makes them worship the first beast. “He had two horns like a lamb, and spoke like a dragon” (Rev. 13:11), - that is, he looked meek and peaceful, but his speeches were filled with flattery and lies.
As in the 11th chapter, two witnesses symbolize all the servants of Christ, so, obviously, the two beasts of the 13th chapter. symbolize the totality of all haters of Christianity. The beast from the sea is a symbol of civil godless power, and the beast from the earth is the totality of false teachers and any perverted church power. (In other words, the Antichrist will come from a civilian environment, under the guise of a civil leader, preached and praised by false prophets or false prophets who have betrayed their religious beliefs).
Just as during the time of the Savior's earthly life, both these powers, civil and religious, in the person of Pilate and the Jewish high priests united in condemning Christ to be crucified, so throughout the history of mankind, these two powers often unite in the struggle against faith and for the persecution of believers. As already mentioned, the Apocalypse describes not only the distant future, but also constantly repeating - for different peoples at one time. And the Antichrist is also his own for all, appearing during the time of anarchy, when "the one who held him is taken." Examples: the prophet Balaam and the Moabite king; Queen Jezebel and her priests; false prophets and princes before the destruction of Israel and later Jews, “apostates from the holy covenant” and king Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 8:23; 1 Mac. and 2 Mac. 9 chap.), adherents of the Mosaic law and Roman rulers in apostolic times. In New Testament times, heretical false teachers weakened the Church by their schisms and thereby contributed to the conquering successes of the Arabs and Turks, who flooded and ruined the Orthodox East; Russian free-thinkers and populists prepared the ground for the revolution; modern false teachers seduce unstable Christians into various sects and cults. All of them are false prophets who contribute to the success of the godless forces. The apocalypse vividly reveals the mutual support between the dragon-devil and both beasts. Here, each of them has their own selfish calculations: the devil longs to worship himself, the Antichrist seeks power, and the false prophet seeks his material gain. The Church, calling people to faith in God and to the strengthening of virtues, serves as a hindrance to them, and they jointly fight against it.
The mark of the beast.
(Rev. 13: 16-17; 14: 9-11; 15: 2; 19:20; 20: 4). In the language of the Holy Scriptures, to wear a seal (or mark) on oneself means belonging or subordination to someone. We have already said that the seal (or the name of God) on the foreheads of believers means their God's chosenness and, therefore, God's protection over them, (Rev. 3:12; 7: 2-3; 9: 4; 14: 1; 22: 4). The activities of the false prophet, described in the 13th chapter of the Apocalypse, convinces that the kingdom of the beast will be of a religious and political nature. By creating an alliance of different states, it will simultaneously plant a new religion instead of the Christian faith. Therefore, submitting to the Antichrist (allegorically, to take the seal of the beast on your forehead or on your right hand) will be tantamount to renouncing Christ, which will entail the deprivation of the Kingdom of Heaven. (The symbolism of the seal is drawn from the custom of antiquity, when warriors burned the names of their leaders on their hands or on their foreheads, and slaves - voluntarily or forcibly - took the seal of the name of their master. Pagans, devoted to some deity, often wore a tattoo of this deity) ...
The possibility is not excluded that in the time of the Antichrist an improved computer registration will be introduced, similar to modern bank cards. The improvement will consist in the fact that the computer code invisible to the eye will not be printed on a plastic card, as it is now, but directly on the human body. This code, readable by an electronic or magnetic “eye,” will be transmitted to a central computer, which will store all information about this person, personal and financial. Thus, the establishment of personal codes directly in public will replace the need for money, passports, visas, tickets, checks, credit cards and other personal documents. Thanks to the individual coding, all monetary transactions - receiving salaries and paying off debts - can be carried out directly in the computer. In the absence of money, the robber will have nothing to take from the person. The state, in principle, will be able to control crime more easily, since the movements of people will be known to it thanks to the central computer. It seems that in such a positive aspect this personal coding system will be proposed. In practice, it will also be used for religious and political control over people, when “no one will be allowed to buy or sell except for the one who has this mark” (Rev. 13:17).
Of course, the thought expressed here about stamping codes on humans is speculation. The point is not in electromagnetic signs, but in fidelity or betrayal of Christ! Throughout the history of Christianity, pressure on believers from the anti-Christian government took various forms: making a formal sacrifice to an idol, accepting Mohammedanism, joining an atheist or anti-Christian organization. In the language of the Apocalypse, this is the acceptance of the "mark of the beast:" the acquisition of temporary advantages at the cost of renouncing Christ.
The number of the beast is 666.
(Rev. 13:18). The meaning of this number is still a mystery. Obviously, it will lend itself to deciphering when the very circumstances favor it. Some interpreters in the number 666 see a decrease in the number 777, which in turn means threefold perfection, completeness. With this understanding of the symbolism of this number, the Antichrist, striving in everything to show his superiority over Christ, in fact, in everything will turn out to be imperfect. In ancient times, the calculation of a name was based on the fact that the letters of the alphabets had a numerical meaning. For example, in Greek (and in Church Slavonic) "A" was equal to 1, B = 2, G = 3, etc. A similar numerical meaning of letters exists in Latin and Hebrew. Each name could be calculated arithmetically by adding the numerical value of the letters. For example, the name Jesus, written in Greek, is 888 (possibly denoting supreme perfection). There are a huge number of proper names, which, by the sum of their letters translated into numbers, give 666. For example, the name Nero Caesar, written in Hebrew letters. In this case, if the proper name of the Antichrist was known, then it would not require special wisdom to calculate its numerical value. Maybe here it is necessary to look for a solution to the riddle on a principled plane, but it is not clear in what direction. The beast of the Apocalypse is both the Antichrist and his state. Perhaps during the time of the Antichrist, the initials will be introduced, denoting a new worldwide movement? By the will of God, the personal name of the Antichrist is for the time being hidden from idle curiosity. When the time comes, those who follow will decipher it.
Speaking image of the beast.
It is difficult to understand the meaning of the words about the false prophet: “And it was given to him to put a spirit in the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast spoke and acted so that everyone who would not worship the image of the beast would be killed” (Rev. 13:15). The reason for this allegory could have been the requirement of Antiochus Epiphanes that the Jews bow to the statue of Jupiter erected by him in the Jerusalem temple. Later, the emperor Domitian demanded that all the inhabitants of the Roman Empire bow to his image. Domitian was the first emperor to demand divine veneration for himself during his lifetime and to be called "our Lord and God." Sometimes, for a greater impression, priests hid behind the statues of the emperor, who spoke from there on his behalf. Christians who did not bow to the image of Domitian were ordered to be executed, but to give gifts to those who bowed. Maybe in the prophecy of the Apocalypse we are talking about some kind of apparatus like a TV, which will transmit the image of the Antichrist and at the same time monitor how people react to it. In any case, in our time, films and television are widely used to inculcate anti-Christian ideas, to accustom people to cruelty and vulgarity. Daily indiscriminate watching TV kills the good and the holy in a person. Isn't the TV the forerunner of the talking image of the beast?
Seven bowls.
Strengthening the godless power.
The judgment of sinners (15-17 chap.).
In this part of the Apocalypse, the viewer describes the kingdom of the beast, which reached its apogee of power and control over people's lives. Apostasy from the true faith embraces almost all of humanity, and the Church reaches extreme exhaustion: “And it was given to him to wage war with the saints and to overcome them” (Rev. 13: 7). To encourage the believers who remained faithful to Christ, the Apostle John lifts their gaze to the heavenly world and shows a great crowd of righteous people who, like the Israelites who were saved from Pharaoh under Moses, sing a song of victory (Ex. 14-15 chap.).
But as the end of the power of the pharaohs came, so the days of anti-Christian rule were numbered. The next chapters (chapters 16-20). in bright strokes, they draw God's judgment over the theomists. The defeat of nature in the 16th ch. similar to the description in chapter 8, but here it reaches worldwide proportions and makes a terrifying impression. (As before, obviously, the destruction of nature is carried out by people themselves - by wars and industrial waste). The increased heat from the sun, from which people suffer, may be associated with the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere and the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to the Savior's prediction, in the last year before the end of the world, living conditions will become so unbearable that “if God had not shortened those days, no flesh would have been saved” (Matt. 24:22).
The description of judgment and punishment in chapters 16-20 of the Apocalypse follows the order of increasing guilt of God's enemies: first, people who have taken the mark of the beast are punished, and the capital of the anti-Christian empire is "Babylon," then the Antichrist and the false prophet, and finally the devil.
The story of the defeat of Babylon is given twice: first in general terms at the end of the 16th chapter, and in more detail in chapters 18-19. Babylon is portrayed as a harlot sitting on a beast. The name Babylon resembles Chaldean Babylon, in which in the Old Testament times the atheist power was concentrated. (Chaldean troops destroyed ancient Jerusalem in 586 BC). When describing the luxury of a "harlot," the Apostle John had in mind the wealthy Rome with its port city. But many features of apocalyptic Babylon do not apply to ancient Rome and obviously refer to the capital of the Antichrist.
Equally mysterious is the explanation of the angel at the end of chapter 17 about the "mystery of Babylon" in details relating to the Antichrist and his kingdom. These details are likely to be understood in the future when the time is right. Some allegories are taken from the description of Rome, which stood on seven hills, and its theomachous emperors. "Five kings (heads of the beast) fell" - these are the first five Roman emperors - from Julius Caesar to Claudius. The sixth head is Nero, the seventh is Vespasian. "And the beast, which was and which is not, is the eighth, and (he is) from among the seven" - this is Domitian, who revived Nero in the popular imagination. He is the antichrist of the first century. But, probably, the symbolism of the 17th chapter will receive a new explanation during the time of the last antichrist.
Babylon's judgment
Antichrist and false prophet (18-19 chap.).
The seer in vivid and vivid colors paints a picture of the fall of the capital of the atheist state, which he calls Babylon. This description is similar to the predictions of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah about the death of Chaldean Babylon in 539 BC (Isa. 13-14 chap.; Isa. 21: 9; Jer. 50-51 chap.). There are many similarities between the past and future centers of world evil. The punishment of the antichrist (the beast) and the false prophet is especially described. As we have already said, the "beast" is both the definite personality of the last theomachist and, at the same time, the personification of any general theomachic power. A false prophet is the last false prophet (assistant to the antichrist), as well as the personification of any pseudo-religious and perverted church authority.
