New Testament John the Theologian. Apocalypse and the modern world

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 mankind, 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 book to understand, but at the same time it is mysterious character of this book and 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 divine services the Apocalypse is not read because in ancient times the reading of the Holy Scriptures during divine services 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 given the same Greek translation"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 left the Apocalypse with the stamp of the influence of his native language. 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 with greater force began to excite the public and church life... 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 pure historical meaning and limit his vision to historical events of the first century: the 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 double 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 narrate the chronological sequence of events, but reveals the essence of that great war evil with good, which goes 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 with 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. Describes damage to nature and appearance in the world evil forces... 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 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 in the background major 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 Nikolaites 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, combined 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.

The 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. So, for example, they ascend to the throne God's prayers saints (Rev. 8: 3-4), assist 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 ), by 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 new martyrs would have to add to 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), recalls the thanksgiving hymn that the Israelites sang when, having crossed the Red Sea, they were saved from Egyptian slavery (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 destructive action 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 and life path each person - with his childish purity, naivety, great potential, which are overshadowed 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 of the waters, because they became bitter" remind 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, but at night the stars above the city are almost invisible, 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 background 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 scattering 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 oppressive 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 - New Adam who became 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. By outward 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, to submit to the Antichrist (allegorically - to take on your forehead or right hand the seal of the beast) will be tantamount to denying 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 invisible computer code will be printed not on a plastic card, as it is now, but directly on the human body. This code, read 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. Is the TV the forerunner of the speaking 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 the 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, it will appear spiritual state each person. 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.

"Revelation of John the Evangelist" and other prophecies

St. John the Theologian in his "Revelation" mentioned the day when all people, both living and dead, were resurrected from the graves ( rice. 23), will stand before the judgment of God.

It is believed that the "Revelation of John the Evangelist" was written in the years 68-69 AD. NS. Researchers do not exclude the fact that approximately in the mid-90s A.D. NS. it was edited by scribes. This happened after the defeat of the first Jewish uprising against the Romans. The date indicated practically coincides with the reference to Irenaeus, which Eusebius of Caesarea (between 260 and 265-338 or 339) cites in his "Ecclesiastical History", Roman ecclesiastical writer, bishop of Caesarea (Palestine). The prophetic "Revelation of John the Evangelist" is a truly grandiose picture of the coming Apocalypse, which completes the New Testament.

John the Theologian informed the first Christians, who were subjected to terrible persecution by the Roman authorities, the great and comforting message: “Blessed is he who reads and listened to the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it; for the time is at hand. "

Rice. 23. Michelangelo. Raising the dead from the graves.

Vatican

It is necessary to hold out a little longer, not to abandon the faith of Christ, and soon the suffering will end, and all who have resisted will be richly rewarded. In a number of visions, John saw what was soon destined to happen: he learned about the impending end of the world and the terrible events associated with it.

Revelation came to John the Evangelist at that moment when he was on the island of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea, where he suffered "for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." One Sunday, the sky suddenly opened over the soothsayer, and he saw seven golden lamps and among them "like the Son of Man." John the Theologian describes the appearance of Jesus Christ as follows: “His head and hair are white, like a white wave, like snow; and His eyes are like a flame of fire; and His feet are like khalkovan (a kind of amber), as red-hot in a furnace; and his voice is like the sound of many waters. He held in his right hand the seven stars, and a sword, sharp on both sides, came out of His mouth; and His face is like the sun shining in its power. " Seven lamps symbolized seven churches, and seven stars in the right hand of the Lord - the angels of these churches.

Struck by such an unusual phenomenon, John fell at the feet of the Son of Man, who greeted him with the following words: “Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last and the living; and was dead; and behold, he is alive forever and ever, amen; and I have the keys of hell and death. So, write what you saw, and what is, and what will happen after this. " John the Evangelist fulfilled the command of Christ and later wrote down everything that happened that day in his "Revelation".

Jesus invited him to set foot in heaven to see with his own eyes what "must be after this." John followed him and saw "a throne standing in heaven, and there was one sitting on the throne." By Seated, the soothsayer meant God the creator himself.

Around the throne of God, from which "came lightning, and thunder, and voices," there were twenty-four more thrones. On them sat twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. In front of the throne were seven lamps of fire, personifying the "spirits of God."

