Глава XIII

Vision of two animals. Description of the beast from the sea with seven heads, ten horns; his head mortally wounded and healed; people's worship of him and his blasphemy (1–6). His struggle with the saints and the worship of people who do not belong to the Kingdom of God (7-9). Call for patience (10 items). Beast on earth with two horns (11); his miracles and seductive activities (12–16). Placing a seal on people in the form of the number 666. Rev.13:1. And I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast coming out of the sea with seven heads and ten horns: on its horns were ten crowns, and on its heads were names of blasphemy. Rev.13:2. The beast that I saw was like a leopard; His legs 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 authority. The first verse must be taken as an indication of a new scene of vision, as a new phenomenon before the eyes of the seer, in a completely new situation. John sees the beast coming out of the sea, and not from the abyss, as in Rev. 11:7. Obviously we are talking about a different creature here. The beast of chapter XIII is a completely independent symbolic image (cf. Dan. 7:3–7). The very name “beast” is used here in the sense of an animal that has particularly prominent properties of cruelty and bloodthirstiness. He comes out of the sea, which in the language of St. Scripture is very often used in the sense of many nations, moreover, peoples who are restless, rebellious and hostile to the Kingdom of God, to the people of God (Ps 93:3; Isa 8:7-8, 17:12; Jer 46:7). On this basis, the symbol of a beast emerging from the sea must be understood as an image of a creature that emerges from the midst of a sinful, hostile human world. Thus the beast XIII ch. there is the Antichrist, who, according to the belief of the Orthodox Church, will be the last representative and spokesman of the hostile devilish power, the king of the anti-Christian kingdom. Further signs of the described beast symbolically depict before us how and through whom the devil acted in the past, and how and through whom he will act in the last time. – The Beast in St. Scripture usually serves as a symbol of the kingdom, and the head of the beast is an indication of the king standing at the head of the kingdom. Therefore, and in accordance with Rev. 17:10, the image of a beast with seven heads is only a device for the apocalyptic revelation of the truth, and by heads one must understand kings and kingdoms in their sequence. The kingdoms represented by the seven heads of the beast are, obviously, those kingdoms and nations that were hostile to the establishment of the Divine Kingdom on earth and dangerous for the people of God. The Seer himself does not give any solution to the question of these kingdoms. Obviously, both for him and in the essence of the matter, what is important is not in which specific kingdoms the hostile power of the devil was revealed. More importantly, this devilish power, the power of the prince of this world, will be revealed as such in the last time, and, moreover, in such a way that its previous manifestations will, as it were, be included in the general composition; and all the evil that was gradually revealed in the world in the person of certain kingdoms and sovereigns who were hostile to the Kingdom of God on earth will be revealed in its entirety in the person of the king of the last kingdom, in the person of the Antichrist, the beast with seven heads. – Speaking about the ten horns of the beast, St. John does not indicate how they were placed. He seems to want to show that the horns of the beast did not belong to any one head, but to the whole beast, all the heads together and each one separately. The horn is well known in the Holy. Scripture is a symbol of the power of power, and ten horns, as the number of completeness, thus speaks of the highest strength and power of the beast of Antichrist. And if ever these ten horns will mean something specific, that is, ten kings with their kingdoms, then only in recent times, in the days of the Antichrist. Tiaras over the horns of the beast, like a royal head adornment, also speaks of the royal power of the beast-Antichrist, of his right to possess the world, which right he will receive from the devil-dragon (v. 2). This origin of the beast’s power will naturally affect his attitude towards God: we see on the heads of the beast blasphemous names, of which there were obviously several. The meaning of this is that the beast, as an instrument of the devil’s activity, is so imbued with hostile aspirations to God that he, as if on his forehead, will reflect that inner being, which will be self-exaltation and blasphemy 66. This was also predicted by Ap. Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 2:4; cf. Dan. 7:8, 25). To indicate the destructiveness and harmfulness of the activity of the beast, the properties of not one, but three animals are attributed to him: the leopard (cunning), the bear (perseverance) and the lion (arrogance and greedy lust for power); all this together speaks of deceit and cruelty. The dragon, that is, the devil, gives this beast his strength, his throne and great power. The power of the devil is those of his natural powers and abilities that belong to him as a spirit and a black and higher divine creation. The throne of the devil is the whole world, the prince of which the Holy One calls him. Scripture. The Lord allows the devil to exercise power over the world, although only insofar as the world itself, as lying in evil, allows the devil to rule over itself (1 John 5:19). Rev.13:3. And I saw that one of his heads seemed to be mortally wounded, but this mortal wound was healed. And all the earth marveled as they watched the beast, and they worshiped the dragon, who had given power to the