It is important to understand that in the story of the punishment of Babylon, the Antichrist, the false prophet (in ch. 17-19). and the devil (in chapter 20), the apostle John follows not a chronological, but a principled method of presentation, which we will now explain.
Taken together, Scripture teaches that the atheist kingdom will end its existence at the time of the Second Coming of Christ, and then the Antichrist and the false prophet will perish. The terrible judgment of God over the world will take place in the order of increasing guilt of the accused. (“The time for judgment to begin with the house of God. If it begins with us first, then what is the end of those who disobey the word of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17; Matt. 25: 31-46) Believers will be judged first, then unbelievers, and sinners, then - the conscious enemies of God, and finally - the main culprits of all iniquity in the world - demons and the devil). In this order, the Apostle John also narrates about the judgment of the enemies of God in chapters 17-20. At the same time, the apostle precedes the judgment of each category of the guilty (apostates, antichrist, false prophet and, finally, the devil) by describing their guilt. Therefore, the impression arises that first Babylon will be destroyed, some time later the Antichrist and the false prophet will be punished, after which the kingdom of the saints will come on earth, and after a very long time the devil will come out to deceive the nations and then he will be punished by God. In reality, the Apocalypse deals with parallel events. This method of exposition of the Apostle John should be taken into account for the correct interpretation of the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse. (See: "Chiliasm Failure" in the pamphlet on the end of the world).
1000-year Kingdom of the Saints.
Devil's judgment (chapter 20).
Raising the Dead and the Last Judgment.
The twenty chapter, telling about the kingdom of the saints and about the double defeat of the devil, covers the entire period of the existence of Christianity. It sums up the chapter 12 drama about the dragon's persecution of the Wife-Church. The first time the devil was struck by the death of the Savior on the cross. Then he was deprived of power over the world, “chained” and “imprisoned in the abyss” for 1000 years (ie for a very long time, Rev. 20: 3). “Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out, ”said the Lord before His sufferings (John 12:31). As we know from the 12th chapter. The Apocalypse and from other places of Holy Scripture, the devil even after the death of the Savior on the cross had the opportunity to tempt the believers and create intrigues for them, but he no longer had power over them. The Lord said to His disciples: “Behold, I give you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19).
Only just before the end of the world, when, as a result of the mass deviation of people from the faith, the “retainer” will be taken from the environment (2 Thess. 2: 7), the devil will again prevail over sinful humanity, but for a short time. Then he will lead the last desperate struggle against the Church (Jerusalem), sending against her hordes of "Gog and Magog," but will be defeated by Christ a second time and finally ("I will create my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against her" (Matt. 16:18). The hordes of Gog and Magog symbolize the totality of all the godless forces, human and hell, which the devil will unite in his insane war against Christ. Thus, the ever-increasing struggle with the Church throughout history ends in the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse with the complete defeat of the devil and his servants. Chapter 1 summarizes the spiritual side of this struggle and shows its end.
The bright side of the persecution of believers is that, having suffered physically, they spiritually overcame the devil, because they remained faithful to Christ. From the moment of their martyrdom, they reign with Christ and "judge" the world, taking part in the fate of the Church and all mankind. (Therefore, we turn to them for help, and from this follows the Orthodox veneration of the saints (Rev. 20: 4). The Lord foretold the glorious fate of those who suffered for the faith: “He who believes in me, even if he dies, will come to life” (John 11:25) ...
The “first resurrection” in the Apocalypse is a spiritual rebirth that begins from the moment of baptism of a believer, intensifies his Christian deeds and reaches its highest state at the moment of martyrdom for Christ's sake. The promise is related to the spiritually reborn: "The time is coming and it is already when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and when they hear they will come to life." The words of the 10th verse of the 20th chapter are the final words: the devil, who deceived people, "was cast into the lake of fire." Thus ends the story of the condemnation of apostates, a false prophet, antichrist and the devil.
The 20th chapter ends with a description of the Last Judgment. Before him, there must be a general resurrection of the dead - a physical one, which the apostle calls the "second" resurrection. All people will be physically resurrected - both the righteous and the sinners. After the general resurrection, "the books were opened ... and the dead were judged according to what was written in the books." Obviously, then, before the throne of the Judge, the spiritual state of each person will be revealed. All dark deeds, evil words, secret thoughts and desires - everything carefully hidden and even forgotten - will suddenly surface and become obvious to everyone. It will be a terrible sight!
As there are two resurrections, so there are two deaths. “The first death” is a state of unbelief and sin, in which people lived who did not accept the Gospel. “The second death” is the doom to eternal alienation from God. This description is very concise, since the apostle has already spoken about the Judgment several times earlier (see: Rev. 6: 12-17; 10: 7; 11:15; 14: 14-20; 16: 17-21; 19:19 -21 and 20: 11-15). Here the apostle sums up the Last Judgment (The prophet Daniel briefly tells about this at the beginning of the 12th chapter). With this brief description, the Apostle John completes the description of the history of mankind and proceeds to describe the eternal life of the righteous.
New Heaven and New Earth.
Eternal bliss (21-22 chap.).
The last two chapters of the book of the Apocalypse are the brightest and most joyful pages of the Bible. They describe the blessedness of the righteous on the renewed Earth, where God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of the sufferers, where there will be no more death, no weeping, no outcry, no sickness. Life will begin, which will not end.
Conclusion.
So, the book of the Apocalypse was written during the intensified persecution of the Church. Its purpose is to strengthen and comfort believers in the face of the challenges ahead. It reveals the ways and tricks by which the devil and his servants try to destroy the believers; she teaches how to overcome temptations. The book of the Apocalypse calls on believers to be attentive to their state of mind, not to be afraid of suffering and death for Christ's sake. She shows the joyful life of the saints in heaven and calls to unite with them. Believers, although sometimes they have many enemies, have even more defenders in the person of angels, saints and, especially, Christ the Victor.
The book Apocalypse, brighter and more clearly than other books of the Holy Scriptures, reveals the drama of the struggle between evil and good in the history of mankind and shows more fully the triumph of Good and Life.
The Apocalypse (or in translation from Greek - Revelation) of St. John the Theologian is the only prophetic book of the New Testament. It predicts the future destinies of humanity, the end of the world and the beginning of eternal life, and therefore, naturally, is placed at the end of Holy Scripture.
The Apocalypse is a mysterious and difficult to understand book, but at the same time it is the mysterious nature of this book that attracts the eyes of both believing Christians and simply inquisitive thinkers trying to unravel the meaning and significance of the visions described in it. There are a huge number of books about the Apocalypse, among which there are many works with all sorts of nonsense, in particular this applies to modern sectarian literature.
Despite the difficulty of understanding this book, the spiritually enlightened fathers and teachers of the Church have always regarded it with great reverence as a book inspired by God. Thus, Saint Dionysius of Alexandria writes: “The darkness of this book does not prevent me from being surprised at it. And if I do not understand everything in it, then only by my inability. more by faith than by reason, I find them only surpassing my understanding. " Blessed Jerome speaks in the same way about the Apocalypse: "It contains as many secrets as words. But what am I saying? Any praise for this book will be below her dignity."
During the service, the Apocalypse is not read because in ancient times the reading of the Holy Scripture during the service was always accompanied by an explanation of it, and the Apocalypse is very difficult to explain.
book author
The author of the apocalypse calls himself John (Rev. 1: 1, 4 and 9; 22: 8). According to the common opinion of the holy fathers of the Church, this was the Apostle John, the beloved disciple of Christ, who received the distinctive name "Theologian" for the height of his teaching about God the Word. Its authorship is confirmed both by the data in the Apocalypse itself, and by many other internal and external signs. The Gospel and three Epistles of the Council also belong to the inspired pen of the Apostle John the Theologian. The author of the Apocalypse says that he was on the island of Patmos "for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 1: 9). From church history it is known that of the apostles only St. John the Theologian was imprisoned on this island.
The proof of the authorship of the Apocalypse ap. John the Theologian is the similarity of this book with his Gospel and the Epistles, not only in spirit, but also in syllable, and, especially, in some characteristic expressions. So, for example, the apostolic preaching is called here "testimony" (Rev. 1: 2, 9; 20: 4; see: John 1: 7; 3:11; 21:24; 1 John 5: 9-11) ... The Lord Jesus Christ is called the "Word" (Rev. 19:13; see: John 1: 1, 14 and 1 John 1: 1) and the "Lamb" (Rev. 5: 6 and 17:14; see: John 1:36). The prophetic words of Zechariah: "and they will look upon Him, whom they pierced" (12:10), both in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse are quoted in the same way according to the Greek translation of the "Seventy Interpreters" (Rev. 1: 7 and John 19:37). Some differences between the language of the Apocalypse and other books of the Apostle John are explained both by the difference in content and by the circumstances of the origin of the writings of the holy Apostle. Saint John, a Jew by birth, although he was fluent in the Greek language, being imprisoned far from the living spoken Greek, naturally imposed the influence of his native language on the Apocalypse. For the open-minded reader of the Apocalypse, it is obvious that all its content bears the imprint of the great spirit of the Apostle of love and contemplation.
All ancient and later patristic testimonies are recognized as the author of the Apocalypse of St. John the Theologian. His disciple Saint Papias of Hieropolis calls the writer of the Apocalypse "Elder John," as the apostle himself calls himself in his epistles (2 John 1: 1 and 3 John 1: 1). Also important is the testimony of Saint Justin Martyr, who lived in Ephesus even before his conversion to Christianity, where the Apostle John had lived for a long time before him. Many holy fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries cite passages from the Apocalypse as from a divinely inspired book belonging to the pen of St. John the Theologian. One of them was Saint Hippolytus, Pope of Rome, who wrote an apology for the Apocalypse, a disciple of Irenaeus of Lyons. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen also acknowledge the holy Apostle John as the author of the Apocalypse. The later Church Fathers are equally convinced of this: the Monk Ephraim the Syrian, Epiphanius, Basil the Great, Ilarius, Athanasius the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Didim, Ambrose of Mediolan, Blessed Augustine and Blessed Jerome. Canon 33 of the Carthaginian Council, attributing the Apocalypse to Saint John the Theologian, places it among the other canonical books of Holy Scripture. Especially valuable is the testimony of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons regarding the author's belonging of the Apocalypse to Saint John the Theologian, since Saint Irenaeus was a disciple of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, who in turn was a disciple of Saint John the Theologian, leading the Church of Smyrna under his apostolic leadership.