There were also four animals "full of eyes in front and behind", the first of which resembled a lion, the second a calf, the third a man, and the fourth an eagle. Each of them "had six wings around, and inside

they are full of eyes; and they know no rest day or night, crying out: holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, is and is to come. " While the animals sang glory and honor to the One who sits on the throne, the elders fell prostrate before him and laid crowns at his feet.

In his right hand God held a book sealed with seven seals. Angel ( rice. 24) proclaimed in a loud voice: is there someone who is worthy to open the book, having removed the seals from it? But there was no one, neither on earth, nor in heaven, nor underground.

Then one of the elders, sitting at the throne of God, arose and informed John the Theologian that now "the lion from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered and can open this book and remove its seven seals."

At the same moment, John saw the Lamb "as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent to the whole earth." In the image of the Lamb, of course, Jesus Christ himself appears ( rice. 25), considered by Christians to be a descendant of King David. The horn of the ancient Jews was a symbol of power.

The Lamb received from the hands of God a book sealed with seven seals. The act of transferring the book from God the Father to God the Son symbolizes the accession of Christ, who receives authority from the Father. Animals and elders surround the Lamb on all sides and begin to sing in his honor: “You are worthy to take a book and unseal it; for you were slain, and with your blood you redeemed us to God out of every tribe and tongue and nation and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God; and we will reign on the earth. "

Following them, this song was repeated by a huge multitude of elders, animals and angels, who surrounded the throne from all sides. “And their number was so many thousands and thousands,” says Revelation. The end of the world was approaching.

Rice. 25. Cavallini. Jesus Christ.

Fragment of the Last Judgment fresco of the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome

Rice. 24. Angel

However, according to the prophecies of the soothsayer, God will surely protect all true believers who have lived a righteous life, while all those who reject God and unrepentant sinners will face severe punishment.

Jesus Christ in turn removes the seals from the book, as a result of which four horsemen, riding on four different-colored horses, descend to the ground. They are heralds of the end of the world and those great calamities that will precede it.

Here the Lamb opened the first seal, and one of the four animals proclaimed: "Come and see." John the Theologian saw a white horse ( rice. 26). On it sat “a rider with a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he came out victorious, and to conquer. "

Christ removed the second seal, and the second animal said in a thunderous voice: "Come and see." Then a second horse appeared, a red one. The rider who sat on it was ordered to “take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another; and a great sword was given to him. "

After the Lamb opened the third seal, John heard the voice of the third animal: "Come and see." At that moment a black horse came down from heaven, and a rider was sitting on it, "having a measure in his hand."

The Lamb opened the fourth seal, and the fourth animal said, "Come and see." A pale horse came out. The most terrible rider, who personified death, sat on it. The "Revelation" says: "And hell followed him, and he was given power over a fourth of the earth - to put to death with the sword and hunger, and with pestilence and the beasts of the earth."

It should be noted that the same horses of four colors and riders riding on them are mentioned in the book of the prophet Zechariah, and there they symbolize the four spirits of heaven, "who stand before the Lord of all the earth."

The subsequent events are stunning pictures that make a pretty strong impression.

Rice. 26. White horse and victorious rider

If we turn to the real history of those distant times, we can draw some analogies with the events of the last years of the reign of Nero, when there were endless, bloody wars, and the imperial throne was shaken by the uprisings of a number of Roman governors who wanted to take the place of Nero, as well as uprisings in Judea and Gaul. ... In addition, famine often raged in Rome during those years. In 65 A.D. NS. A new terrible misfortune befell the Mediterranean - a plague that claimed thousands of lives. Around the same time, devastating earthquakes occurred in Italy, Greece, Asia Minor and the entire eastern Mediterranean coast. So the rider on the pale horse reaped a rich harvest of human lives.

The first Christians during these years experienced especially terrible persecutions. Everyone who sacredly followed the faith of Christ faced inevitable death after painful torture. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the "Revelation" says that when Christ removed the fifth seal, the souls of "those killed for the word of God" appeared under the altar. They prayed to God to take revenge on those living on earth for their suffering. The Vladyka calmed them down, gave them white robes and said that the Last Judgment would soon take place and many righteous people would join their ranks.

After the Lamb removed the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake. “And the sun became dark as a sackcloth, and the moon became like blood; and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, like a fig tree, shaken by a strong wind, drops its unripe figs; and the sky disappeared as it is rolled up like a scroll; and every mountain and island moved out of their places. " All people - kings, nobles, free, and slaves - sought to hide in the caves and gorges of the mountains and prayed that stones would fall on them and hide them “from the face of the Lamb who sits on the throne and the wrath, for the great day of wrath has come. His".