beast. Describing the beast as it came out of the sea, John further draws attention to the change that took place in his image. – The head of the beast was mortally wounded just as it was leaving the sea. Now John observes only the fact how this wound was healed before his eyes. – This symbol of a slaughtered and then healed head must be explained not in relation to any one head of the beast, but in relation to the whole beast. Therefore, the mortal wound of the head must be identified with the non-existence of the beast (Rev. 17:11), and healing - with its reappearance. The head of the beast is the ability of the beast and his inspirer, the devil, to tempt and seduce the world, therefore a mortal wound to the head signifies a temporary loss of this ability or its weakening. But the head was only mortally wounded, and not separated and destroyed, and, therefore, the beast’s ability to destroy was not completely taken away from him, but only deprived of the opportunity to manifest itself in its former power. Thus, a wounded head will mean that during the previous time the devil was deprived of some part of his freedom in hostile activities. But by God’s permission, this freedom will return to him again. In the person of the Antichrist, this beast with all seven heads, he will begin to act with special strength and energy. The wound was inflicted on the devil by Christianity, which protected Christians from the devil’s delusion and gave them the strength to resist his wiles in the name of Jesus Christ and the power of the life-giving cross. But when there is a departure from Divine truth in the Christian world, then the devil will receive his former freedom. His head will be healed and he will manifest his activity to the same extent as it manifested itself in idolatry and persecution of Christians. Such a return of the former devilish power and influence, and the former forms of this influence will be truly amazing (Rev. 13:4-8). And this surprise will lead the earth, that is, those living on it, to direct worship of the dragon, who gave power to the beast. It does not indicate that the people of that time will distinguish between the beast, that is, the Antichrist, and the dragon, that is, the devil, and the expression of worship of the dragon speaks only of the objective fact that the veneration of the beast will in reality be the veneration of the dragon; since the beast-antichrist will have power and significance only insofar as he receives them from the dragon-devil. Rev.13:4. and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like this beast? and who can fight him? Rev.13:5. And a mouth was given to him speaking proudly and blasphemously, and authority was given to him to continue for forty-two months. People will worship the beast not only as they sometimes bow before people worthy of respect and surprise, but they will worship it as a god. They will put it above all doubt, and incomparability, complete perfection is a divine property (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4). Further features of the description of the beast bring him even closer to the Antichrist about whom Ap. Paul (2 Thess. 2:4, 8) and prophet. Daniel (Dan.7:7) and who will be an obedient instrument in the hands of the devil, the spirit of pride and malice. The pride of the Antichrist, according to the Savior, will be expressed in the fact that he does not recognize himself as anyone’s messenger, but will come from himself (John 5:43). The activity of the Antichrist-beast will only be a permission and even a direct influence of God (“he will be given...”). Therefore, this domination in the world of blasphemy and resistance to God will continue for 42 months. This period must be identified with the forty-two months of the trampling of Jerusalem by the nations (Rev. 11:2) and with the 3 1/2 years of hiding the wife from the dragon in the wilderness (Rev. 12:6, 14). And St. fathers and teachers of the Church (St. Irenaeus, Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom, Blessed. Jerome and others) about the continuation of the reign of the Antichrist definitely stated that the Antichrist will reign for three and a half years. But even in this short period, the Antichrist, with the assistance of the devil, will have time to complete his work, and the world will sufficiently reveal its maturity for judgment, since by that time it will reach the extreme development of its wickedness, and will itself meet the Antichrist as the exponent and representative of its wickedness. Rev.13:6. And he opened his mouth to blaspheme God, to blaspheme His name, and His habitation, and those who dwell in heaven. Rev.13:7. And it was given to him to make war with the saints and defeat them; and authority was given to him over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. Rev.13:8. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names were not written in the book of life of the Lamb, who was slain from the foundation of the world. Rev.13:9. He who has an ear, let him hear. Rev.13:10. He who leads into captivity will himself go into captivity; whoever kills with the sword must himself be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and faith of the saints Since the Antichrist will strive to present himself as God, then, according to the force of things, it will even be necessary for him to humiliate and blaspheme everything that people previously revered as God, as divine and holy. He will blaspheme God, Jesus Christ and His work of redemption, he will blaspheme heaven, the dwelling of God, the place of the Divine throne, he will blaspheme those who live in heaven - St. Angels and glorified saints. The Antichrist will use all the devil’s machinations to seduce believers and all means of violence. His power will be so great that it will