Time, place and purpose of writing the Apocalypse
The ancient tradition dates the writing of the Apocalypse to the end of the 1st century. For example, Saint Irenaeus writes: "The Apocalypse appeared not long before this and almost in our time, at the end of the reign of Domitian." The historian Eusebius (the beginning of the 4th century reports that contemporary pagan writers mention the exile of the Apostle John to Patmos for testifying to the Divine Word, referring this event to the 15th year of the reign of Domitian. (Reigned 81-96 years after Christmas Christ).
Thus, the Apocalypse was written at the end of the first century, when each of the seven churches of Asia Minor, to which St. John turns, already had its own history and, in one way or another, a definite direction of religious life. Christianity with them was no longer in the first stage of purity and truth, and false Christianity was already trying to compete with the true one. Obviously, the work of the Apostle Paul, who preached for a long time in Ephesus, was a matter of the distant past.
Church writers of the first 3 centuries also agree in indicating the place of writing of the Apocalypse, which they recognize the island of Patmos, mentioned by the Apostle himself, as the place where he received revelations (Rev. 1: 9). Patmos is located in the Aegean Sea, south of the city of Ephesus and was a place of exile in ancient times.
In the first lines of the Apocalypse, Saint John indicates the purpose of writing the revelation: to predict the fate of the Church of Christ and the whole world. The mission of the Church of Christ was to revive the world through Christian preaching, to plant true faith in God in the souls of people, to teach them to live righteously, to show them the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. But not all people accepted Christian preaching favorably. Already in the first days after Pentecost, the Church faced enmity and conscious resistance to Christianity - first from the Jewish priests and scribes, then from the unbelieving Jews and pagans.
Already in the first year of Christianity, the bloody persecution of the preachers of the Gospel began. Gradually, this persecution began to take on an organized and systematic form. Jerusalem was the first center of the struggle against Christianity. Starting in the middle of the first century, Rome, led by the emperor Nero (reigned in 54-68 after the birth of Christ), joined the hostile camp. Persecution began in Rome, where many Christians shed their blood, including the chief apostles Peter and Paul. Since the end of the first century, the persecution of Christians has intensified. Emperor Domitian orders the systematic persecution of Christians, first in Asia Minor, and then in other parts of the Roman Empire. The Apostle John the Theologian, summoned to Rome and thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, remained unharmed. Domitian exiles the Apostle John to the island of Patmos, where the Apostle receives a revelation about the fate of the Church and the whole world. With short interruptions, the bloody persecution of the Church continued until 313, when Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan on freedom of religion.
In view of the beginning of the persecution, the Apostle John writes the Apocalypse to Christians in order to comfort them, instruct and strengthen them. He reveals the secret intentions of the enemies of the Church, whom he personifies in the beast that came out of the sea (as a representative of a hostile secular power) and in the beast that came out of the earth - a false prophet, as a representative of a hostile pseudo-religious power. He also discovers the main leader of the struggle against the Church - the devil, this ancient dragon, who groups the godless forces of mankind and directs them against the Church. But the suffering of believers is not in vain: through faithfulness to Christ and patience, they receive a well-deserved reward in Heaven. At the time determined by God, forces hostile to the Church will be judged and punished. After the Last Judgment and the punishment of the wicked, eternal blissful life will begin.
The purpose of writing the Apocalypse is to depict the forthcoming struggle of the Church with the forces of evil; show the methods by which the devil, with the assistance of his servants, fights against good and truth; provide guidance to believers on how to overcome temptation; depict the death of the enemies of the Church and the final victory of Christ over evil.
Content, plan and symbolism of the Apocalypse
The Apocalypse has always attracted the attention of Christians, especially at a time when various calamities and temptations began to excite social and church life with greater force. Meanwhile, the imagery and mystery of this book makes it very difficult to understand, and therefore for careless interpreters there is always a risk of going beyond the boundaries of truth to unrealizable hopes and beliefs. So, for example, the literal understanding of the images of this book gave rise and now continues to give a reason for the false teaching about the so-called "chiliasm" - the millennial kingdom of Christ on earth. The horrors of persecution experienced by Christians in the first century and interpreted in the light of the Apocalypse gave some reason to believe that the "last times" had come and the second coming of Christ was near. This opinion arose already in the first century.
Over the past 20 centuries, many interpretations of the Apocalypse of the most diverse nature have appeared. All these interpreters can be divided into four categories. Some of them attribute the visions and symbols of the Apocalypse to the "last times" - the end of the world, the appearance of the Antichrist and the Second Coming of Christ. Others give the Apocalypse a purely historical significance and limit its vision to historical events of the first century: persecution of Christians by pagan emperors. Still others try to find the realization of apocalyptic predictions in the historical events of their time. In their opinion, for example, the Pope is the Antichrist and all apocalyptic calamities are proclaimed, in fact, for the Roman Church, etc. The fourth, finally, see in the Apocalypse only an allegory, believing that the visions described in it have not so much prophetic as moral meaning. As we will see below, these points of view on the Apocalypse do not exclude, but complement each other.
The Apocalypse can only be correctly understood in the context of the entire Holy Scriptures. A feature of many prophetic visions - both Old Testament and New Testament - is the principle of combining several historical events in one vision. In other words, spiritually related events, separated from one another by many centuries and even millennia, merge into one prophetic picture that combines events from different historical eras.
An example of such a synthesis of events is the Savior's prophetic conversation about the end of the world. In it, the Lord speaks simultaneously about the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place 35 years after His crucifixion, and about the time before His second coming. (Matt. 24th chapter; Mr. 13th chapter; Luke 21st chapter. The reason for such a combination of events is that the first illustrates and explains the second.
Often, Old Testament predictions speak simultaneously of a beneficial change in human society in the New Testament time and of a new life in the Kingdom of Heaven. In this case, the first serves as the beginning of the second (Isa. (Isaiah) 4: 2-6; Isa. 11: 1-10; Is. 26, 60 and 65; Jer. (Jeremiah) 23: 5-6; Jer. 33: 6-11; Hab. (Habakkuk) 2:14; Sof. (Zephaniah) 3: 9-20). Old Testament prophecies about the destruction of Chaldean Babylon speak at the same time about the destruction of the kingdom of Antichrist (Isa. 13-14 and 21 ch.; Jer. 50-51 ch.). There are many similar examples of the merging of events in one prediction. This method of combining events on the basis of their internal unity is used in order to help a believer understand the essence of events on the basis of what he already knows, leaving aside secondary and non-explanatory historical details.
As we will see below, the Apocalypse consists of a series of multi-layered compositional visions. The seer shows the future in the perspective of the past and the present. So, for example, the multi-headed beast in 13-19 chap. - this is the Antichrist himself and his predecessors: Antiochus Epiphanes, so vividly described by the prophet Daniel and in the first two Maccabean books, - these are the Roman emperors Nero and Domitian, who persecuted the apostles of Christ, as well as the subsequent enemies of the Church.
Two witnesses of Christ in the 11th chap. - these are the denunciators of the antichrist (Enoch and Elijah), and their prototypes are the apostles Peter and Paul, as well as all the preachers of the Gospel who carry out their mission in a world hostile to Christianity. The false prophet in the 13th chapter is the personification of all those who plant false religions (Gnosticism, heresies, Mohammedanism, materialism, Hinduism, etc.), among which the most prominent representative will be the false prophet of the time of Antichrist. To understand why the Apostle John united various events and different people in one image, one must take into account that he wrote the Apocalypse not only for his contemporaries, but for Christians of all times, who were to endure similar persecution and sorrow. The Apostle John reveals common methods of deception, and also shows the sure way to avoid them in order to be faithful to Christ until death.
Likewise, the judgment of God, about which the Apocalypse speaks repeatedly, is the Last Judgment of God and all the private judgments of God over individual countries and people. This includes the trial of all mankind under Noah, and the trial of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah under Abraham, and the trial of Egypt under Moses, and the two-time trial of Judah (six centuries before Christ and again in the seventies of our era), and the trial over ancient Nineveh, Babylon, over the Roman Empire, over Byzantium and, more recently, over Russia. The reasons that caused God's righteous punishment were always the same: people's unbelief and lawlessness.
There is a certain timelessness in the Apocalypse. It follows from the fact that the Apostle John contemplated the fate of mankind not from an earthly, but from a heavenly perspective, where the Spirit of God led him. In an ideal world, the flow of time stops at the throne of the Almighty, and the present, the past and the future appear at the same time before the spiritual gaze. Obviously, therefore, the author of the Apocalypse describes some future events as past, and the past as present. For example, the war of angels in Heaven and the overthrow of the devil from there are events that happened even before the creation of the world, described by the Apostle John, as if they happened at the dawn of Christianity (Rev. Ch. 12). The resurrection of the martyrs and their reign in Heaven, which covers the entire New Testament era, is placed by them after the trial of the Antichrist and the false prophet (Rev. 20 ch.). Thus, the viewer does not tell about the chronological sequence of events, but reveals the essence of that great war between good and evil, which is going on simultaneously on several fronts and covers both the material and the angelic world.
There is no doubt that some of the predictions of the Apocalypse have already come true (for example, regarding the fate of the seven churches of Asia Minor). The fulfilled predictions should help us understand the remaining ones that have yet to be fulfilled. However, when applying the visions of the Apocalypse to certain specific events, it must be borne in mind that such visions contain elements of different eras. Only with the end of the fate of the world and the punishment of the last enemies of God, all the details of the apocalyptic visions will be realized.
The Apocalypse was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The correct understanding of it is most of all hindered by the departure of people from the faith and a truly Christian life, which always leads to a dullness, if not a complete loss of spiritual sight. The complete devotion of modern man to sinful passions is the reason that some modern interpreters of the Apocalypse want to see in it only one allegory, and even the Second Coming of Christ itself is taught to understand allegorically. Historical events and faces of our time convince us that to see only one allegory in the Apocalypse means to be spiritually blind, so much of what is happening now resembles terrible images and visions of the Apocalypse.