Then John the Theologian narrates that he saw four angels standing at the four ends of the earth, who held the four winds so that they would not blow "neither on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree." But from the side of the rising sun another angel moved towards them, having the "seal of the living God." And he commanded those four destroying angels who were ordered to “harm the earth and the sea”: do no harm until the seals were placed on the foreheads of God's servants, that is, those who, in spite of everything, remained faithful to the true Christian faith. There were one hundred and forty-four thousand of them. They all gathered around the throne of God, dressed in white garments. Henceforth, they were to serve God in His temple and received deliverance from suffering, for "the Lamb in the midst of the throne will feed them and lead them to living springs of waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

And now the most terrible moment has come. When Christ removed the last, seventh seal, complete silence reigned in heaven. John the Theologian saw how seven angels with trumpets came forward - the rulers of God's judgment - and an angel with a golden censer in his hands, which he filled with fire from the altar and "threw it to the ground." On the earth from this occurred "voices and thunders, and lightning, and an earthquake." Seven angels prepared to blow their trumpets, announcing that the "day of the Lord" had come.

After the first angel "sounded", "hail and fire mixed with blood" fell on the earth. As a result, a third of the trees and all the green grass were destroyed.

After the sign given by the second angel, a huge mountain, resembling a ball of fire, plunged into the sea, which killed a third of the living creatures that lived in it, and drowned a third of the ships sailing on the sea. The third part sea ​​water turned into blood.

The third angel sounded, and "a large star, burning like a lamp," whose name is "wormwood", fell from heaven to earth. From this, the water in the third part of the rivers and springs became bitter and poisonous, "and many of the people died from the waters."

The sound of the fourth angel's trumpet caused the defeat of the third part of the Sun, Moon and stars, as a result of which the third part of the day became night.

After that, John the Theologian saw an angel flying in the middle of the sky, which in a loud voice proclaimed: "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on earth from the rest of the trumpet voices of the three angels who will trumpet."

Then the fifth angel sounded, and a star fell from heaven to earth. She was given the key with which "she opened the well of the abyss." From there came a thick smoke, darkening the sun and the air, and hordes of monstrous locusts emerged from the smoke. She was like “horses prepared for war; and on her heads there were, as it were, crowns, like those of gold, but her faces were like human faces; and her hair was like the hair of a woman, and her teeth were like that of lions. She wore armor like iron armor, and the noise from her wings was like the sound of chariots when a multitude of horses flee to war; she had tails like scorpions, and her tails had stings. " John learned that her king was the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon (that is, "destroyer").

The terrible locusts, resembling earthly scorpions, were supposed to attack not the earthly vegetation, but people whom God did not mark with his seal, that is, the sinners remaining on the earth ( rice. 27). But not to kill them, but to torment them for five months, and this torment will be like "torment from a scorpion when it bites a person." In this regard, in the “Revelation of John the Theologian” there is a terrible phrase: “In those days people will seek death, but will not find it; they will wish to die, but death will flee from them. "

The trumpet of the sixth angel announced the eerie pictures of the invasion of a huge cavalry army, two darkness in number, that comes from the Euphrates River. It was intended by God for the destruction of a third part of people, who were destined to perish "from fire, smoke and brimstone" that came out of the mouths of horses with lion heads. Their tails, like snakes, had heads and also brought harm to people.

The army killed a third of the people, but the survivors did not repent of their sins, and another punishment awaited them.

Rice. 27. Michelangelo. Sinners.

Fragment of the Last Judgment fresco. The Sistine Chapel.

Vatican

John saw a gigantic angel “coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; over his head was a rainbow, and his face was like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. " He stood with one foot on the ground and with the other on the sea and held an open book in his hands. With a voice that sounded like seven thunders, he told John about the secrets of the future. The prophet was about to write down what was said, but he heard the voice of God, which rang out from heaven, which forbade him to do it. The angel, standing on the sea and on the earth, raised his hand to heaven and announced that when the seventh angel sounded the trumpet, “there will be no more time” and “the mystery of God will be accomplished,” known to the ancient prophets. After that, a voice from heaven commanded John to take the book from the hands of the angel and eat it, because he had to "again prophesy about nations and tribes."