extend to everyone living on earth, both pious and wicked. And all those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life will worship him. This Book of the Lamb is the same as Rev. 21:27. The addition of the definition of the Lamb indicates that the salvation of the pious from the wiles of the devil and the Antichrist depends entirely on faith in Jesus Christ and on hope in the mercy of God. After a detailed description of the beast-Antichrist and those terrible sad consequences that will be caused by his reign, the revelation turns to a call for attentiveness. For the pious, this appeal contains consolation and encouragement, and at the same time a call to patience, to strengthen the deeds of vigilance and piety; in relation to the wicked, this appeal contains a threat of Divine retribution, which sooner or later, but always faithfully, comes into its own. The Antichrist beast will go into captivity, be deprived of freedom and cast into fiery Gehenna (Rev. 20:15); just as he killed with the sword, destroyed and destroyed, so he himself will be destroyed by the sword that comes from the mouth of God, he will be destroyed by the spirit of the mouth of the Lord (2 Thess. 2:8). Believers can draw comfort and encouragement from this. The expression “here” indicates that it is now, in the days of anti-Christian violence, that special patience is needed, and also that in everything said, the patience and faith of only true Christians are meant 67. To explain the fact that the Antichrist has been particularly successful in his activity among human society, a picture of a new phenomenon opens before the gaze of the viewer - the second beast. “This beast comes out of the earth, whereas the first one came out of the sea.” Consequently, he, as coming out of the earth, will be a representative of everything that constitutes the property of the earth and the entire earthly culture, as it is developed by the long history of human society and that materialism, which reduces everything to the actions of natural forces, leaving no place for the spirit and God. In accordance with the instructions of the Apocalypse itself (Rev. 16:13, 19:20), interpreters look at this beast as a false prophet acting simultaneously with the first beast-Antichrist (cf. Matt. 24:23–26). Just as the first beast from the sea is the personality of the Antichrist - the man of sin, the king of the end times, so the second beast from the earth is also a personality, although different from the Antichrist, but closely connected with him both in time and in the purpose of their activity. The second beast will be a false prophet in the broad sense of the word, namely as a herald before people of the will of the Antichrist, who came according to the action and will of the devil. Rev.13:11. And I saw another beast coming out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. Rev.13:12. He acts before him with all the power of the first beast and forces the whole earth and those living on it to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed; The likeness of the second beast to the Lamb should be limited only to the appearance of its horns 68 . The strength of the characteristic is that the beast’s horns are not exactly the same as the Lamb, but only similar to it. The beast from the earth has only two horns (the Lamb has seven horns), which, meaning his lesser strength, distinguishes him from both the Lamb and the dragon and the beast. He can only be a service force in relation to the dragon and the beast; and in relation to the Lamb he can only be a deceiver hiding behind appearances. His inner being and the purpose of his appearance, as completely opposite to the essence of the Lamb and his relationship to the world, are clearly indicated in the last words of the verse: “he spoke like a dragon.” His words are words of wickedness and deception, and their goal will be the temptation and destruction of people (Matthew 7:15). At the same time, he will be the executor of someone else’s will and desire, as the expression “before him” clearly indicates. Acting as a servant of the beast Antichrist, the false prophet will force the whole earth and all people to bow to this last one. In Rev. 13:8 it was said that the Antichrist will be worshiped by all who live on earth, whose names are not written in the book of life, i.e. all people except the chosen and perfect Christians. Here (verse 12) the same thing is said, only a new person is presented as acting in the commission of this deed - a false prophet. Rev.13:13. and performs great signs, so that fire comes down from heaven to earth before people. Thus, all the activities of the false prophet will be aimed at increasing the power and influence of the Antichrist over the world. To do this, he will perform great signs, which will in any case be natural and real facts, real, and not seeming miracles, although performed by the devil’s power 69. And if for some reason these miracles can be called false, it is only because they will be performed for seduction, deception and lawless suggestions. Such, for example, will be the miracle of bringing down fire from heaven, which he will perform in contrast to the miracle of the two witnesses (Rev. 11:5), who brought fire out of their mouths, and which will be “before people,” that is, with an ostentatious, public character and with the aim of impressing people (cf. 1 Kings 18:38; 2 Kings 1:10, 12). Rev.13:14. And with the miracles that it was given to him to perform before the beast, he deceives those who live on the earth, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast, which has the wound of the sword and is alive. The false prophet, as a well-known personality, through his preaching and miracles, will persuade people not only to honor the beast-Antichrist