The method of presenting the Apocalypse is shown in the table attached here. As can be seen from it, the apostle simultaneously reveals to the reader several spheres of being. To the highest sphere belongs the Angelic world, the Church triumphant in Heaven, and the Church persecuted on earth. This sphere of good is headed and directed by the Lord Jesus Christ - the Son of God and the Savior of people. Below is the sphere of evil: the unbelieving world, sinners, false teachers, conscious fighters against God and demons. They are led by a dragon - a fallen angel. Throughout the entire existence of mankind, these spheres have been at war with each other. The Apostle John in his visions gradually reveals to the reader the different sides of the war between good and evil and reveals the process of spiritual self-determination in people, as a result of which some of them take the side of good, others - on the side of evil. During the development of the world conflict, the Judgment of God is constantly performed on individuals and nations. Before the end of the world, evil will increase excessively, and the earthly Church will become extremely weakened. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will come to earth, all people will be resurrected, and the Last Judgment of God will be over the world. The devil and his supporters will be condemned to eternal torment, while for the righteous, eternal, blessed life in Paradise will begin.
On sequential reading, the Apocalypse can be divided into the following parts.
An introductory picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who appeared, commanding John to write down the Revelation to the seven churches of Asia Minor (1st chapter).
Letters to the 7 churches of Asia Minor (chapters 2 and 3), in which, simultaneously with the instructions to these churches, the fate of the Church of Christ is traced - from the apostolic age to the end of the world.
The vision of God sitting on the throne, the Lamb and heavenly worship (chapters 4 and 5). This worship is complemented by visions in the chapters that follow.
The disclosure of the fate of mankind begins from the 6th chapter. The opening by the Lamb-Christ of the seven seals of the mysterious book serves as the beginning of the description of the different phases of the war between good and evil, between the Church and the devil. This war, which begins in the human soul, spreads to all aspects of human life, intensifies and becomes more and more terrible (up to the 20th chapter).
The voices of the seven angelic trumpets (chapters 7-10) announce the initial calamities that must befall people for their unbelief and sins. Damage to nature and the appearance of evil forces in the world are described. Before the onset of disasters, believers receive a blessed seal on their foreheads, which keeps them from moral evil and from the fate of the wicked.
The vision of the seven signs (chapters 11-14) shows humanity divided into two opposing and irreconcilable camps - good and evil. The good forces are concentrated in the Church of Christ, represented here in the form of the Woman, clothed in the sun (12th chapter), and the evil - in the kingdom of the beast-antichrist. The beast that came out of the sea is a symbol of evil secular power, and the beast that came out of the earth is a symbol of decayed religious power. In this part of the Apocalypse, for the first time, a conscious, extra-worldly evil creature is clearly revealed - the dragon-devil, who organizes and directs the war against the Church. The two witnesses of Christ here symbolize the preachers of the Gospel who fight with the beast.
The visions of the seven bowls (chapters 15-17) paint a grim picture of worldwide moral decay. The war against the Church becomes extremely tense (Armageddon) (Rev. 16:16), the trials become unbearably difficult. The image of Babylon the harlot depicts mankind apostate from God, concentrated in the capital of the kingdom of the antichrist beast. Evil power extends its influence to all areas of the life of sinful humanity, after which God's judgment over the powers of evil begins (here God's judgment over Babylon is described in general terms, as an introduction).
The following chapters (18-19) describe the judgment of Babylon in detail. It also shows the death of the perpetrators of evil among people - the Antichrist and the false prophet - representatives of both civil and heretical anti-Christian authorities.
Chapter 20 summarizes spiritual warfare and world history. She talks about the double defeat of the devil and the reign of the martyrs. Having suffered physically, they won spiritually and are already blissful in Heaven. It covers the entire period of the Church's existence, starting from the apostolic times. Gog and Magog personify the totality of all the theomachic forces, earthly and hell, who fought against the Church (Jerusalem) throughout Christian history. They are destroyed by the second coming of Christ. Finally, the devil is also subjected to eternal punishment, this ancient serpent, which laid the foundation for all iniquities, untruths and suffering in the Universe. The end of the 20th chapter tells about the general resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment and the punishment of the wicked. This short description summarizes the Last Judgment of humanity and the fallen angels and summarizes the drama of the universal war between good and evil.
The final two chapters (21-22) describe the new Heaven, the new Earth, and the blissful life of the saved. These are the brightest and most joyful chapters in the Bible.
Each new section of the Apocalypse usually begins with the words: "And I saw ..." - and ends with a description of the judgment of God. This description marks the end of the previous topic and the beginning of a new one. Between the main departments of the Apocalypse, the viewer sometimes inserts intermediate pictures that serve as a link between them. The table given here clearly shows the plan and sections of the Apocalypse. For the sake of compactness, we have combined the intermediate pictures together with the main ones. Going horizontally according to the given table, we see how the following areas are gradually revealed with greater completeness: Heavenly world; Church persecuted on earth; sinful and theomachous world; the underworld; war between them and the judgment of God.
Meaning of symbols and numbers. Symbols and allegories enable the viewer to talk about the essence of world events at a high level of generalization, so he makes wide use of them. So, for example, the eyes symbolize knowledge, many eyes - perfect knowledge. The horn is a symbol of power, power. Long robe denotes the priesthood; a crown is a royal dignity; whiteness - purity, purity; the city of Jerusalem, the temple and Israel - symbolize the Church. Numbers also have a symbolic meaning: three - symbolizes the Trinity, four - a symbol of peace and world order; seven means completeness and perfection; twelve - the people of God, the fullness of the Church (numbers derived from 12 have the same meaning, like 24 and 144,000). One third means some relatively small part. Three and a half years is a time of persecution. The number 666 will be specifically mentioned later in this brochure.
New Testament events are often depicted against the backdrop of homogeneous Old Testament events. For example, the calamities of the Church are described against the background of the suffering of the Israelites in Egypt, the temptation under the prophet Balaam, the persecution by the Queen Jezebel and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; the salvation of believers from the devil is depicted against the background of the salvation of the Israelites from Pharaoh under the prophet Moses; the godless power is represented in the form of Babylon and Egypt; the punishment of the atheist forces is depicted in the language of 10 Egyptian executions; the devil is identified with the serpent that seduced Adam and Eve; future heavenly bliss is depicted in the form of the Garden of Eden and the tree of life.
The main task of the author of the Apocalypse is to show how evil forces act, who organizes and directs them in the struggle against the Church; instruct and strengthen believers in faithfulness to Christ; show the complete defeat of the devil and his servants and the beginning of paradise bliss.
With all the symbolism and mystery of the Apocalypse, religious truths are revealed in it very clearly. So, for example, the Apocalypse points to the devil as the culprit of all the temptations and calamities of mankind. The tools with which he tries to destroy people are always the same: disbelief, disobedience to God, pride, sinful desires, lies, fear, doubts, etc. Despite all his cunning and experience, the devil is not able to destroy people who are devoted to God with all their hearts, because God protects them by His grace. The devil enslaves himself more and more apostates and sinners and pushes them into all sorts of abominations and crimes. He directs them against the Church and with their help produces violence and starts wars in the world. The Apocalypse clearly shows that in the end the devil and his servants will be defeated and punished, the righteousness of Christ will triumph, and a blessed life will come in the renewed world, which will not end.
Having thus made a cursory review of the content and symbolism of the Apocalypse, let us now dwell on some of its most important parts.
Letters to the Seven Churches (Ch. 2-3)
Seven churches - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea - were located in the southwestern part of Asia Minor (now Turkey). They were founded by the apostle Paul in the 40s of the first century. After his martyrdom in Rome around the year 67, the Apostle John the Theologian took charge of these churches, who cared for them for about forty years. Having found himself in captivity on the island of Patmos, the Apostle John wrote letters to these churches from there in order to prepare Christians for the impending persecution. The letters are addressed to the "angels" of these churches, i.e. bishops.
A careful study of the epistles to the seven churches of Asia Minor suggests that the destinies of the Church of Christ are inscribed in them, from the apostolic age to the time of the end of the world. At the same time, the forthcoming path of the New Testament Church, this "New Israel", is depicted against the background of the most important events in the life of Old Testament Israel, beginning with the Fall in Paradise and ending with the time of the Pharisees and Sadducees under the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle John uses Old Testament events as prototypes for the fate of the New Testament Church. Thus, three elements are intertwined in the letters to the seven churches:
b) a new, deeper interpretation of the Old Testament history; and
c) the future destinies of the Church.
The combination of these three elements in the letters to the seven churches is summarized in the table attached here.
Notes: The Ephesian church was the most populous, and had metropolitan status in relation to neighboring churches in Asia Minor. In the 431st year, the 3rd Ecumenical Council took place in Ephesus. Gradually, the lamp of Christianity in the Ephesian church went out, as the apostle John predicted. Pergamum was the political center of the western part of Asia Minor. It was dominated by paganism, with a lavish cult of deified pagan emperors. On a mountain near Pergamum, a pagan monument-altar, referred to in the Apocalypse as "the throne of Satan" (Rev. 2:13), stood majestically. The Nicolaites are ancient Gnostic heretics. Gnosticism was a dangerous temptation for the Church in the first centuries of Christianity. A fertile ground for the development of Gnostic ideas was the syncretic culture that arose in the empire of Alexander the Great, uniting East and West. The religious attitude of the East, with its belief in the eternal struggle between good and evil, spirit and matter, body and soul, light and darkness, in combination with the speculative method of Greek philosophy, gave rise to various Gnostic systems, which were characterized by the idea of the emanational origin of the world from the Absolute and about the multitude of intermediate levels of creation that connect the world with the Absolute. Naturally, with the spread of Christianity in the Hellenistic environment, there was a danger of its presentation in Gnostic terms and the transformation of Christian piety into one of the religious-philosophical Gnostic systems. Jesus Christ was perceived by the Gnostics as one of the mediators (eons) between the Absolute and the world.
One of the first disseminators of Gnosticism among Christians was someone named Nicholas - hence the name "Nicolaitans" in the Apocalypse. (It is believed that this was Nicholas, who, among the other six chosen men, was ordained by the apostles to the deacon's degree, see: Acts 6: 5). By distorting the Christian faith, the Gnostics encouraged moral licentiousness. Several Gnostic sects flourished in Asia Minor beginning in the middle of the first century. The apostles Peter, Paul and Jude warned Christians not to fall into the snares of these heretic lewd people. Prominent representatives of Gnosticism were the heretics Valentine, Marcion, and Basilides, who were opposed by the apostolic men and the early Church Fathers.
Ancient Gnostic sects have long disappeared, but Gnosticism as a fusion of heterogeneous philosophical and religious schools still exists in our time in Theosophy, Kabbalah, Freemasonry, modern Hinduism, yoga and other cults.
A vision of heavenly worship (chap. 4-5)
The Apostle John received revelation on the "Day of the Lord," that is, on Sunday. It should be assumed that, according to the apostolic custom, on this day he performed "the breaking of bread," i.e. Divine Liturgy and received Communion, therefore he "was in the Spirit," that is experienced a special inspired state, (Rev. 1:10).
And so, the first thing that he deserves to see is, as it were, the continuation of the divine service he performed - the heavenly Liturgy. The Apostle John describes this service in the 4th and 5th chapters of the Apocalypse. The Orthodox person recognizes here the familiar features of the Sunday Liturgy and the most important accessories of the altar: a throne, a seven-branched candlestick, a censer with smoking incense, a golden cup, etc. (These objects, shown to Moses on Mount Sinai, were also used in the Old Testament temple). The slain Lamb seen by the Apostle in the middle of the throne reminds the believer of the Communion, under the guise of bread lying on the throne; the souls of those killed for the word of God under the heavenly throne - an antimension with particles of the relics of the holy martyrs sewn into it; elders in light robes and with golden crowns on their heads - a host of clergymen who celebrate the Divine Liturgy in conciliarity. It is noteworthy here that even the exclamations and prayers themselves heard by the Apostle in Heaven express the essence of the prayers that the clergymen and singers say during the main part of the Liturgy - the Eucharistic Canon. The making of the righteous their garments by the "Blood of the Lamb" is reminiscent of the sacrament of Communion, through which believers sanctify their souls.
Thus, the apostle begins to reveal the fate of mankind with a description of the heavenly Liturgy, thereby emphasizing the spiritual significance of this Divine service and the need for the prayers of the saints for us.
Notes. The words "Lion of the tribe of Judah" refer to the Lord Jesus Christ and recall the prophecy of the patriarch Jacob about the Messiah (Gen. 49: 9-10), "The Seven Spirits of God" - the fullness of the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit, (see: Isa. 11: 2 and Zech. 4th ch.). Many eyes - symbolize omniscience. The twenty-four elders correspond to the twenty-four priestly orders established by King David for serving in the temple - two intercessors for each tribe of New Israel (1 Chron. 24: 1-18). The four mysterious animals that surround the throne are like the animals seen by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1: 5-19). They seem to be the beings closest to God. These faces - a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle - are taken by the Church as the emblems of the four Evangelists.
In the further description of the mountain world, there are many incomprehensible to us. From the Apocalypse we learn that the angelic world is immensely great. Disembodied spirits - angels, like people, are endowed by the Creator with reason and free will, but their spiritual abilities are many times superior to ours. Angels are completely devoted to God and serve Him by prayer and the fulfillment of His will. For example, they raise the prayers of the saints to the throne of God (Rev. 8: 3-4), help the righteous in achieving salvation (Rev. 7: 2-3; 14: 6-10; 19: 9), sympathize with the suffering and persecuted (Rev. 8:13; 12:12), according to the command of God, sinners are punished (Rev. 8: 7; 9:15; 15: 1; 16: 1). They are endowed with power and have power over nature and its elements (Rev. 10: 1; 18: 1). They wage war with the devil and his demons (Rev. 12: 7-10; 19: 17-21; 20: 1-3), take part in the judgment of the enemies of God (Rev. 19: 4).
The doctrine of the Apocalypse about the angelic world fundamentally subverts the doctrine of the ancient Gnostics, who recognized intermediate beings (eons) between the Absolute and the material world, who completely independently and independently of Him rule the world.
Among the saints whom the Apostle John sees in Heaven, there are two groups, or "faces:" these are martyrs and virgins. Historically, martyrdom is the first kind of holiness, and therefore the apostle begins with martyrs (6: 9-11). He sees their souls under the heavenly altar, which symbolizes the redemptive significance of their suffering and death, with which they participate in the sufferings of Christ and, as it were, complement them. The blood of the martyrs is likened to the blood of the Old Testament sacrifices, which flowed down under the altar of the Jerusalem temple. The history of Christianity testifies that the sufferings of the ancient martyrs served to the moral renewal of the decrepit pagan world. The ancient writer Tertulian wrote that the blood of the martyrs serves as a seed for new Christians. The persecution of believers will either subside or intensify during the further existence of the Church, and therefore it was revealed to the secret viewer that the new martyrs would have to supplement the number of the former.
Later, the Apostle John sees in Heaven a huge number of people whom no one could count - from all tribes, and tribes, and peoples, and languages; they stood in white robes with palm branches in their hands (Rev. 7: 9-17). What this innumerable host of the righteous has in common is that "they came from great tribulation." For all people, the path to Paradise is the same - through sorrow. Christ is the first Sufferer who took upon Himself the sins of the world as the Lamb of God. Palm branches are a symbol of victory over the devil.
In a special vision, the seer describes virgins, i.e. people who have given up the pleasures of marriage for the sake of the whole service of Christ. (Voluntary "eunuchs" for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, see about this: Matt. 19:12; Rev. 14: 1-5. In the Church, this feat was often carried out in monasticism). The Seer sees on the foreheads (forehead) of virgins written "the name of the Father," which indicates their moral beauty, reflecting the perfection of the Creator. The “new song,” which they sing and which no one can repeat, is an expression of the spiritual height that they have reached through the exploits of fasting, prayer and chastity. This purity is beyond the reach of the people of the worldly way of life.
The song of Moses, sung by the righteous in the next vision (Rev. 15: 2-8), resembles the thanksgiving hymn that the Israelites sang when, having crossed the Red Sea, they were saved from Egyptian bondage (Ex. 15 ch.). Likewise, New Testament Israel is saved from the power and influence of the devil, passing into a grace-filled life through the sacrament of baptism. In subsequent visions, the seer describes the saints several times. The "fine linen" (precious linen garment) in which they are clothed is a symbol of their righteousness. In the 19th chapter of the Apocalypse, the marriage song of the saved speaks of the approaching "marriage" between the Lamb and the saints, i.e. about the onset of the closest communion between God and the righteous, (Rev. 19: 1-9; 21: 3-4). The book of Revelation ends with a description of the blessed life of the saved nations (Rev. 21: 24-27; 22: 12-14 and 17). These are the brightest and most joyful pages in the Bible, showing the triumphant Church in the Kingdom of glory.
Thus, as the fate of the world is revealed in the Apocalypse, the Apostle John gradually directs the spiritual gaze of believers to the Kingdom of Heaven - to the ultimate goal of earthly wandering. He seems to be forced and reluctant to speak about the dark events in the sinful world.
Removal of seven seals. The Vision of the Four Horsemen (Chapter 6)
The vision of the seven seals is the introduction to the subsequent revelations of the Apocalypse. The opening of the first four seals reveals the four horsemen who symbolize the four factors that characterize the entire history of mankind. The first two factors are the cause, the second two are the effect. The crowned rider on a white horse "came out to conquer." He personifies those good beginnings, natural and gracious, which the Creator put into a person: the image of God, moral purity and innocence, striving for goodness and perfection, the ability to believe and love, and individual "talents" with which a person is born, as well as gracious gifts Of the Holy Spirit, which he receives in the Church. According to the Creator's thought, these good principles should have “overcome,” that is, determine the happy future of humanity. But man, already in Eden, succumbed to the temptation of the tempter. Nature, damaged by sin, passed on to his descendants; therefore, people are prone to sin from an early age. From repeated sins, evil inclinations are further intensified in them. So a person, instead of spiritually growing and improving, falls under the destructive action of his own passions, indulges in various sinful desires, begins to envy and enmity. All crimes in the world (violence, wars and all kinds of disasters) arise from internal discord in a person.
The destructive action of passions is symbolized by the red horse and rider who took the world away from people. Yielding to his erratic sinful desires, a person squanders the talents given to him by God, becomes poor physically and spiritually. In public life, however, enmity and wars lead to the weakening and decay of society, to the loss of its spiritual and material resources. This internal and external impoverishment of humanity is symbolized by a black horse with a rider holding a measure (or scales) in his hand. Finally, the complete loss of God's gifts leads to spiritual death, and the ultimate consequence of enmity and wars is the death of people and the disintegration of society. This sad fate of people is symbolized by the pale horse.
The four apocalyptic horsemen outline the history of mankind in the most general terms. First - the blissful life in Eden of our ancestors, called to "reign" over nature (white horse), then - their fall (red horse), after which the life of their descendants was filled with various calamities and mutual destruction (black and pale horses). Apocalyptic horses also symbolize the life of individual states with their periods of prosperity and decline. Here is the life path of each person - with his childish purity, naivety, great potential, which are darkened by a stormy youth, when a person wastes his strength, health and eventually dies. Here is the history of the Church: the spiritual fervor of Christians in apostolic times and the efforts of the Church to renew human society; the emergence of heresies and schisms in the Church itself, and the persecution of the Church by pagan society. The church weakens, goes into the catacombs, and some local churches disappear altogether.
Thus, the vision of the four horsemen summarizes the factors that characterize the life of sinful humanity. Subsequent chapters of the Apocalypse will develop this topic deeper. But by removing the fifth seal, the seer also shows the bright side of human misery. Christians, having suffered physically, have overcome spiritually; now they are in Paradise! (Rev. 6: 9-11) Their feat brings them an eternal reward, and they reign with Christ, as described in the 20th chapter. The transition to a more detailed description of the calamities of the Church and the strengthening of the godless forces is marked by the lifting of the seventh seal.
Seven pipes. The imprinting of the chosen ones. The beginning of disasters and the defeat of nature (7-11 chap.)
Angelic trumpets foreshadow calamities for humanity, both physical and spiritual. But before the beginning of the disasters, the Apostle John sees an angel laying a seal on the foreheads of the sons of New Israel (Rev. 7: 1-8). "Israel" is the New Testament Church here. The imprinting symbolizes the chosenness and grace-filled patronage. This vision is reminiscent of the sacrament of Confirmation, during which the "seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit is imposed on the forehead of the newly baptized." It also reminds us of the sign of the cross, the ones who are protected by which "resist the enemy." People who are not protected by the blessed seal are harmed by the "locust" that came out of the abyss, that is, from the devilish power, (Rev. 9: 4). The prophet Ezekiel describes a similar imprinting of the righteous citizens of ancient Jerusalem before it was taken by the Chaldean hordes. Then, as well as now, the mysterious seal was placed in order to save the righteous from the fate of the wicked (Ezek. 9: 4). When the 12 tribes (tribes) of Israel are enumerated by name, the tribe of Dan is deliberately omitted. Some see this as an indication of the origin of the Antichrist from this tribe. The basis for this opinion is the mysterious words of the patriarch Jacob regarding the future of Dan's descendants: "a serpent on the road, a viper on the way" (Gen. 49:17).
Thus, this vision serves as an introduction to the subsequent description of the persecution of the Church. Measurement of the temple of God in the 11th chap. has the same meaning as the sealing of the sons of Israel: the preservation of the children of the Church from evil. The Temple of God, like the Wife clothed in the sun, and the city of Jerusalem are different symbols of the Church of Christ. The main idea of these visions is that the Church is holy and dear to God. God allows persecution for the sake of moral improvement of believers, but protects them from enslavement to evil and from the same fate with the fighters against God.
Before the opening of the seventh seal, there is silence "as if for half an hour," (Rev. 8: 1). It is the silence before the storm that will stir the world in the time of Antichrist. (The modern process of disarmament as a result of the collapse of communism is not a break that is given to people to turn to God?). Before the onset of disasters, the Apostle John sees the saints fervently praying for mercy on people (Rev. 8: 3-5).
Disasters in nature. Following this, the trumpet sounds of each of the seven angels are heard, after which various disasters begin. First, a third of the vegetation perishes, then a third of fish and other sea creatures, followed by the poisoning of rivers and water sources. The fall of hail and fire, a flaming mountain and a luminous star to the ground, apparently, allegorically indicates the enormous dimensions of these disasters. Is this not a prediction of global pollution and destruction of nature, which is observed today? If so, then the ecological catastrophe foreshadows the coming of the Antichrist. More and more defiling the image of God in themselves, people cease to appreciate and love His wonderful world. With their waste they pollute lakes, rivers and seas; spilled oil affects huge coastal spaces; destroy forests and jungles, exterminate many species of animals, fish and birds. From the poisoning of nature, both the guilty themselves and the innocent victims of their cruel greed fall ill and die. The words: "The name of the third star is wormwood ... And many of the people died from the waters, because they became bitter" remind of the Chernobyl disaster, because "Chernobyl" means wormwood. But what does the defeat of the third part of the sun and stars and their eclipse mean? (Rev. 8:12). Obviously, here we are talking about air pollution to such a state where sunlight and starlight, reaching the earth, seems less bright. (For example, due to air pollution, the sky in Los Angeles usually looks dirty brown in color, while at night there are almost no stars above the city, except for the brightest).
The story of the locust (the fifth trumpet, (Rev. 9: 1-11)), which came out of the abyss, speaks of the strengthening of demonic power among people. It is headed by "Apollyon," which means "destroyer" - the devil. As people lose the grace of God with their unbelief and sins, the spiritual emptiness that forms in them is more and more filled with demonic power, which torments them with doubts and various passions.
Apocalyptic wars. The trumpet of the sixth angel sets in motion a huge army across the Euphrates River, from which a third of the people perish (Rev. 9: 13-21). In the biblical view, the Euphrates River marks the line behind which the nations hostile to God are concentrated, threatening Jerusalem with war and extermination. For the Roman Empire, the Euphrates River served as a bulwark against the attack of the eastern peoples. The ninth chapter of the Apocalypse is written against the backdrop of the cruel and bloody Judeo-Roman war of 66-70 AD, which is still fresh in the memory of the Apostle John. This war had three phases (Rev. 8:13). The first phase of the war, in which Gasius Florus led the Roman forces, lasted five months, from May to September 66 (five locust months, Rev. 9: 5 and 10). Soon the second phase of the war began, from October to November 66, in which the Syrian governor Cestius led four Roman legions (four angels at the Euphrates River, Rev. 9:14). This phase of the war was especially devastating for the Jews. The third phase of the war, led by Flavian, lasted three and a half years - from April 67th to September 70th, and ended with the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple and the dispersion of the captured Jews across the Roman Empire. This bloody Roman-Jewish war became a prototype of the terrible wars of the last times, which the Savior pointed out in His conversation on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 24: 7).
The attributes of the infernal locust and the Euphrates horde can be recognized as modern weapons of mass destruction - tanks, cannons, bombers and nuclear missiles. Further chapters of the Apocalypse describe all the intensifying wars of the end times (Rev. 11: 7; 16: 12-16; 17:14; 19: 11-19 and 20: 7-8). The words "the river Euphrates has dried up, so that the path of the kings from the rising of the sun" (Rev. 16:12) may be ready to indicate the "yellow danger." It should be borne in mind that the description of apocalyptic wars has the features of real wars, but ultimately refers to spiritual war, and proper names and numbers have an allegorical meaning. So the Apostle Paul explains: "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spirits of wickedness in high places" (Eph. 6:12). The name Armageddon is composed of two words: "Ar" (in Hebrew - plain) and "Megiddo" (area in the north of the Holy Land, near Mount Carmel, where in ancient times Barak defeated the army of Sisera, and the prophet Elijah destroyed more than five hundred priests of Baal), ( Rev. 16:16 & 17:14; Judges 4: 2-16; 1 Kings 18:40). In the light of these biblical events, Armageddon symbolizes the defeat of the God-fighting forces by Christ. The names Gog and Magog in ch. 20 recall the prophecy of Ezekiel about the invasion of Jerusalem of countless hordes led by Gog from the land of Magog (in the south of the Caspian Sea), (Ezekiel 38-39; Rev. 20: 7-8). Ezekiel dates this prophecy to messianic times. In the Apocalypse, the besieging of the "camp of saints and the city of the beloved" (ie the Church) by the hordes of Gog and Magog and the extermination of these hordes by heavenly fire must be understood in the sense of the complete defeat of the atheist forces, human and demonic, by the Second Coming of Christ.
As for the physical calamities and punishments of sinners, often mentioned in the Apocalypse, the viewer himself explains that God allows them to be admonished in order to bring sinners to repentance (Rev. 9:21). But the apostle notes with sorrow that people do not heed the call of God, they continue to sin and serve demons. They, as if "biting the bit," rush to their own destruction.
A vision of two witnesses (11: 2-12). The 10th and 11th chapters are intermediate between the visions of the 7 trumpets and the 7 signs. In the two witnesses of God, some holy fathers see the Old Testament righteous Enoch and Elijah (Or Moses and Elijah). It is known that Enoch and Elijah were taken alive to Heaven (Gen. 5:24; 4 Kings 2:11), and before the end of the world they will come to earth to expose the falsity of Antichrist and call people to faithfulness to God. The executions that these witnesses will bring on people resemble the miracles performed by the prophets Moses and Elijah (Ex. 7-12 chap.; 1 Kings 17: 1; 4 Kings 1:10). For the Apostle John, the prototypes of the two apocalyptic witnesses could have been the apostles Peter and Paul, who had recently suffered in Rome from Nero. Apparently, the two witnesses in the Apocalypse symbolize other witnesses of Christ, spreading the Gospel in a hostile pagan world and often stamping their sermon with a martyr's death. The words "Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was also crucified" (Rev. 11: 8), indicate the city of Jerusalem, in which the Lord Jesus Christ suffered, many prophets and early Christians. (Some suggest that during the time of the Antichrist, Jerusalem will become the capital of the world state. However, they provide an economic justification for this opinion).
Seven signs (12-14 chap.). Church and kingdom of the beast
The further, the clearer the viewer reveals to the readers the division of humanity into two opposite camps - the Church and the kingdom of the beast. In the previous chapters, the apostle John began to introduce readers to the Church, talking about the sealed, the Jerusalem temple, and the two witnesses, and in chapter 12 he shows the Church in all her heavenly glory. At the same time, he identifies her main enemy - the devil-dragon. The vision of the Woman, clothed in the sun, and the dragon makes it obvious that the war between good and evil goes beyond the material world and extends to the world of angels. The Apostle shows that in the world of disembodied spirits there is a conscious evil being who, with desperate persistence, is waging a war against God's faithful angels and people. This war of good and evil, permeating the entire existence of mankind, began in the angelic world before the creation of the material world. As we have already said, the viewer describes this war in different parts of the Apocalypse, not in its chronological sequence, but in different fragments, or phases.
The vision of the Woman reminds the reader of God's promise to Adam and Eve about the Messiah (the Seed of the Woman), who will erase the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). One would think that in the 12th chapter the Wife refers to the Virgin Mary. However, from the further narrative, which speaks of other descendants of the Wife (Christians), it is clear that here the Wife must mean the Church. The woman's sunshine symbolizes the moral perfection of the saints and the grace-filled illumination of the Church with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The twelve stars symbolize the twelve tribes of New Israel - i.e. the totality of Christian nations. The torment of the Wife during childbirth symbolizes the exploits, hardships and sufferings of the servants of the Church (prophets, apostles and their successors), suffered by them when spreading the Gospel in the world and when establishing Christian virtues among their spiritual children. ("My children, for whom I am again in the throes of birth, until Christ is portrayed in you," - said the Apostle Paul to Galatian Christians (Gal. 4:19)).
The firstborn of the Wife, "who was to rule all nations with an iron rod," is the Lord Jesus Christ (Ps. 2: 9; Rev. 12: 5 and 19:15). He is the New Adam who has become the head of the Church. The "rapture" of the Infant, obviously, indicates the ascension of Christ to Heaven, where He sat down "at the right hand of the Father" and since then rules the destinies of the world.
"The dragon with his tail pulled away from Heaven a third of the stars and threw them to the ground," (Rev. 12: 4). By these stars, the interpreters understand the angels whom the proud Devil-Dennitsa rebelled against God, as a result of which a war took place in Heaven. (This was the first revolution in the universe!). Archangel Michael took the floor at the head of the good angels. The angels who rebelled against God were defeated and could not stay in Heaven. Having fallen away from God, they turned from good angels to demons (demons). Their underworld kingdom, called the abyss or hell, became a place of darkness and suffering. According to the holy fathers, the war described here by the Apostle John took place in the angelic world even before the creation of the material world. It is cited here in order to explain to the reader that the dragon, which will persecute the Church in further visions of the Apocalypse, is the fallen Dennitsa - the primordial enemy of God.
So, having been defeated in Heaven, the dragon with all its fury takes up arms against the Woman-Church. His weapons are many different temptations, which he casts on the Woman like a stormy river. But she saves herself from temptation by fleeing into the desert, that is, by voluntary abandonment of the benefits and comforts of life, with which the dragon tries to captivate her. The two wings of the Wife are prayer and fasting, by which Christians are spiritualized and made inaccessible to the dragon crawling on the earth like a serpent (Gen. 3:14; Mark 9:29). (It should be remembered that from the first centuries many zealous Christians had literally moved into the desert, leaving noisy cities full of temptations. Christians have no idea. ”Monasticism flourished in the East in the 4-7 centuries, when in the desert places of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor many monasteries were formed, numbering hundreds and thousands of monks and nuns. From the Middle East monasticism spread to Athos, and from there - to Russia, where in pre-revolutionary times there were more than a thousand monasteries and sketes).
Note. The expression "time, times and half a time" - 1260 days or 42 months (Rev. 12: 6-15) - corresponds to three and a half years and symbolically denotes a period of persecution. The Savior's public ministry lasted three and a half years. For about the same time, the persecution of believers continued under King Antiochus Epiphanes, emperors Nero and Domitian. At the same time, the numbers in the Apocalypse should be understood allegorically (see above).
The beast that came out of the sea, and the beast that came out of the land. From. Chapters 13-14
Most of the holy fathers understand the Antichrist as the "beast from the sea", and the false prophet by the "beast from the earth". The sea symbolizes the unbelieving mass of people, always agitated and overwhelmed by passions. From the further narration about the beast and from the parallel narration of the prophet Daniel (Dan. 7-8 chap.). it should be concluded that the "beast" is the entire theomachous empire of the antichrist. In appearance, the dragon-devil and the beast that came out of the sea, to which the dragon transferred its power, are similar to each other. Their external attributes speak of their dexterity, cruelty and moral ugliness. The heads and horns of the beast symbolize the godless states that make up the anti-Christian empire, as well as their rulers ("kings"). The message about the fatal wound of one of the heads of the beast and about its healing is mysterious. In due time, the events themselves will shed light on the meaning of these words. The historical basis for this allegory could be the conviction of many contemporaries of the Apostle John that the slain Nero came to life and that he would soon return with the Parthian troops (located across the Euphrates River (Rev. 9:14 and 16:12)) to take revenge on his enemies. There may be here an indication of the partial defeat of the theomachy paganism by the Christian faith and the revival of paganism during the period of general apostasy from Christianity. Others see here an indication of the defeat of God-fighting Judaism in the 70s of our era. "They are not Jews, but a congregation of Satan," the Lord said to John (Rev. 2: 9; 3: 9). (Read more about this in our brochure "Christian Doctrine of the End of the World").
Note. There are similarities between the beast of the Apocalypse and the four beasts of the prophet Daniel, who personified the four ancient pagan empires (Dan. 7th chapter). The fourth beast belonged to the Roman Empire, and the tenth horn of the last beast meant the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes - the prototype of the coming Antichrist, whom the archangel Gabriel called "despicable" (Dan. 11:21). The characteristics and deeds of the apocalyptic beast also have much in common with the tenth horn of the prophet Daniel, (Dan. 7: 8-12; 20-25; 8: 10-26; 11: 21-45). The first two Maccabean books serve as a vivid illustration of the times before the end of the world.
Then the viewer describes the beast that came out of the earth, which he later calls the false prophet. The earth here symbolizes the complete absence of spirituality in the teaching of the false prophet: everything is saturated with materialism and pleasing sin-loving flesh. The false prophet deceives people with false miracles and makes them worship the first beast. "He had two horns like a lamb, and spoke like a dragon" (Rev. 13:11), - that is, he looked meek and peaceful, but his speeches were filled with flattery and lies.
As in the 11th chapter, two witnesses symbolize all the servants of Christ, so, obviously, the two beasts of the 13th chapter. symbolize the totality of all haters of Christianity. The beast from the sea is a symbol of civil godless power, and the beast from the earth is the totality of false teachers and any perverted church power. (In other words, the Antichrist will come from a civilian environment, under the guise of a civil leader, preached and praised by false prophets or false prophets who have betrayed their religious beliefs).
Just as during the time of the Savior's earthly life, both these powers, civil and religious, in the person of Pilate and the Jewish high priests united in condemning Christ to be crucified, so throughout the history of mankind, these two powers often unite in the struggle against faith and for the persecution of believers. As already mentioned, the Apocalypse describes not only the distant future, but also constantly repeating - for different peoples at one time. And the Antichrist is also his own for all, appearing during the time of anarchy, when "the one who is holding back is taken." Examples: the prophet Balaam and the Moabite king; Queen Jezebel and her priests; false prophets and princes before the destruction of Israel and later Jews, "apostates from the holy covenant" and king Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 8:23; 1 Mac. and 2 Mac. 9 chap.), adherents of the Mosaic law and Roman rulers in apostolic times. In New Testament times, heretical false teachers weakened the Church by their schisms and thereby contributed to the conquering successes of the Arabs and Turks, who flooded and ruined the Orthodox East; Russian free-thinkers and populists prepared the ground for the revolution; modern false teachers seduce unstable Christians into various sects and cults. All of them are false prophets who contribute to the success of the godless forces. The apocalypse vividly reveals the mutual support between the dragon-devil and both beasts. Here, each of them has their own selfish calculations: the devil longs to worship himself, the Antichrist seeks power, and the false prophet seeks his material gain. The Church, calling people to faith in God and to the strengthening of virtues, serves as a hindrance to them, and they jointly fight against it.
Inscription of the Beast
(Rev. 13: 16-17; 14: 9-11; 15: 2; 19:20; 20: 4). In the language of the Holy Scriptures, to wear a seal (or mark) on oneself means belonging or subordination to someone. We have already said that the seal (or the name of God) on the foreheads of believers means their God's chosenness and, therefore, God's protection over them, (Rev. 3:12; 7: 2-3; 9: 4; 14: 1; 22: 4). The activities of the false prophet, described in the 13th chapter of the Apocalypse, convinces that the kingdom of the beast will be of a religious and political nature. By creating an alliance of different states, it will simultaneously plant a new religion instead of the Christian faith. Therefore, submitting to the Antichrist (allegorically, to take the seal of the beast on your forehead or on your right hand) will be tantamount to renouncing Christ, which will entail the deprivation of the Kingdom of Heaven. (The symbolism of the seal is drawn from the custom of antiquity, when warriors burned the names of their leaders on their hands or on their foreheads, and slaves - voluntarily or forcibly - took the seal of the name of their master. Pagans, devoted to some deity, often wore a tattoo of this deity) ...
The possibility is not excluded that in the time of the Antichrist an improved computer registration will be introduced, similar to modern bank cards. The improvement will consist in the fact that the computer code invisible to the eye will not be printed on a plastic card, as it is now, but directly on the human body. This code, readable by an electronic or magnetic "eye", will be transmitted to a central computer, which will store all information about the person, personal and financial. Thus, the establishment of personal codes directly in public will replace the need for money, passports, visas, tickets, checks, credit cards and other personal documents. Thanks to the individual coding, all monetary transactions - receiving salaries and paying off debts - can be carried out directly in the computer. In the absence of money, the robber will have nothing to take from the person. The state, in principle, will be able to control crime more easily, since the movements of people will be known to it thanks to the central computer. It seems that in such a positive aspect this personal coding system will be proposed. In practice, it will also be used for religious and political control over people, when “no one will be allowed to buy or sell except for the one who has this mark” (Rev. 13:17).
Of course, the thought expressed here about stamping codes on humans is speculation. The point is not in electromagnetic signs, but in fidelity or betrayal of Christ! Throughout the history of Christianity, pressure on believers from the anti-Christian government took various forms: making a formal sacrifice to an idol, accepting Mohammedanism, joining an atheist or anti-Christian organization. In the language of the Apocalypse, this is the acceptance of the "mark of the beast:" the acquisition of temporary advantages at the cost of renouncing Christ.
The number of the beast - 666
(Rev. 13:18). The meaning of this number is still a mystery. Obviously, it will lend itself to deciphering when the very circumstances favor it. Some interpreters in the number 666 see a decrease in the number 777, which in turn means threefold perfection, completeness. With this understanding of the symbolism of this number, the Antichrist, striving in everything to show his superiority over Christ, in fact, in everything will turn out to be imperfect. In ancient times, the calculation of a name was based on the fact that the letters of the alphabets had a numerical meaning. For example, in Greek (and in Church Slavonic) "A" was equal to 1, B = 2, G = 3, etc. A similar numerical meaning of letters exists in Latin and Hebrew. Each name could be calculated arithmetically by adding the numerical value of the letters. For example, the name Jesus, written in Greek, is 888 (possibly denoting supreme perfection). There are a huge number of proper names, which, by the sum of their letters translated into numbers, give 666. For example, the name Nero Caesar, written in Hebrew letters. In this case, if the proper name of the Antichrist was known, then it would not require special wisdom to calculate its numerical value. Maybe here it is necessary to look for a solution to the riddle on a principled plane, but it is not clear in what direction. The beast of the Apocalypse is both the Antichrist and his state. Perhaps during the time of the Antichrist, the initials will be introduced, denoting a new worldwide movement? By the will of God, the personal name of the Antichrist is for the time being hidden from idle curiosity. When the time comes, those who follow will decipher it.
Speaking image of the beast
It is difficult to understand the meaning of the words about the false prophet: “And it was given to him to put a spirit in the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast spoke and acted so that everyone who would not worship the image of the beast would be killed” (Rev. 13:15). The reason for this allegory could have been the requirement of Antiochus Epiphanes that the Jews bow to the statue of Jupiter erected by him in the Jerusalem temple. Later, the emperor Domitian demanded that all the inhabitants of the Roman Empire bow to his image. Domitian was the first emperor to demand divine veneration for himself during his lifetime and to be called "our Lord and God." Sometimes, for a greater impression, priests hid behind the statues of the emperor, who spoke from there on his behalf. Christians who did not bow to the image of Domitian were ordered to be executed, but to give gifts to those who bowed. Maybe in the prophecy of the Apocalypse we are talking about some kind of apparatus like a TV, which will transmit the image of the Antichrist and at the same time monitor how people react to it. In any case, in our time, films and television are widely used to inculcate anti-Christian ideas, to accustom people to cruelty and vulgarity. Daily indiscriminate watching TV kills the good and the holy in a person. Isn't the TV the forerunner of the talking image of the beast?
Seven bowls. Strengthening the godless power. The judgment of sinners 15-17 chap.
In this part of the Apocalypse, the viewer describes the kingdom of the beast, which reached its apogee of power and control over people's lives. Apostasy from the true faith embraces almost all of humanity, and the Church reaches extreme exhaustion: "And it was given to him to wage war with the saints and to overcome them" (Rev. 13: 7). To encourage the believers who remained faithful to Christ, the Apostle John lifts their gaze to the heavenly world and shows a great crowd of righteous people who, like the Israelites who were saved from Pharaoh under Moses, sing a song of victory (Ex. 14-15 chap.).
But as the end of the power of the pharaohs came, so the days of anti-Christian rule were numbered. The next chapters (chapters 16-20). in bright strokes, they draw God's judgment over the theomists. The defeat of nature in the 16th ch. similar to the description in chapter 8, but here it reaches worldwide proportions and makes a terrifying impression. (As before, obviously, the destruction of nature is carried out by people themselves - by wars and industrial waste). The increased heat from the sun, from which people suffer, may be associated with the destruction of ozone in the stratosphere and the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to the Savior's prediction, in the last year before the end of the world, living conditions will become so unbearable that “if God had not shortened those days, no flesh would have been saved” (Matt. 24:22).
The description of judgment and punishment in chapters 16-20 of the Apocalypse follows the order of increasing guilt of God's enemies: first, people who have taken the mark of the beast are punished, and the capital of the anti-Christian empire is "Babylon," then the Antichrist and the false prophet, and finally the devil.
The story of the defeat of Babylon is given twice: first in general terms at the end of the 16th chapter, and in more detail in chapters 18-19. Babylon is portrayed as a harlot sitting on a beast. The name Babylon resembles Chaldean Babylon, in which in the Old Testament times the atheist power was concentrated. (Chaldean troops destroyed ancient Jerusalem in 586 BC). When describing the luxury of a "harlot," the Apostle John had in mind the wealthy Rome with its port city. But many features of apocalyptic Babylon do not apply to ancient Rome and obviously refer to the capital of the Antichrist.
Equally mysterious is the explanation of the angel at the end of chapter 17 about the "mystery of Babylon" in details relating to the Antichrist and his kingdom. These details are likely to be understood in the future when the time is right. Some allegories are taken from the description of Rome, which stood on seven hills, and its theomachous emperors. "Five kings (heads of the beast) fell" - these are the first five Roman emperors - from Julius Caesar to Claudius. The sixth head is Nero, the seventh is Vespasian. "And the beast, which was and which is not, is the eighth, and (he is) from among the seven" - this is Domitian, who revived Nero in the popular imagination. He is the antichrist of the first century. But, probably, the symbolism of the 17th chapter will receive a new explanation during the time of the last antichrist.
The trial of Babylon, the antichrist and the false prophet (ch. 18-19)
The seer in vivid and vivid colors paints a picture of the fall of the capital of the atheist state, which he calls Babylon. This description is similar to the predictions of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah about the death of Chaldean Babylon in 539 BC (Isa. 13-14 chap.; Isa. 21: 9; Jer. 50-51 chap.). There are many similarities between the past and future centers of world evil. The punishment of the antichrist (the beast) and the false prophet is especially described. As we have already said, the "beast" is both the definite personality of the last theomachist and, at the same time, the personification of all theomachist power in general. A false prophet is the last false prophet (assistant to the antichrist), as well as the personification of any pseudo-religious and perverted church authority.
It is important to understand that in the story of the punishment of Babylon, the Antichrist, the false prophet (in ch. 17-19). and the devil (in chapter 20), the apostle John follows not a chronological, but a principled method of presentation, which we will now explain.
Taken together, Scripture teaches that the atheist kingdom will end its existence at the time of the Second Coming of Christ, and then the Antichrist and the false prophet will perish. The terrible judgment of God over the world will take place in the order of increasing guilt of the accused. (“The time for judgment to begin with the house of God. If it begins with us first, what is the end of those who disobey the word of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17; Matt. 25: 31-46). sinners, then - the conscious enemies of God, and finally - the main culprits of all iniquity in the world - demons and the devil). In this order, the Apostle John also narrates about the judgment of the enemies of God in chapters 17-20. At the same time, the apostle precedes the judgment of each category of the guilty (apostates, antichrist, false prophet and, finally, the devil) by describing their guilt. Therefore, the impression arises that first Babylon will be destroyed, some time later the Antichrist and the false prophet will be punished, after which the kingdom of the saints will come on earth, and after a very long time the devil will come out to deceive the nations and then he will be punished by God. In reality, the Apocalypse deals with parallel events. This method of exposition of the Apostle John should be taken into account for the correct interpretation of the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse. (See: "The Failure of Chiliasm" in the pamphlet on the end of the world).
1000-year Kingdom of the Saints. Devil's judgment (chapter 20). Raising the Dead and the Last Judgment
The twenty chapter, telling about the kingdom of the saints and about the double defeat of the devil, covers the entire period of the existence of Christianity. It sums up the chapter 12 drama about the dragon's persecution of the Wife-Church. The first time the devil was struck by the death of the Savior on the cross. Then he was deprived of power over the world, “bound” and “imprisoned in the abyss” for 1000 years (ie for a very long time, Rev. 20: 3). "Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out," said the Lord before His sufferings (John 12:31). As we know from the 12th chapter. The Apocalypse and from other places of Holy Scripture, the devil even after the death of the Savior on the cross had the opportunity to tempt the believers and create intrigues for them, but he no longer had power over them. The Lord said to His disciples: "Behold, I give you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19).
Only just before the end of the world, when, as a result of the mass deviation of people from the faith, the "retainer" will be taken from the environment (2 Thess. 2: 7), the devil will again prevail over sinful humanity, but for a short time. Then he will lead the last desperate struggle against the Church (Jerusalem), sending against her hordes of "Gog and Magog," but he will be defeated by Christ a second time and finally ("I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against her" (Matt. 16:18). The hordes of Gog and Magog symbolize the totality of all the godless forces, human and hell, which the devil will unite in his insane war against Christ. Thus, the ever-increasing struggle with the Church throughout history ends in the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse with the complete defeat of the devil and his servants. Chapter 1 summarizes the spiritual side of this struggle and shows its end.
The bright side of the persecution of believers is that, having suffered physically, they spiritually overcame the devil, because they remained faithful to Christ. From the moment of their martyrdom, they reign with Christ and "judge" the world, taking part in the fate of the Church and all mankind. (Therefore, we turn to them for help, and this is where the Orthodox veneration of the saints follows (Rev. 20: 4). The Lord foretold the glorious fate of those suffering for faith: “He who believes in me, even if he dies, will come to life” (John 11:25) ...
The "first resurrection" in the Apocalypse is a spiritual rebirth, which begins from the moment of baptism of a believer, intensifies his Christian deeds and reaches its highest state at the moment of martyrdom for Christ's sake. The promise is related to the spiritually reborn: "The time is coming, and it has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and when they hear they will come to life." The words of the 10th verse of the 20th chapter are concluding: the devil, who deceived people, "was cast into the lake of fire." Thus ends the story of the condemnation of apostates, a false prophet, antichrist and the devil.
The 20th chapter ends with a description of the Last Judgment. Before him, there must be a general resurrection of the dead - a physical one, which the apostle calls the "second" resurrection. All people will be physically resurrected - both the righteous and the sinners. After the general resurrection, "the books were opened ... and the dead were judged according to what was written in the books." Obviously, then, before the throne of the Judge, the spiritual state of each person will be revealed. All dark deeds, evil words, secret thoughts and desires - everything carefully hidden and even forgotten - will suddenly surface and become obvious to everyone. It will be a terrible sight!
As there are two resurrections, so there are two deaths. "The first death" is a state of unbelief and sin, in which people lived who did not accept the Gospel. "The second death" is the doom to eternal alienation from God. This description is very concise, since the apostle has already spoken about the Judgment several times earlier (see: Rev. 6: 12-17; 10: 7; 11:15; 14: 14-20; 16: 17-21; 19:19 -21 and 20: 11-15). Here the apostle sums up the Last Judgment (The prophet Daniel briefly tells about this at the beginning of the 12th chapter). With this brief description, the Apostle John completes the description of the history of mankind and proceeds to describe the eternal life of the righteous.
New Heaven and New Earth. Eternal bliss (21-22 chap.)
The last two chapters of the book of the Apocalypse are the brightest and most joyful pages of the Bible. They describe the blessedness of the righteous on the renewed Earth, where God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of the sufferers, where there will be no more death, no weeping, no outcry, no sickness. Life will begin, which will not end.
So, the book of the Apocalypse was written during the intensified persecution of the Church. Its purpose is to strengthen and comfort believers in the face of the challenges ahead. It reveals the ways and tricks by which the devil and his servants try to destroy the believers; she teaches how to overcome temptations. The book of the Apocalypse calls on believers to be attentive to their state of mind, not to be afraid of suffering and death for Christ's sake. She shows the joyful life of the saints in heaven and calls to unite with them. Believers, although sometimes they have many enemies, have even more defenders in the person of angels, saints and, especially, Christ the Victor.
The book Apocalypse, brighter and more clearly than other books of the Holy Scriptures, reveals the drama of the struggle between evil and good in the history of mankind and shows more fully the triumph of Good and Life.