And finally the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices sounded in the sky: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and will reign for ever and ever." At this time, twenty-four elders, who were seated on thrones around the throne of God, bowed before Him and proclaimed: “... Your anger has come and the time has come to judge the dead and give retribution to Your servants, prophets, and saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth. " And the third woe came: “The temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and earthquakes, and a great hail. "

Thus, John the Theologian brought the consoling message to the believers: the day of judgment is already near, we must wait a little longer and endure. In the end, those who suffered for their faith will be rewarded for their righteous torments, and they will find peace and happiness, and their executioners will inevitably overtake severe punishment. However, John in his "Revelation" does not stop there and continues to describe his visions.

He talks about a miraculous sign that appeared in heaven - “a woman clothed with the sun; the moon is under her feet, and on her head is a crown of twelve stars. " The wife gave birth to "a male baby, who is to shepherd all nations with a rod of iron." While everyone was honoring the baby, the wife fled into the wilderness, where she was ordered by God to spend one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Then a battle took place in heaven between the Archangel Michael and his angels with “the great dragon, the ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, who deceived the entire universe” and his evil angels. Mikhail won this fight. There was no place for the dragon with the angels in heaven, and they were cast down to earth. It was at this moment that John heard a loud voice from heaven, which announced the overthrow of the devil and that salvation had come in heaven - the kingdom and authority of Christ.

The devil was defeated "by the blood of the Lamb" and also by the steadfastness and faithfulness of Christians, those who "did not love their souls even unto death." Great sorrow descended on everyone living on earth and at sea, because the devil who was cast down to earth became especially furious, because he knew that he had little time left.

Having descended to earth, the dragon began to pursue the wife who gave birth to a baby. But God gave her two wings, similar to those of an eagle. She rose into the sky and flew into the desert, where she hid from the dragon. The enraged serpent sent a river after her, which poured out of his mouth. But in vain: the earth itself came to the aid of his wife, she opened her mouth and swallowed up the river.

The dragon did not manage to overtake his wife, so he decided to "enter into war with the others (that is, those who came) from her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

In the next chapter, John describes two unusual animals that appeared to him in the next vision. He stood on the sand of the sea and suddenly saw a monstrous beast with seven heads and ten horns emerge from the sea. On his horns were ten diadems, and "on his heads are blasphemous names." In appearance he was “like a leopard; his feet are like those of a bear, and his mouth is like the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his strength, and his throne, and great power. " One of the heads of the beast "seemed to be mortally wounded," but this wound miraculously cured.

All living on earth worshiped the beast and the dragon who gave him power, except those whose names were "written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" and who showed "the patience and faith of the saints." The beast declared war on the saints, and "it was given to him to wage war with the saints and defeat them." But his power was established for a short time - only for forty-two months.

In his next vision, John described another beast, the red dragon ( rice. 28): “And I saw another beast coming out of the earth; he had two horns like the Lamb and spoke like a dragon. " He forced people to worship the image of the first beast, and those who refused to do so were threatened with death. At the instigation of the dragon, all people were to put "the mark of the name of the beast on the right hand or on the forehead." In the same chapter, words are heard that have become a mystery for many generations and subsequently received a rather contradictory interpretation: “Here is wisdom. He who has intelligence, count the number of the beast, for it is a human number; the number is six hundred and sixty-six. "

Here it is necessary to make a digression. The meaning of all these terrible visions and global cataclysms was quite accessible to the first readers of Revelation. However, to people living at the beginning of the third millennium, John's allegorical stories are unlikely to be understood. They will rather perceive them as a myth or a fairy tale, so we will dwell on the explanation of some concepts.

Rice. 28. Two-horned dragon

What was John the Theologian talking about, describing the images of a wife who gave birth to a baby, and two animals, and has the mystery of the number "six hundred and sixty-six" been solved? It turns out that the prophet was referring to quite real historical events.

The wife, crowned with twelve stars, represents the people of Israel. The dragon with seven heads and ten horns is a symbol of the Roman Empire, red is the purple of the imperial robes, seven horned dragon heads - seven emperors who ruled in Rome before they saw the light of the "Revelation of John the Theologian": this is Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho. The ten dragon horns, in all likelihood, symbolize the ten governors of the Roman provinces. The "male child" is none other than Jesus Christ, who is destined to "shepherd all nations with a rod of iron." God took Him to heaven under His protection, so the dragon did not manage to destroy “like the Son of Man”.

John the Evangelist presents Rome in the form of Satan, the devil. He is powerful, but he will not succeed in slandering God so much, giving him "blasphemy" that "those who bear witness to Christ" would turn away from him and betray their faith. John is confident that they will surely triumph over the devil because of their righteousness and perseverance, because they are ready to die for their beliefs. This is probably not just a hint of the brutal persecution suffered by the early Christians in the Roman Empire. These lines also contain a formidable warning to Rome. The author, as it were, predicts the complete destruction that threatens the Eternal City in the near future.

The mystery of the number "six hundred and sixty six" is also explained quite simply. Many ancient peoples, including the Jews, designated numbers using various letters of the alphabet.

So, if you substitute in the "animal number" instead of numbers Hebrew letters, you get two words: "Nero Caesar." This means that the beast, in which one head was mortally wounded, but healed, is an allegory that personifies the image of the Roman emperor Nero. The fact is that John the Theologian, as well as his associates, were convinced that the power of Rome and the unlimited power of the emperors came only from the devil himself. That's why

The miraculously healed dragon's head is a direct indication of the fate of the emperor Nero. This is evidenced by a real historical fact. In 68 A.D. NS. the governors of the provinces raised an uprising, the purpose of which was to overthrow Nero. As a result, the emperor committed suicide, and soon rumors appeared that Nero had survived.

So, those who kept the commandments of God won the victory over the dragon. Let's return now to the "Revelation of John the Theologian". What else did the prophet see on that great day of God's wrath? On Mount Zion stood the Lamb with all the redeemed "of men, as the firstborn to God and the Lamb."

Three angels appeared in the middle of heaven one after another - heralds of the beginning of God's judgment. The first angel, with the eternal Gospel in his hands, spoke with a loud voice to the people who remained on earth: "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come." Another angel, who followed the first, announced the fall of the great city of Babylon, which "made all nations drink with the wine of the wrath of her fornication." The third angel proclaimed: “He who worships the beast and his image and takes the mark on his forehead or on his hand will drink the wine of God's wrath, whole wine prepared in the cup of His anger, and will be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy angels and the Lamb. ; and the smoke of their torment will ascend forever and ever, and will have no rest day or night. "

And John heard a voice from heaven, which told him to write down the following words: "From henceforth blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." Soon, the prophet saw a bright cloud that appeared in the sky. On it sat "like the Son of Man" with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hands. Another angel appealed to Jesus with a call to lower the sickle to the ground and reap the harvest, "for the harvest on the earth is ripe." The Son of Man lowered the sickle to the earth and performed his judgment, like the harvest and cutting of grapes.

In the next sign, "great and wonderful," seven angels appeared to John with seven final plagues, "with which the wrath of God ended." The prophet heard the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, which were sung by “those who defeated the beast and his image,” glorifying the might of the Lord. After the voices had ceased, the gates of the heavenly temple were opened and seven angels came out, dressed in clean and light linen clothes. One of the four animals gave them seven golden bowls of God's wrath. The temple was filled with smoke, and no one could enter there until "the seven plagues of the seven angels ended."

A loud voice from the temple commanded the seven angels to pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth. After the first angel poured out his cup, "there were cruel and disgusting wounds on people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image."

The second angel poured the bowl into the sea, and all life in it perished. The third angel poured the bowl into the rivers and springs, and the water in them turned into blood, for those who "shed the blood of the saints and prophets" were worthy of it.

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the Sun, which began to burn people mercilessly. However, the sinners did not repent and continued to blaspheme God for sending them suffering. Then the fifth angel poured the bowl on the throne of the beast, the sixth into the Euphrates River, in which the water immediately dried up, and the seventh angel into the air. A loud voice came from the temple of heaven. He announced that the judgment of God had taken place.

“And there was lightning, thunder and voices, and there was a great earthquake, which has not happened since people on earth ... And hail, the size of talent, fell from heaven on people; and the people blasphemed God for the plagues from the hail, because the plague from it was very grievous. "

In the following chapters, John predicts the fall ancient city Babylon, which in the text of "Revelation" is presented in the form of an allegory - a harlot sitting "on a scarlet beast, filled with blasphemous names, with seven heads and ten horns." Babylon fell because “it became a dwelling place for demons and a refuge for every unclean spirit, a refuge for every unclean and disgusting bird; for she (the harlot) made all the nations drink with the wine of the wrath of her fornication. " The great city was burned to the ground and devastated. This is how God's judgment on Babylon was accomplished. What caused the wrath of God?

There is a myth about the "Babylonian pandemonium", which tells that once all people spoke the same language and lived together between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. And they decided to build a city, which they later called Babylon, and a huge pillar - a tower as high as the sky. And God came down to see this city and the tower that people were building. He was angry with human pride and made it so that people began to speak in different languages ​​and could not talk to each other.

Then a mess and confusion began. The tower remained unfinished, and people scattered across the land in all directions. From them came different peoples, each of which speaks its own language.

After the judgment on the people was completed and God took revenge on the great city, John had another wonderful vision: the heavens opened up, and a white horse appeared with a rider sitting on it, who was dressed in clothes stained with blood. His name was the Word of God.

He was followed by the armies of heaven on the same white horses and in white robes. The beast and the kings of the earth went out to engage in battle with the One sitting on a horse and His army. The beast was captured and thrown into the lake of fire.

Then an angel descended from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a large chain. He cast the devil in the form of a dragon into the abyss and "put a seal over him, so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were over." During this time, faithful followers of Christ are destined to reign and be priests of God and Jesus.

Those who backslid and bowed to the image of the beast will not come to life from the dead until the millennium is over. They, unlike the righteous, are not worthy of the first resurrection.

Further, John predicts that after a thousand years Satan will be released from his prison, but not for long. He will come out again to deceive the nations and gather them to fight against the saints. However, God will send fire on them from heaven, and the devil will be "cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

After the reprisal against Satan, all the dead, small and great, will appear before the One who sits on the great white throne. And the sea, and death, and hell will give up the dead, who will be judged by God "according to their works." Those who sacredly followed the faith of Christ will be recorded in the book of life. This will be the second resurrection. The righteous will come down to earth with God. “And He will dwell with them; they will be His people, and God himself will be with them their God; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more; there will be no more crying, no outcry, no sickness; for the former things have passed away. "

“But the fearful, the unbelievers, the abominable, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all the liars — their lot will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; this is the second death. "

And John saw a new heaven, a new earth, and a new holy city, Jerusalem, which would come down from God, out of heaven, and would need “neither the sun nor the moon for its illumination; for the glory of God is

and the Lamb blessed him and his lamp. The saved nations will walk in his light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor into him. Its gates will not be locked during the day, and there will be no night ... And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one who is betrayed to abomination and lies, but only those that are written by the Lamb in the book of life. "

The last chapter of "The Revelation of John the Divine" tells about the instructions that Christ gives him, and about John's blessing for prophecy. The fortuneteller had to instruct people on the righteous path, that is, on the path of serving the faith of Christ. According to "Revelation", this is the only way to avoid the harsh punishment of the Lord, which will befall the unbelievers during the Last Judgment.

In conclusion of the conversation about the biblical Apocalypse, it should be mentioned that the question of the authorship of the "Revelation" is still open, and the answers to it are rather contradictory. Although most scholars dealing with this problem unanimously attribute the authorship to John the Evangelist, many priests dispute not only this statement, but also the authenticity of the text of Revelation itself. They suggest that this prophecy was not written and incorporated into the Bible in the 1st century CE. e., and much later, therefore, has no connection with John the Theologian. Thus, K. Jerusalem, I. Zlatoust, F. Karsky, G. Theologian do not even name "Revelation" among the canonical books.

Dionysius of Alexandria (III century), Eugene of Caesarea (IV century) and other well-known scientists-theologians, both ancient and modern, also expressed doubts about the authenticity of the text telling about the end of the world. And their suspicions can be considered quite reasonable. Having carefully studied the "Holy Gospel of the Life of Jesus Christ", written by John the Theologian in 95 AD. e., scientists have expressed doubt that he was in 6 8-6 9 years. NS. d eis tweet spruce no nap i-sal prophecy about the awaiting people of the Apocalypse. Indeed, in the "Holy Gospel" he did not say a word about his "Revelation" and did not cite a single quotation from it.

However, the author of "Revelation" clearly enjoyed great authority among his contemporaries, as evidenced by the content of the first four chapters of the prophecy. He appeals to a number of Christian communities in Asia Minor, assesses their fidelity to the teachings of Christ, praises some, blames others for their weakness, for being tempted by the teachings of the false prophets who appeared among them. One can sense his excellent awareness of the secret life of various Christian communities. Based on this, we can assume that the author of "Revelation" is the very John the Theologian, who, as you know, was one of the apostles of Christ.

In addition, there are other reasons for seeing the Apostle John in the author of Revelations. Many early Christian theologians mention in their writings that he was stronger than all the apostles associated with old faith, Judaism. In contrast to Paul, the “apostle of the Gentiles,” who considered it possible, for example, to fail to observe the rituals of the Sabbath and circumcision, and who argued that for God, Jews, Scythians and Hellenes are equally equal. John considered himself more of a Jew than a Christian.

In his "Revelation" John the Theologian not only tells about the details of the end of the world, revealed to him from above, he even indicates the date of the onset of the Apocalypse: in 1260 days, that is, 42 months.

“The Revelation of John the Evangelist” was only the first sign. Soon, works by other authors on this topic appeared: Peter's Apocalypse, which describes visions of heaven and hell, and Herma's Shepherd, which contains parables and ethical instructions. The second work got its name from the visions about which it tells. The main character here is a man dressed as a shepherd.

There is also a passage in the Gospel of Mark that tells about the Last Judgment, which is to end the "age of Satan." The prophet foretells terrible events that will take place before the second coming. It is these cataclysms that will become a test for humanity, for the sake of which the Son of Man was martyred.

In the non-canonical description of the end of the world by the Apostle Paul, Jesus Christ utters the following words: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who live, remaining before the coming of the Lord, will not warn the dead; Because the Lord Himself, with the announcement, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first; Then we who survived will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. "

But more often it is called the "Apocalypse". It is impossible to imagine a more mysterious book. And its second name instills fear. The fact that the events of the coming end of the world are encrypted in "Revelation" is already clear from the title. But how to find out what exactly John the Theologian wrote about, because the apostle spoke ambiguously about his visions?

A little about the author of "Apocalypse"

Among the twelve apostles who followed the Son of God everywhere, there was one to whom Jesus, already on the cross, entrusted the care of his mother - the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was John the Evangelist.

The Evangelist was the son of the fisherman Zebedee and the daughter of (the Betrothed of the Virgin Mary) Salome. Father was a wealthy man, he had hired workers, he himself occupied a significant place in Jewish society. The mother served the Lord with her possessions. At first, the future apostle was among the disciples of John the Baptist. Later, together with his younger brother James, John left his father's boat on Lake Genesaret, responding to the call of Jesus Christ. The apostle became one of the three most beloved disciples of the Savior. Saint John the Theologian even began to be called a confidant - that is how they spoke of a person who was especially close to someone.

When and how was "Apocalypse" written?

Already after the ascension of Jesus, in exile, the apostle wrote the "Apocalypse" or "Revelation about the fate of the world." After returning from the island of Patmos, where he was exiled, the saint wrote his Gospel in addition to the already existing books, the authors of which were Mark, Matthew and Luke. In addition, John created three epistles, the main idea of ​​which is that those who follow Christ need to learn to love.

The departure from the life of the holy apostle is shrouded in mystery. He - the only one of the Savior's disciples - was not executed or killed. The saint was about 105 years old when John the Theologian himself insisted on his own burial alive. His grave was dug up the next day, but there was no one there. In this regard, we recall the words of Christ that the apostle will not die until the second coming of the Savior. Many believers are confident in the veracity of this statement.

"Apocalypse" by John the Evangelist

The very title of the book of the Apostle, translated from the Greek language, means "revelation". The writing of the last part of the New Testament took place in about 75-90 years after the birth of Christ.

Some Bible scholars doubt the attitude of the apostle to the authorship of the most mysterious book, since the style of writing and "Apocalypse" is different. But there are arguments in favor of the saint.

1. The author calls himself John and says that he received a revelation from Jesus Christ on the island of Patmos (it was there that the saint was in exile).
2. The similarity of the "Apocalypse" with the Gospel in its name in spirit, syllable and some expressions.
3. Ancient testimonies recognizing that John the Evangelist is the author of the last book of Holy Scripture. These are the stories of the disciple of the apostle St. Papias of Hierapolis, and St. Justin the Martyr, who lived for a long time in the same city with the holy elder, and many others.

The essence of "Revelation"

The last book differs from the entire New Testament in style and content. The revelations from God that the Apostle John the Theologian received in the form of visions tell about the appearance of the Antichrist on earth, his number (666), the re-coming of the Savior, the end of the world, the Last Judgment. It inspires hope in the hearts that the last prophecy of the book describes the victory of the Lord over the Devil after a hard struggle and the emergence of new heaven and earth. Here will be the eternal kingdom of God and people.

It is interesting that the number of the beast - 666 - still taken literally, when interpreting the entire book turns out to be only a key to unraveling the literal content of the name of antichrist. Will come the right time- and the whole world will know the name of the adversary of Christ. A man will appear who will calculate each letter in the name of Satan.

Interpretation of the Revelation of John the Theologian

It is necessary to know and remember that the "Apocalypse", like any of the books of Holy Scripture, requires a special approach. You need to use other parts of the Bible, the writings of St. Fathers, Teachers of the Church, in order to correctly understand what is written.

There are various interpretations of the "Apocalypse" of John the Evangelist. Many of them are controversial. And in this light, according to one of the commentators, Archpriest Fast Gennady, the reason for the contradiction is that each person, in his own mind, tries to understand the meaning of the visions of the holy apostle, given by God's Spirit. Therefore, the true decoding of the mysterious book is possible only thanks to Him. And the saying of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons says that God's Spirit is where the Church is. Only Her interpretation of the "Apocalypse" can be correct.

The main interpretation of the "Revelation" is considered to be the work of the holy archbishop of Caesarea - Andrew, dated to the 6th century. But there are books by other priests and theologians explaining the meaning of what is written in the "Apocalypse".

One of the modern authors of interpretations of the last book of Holy Scripture is Father Oleg Molenko. Church of St. John the Evangelist - this is the name of the church, the rector of which he is. His explanations to the "Apocalypse" reflect the past works of the holy fathers, but at the same time they are passed through the prism of present events and today's life.

At the very beginning, "Revelation" tells about why the "Apocalypse" was written, where and how the Apostle John the Theologian received it. The importance of the predictions of the future, presented to people in order to prepare for the Last Judgment, is emphasized.

The number 7 is not indicated by chance. It is sacred and chosen by God himself. Here is a warning about the cancellation of Christian holidays and Sunday by the Antichrist. Instead, Saturday will be set aside for rest. The special place of the number 7 is indicated by many things in the Bible and the Church:

• 7 Sacraments;
• 7 in the Church;
• 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit (basic);
• 7 of His manifestations;
• 7 Virtues (basic);
• 7 passions (sins to fight with);
• 7 words in Jesus Prayer;
• 7 petitions of the prayer "Our Father".

In addition, the number 7 can be observed in real life:

• 7 colors;
• 7 notes;
• 7 days of the week.

About the features of the "Apocalypse"

The Church of St. John the Theologian, of which the author of the popular Interpretation, Father Oleg Molenko, is the rector, gathers many parishioners eager to understand the "Apocalypse". It should be remembered that this book is prophetic. That is, everything she talks about will happen, possibly, in the not too distant future.

It was difficult to read and perceive the prophecies in the past, but today it seems that everything said in Revelation is written for us. And the word "soon" should be taken literally. When will it come? The events described in the predictions will remain only a prophecy until they begin to come true, and then they will develop rapidly, then there will be no time at all. All this will happen, according to the interpretation of Father Oleg, who heads the temple of John the Theologian, from the beginning of the Third World War, when all types of weapons existing in the world will be used. Chapter 9 of the "Apocalypse" tells about her. The war will begin as a local conflict between Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, into which the whole world will be drawn. And it will last 10 months, devastating the earth by one third of the people living on it.

Is it possible to correctly understand predictions without interpretation?

Why is the "Revelation of John the Evangelist" so difficult for the correct perception even for the saints? It is necessary to understand that the apostle saw everything described in the revelations more than 2,000 years ago and spoke about it in words available for that time. And as for the heavenly (or spiritual), then this simple language it is impossible to convey, hence the symbolism in the prophecy. Riddles and encrypted predictions - for people far from God. The true meaning of everything said in the "Apocalypse" can only be revealed to spiritual people.

You can still talk a lot and for a long time about the prophecies of the holy apostle, but one article will not be enough for this. Interpretations do not always fit even a whole book. The Church of St. John the Theologian (that is, the apostle, like Jesus, leads and patronizes it), which is considered modern Orthodoxy, can give up to eight different interpretations Holy Scripture (according to the number of degrees of spiritual development). To the saints top level refers to the evangelist himself. But there are very few people like him.

Believe it or not the predictions is everyone's business. The prophecies of the holy apostle are needed to reflect on your life, repent of sins and fight with them. It is necessary to be kinder and try to resist evil, as if it were the Antichrist himself. Peace to you in your soul!