himself, but even to make images of him and worship before them. This feature of the false prophet’s activity indicates that the end-time kingdom of Antichrist will be of a religiosity nature and will have the goal of proclaiming a new religion. The new religion will be the opposite of Christianity - anti-Christianity; then they will believe in the Antichrist himself, who will declare himself God. He will demand divine honors for himself, demand special worship and veneration of his images (cf. Dan. 3). Rev.13:15. And it was given to him to put spirit into the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would speak and act in such a way that anyone who would not worship the image of the beast would be killed. In the last days of the world there will be something special to test the Christian faith. The statue of the beast-Antichrist will speak and give the order to kill anyone who does not worship before it and before other images of the beast. This means that then complete and widespread persecution will be declared against every other religion except the religion of anti-Christianity. Then it will be possible, through the action of Satan, for a miracle with the statue, just as it will be possible for the false prophet to bring down fire from heaven. Rev.13:16. And he will cause everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, The mark of the beast may be reminiscent of the custom of the ancient Romans, who sometimes had warriors burnt the names of their leaders on their hands and foreheads, and slaves (voluntarily or by force) the names of their masters. The inscription of an anti-Christian name will be violence and unconditional embarrassment only for the saints, for those who do not want to worship the beast and its statues. Anyone who decides to refuse to accept the mark will thereby expose himself to complete social alienation and helplessness. This, undoubtedly, is a powerful means of persuading all the cowardly and weak to recognize the power of the Antichrist and achieve the goal of seducing people. The design was twofold. But since, according to the Hebrew and Greek custom of that time, the letters of the alphabet very often served as numbers, so that a certain combination of letters gave one or another name or the corresponding number and vice versa, then the number and the name in relation to the beast are the same and serve as a definition of his personality, by which he will be known among the people of that time. The Seer did not directly mention this very name; he only indicated the number corresponding to it, leaving it to human wisdom itself to reveal the real name of the Antichrist. - “Here,” that is, when discovering this mysterious name and its meaning, wisdom is needed, a special effort of the mind is needed. Rev.13:17. and that no one will be able to buy or sell except he who has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Rev.13:18. Here is wisdom. He who has intelligence, count the number of the beast, for it is a human number; its number is six hundred and sixty-six. This is both difficult and easy. It is difficult because moral perfection is required, but it is easy because, on the one hand, the very circumstances of that time 70 will contribute to this, on the other hand, the number of the beast that needs to be counted is the number of a person, that is, the number 71 that makes up the name of a person, in the usual use and meaning of a human name. It is necessary to find such a human name that the sum of its letters, translated into numbers, would give the sum of 666. - Still, there were opinions that were thought to be seen in the Antichrist, for example, nothing more than all sorts of exaggerations. Mohammed, Patr. Nikon, Napoleon and other historical figures. History in its past has not yet given us the Antichrist-beast, and therefore his name or the number of his name cannot be indicated in the past. But the number 666 cannot be given exclusively symbolic meaning. When deciding the question of the number of the beast, you need to pay special attention to the fact that the text deliberately repeats the number of the beast, which is equivalent to the number of its name. And if so, then there is no reason to pay exclusive attention only to the number, and not to the number and name. It is necessary, identifying the name of the beast and the number of his name, to attribute them to the Antichrist, as his personal name. In any case, the true name of the Antichrist, which gives the sum of 666, together with other signs, will belong to his historical personality, as it is depicted according to the prophecy of St. John, Apostle Paul and prophet Daniel. John did not name this name now, but not because he wanted to create a riddle through it, but because knowledge of this name is now unnecessary, because it is useless. It will be necessary and useful only in recent times, when the person who will bear this name appears. In accordance with the words of Jesus Christ: “another will come in his own name” (John 5:43), the Antichrist will be a well-known human personality and, like him, will bear his own personal name 72. The personal name of the Antichrist is deliberately hidden by the will of God for special wise purposes, and only future times will reveal the name of this extreme adversary of Jesus Christ and St. Churches. In fulfilling the desire to know the name of the Antichrist, one must begin not with his name, but with his other signs indicated in the Holy Scriptures. Scripture, and the name of Antichrist, giving the number 666, must be given only to that (Antichrist) person to whom all other signs will be applied. Zhdanov, Lutardt Hengstenberg, Kliefoth, Ewald. St. Justin phil., Kliefoth, Suller, Lutardt. St. Hippolytus, Andrew Kes., St. Irenaeus. You might be interested in: