ЧАСТЬ ВТОРАЯ. ВИДЕНИЯ

PICTURE OF THE EARTH'S HISTORY OF THE CHURCH ON THE PATH TO THE KINGDOM OF GLORY This is the fundamental ideological content of the Asia Minor letters of the apocalyptic Revelation, which further should show the actual implementation of normative principles in the future destinies of the Church. This is precisely the task that is fulfilled by the second part of the Apocalypse, which, in vivid visions and living pictures of a stunning nature, presents to us the historical course of the Church of Christ along the path to the Kingdom of Glory. But if there the theoretical teaching was revealed gradually from different sides, then, even more so, here prolonged contemplation is expected, since images are always longer than words and express thoughts by acting on feelings much more slowly and more complexly. This determines the composition and character of the second, largest, apocalyptic section. Here we enter the realm of truly mysterious visions and heavenly revelations. Naturally, here both understanding and explanation are much more difficult, and sometimes they are completely impossible for us 69 . If apocalyptic messages contain familiar names and generally accepted sayings, then in the description of contemplations, current names are rather symbolic designations, and words more often state incredible things and describe them in incomprehensible terms; the visions take on a truly strange, unimaginable character, for in them the acceptable images must convey or suggest something inaccessible and inaccessible due to an unknown distance and divine loftiness, containing the inconceivable. In general, this creates the impression of some chaos 70, but this is necessary by the very essence of the objects and the task in all such cases. 71 In the messages we have enough data for a more or less concrete understanding and interpretation, but for apocalyptic contemplations there is nothing like that even to the smallest extent. From here the most immediate conclusion will be that apocalyptic pictures are essentially typical, but are not realistic reproductions, and are not intelligible directly due to their heavenly relationships, devoid of historical factual analogy. The viewer here shares the fate of every literary type, which is never either a single photograph or a mechanical reproduction of the general content in many people; since the first is devoid of any artistic principle, the second loses the most important typical property in living individuality, which creatively displays all the units of a given category without merging with any of them, which is why the author himself, for the most part, cannot indicate the true subjects who contributed to the creation of the typical image, as included in it as partial elements. 72 Moreover, all this is inevitable to a predominant degree in the plastic depiction of scenes and persons that capture world events and exceptional personalities. However, this does not in any way imply that they are only subjective creations, alien to obligatory importance beyond the limited authorial significance. This is where the idea of ​​the divine inspiration of the sacred biblical writings turns out to be especially fruitful. Apocalyptic contemplations represent the highest soaring of the human spirit into supermundane regions, when the non-existent or future is depicted for our consciousness as completely real or even clearly observable - and this is the sphere of action of purely Divine creativity. Therefore, it is here that the closest contact of the human with the Divine and the natural contact of the first with the latter is so much so that the human brings material purified from everything random with a sacred thirst for its final transformation; and the Divine imparts to him the everlasting power of everywhere and complete self-sufficiency. This is the divine inspiration of the Apocalypse, which determines our exegetical attitude towards it. Its actual baggage does not provide anything historically real in our earthly existence, but suggests only some points of support for our spiritual soaring and, therefore, does not contain real historical foundations and explanations, which everyone is looking for until the last days. On the other hand, all possible reality, already deprived of its concreteness in human typicality, was transformed through Divine transformation into a fundamental guiding symbol, in its light it acquires its true meaning and only in it should it be understood and perceived. Therefore, the correct, objective interpretation of the Apocalypse, corresponding to the very nature of the subject of Revelation, appears to be fundamentally symbolic, 73 even in those places where many admit a reflection of the living history of their time. This extends to all further content after the apocalyptic letters. The message outlines before us the foundations and forms of a real, establishing Christian existence, which in the course of history must strive for its final crowning in the kingdom of God and the Father. This normally defines two parts, one of which depicts the earthly history of Christianity in the struggle for its victorious greatness (IV-XIX, 10), and the second describes its final triumph in the glory of all-perfect dominion and eternal bliss (XIX, 11-XXII, 21). Everything here is focused on the fact that Christ, who came and founded His Church, would gradually become incarnate everywhere and forever shine with His brothers before His Father. At the same time, the Lord Himself had to continuously fight in the name of good against all evil that had established itself in the universe, and destroyed it on principle. Next, it was necessary to achieve the predominance of the grace-saving elements in all people and throughout the world and through this ensure the final triumph. At all stages, constant and unrelenting warfare is destined. And if in Christ the Savior Himself it was accompanied by many complications and interweavings, then in humanity extremely intricate combinations with all kinds of fluctuations, ascents and falls, temporary truces and new explosions are necessarily assumed. It is clear that all this should have a corresponding effect on the image itself, which in each part can be composed of several episodes, especially abundant during the period of the militant Church. Moving forward is revealed in a holistic picture, where in particulars not only interruptions and upheavals, but also betrayals and falling away are quite conceivable. The connection of all individual moments is determined not by direct sequential progression, but by the internal relationship of the dominant symbols. It is in this spirit that the first part of the visions should primarily be explained, which depicts to us the earthly history of Christianity in all its many parts and in factual diversity; however, at the same time affirming the complete unity of the First Author and the Performer of God's destinies for the world (chapter VI). From here, true visions begin, and - as a preliminary - the Seer naturally describes where and how he had his contemplations, and what was the highest primary source for them, obligatory for all further pictures, for which authoritative heavenly premises are given here (IV, 1-1). Busy with his assignment regarding the seven Asian churches, the Apocalyptic only now, at the end of his work, looked up and saw a door open in heaven, and the former voice (I, 10) invited him to ascend there “in spirit” in order to see from him what should happen later in the historical course of the Church of God. There sat someone resplendent in a shining rainbow, and around on twenty-four thrones sat 24 elders in white robes and with golden crowns on their heads; from the throne of God came lightning, and thunder, and voices among the seven lamps burning before Him, which were the seven spirits of God. The union of 24 persons, by their age, the whiteness of their robes with precious crowns of victory, who are sanctioned bearers of moral purity and perfect holiness, refers to the fullness of the Church of God (cf. XI, 16), which includes both true Israelites and faithful pagans (Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30), just as the seven lamp-spirits mean complete the power of God in the Holy Spirit. It is clear that such a seat of the Glorious God inspired awe in all beholders, being a source of punishing, warning and inspiring commands of God, which is why the Lord Almighty is constantly glorified by all the reborn (Rom. 8:19-23) living creation, which in proud strength, and in humble sacrifice, and in humanoid intelligence strives, like an eagle, to soar to the Most High and The Eternal Lord, and all the elders of the Church of the Lord bow before Him in their greatness, for He is the author of all existence and the normal ruler and legal judge of His creation. It is in precisely this Divine dignity of the only primary source-guide of all created things and its executor that God is accepted and proclaimed by everyone and everywhere throughout the entire universe. Necessarily associated with this is the equally universal recognition that the entire fate of the world and humanity is in His hands. HOW WORLD HISTORY IS DETERMINED AND GOVERNED This is a kind of book of the Testament of God (V, 1 et seq.), depicted, apparently, in the form of sheets of a codex, written on both sides - inside and outside - and sealed together with seven seals, like all human textual documents 74. But here the matter concerns the entire world history after its testimony to the sovereignty of God, irresistible to everyone and forever, and such a worldwide confession was created and secured by spiritual triumph in the establishment of a similar and saving Church of the Lord, since with God every promise about His creation could regulate and guarantee its blissful coexistence with its Creator. It is not surprising that, despite the loud appeals of the mighty angel, none of the created beings was anywhere able to open the book and look into it, for the Divine act allowed only Divine participation, which in the Old Testament belonged to the tribe of Judah. It is natural that the completion should have fallen on him, which continued the Old Testament industry and created a new era for it, for which purpose he is the royal bearer of Judas’ service and David’s power. But if previously humanity lacked worthy purity for the perception of God's goodness, now, obviously, complete purification was required for every person throughout the world, when all people, uniting with God through Christ, acquired spiritual royal superiority, since even as long as they remained devoted servants of God, as if called priests of the Most High. It is clear that this does not describe the official service of believers in the Church, but their new position through the Church, which in its very essence is a society of spiritual and royal worshipers of God on earth. This is solemnly and reverently recognized by the entire Church, lifting up to God the grateful prayers of its holy members, and - in accordance with the new conditions - singing a new hymn to Christ as the Divine Deliverer and Organizer of the gracious destinies of the Kingdom of God on earth. In this harmony the voices of all creation, heavenly, earthly, underground and sea, merged, confirming that God is the Lord of all ages, and His Lamb is the creator and disseminator of the saving supremacy of God in the universe. So: everything is from God through Christ, worthy to receive the book of world destinies (V, 9, 12) according to His unity with Him who lives forever and ever (V, 13). Given this situation, it is quite certain that the task of world development could only be the complete predominance of gracious-saving good, but in our world, among limited beings, all this is accomplished with a slow and wavering gradualness and is achieved only by overcoming and eliminating evil in a constant all-round struggle with it in all areas and on all paths of life. What is fundamental must become individual in all individuals and through them become universal throughout our entire cosmos, which for this reason is subject to complete rebirth in its entire composition. For this it is necessary that the most saving principle be undeniable in its absolute power, despite all the furious overwhelms that the visions of the seven seals show us. After the Lamb opens the first seal (VI, 1–2), one of the four animals, as a representative of the sovereign power among the world’s elements, invites the Seer to see that a white horse has come out, symbolizing with its color the purity and holiness of the world principles that govern the movement of the saving actions of God’s redemption. And the rider sitting on a horse with a bow appears already with the crown of the winner, who has come out to certainly win. But the second seal (VI, 3–4), after which it invites you to look at the second animal, personifying humble submission, reveals that the final result is not so quickly and simply approved. Now a red horse comes out, signifying the violent boiling of human passions and the chaotic collision of natural cosmic elements. It is inevitable that under their rule there can be neither order nor peace, but, on the contrary, the mutual extermination of people by all sorts of destructive methods is quite inevitable, as a sign of which the one sitting receives a large sword. But unrest in human society is accompanied by upheavals in the field of living conditions that ensure human existence in its rational course, which is guaranteed by human intelligence. Behind the third seal (VI, 5–6) appears a black horse, foreshadowing the cruel onset of dark days, when an extreme depreciation of all nutritious products will follow, threatening their complete disappearance (as in modern times, abundant harvests of something necessary for people did not entail the general availability of such for the people, but the barbaric destruction of surpluses to maintain high prices), and people will have to save themselves with saved reserves of oil and wine. Undoubtedly, without proper drinking, this would be only a temporary deception, barely guarding the dying lamp of a tormented life, which is inexorably tending to its sad end. Therefore, after the fourth seal (VI, 7-8), an emaciated pale horse is shown and on it a rider bringing death, followed by a hell of all kinds of torment, since over the fourth part of the earth the deadly rider will receive the power to kill with the sword wars and the coming famine, pestilence and beasts enraged with insatiability. This means that all the elements of the earth are disturbed and shocked, outraged by human evil, which, growing gradually, creates an anarchic turmoil of death and destruction everywhere. If at the same time the participants in such a terrible tragedy die, then those over whose heads it is played out with wild swiftness in its furious rage suffer and endure all the more. Then, inevitably, everyone who is alien to the ruling evil must suffer, suffer, and disappear, for the latter will directly fall upon them in order to clear the bloody road to the final goal. Therefore, behind the fifth seal (VI, 9–11) the souls of those who died for the proclamation of the word of God and for their unfailing fidelity to it even to death, which actually befell them, are presented under the heavenly altar of prayer incense (cp. V, 8). It is understandable on their part to feel the deepest indignation at the tyrannical untruth of the ungodly demon. But although their cries are natural and legitimate in relation to the absolute Lord, the Bearer of complete holiness and unconditional correspondence with the true truth, the course of events cannot radically change as long as the existing relationship of mutually opposite forces continues. To create a different situation, it is necessary for the suffering to remain in the same subordination, so that the triumphant element develops to the point of complete absurdity and loses all support for its further existence: here, the more real victims, the fewer ontological foundations, which disappear in an accelerated progression, if one particular untruth necessarily undermines all the rights that allow it. This proportionality determines the “number” and brevity of the sacrificial process until its completion. But it is precisely before its fall that the doomed energy develops a particularly decisive tension, both in the manifestation of its inherent malice and for the purpose of its own self-preservation, and as a result of this there are the most extreme perturbations. And so it was after the sixth seal (VI, 12-17), when the whole earth shook violently, all the heavenly light disappeared and the sky disappeared into darkness, curled up like a book scroll (cf. Isa. 34:4), and on the earth mountains and islands moved from their places, people of all ranks and conditions tried to hide in caves and gorges from irresistible horror, wanting only the speedy evaporation of their in view of the fallen wrath of God, before which no one can essentially resist. Apparently, now all existence must be destroyed, because nature has deteriorated for any functions and humanity itself and completely thirsted only for death. This necessarily presupposes the final end, and therefore a special explanation was required regarding the further history of the condemned cosmos. But previously only human insignificance was noted before Him who sat on the throne, and anger belonged to the Lamb itself (VI, 16), although in His unity with the Lord of all (VI, 17: ἡ ἡ μ έ ρα ἡ μεγ ά λη τ ῆ ς ὀ ργ ῆ ς αὐτοῦ ). It is indisputable from here that so far the matter is not so much about the most essential, but about its perverted abnormality in relation to the salvation graciously bestowed by the Redeemer. Is it possible to correct this dying system and save it from collapse? And if it is impossible, then wouldn’t such a collapse testify to the powerlessness of the Divine Lamb and His redemptive feat? It is clear that this is not at all a break in the flow of heavenly revelations or an inappropriate, mechanical insertion from another source, but a necessary element in the forward movement of the universal world drama. It doesn't stop - but why? This is what we see in the intermediate vision (VII, 1), covering the entire world, at the four corners of which four Angels stand as guards, possessing locks of life-giving trends for the earthly elements. This happened immediately after the inevitability of cosmic destruction was clarified, convincing that the latter is still being blocked by higher forces receiving protective missions. Therefore, there must be saving heavenly purposes for the earthly current. This is announced by another - in comparison with the four - Angel, who ascends from the center of eternal light and has the seal of the Living God, the Author, Source and Guardian of life, in order to use it to seal those who belong to the eternal Master. This made sure that the world has worthy saviors in the person of one hundred and forty thousand sons of Israel (twelve thousand from each tribe. VII, 4). Then all of them are listed, with the exception of the tribe of Dan, which was given a special symbolic meaning due to its connection with Judeo-Christian beliefs about the prevalence of idolatry there and the origin of the Antichrist from there 75 . But since it is directly said ἐ κ π ά σης φυλ ῆ ς υ ἱῶ ν ἰ σρα ή λ (VII, 4), then, undoubtedly, there is no actual omission, and Dan is not named due to the special emphasis on Levi, to express that along with the priesthood, Levitism also participates, like all the others tribes. Since this caused the emphasis, then a parallel inclusion for Dan is necessary, for example, in the name of Zebulun. In any case, such silence is much more likely without any hidden tendencies that would not be noticeable and understandable here. An equal number of those sealed is taken for all tribes, of which each contains their entire godly completeness, for the figure 12,000 embraces the entire totality of the twelve tribes of Israel, and a thousand marks complete perfection, for example, in the thousand-year kingdom of Christ, during this period reaching its due completion. This means that all of Israel is taken in its true essence, in all of its God-chosen sons. But who is he really? The calculation is made in view of the wrath of the Lamb, to mitigate which, first of all, His worthy adherents are needed, and such could, of course, only be Jewish Christians in their predominant distinctiveness, as well as converted pagans, forming the new Israel of God (Gal. 6:16). It is not surprising that this understanding - in the sense of the believing Israelites - is both widespread and dominant. But earlier (VI, 9–10) Christian martyrs and their pre-elected companions were named, whom there was no need to seal with a seal, since they were sealed with blood and crowned in their confessional purity. On the other hand, after the numbering of the worthy Israelites, a great, boundless multitude of people from all nations, tribes and peoples, and languages ​​are specially mentioned before the Throne and before the Lamb, also in the white robes of Christian holiness and with victorious branches in their hands. It is not mentioned anywhere that they were imprinted anywhere or somehow, which is why they are not the above-mentioned Israelites, but exclusively believers and predominantly pagans, which will be the martyrs crying out for vengeance (VI, 9-11). None of all these classes any longer needed the seal, which, as a protective and saving means, was suitable only for those who would otherwise be subject to death common to the entire composition. In the previous one, only two categories were named: Christian martyrs and non-Christian torturers; since in the first there clearly emerged a multitude of people from non-Jewish society, it is clear that it was the Israelites who belonged to the second category. This is the fundamentally terrible misfortune of the world tragedy, that the once God-chosen people fiercely and steadily went against God-called and Christian-exalted paganism because of their God-chosenness, i.e. in the name of the Lord God, without recognizing His co-presence on the other side. Hence, it is inevitable and understandable that this struggle seems to be dogmatically principled and functioning independently of any external conditions of a bad or good nature. It could disappear only if Judaism became Christian or Christianity returned to its paganism, later becoming religious atheism and the exterminated slave of Jewry. But neither then nor now was there the slightest predisposition to a general Jewish conversion, and Christianity always believed in its universal dominance. Therefore, casual friendships and temporary rapprochements did not help here at all, for the question touched upon the essential depths of Judaism and Christianity, of which one did not want, and the other could not be anything else. The war was waged over confession itself, which exhausted all spiritual existence, and acquired the character of a sacred necessity [obligatory for both parties; and if for Christians there is one eternal principle of freely attracting their opponents, then Judaism absolutely required their complete enslavement with the complete evaporation of simple Christian independence. Such is the vital nature of struggling quantities, which is certainly reflected in a corresponding way in all historical relationships that cannot change, and hence the unquenchable eternal enmity of Judaism: from the very first times of Christianity, it has persistently denied Christ, does not even call Him by name (Acts 4:17, 5:28), despite the inviting Christian invitations. Here is the root and engine of the apocalyptic struggle, as it can be seen throughout world history to this day, through various deceptive covers. But isn’t this amazing mystery terrible, that God’s chosen ones persecute God’s Beloved? True, the confessors and even fanatics of their messianism crucified the true Messiah, but why is this not just a fatal sad misfortune, but an everlasting norm? Before this painful bewilderment of one’s faith, Christian thought involuntarily stops, looking for or expecting a higher solution. But something similar already happened in the days of the prophet Elijah, when it seemed that he was left alone, and all Israel perished spiritually. Nevertheless, contrary to the outward factual evidence, it was discovered that there were still seven thousand preserved who had not bowed their knees to Baal (1 Kings 19:14, 18), from which it was certain that God did not reject His people, why we must reason about everything that follows that there is always a healthy and life-giving remnant, guaranteeing that, in the end, true Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:2, 5, 26). But with regard to the gospel, the Jews remain enemies of Christians 76 for the sake of the growth of gospel salvation in them (Rom. 11:28), with a denial of all nationalistic and fanatical views in its later development. And if we see all this in an apocalyptic depiction, then we must agree that it naturally implies unbelieving and militant Judaism. It continuously undermines and explodes the entire history of the world. According to the Apocalypse, the latter should be entirely Christian, but in fact it turned out that it was constantly being destroyed and tyrannically replaced by the victorious Jewish one. But here, too, what happened under Elijah is repeated, that in all of Israel, as in a centuries-old stone pyramid, there always remains a certain life-giving grain of his spiritual conversion. In view of this, all world catastrophes are only inevitable complications, which are aggravated by opponents, precisely because of the unquenchable premonition of the undoubted supreme dominance of Christianity. The sealed true Israelites are the guarantee of such a glorious future; they contain a guarantee of the Christian results of the world process, certified in their merits, remaining among the perishing Jewish masses as their future deliverers, for which reason they are still hidden in the depths of all Israel. These are not yet Christians, but indisputably true Israelites, abiding in the pure, revealed faith of God and therefore chosen by the seal of God for the final Christian triumph. This sufficiently illuminates the troubling historical mystery and resolves the question, painful for every conscience, in principle, and therefore finally and forever, according to the principles of the wisdom and knowledge of God. Israel's chosenness affirms the providential power and saving effectiveness, but at the same time the supreme Christian successes are protected according to the original plan of God, although not in everything understandable to us during its historical implementation on the path to achieving the glory of the kingdom of God in the universe. What could be further, or what more is required in this area, when regarding the world government of the Lord God it is now certain that everything here is from Him, by Him and to Him (Rom. 11:36)? Therefore, in the visions, an innumerable number of pagan believers who exclaimed victoriously that the foretold salvation indisputably belongs to the Lord God and the Lamb seated on the throne, in their common redemptive activity and, constituting their exclusive work, has all the assurance of complete triumph, despite all obstacles and doubts. And all the Angels of God blessingly confirm this for eternity, and the Seer is assured by one of the heavenly representatives that the great sorrows of martyrdom for Christ are immersion in the atoning blood of the Lamb and, therefore, do not interfere with universal grace-filled progress, but, on the contrary, provide all confessors of Christ with an eternal stay with God and in God and a bright, carefree life, alien to earthly restrictions and deprivations. Now, regarding the mystery of the Christian worldview, everything was completed and guaranteed: there will be great and constant troubles, but the absolute Christian supremacy in the worthy conclusion of the troubled and turbulent world history is quite certain. There is nothing and no need to add anything to this in the sense of new clarifications. Therefore, after the opening of the last seventh seal by the Lamb Himself, silence is established in heaven for as if half an hour (VIII, 1) - a short time, but sufficient for the necessary break, for the former must be assimilated as a divine confirmation of the unconditional Christian victory, which alone could be its only completion, and it is naturally postponed until the conclusion of the entire world development. This had to be unshakably and reverently believed, without being entertained by selfish dreams about the time, methods and nature of the realization of God’s promise. But, on the other hand, such evidence suggests that, obviously, world history in its gradual unfolding will be completely different in appearance if an extraordinary divine statement has become necessary regarding the happy and saving outcome of the world process for everyone. Both dogmatic logic and living reality irresistibly convinced of the unrelenting predominance of an enraged and crushing evil, which must certainly manifest itself with increasing energy in order to possess universal supremacy. It was necessary to consolidate what had happened in oneself and prepare for new terrible vicissitudes in the world's tangled movement. Naturally, behind the silence after the opening of the seventh seal, other pictures are shown - seven Angels before God, with seven trumpets, which, according to their accepted use, were supposed to warn about the onset of particularly important events in protecting the desired growth by eliminating everything hostile to it. This is what the visions of the seven trumpets provide with the return of torment for the incorrigible opponents of Christian progress. VISIONS OF THE SEVEN TRUMPETS WITH THE RETURN OF TORMENT FOR INCORRECTABLE OPEMONIES OF CHRISTIAN PROGRESS There could be nothing in God's providence that would destroy divine plans. And now the new Angel-angel appears before the golden altar under the throne of God - with a golden censer, to burn the incense given to him before God with the prayers of all the saints, to express complete gratitude for a secure future and complete readiness to be faithful to Him among all fatal trials (VIII, 1 et seq.). In commemoration of the latter, the same Angel fills the censer with fire from the altar and throws it to the ground, where thunder, lightning and earthquakes occur with voices of horror of all living creatures. Apparently, there will be neither strength nor stability in the world, in particular, they are further depicted by the actions of the seven trumpets, which constitute the content of the seventh seal, otherwise it would remain empty and vain, devoid of power and meaning. And when the first Angel sounded, there was hail and fire, mixed with blood, the appearance of which gave the hailstones a fiery translucency; from this misfortune, a third of the trees burned down and all the green grass disappeared (VIII, 7), and this reduced the very possibility of shelter and food for earthly animals. After the second trumpet, it was as if a great mountain, blazing with fire, was cast into the sea, and the third part of it became blood (VIII, 8). Apparently, it is more likely that the blazing fire turned the water to a blood-red color, but in any case the result is the same - that in this space the corresponding part of the animate sea creatures died and the same, third, part of the ships died (VIII, 9). Once again, organic life on earth is limited quantitatively and the methods of supplying imported products, which people have always needed, are constrained. Trouble reaches man close, and the third trumpet, throwing a large, luminous-burning star onto a third of the rivers and springs, makes their water deadly bitter, for this star by its very nature is “wormwood” and certainly poisons every water element (VIII, 10-11), and humanity no longer possessed protective and restorative means (cf. Ex. 15:25; 2 Kings 2:19–22) and they perished in great numbers. The fourth trumpet swallowed up the third part of the heavenly lamps, and the brightness of day and night characteristic of them was diminished by a third part, i.e. half of the day became completely dark, taking away the possibilities of purely physical existence from people and sufficient productivity from nature (VIII, 12). The latter became unable to serve man to the necessary fullness of his vital needs, and this naturally brought a terrible danger to all humanity: it, of course, could have turned away, but in the actual course of things - from worse to worse - it became inevitable, which is why the heavenly voice of the Angel 77 flying around the world announces to those living on earth a triple woe from the rest of the trumpet sounds (VIII, 13). And indeed, after the fifth trumpet, it turns out that a star fell from the sky, having received the key to the well of the abyss, where countless evil forces are hidden with all sorts of destructive actions and influences (IX, 1 et seq.). Undoubtedly, what is meant here is a personal being with a certain individuality and energy, carrying out heavenly decrees according to heavenly authority. You can take him as a service Angel of the elements, managing the natural elements with their functions. However, now all the importance is only in the very phenomena that took place: strong smoke came out of the open well, darkening the sun and the air, and from the smoke came locusts with the power that earthly scorpions have (IX, 2-3). The latter always cause death as a final result, and therefore the locusts would bring universal destruction, which invariably accompanies their visits 78 . Therefore, restrictions are placed on her: so that she does not touch earthly growths - grass, greenery and trees, focusing only on people, and, moreover, exclusively on those who did not have a seal on their foreheads (IX, 4). In its gradual development, evil kills itself more and more. Unfaithful and perverted Israel was a terrible scourge for the confessors of Christ, but this was not a revelation of its worthy strength, but only of its destructive malice. It is clear that it, progressively growing and strengthening, becomes so dominant and unstoppable that it must fall upon its bearers and performers. However, even in this case, evil cannot be the arbitrary master of life, and therefore it only has the energy to torment, but not to kill. However, these torments, similar to a person being stung by a scorpion, were all the more cruel because they were not accompanied by the desired death for those suffering and lasted at least five months, i.e. about six months, or a full term. And the locusts then had to act as a strong armed army, like a chariot prepared for battle, ensured in advance in the victorious success of deliberate human attacks, which were guaranteed by terrible weapons according to the name of the leader “Abaddon” or “Apollyon”, meaning “Destroyer” (IX, 5-11). Despite all the horror, this first grief of the other three foreshadowed (IX, 12; cp. VIII, 13) was only the “beginning of illnesses” and passed, because it was to a certain extent a natural disaster, although it played out with meaningful rationality. This last one advances further, in its disastrous revelation. After the trumpet of the sixth Angel, the Seer heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar standing before God. Obviously, there was a general demand here, seeking satisfaction in its entirety, and it boiled down to the sixth Angel freeing the four Angels bound at the great river Euphrates (IX, 13-14), which was always depicted for civilization as an insurmountable barrier (Jer. 46:6) and the final limit, and behind it was supposed to be complete paganism, savage and hostile to God. This is a completely special circle, like a separate world, and, like the other, it is observed and represented by its four Angels. The latter were still bound and deprived of all freedom for their manifestations, because otherwise they would have unleashed all the pagan, spontaneously destructive forces of godlessness and wickedness. Therefore, even now they are prepared only for a precisely specified period, namely, for an hour, for a day, and for a month, and for a year (IX, 15). It seems that the first short quantities are not indicated at the top of the year, but are included in its composition and express that during the entire given time, destructive work will function without respite, continuously and unremittingly, every minute, but not longer than a year. This period seems short, and yet it is more than twice as long as the furious dominance of the locust. Naturally, enormous devastation was expected, which had to be strictly regulated so that it did not become limitless and immense. A similar necessity was created by the immense size that opposed the divine army, about which the ear of the Seer caught that one number of the cavalry army reached (20,000 X 10,000) 200,000,000 units, and the horsemen themselves were protected with the help of armor, shining with different reflections, while the horses - with heads reminiscent of lions' heads, caused three ulcers from fire, smoke and sulfur coming out of the mouth (which supports both during combustion), as well as through their serpentine tails with harmful heads. From all this, a third of the people died (IX, 16–19). However, even such a grave misfortune did not bring any sense to those who remained; on the contrary, they did not repent at all of the works of their hands, but continued their demonic-idol service and did not abandon moral crime (IX, 20-21). Who are these people (ο ἱ ἀ νθρ ώ ποι), partly destroyed and partly preserved in their demonic perversity? Earlier (IX, 4) it was categorically expressed that only those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads are subject to heavenly punishment. Here the difference from all those who own this saving sign is clearly emphasized, and these above (VII, 4-8) were decisively named 144,000 from all the tribes of the sons of Israel. Therefore, in the first case, one must first of all understand the unfaithful and malicious Israelites, whom nothing really corrected in their anti-Christian stubbornness. And to allow a contrast between one category of people and a completely different part of it would be completely unnatural, like, for example, bringing various objects into a total sum of weight or quantity. Consequently, Judaism is portrayed as the main anti-Christian enemy, severely punished and yet unrelenting in its malice, which, apparently, cannot even be mitigated and therefore requires complete destruction in all its carriers and sources. But along with this, we must not forget that when the sons of Israel were sealed, the Seer was shown a great multitude of people from all (ἐ κ παντ ὸ ς) tribes, tribes, peoples, and languages ​​(VII, 9) clearly not of Jewish origin and composition. These are crowned righteous people, but since they are from all categories, then, undoubtedly, not all are referred to the presence of brethren of other qualities. Likewise, those who escaped death at the death of the third part of the people are characterized by such features that cannot be adopted by Judaism: neither demonic worship nor idolatry was characteristic of it, and the moral defects of murder, sorcery, fornication, theft (IX, 21) are to such an outrageous degree more natural in paganism, which was mired and persisted in its immoral falls. We must accept that the Apocalyptic envisions all God-hating humanity at the head and under the leadership of the Israelite anti-Christian army of essential enemies and patented world-wide seducers. Everything that preceded should have convincingly convinced that the triumph of the kingdom of Christ in the future is undoubted and, although the greatest difficulties and constraints will follow in world development, preparatory cleansing will also be gradually carried out. We observe it in vivid pictures of cruel catastrophes and now we must gain confidence that all this was an irremovable necessity, like the one that a weedy and neglected field must be restored by destroying all nasty things in order for the blessed sowing to be possible: this is revealed before our intense gaze in further revelation. ABOUT THE MYSTERY OF THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD IN THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE UNDOUBTED TRIUMPH OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST The seer sees (X, 1 et seq.) an Angel - different from all the earlier ones and especially powerful - descending from heaven as if in a cloud, serving him as a chariot sufficient for the airy spheres, surrounded by a halo of a rainbow calming during storms (cf. Gen. 9:13 et seq.) and shining with the sun, possessing indestructible legs simply because they are like “pillars of fire” to which nothing hostile can approach. In his hands is a “book” or a small parchment of a complete scroll of God’s providential destinies in the history of the world. The right foot is placed on the sea, and the left on the land. According to ancient practice and symbolism, this should mean that both of these elements, with all their active content, are slavishly subordinate to him, like defeated enemies in their godless opposition, and he is for them the unconditional ruler, whom Primorius even took for Christ. However, this was undoubtedly an Angel, another in the series of the former, but with great advantages. And so he exclaimed in a loud voice, like a roaring lion, and then the seven thunders spoke with their voices, which were so distinct that the Apocalyptic wanted to immediately write down what the seven thunders said, but the Angel forbade (X, 2-4): “Do not write this!” It is clear that there was something quite articulate that could not only be described, but directly written down with punctuality. Hence it is much more likely that there were seven successive thunderous broadcasts from the sky corresponding to such a detection of content, i.e. ominously scary. But the Angel who appeared had a reconciling mission in the midst of storms, like a rainbow in a raging rain; the thunders here were accessories to the central image, had no independent meaning and only warned that the troubles they predicted would not stop the supreme crowning. To include them here separately would be incorrect or untimely, which is why the Angel does not allow thunder verbs to be directly reproduced. His goal was completely different, and he actually achieves it. The angel, with the generally accepted guarantee, raising his hand to heaven, solemnly swears (Gen. 14:22; Deut. 32:40) the Creator of all things, in all volume and content, in His dignity as living forever and ever, and therefore always ruling over His creation, and not just created and left to His will. The latter did not exist, and everything created was subject to its limitations, developing and functioning during the periods assigned to each, which, alternating and interconnecting each other, form continuously ongoing time. But this is not something independent, existing as such a world principle into which all phenomena enter, receiving their chronological definitions; on the contrary, it is itself determined by the succession of different world acts and their different durations, one being longer than the other, according to which a count is formed according to the taken average measures of duration. This means that time presupposes the presence of created alternating existence and without it it will actually disappear, because then there is no one to take into account. According to this, “in the beginning” about creation and about the Word (John 1:1) refers to the further created world-flow, affirming for the previous unchangeable constancy - without ductility, without interruptions and fluctuations, for there everything is the same and indistinguishable, like an immense and indefinable eternity. It is precisely this very thing that the mighty Angel certifies with an oath before the eternal God - that “there will be no more time” (X, 6: ὅτι χρ ό νος ο ὐ κ έ τι ἔ σται) and successively changing creation will disappear. This requires that in the future creativity ceases, and in the present part of it completely disappears, and part of it becomes eternal existence. However, all this will not happen now, but later, in those days when behind the trumpet of the seventh Angel the mystery of God will be fulfilled (X, 7: This mystery has a perfect individual typicality - not in the sense of origin from God, which is all created things, but in the fact that it belongs only to God and, being hidden in His unsearchable depths, is known only to Him alone. So far we only know that it undoubtedly exists, since God preached about it to His servants, the prophets (X, 7). The intended mystery refers to the period when “there will be no more time,” and the term “gospel” indicates the Gospel testimony about it, final and undoubted, previously offered by the prophets with inevitable turbidity and generality, and now given by the Gospel with clarity and distinctness. Obviously, this is Christ’s proclamation about the last times, directly absorbed by the boundless eternity of the kingdom of God, and about the communication of this to the Apostles, who, continuing and completing the prophetic work, themselves become prophets, since they reveal the final future for history. Obviously, the mystery of God, crowning the entire vibrational-chronological course of the world with the eternal radiance of the heavenly kingdom of God, will take place in an unknown distance. It is indisputable, but is still impenetrable, and will become clear only before its implementation. True, this mystery always acts as an invariably sought end (ἐ τελ έ σθη), in which it is realized with all the typical specificity and possible transparency for worthy observers, and until then remains vaguely visible “like a mirror in fortune telling” (1 Cor. 13:12) in various “signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3), gradually reaching size great signs from heaven (Luke 21:25; Matt. 24:24) to the decisive “sign of the Son of Man in heaven” (Matt. 24:30). There is simply actual preparation, slow and unintelligible, and therefore unknown before implementation. Naturally, the seventh trumpet has not yet sounded, so as not to confuse us with premature and impenetrable visions. All people themselves must be carefully educated for the conscious and convinced assimilation of the entire content of the mystery of God in its gradual development, right up to the final consummation. But behind this there will be nothing more than a continuous static state of eternal and unchangeable continuity in the kingdom of God and the Father. In this regard, the described suggestions of the Strong Angel, on the one hand, again convince the believers of the undoubted and glorious crown of their sorrowful feat among earthly troubles and suffering, and on the other hand, direct everyone to the appropriate training for obtaining heavenly citizenship. But if the first is indisputable, then the quality and methods of the second turned out to be far from clear, due to the unknown of the object itself, until the revelation of the mystery of God. In the interests of education, it was necessary to introduce this particular link into the whole apocalyptic chain and now focus on this subject in order to provide people with the necessary propaedeutics. For this purpose, the former (X, 4) heavenly voice commands the Seer to take the open book (X, 8) that was from the strong Angel (X, 2), which in the general scroll of world destinies obviously occupies only a certain limiting part, suitable for resolving the raised question about the proper preparation of humanity for the final elimination of the world flow. The command was done, but the Angel, handing over the “book,” ordered it to be eaten (similar to Ezekiel 3:1) and warned that in the belly it would be bitter, but in the mouth it would be sweet like honey. This is exactly what happened in fact, signaling everything necessary for the moment in question. We are talking about instructions regarding propaedeutic conditions, which, for the sake of their application, must be learned and perceived within oneself as a guiding norm. Naturally, its message puts a person on the true path and gives the proper direction. This in itself can be sweet, as the most important thing for the matter, as a ready-made and correct program for it. However, it is more common that the content itself turns out to be unfavorable and therefore bitter in comparison with the sweetness of correct knowledge for the upcoming process. And we saw that this was precisely how all the penultimate world stages seemed to be, with manifestations of the punishing judgment of God in all its sorrowful forms. But now the Apocalyptic received more accurate awareness of the properties and dimensions of the expected eschatological world bitterness and could speak about this firmly, as an authorized proclaimer of God, who, naturally, was told by the Angel that he must again “prophesy about nations, and tribes, and tongues, and many kings” (X, 11). Everything will happen “again” as before, i.e. with the help of symbolic visions and plastic revelations, which are more impressive and influential than any speeches and, relating to the future, are true prophecies. Their main subject is the godless anti-Christian pagan mass in all its divisions and with all the multitude of its earthly rulers. The fate of this God-hating people in the final world struggles still remained dark and is now gradually being illuminated in a mysterious apocalyptic way. First of all, we have here a symbolic action when the Seer, as if lying on the ground from the omens contained in a swallowed book, receives a peaceful cane of sufficient length to determine areas, buildings and the number of people. He is told to make this measurement for the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it, but not to touch the outer court of the temple, for it was given to the pagans, who will trample the downed city for forty-two months, or three and a half years (XI, 1-2). It is clear from everything that earthly relations are meant, topographically connected with Jerusalem and its sanctuary. But then it turns out to be mysterious that the temple is filled with worshipers and incense of the altar, and the outer courtyard surrounding it and blocking the entrance is captured along with the entire city by raging paganism, with the power of the winner trampling the sacred Jewish capital. This situation has never existed, and it is completely unthinkable due to the factual impossibility that people would flee from a hostile onslaught for three and a half years, being confined to a confined area, deprived of any means of obtaining the necessary food. This means that these are not enemies at all and therefore not Christians, who would certainly be such for all godless paganism. It is no less difficult to admit that the Israelis who were converted or predestined to this are understood to be equally unfavorable for pagan demons. In the general anti-Christian mass, two layers are outlined before us, each of which acts in the general direction with its own special means. Therefore, it is most plausible that the supposed Jews are not just unbelievers, but fiercely anti-Christian, unworthy of the seal of God. They, of course, are not spiritually in solidarity with atheistic paganism, but for the sake of similar anti-Christian goals they draw closer and even become friends with it, as something similar has happened more than once during various historical vicissitudes. Half of the full number is allocated for everything described, i.e. sufficient time for the revelation of the Judeo-pagan anti-Christian fury, where the element of evil Jewish opposition will be willing, blessing and inspiring. The rebels will rampage for forty-two months, without a break for at least one of them, and will not meet organized resistance, however, they will not remain without exposure of their fundamental wickedness. There are much fewer believers in all truth, and they must constantly “testify” to their unyielding confession through the martyrdom of a sorrowful life and a tragic end. And from this sacred environment two courageous “witnesses” will arise, to whom it will be given to prophesy about the inevitable and inescapable consequences for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, i.e. for the same three and a half years, without even one day being excluded. All the time, both will be in sad sackcloth, as a sign of the deepest sadness from what is observed and foreseen. They are not fierce fighters, but only bright peacemakers and appear before the God of the whole earth as olive trees producing the oil of peace, and as lights burning from it. There are only two of them - respectively, two anti-Christian allies who deserve prophetic rebuke. They are outwardly unarmed and not scary. Their strength lies only in their denouncing lips, and with the fire from the latter, the fire of irresistible burning, all offenders will be branded to death, for the opponents of the truth must necessarily be destroyed by it. This is generally the law of God’s genuine truth, but in this case it is supported by the “witnesses” by their great power, that they - like the prophet Elijah and the lawgiver Moses 79 during the entire time of prophecy - whenever they want - can close the heavens to rain and turn water into blood, striking the earth with every plague. However, there is a precise limit for this activity, and only within this framework should all their prophetic ministry be accomplished (XI, 3-6). It is aimed at exposing and, if successful, would end in the repentance of opponents. But we know that people saved from the trumpet plagues are unable to either recognize or reject their sins (IX, 20-21) and actually triumph in their incorrigible stubbornness, with which they win, and opponents must disappear as unnecessary due to external real uselessness. As a result, the jubilant evil intensifies and brings its main warriors to the forefront. And their container is the storehouse of the abyss (IX, 1) with the king above it in the angel of the abyss (IX, 11). It is clear that with the victory of wickedness achieved, this abyss opens up (cf. IX, 2) and for the final liquidation of any opposition sends out its most typical beast, which will overcome the “witnesses” and kill them, and to outrage them and to demonstrate its power will leave corpses on the streets of the great city, which now turns out to be a spiritually corrupt Sodom and a godless Egypt, as it once was there Our Lord was crucified. Representatives of brutal paganism will enjoy this favorable spectacle for them, will feast for three and a half days and will even mutually greet each other with gifts 80 with deliverance from the martyrdom that was accusatory for them (cf. Mark 6:20) in the preaching of God’s “witnesses”. But evil is always transitory and nowhere can it achieve complete possession of its stay: after three and a half days, the “witnesses” are revived by God to the horror of those who contemplate, and before their eyes, according to an invitation from above, they ascend to heaven as a “testimony” of the never-slumbering and righteous judgment of God. Immediately a great crushing earthquake occurred, destroying a tenth of the city and destroying seven thousand of those who bore only human names and did not have any sacred protective designations, while others, contrary to previous experience (cf. IX, 20-21), gave glory to the Heavenly God, although under the influence of overwhelming fear (XI, 7-13). So, after the first grief from the locusts (IX, 12), now came the second grief, foreshadowing the third (XI, 14), already promised grief (IX, 12). But for now the victory of gracious goodness was undoubted decisively on all fronts, and the time had come for visual and decisive confirmation of the final and everywhere triumph of Christian goodness. It was just now that the seventh Angel sounded his trumpet, and voices in heaven authoritatively proclaimed that “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ,” why, as wholly divine, it “will reign forever and ever” (XI, 15). The importance here is not in the victory itself, which is accompanied by destruction proportional to it, but in the spiritual triumph, which entails internal rebirth among the oppositionists and mutual unification into one family. From this side, it is significant that the worldly kingdom became divine and absorbed the power of God and eternal immutability. Naturally, the representatives of the entire Church - Old Testament and New Testament - all together bowed before the always-existing God, Who never disappeared, but continuously acted and will forever act (function). He only temporarily held back His great power, but now he accepted it and reigned just at that moment when the pagans were completely enraged in their fury, and it was necessary to judge the dead, whose guilt is indisputable, and to give retribution to the servants of God in the person of the prophets who spoke about the future of the Church of Christ, its sanctified members and those who seek this title, whether they are all small or great, and equally destroy the destroyers earth, depriving them of the opportunity to carry out the destructive anti-moral work of perverting all normal earthly relations (XI, 16–18). All the clouds are now scattered from the horizon, and a vast expanse opens up for the shining of the bright sun. The church of God appeared in heaven for reverent, albeit temporary (cp. XV, 5) contemplation, and for the solemn affirmation that the new, final covenant of God with the called humanity was completed, certified by terrible signs like those that happened at Sinai (XI, 19). All paths have been cleared to the kingdom of God. You just need to enter there, and this is not so simple and easy. The Lord Himself led the Jews through the Sinai desert, fed and watered them, protected them at every step and crowned homeless wanderers with great victories - and, however, the undoubted heirs could not enter into their indisputable inheritance (cf. Heb. 3:7 et seq.). It took many years to train legal applicants into deserving owners, seasoned fighters, and reliable owners. Something similar is obligatory for the heirs of the new land. Here, naturally, the history of these citizens worthy of the kingdom of God is drawn, who, by proven right, should receive what is given to them from above. VICTORIOUS RECIPIENTS OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST The origin of such a name for the offspring is revealed to us symbolically by the following “great sign” in heaven - great in its external composition and in its deep inner meaning. A woman appears before us, clothed in the sun like a garment, and all radiant. Under her feet is the lower moon of the sun, indicating the elevation of her heavenly position, where she reigns royally with a crown of twelve stars on her head - apparently, the new, spiritual Israel, i.e. Apostles, his wife is in all respects most worthy of her heavenly exaltation with all her offspring. This is a living element of the kingdom of God - legal members of it, which this wife, already suffering from the pangs of birth, is quite ready to produce (XII, 1-2). But at this very time a new sign appears in the sky of a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on their heads seven diadems, or royal armbands, such as were worn by eastern despots. The dragon has always been an image of crushing power for the East (cf. Deut. 32:33; Jer. 51:34), predominantly evil, characteristic of the “ancient serpent” (XII, 9; XX, 2), as is noted in this case by its blood-red color. In connection with other visions, this is the foremost of the spirits of wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12), possessing all the fullness of power and the abundance of his power (signified by the complete number of heads and horns), with royal greatness. And indeed, one of its tail carried away a third of the stars and threw them to the ground, significantly weakening the heavenly light with its gloomy effect. And then, in the darkened expanse, the dragon stands in front of the stomach-sick wife to immediately devour the born baby. And so she gave birth to a son, and precisely a male one, i.e. who had all the rights of a full legal heir (XII, 3–5). As the son of a royal mother, he was by nature appointed to royal possession and active dominion, to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Since this refers to the heavenly spheres and events, one cannot in any way discern here the messianic descent to earth of the Son of God, in which application this Old Testament expression (Ps. 2:9) was understood about the unquestioning spiritual dominion of the Savior of the world. Here we are obviously talking about the true and legal descendants of the heirs of the Church of Christ in the kingdom of God. Now he was not supposed to either subjugate or educate anyone at the conclusion of the entire world process, but only the opportunity remained to punish apostate godless peoples, of course, not with his punitive power, but with his most painful position for sinners (cf. XI, 10). In view of this, we must assume that all the wicked will not disappear without a trace in their existence; on the contrary, they will be preserved for eternal torment along with the blessed righteous. 81 But the fate of the latter is not immediately and unconditionally assured, for the red dragon is always plotting with its insidious attacks and seductive temptations. In the area of ​​natural possibilities, both sides are, as it were, equal, and the good one is more and more exposed to danger from demonic force, which does not disdain any means and methods. An external saving power is necessary - and we are told that the born child was caught up to God and His throne (XII, 5) into the higher heavenly spheres of the divine habitation in comparison with the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe residence of the righteous, as allowed by the Bible in distinguishing several heavens. In turn, further offspring were protected, since the wife fled into the desert to hide in a place prepared for her, where she would be fed for one thousand two hundred and sixty days (XII, 6), or the time allotted for the preaching of the “two witnesses” (XI, 3) and, therefore, no less significant, but only now not in the sense of a fruitless gospel, but only in the sense of the vain struggle of enemies with an inaccessible to defeat God-protected refugee. Where is all this supposed to happen? It is stated about the dragon that he was later, after his defeat by Michael, cast down to earth (XII, 9), of course, from heaven - but nothing similar is said or hinted about the wife. The flight she internalizes testifies to her being in the same space and moving along this level. It is as if it is necessary to accept that, of course, the heavenly region is where the wife resides, who only escaped there from demonic malice. It is difficult for us to imagine this scene specifically, but let us not forget that everything here is depicted symbolically and is associated with a lower heavenly zone in comparison with the dwelling of God, 82 where purely human acts of gluttony and childbirth are performed. In any case, the essential importance of the episode is not in the detailed topography, but in the fact that there was absolutely no suitable material for the brutal rage. With such a skillful maneuver, it is already finally located and must naturally be subject to decisive liquidation from the savior; This is how Archangel Michael and his heavenly army have always been revered for the Israelis - and for the believing people in general. He now attacks the dragon, and he and his angels fall upon him. A fierce war is taking place for power in the heavenly sphere of the righteous of God, where one dragon wants to reign and rule his atheistic will. Events have revealed that this is beyond his strength, and there is not even a fulcrum so that he can hold on there. It is clear that the dragon is cast from there to the ground with all his companions (XII, 9), because his whole nature is absolutely inappropriate. This great dragon is in fact the primordial, ancient serpent-tempter, known to everyone under the name of the devil - a slanderer of the God-created human race - and an adversary hostile to this race, Satan, all of whose energy was directed to deceiving the entire universe and seducing it from the normal path, when the earth perishes after fallen man (Rom. 8:20 et seq.). Previously, the eternal kingdom of God was ensured in its appearance and abiding by the elimination of all hostile elements, which forced us to concentrate on fighting them and strengthening the foundation. Now it is portrayed as guaranteed by its worthy inhabitants, since after the collapse there came salvation from all attempts, unshakable power and the entire kingdom of our God with the gracious power of Christ the Redeemer. Neither unrest nor seduction is possible, since the eternal slanderer has been cast down from heaven, day and night, or every moment, who misled and seduced our brothers, who from now on defeated him with the atoning blood of the Lamb and the firm testimony of their Christian confession, with an ever-ready readiness to sacrifice their lives for him. This is a great joy for heaven and for the inhabitants there and, on the contrary, there is a great sorrow for those living on earth and at sea, for the overthrown devil came down to them in the body of great rage because he had little time left for activity due to a complete change in the entire situation, where he would not have the opportunity not only for his characteristic work, but also for existence itself. At that time, in inverse proportion to the shortened time, the demonic destructive energy intensifies in order to complete all the necessary and planned work in the shortest possible time. And it boiled down to capturing the entire celestial sphere, eliminating all rivals in the person of the chosen offspring. Therefore, the dragon who finds himself on earth, being unable to reach the child exalted to God, attacks the wife-parent with the goal of stopping all further productivity. Here the wife is drawn in the same circle with the dragon, i.e. on earth, and, of course, because she serves as the representative of all “from her seed” in the person of those descendants who keep the commandments of the Lord and have their own testimony for themselves in various earthly sufferings for Jesus Christ (XII, 17). And here the wife, equipped with two wings of a large eagle, flies into the desert to hide in her designated place, where she must feed for a time, times and half a time. In relation to the previously indicated period (XII, 6), this is probably the same three and a half years, but divided into three parts (1†2†1/2) with a clear warning that the turning point in favor of the one who fled should take place in a year, or then after another 2 years and, finally, no further than an additional six months, when all the persecutions of the serpent that have begun have been exhausted, doubling in length and intensifying immensely due to persecutory exhaustion (cf.: XII, 12). To capture the fleeing wife, the serpent sent water after her, like a river, capable of carrying her away with its rapid current. The wife, although with accelerating wings, apparently sticks to the ground, perhaps after the initial takeoff, and in this case is like an ostrich. But here the earth, anticipating its liberation, helped, which, opening up, swallowed the river that the dragon had started. This finally enraged him against the elusive wife, and he took up arms in a decisive battle with “the rest of her seed” (XII, 17) and the same category who remained on earth (cf.: XI, 13; XIX, 21; XX, 5) after our brothers were victorious and rejoicing in heaven. It is not emphasized anywhere that they are genetically related by origin to the wife, but this only expands her offspring to a symbolic designation of the entire Church of Christ, ascending into the glory of the kingdom of God with all its offspring. The earthly arena has been cleared, but the entire celestial space is thought of as consisting of earth and sea (cf. XII, 12). It was necessary to clarify regarding the second 83. And so the Seer finds himself on the sand of the sea (XIII, 1 et seq.) and sees a beast with seven heads and ten horns emerging from the depths of the sea, i.e. with all the power and strength (cf.: XII, 3). In all respects he is hostile to God, but this is his true essence and open goal, for his usurper diadem bears “blasphemous names,” deliberately and offensively dishonoring God, although the latter is recognized in His existence and that is why it is especially reviled as having allegedly wrongly seized His highest post. It is understandable from the side of the beast the furious bitterness of the ferocious and indomitable leopard (or leopard), with the confident stability of the bear and the insatiable greed of the lion. The dragon, struck by its failure, transfers to the beast all its natural-legal advantages and its most atheistic mission (XIII, 2). Those who did not have time in open battle now act with cunning and deception. The apocalyptic sees that one of the beast’s heads seems to be mortally wounded, but this mortal wound was unexpectedly and incomprehensibly healed. Nothing is reported about the origin of the injury, and its lethality was more imaginary and false. Apparently, the beast has already come out with such a terrible fiction in order to make a magical impression on the audience with its focus, as all state and religious invaders have hitherto done. Here we have one of the predicted signs and false miracles in eschatological times (Matthew 24:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:9), always at first extremely seductive, due to the very malicious calculation of such a captivating effect of such a cleverly arranged deception; Meanwhile, in a true miracle, it appears to the immediate perception of everyone whether the heavenly voice reflects simply thunder or the speech of an Angel (John 12:28–29). A direct turn in favor of demonic deceivers begins. Even the now sobered earth marvels with involuntary admiration, watching the beast, and the inhabitants worship its inspirer and provider, the dragon, already defeated in many ways, but again trying to achieve the desired success in other ways. Of course, the magical executor of the will of his patron himself is awarded equal worship, causing in the deluded the almost certain confidence that hardly anyone will be able to fight him. Under such favorable conditions, the beast begins to speak and behave proudly and blasphemously during the not so short time assigned to his power, again for three and a half years, but designated for a period of two months to symbolize the uniform manifestation of bestial rage in all constituent chronological moments of the period allotted for him (XIII, 3-5). He hastens to take advantage of the favorable situation for him and proclaims blasphemy against God, against His heavenly dwelling and those who live in heaven. There were people of the Jewish race who avoided even pronouncing the name of God and did not want to defile themselves with the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:17–18, 5:28, 40). Now, on the contrary, this sacred designation of the Divine Nature Itself is brought to open shame and dishonestly blasphemed with all sorts of obscenities and slander. And in the war with the holy confessors, it was given to the beast to defeat them, of course, in the sense that they died, but the beast turned out to be triumphant, having prevailed over every tribe and people, tongue and tribe. In view of such successes everywhere, it is quite understandable that those who remain on earth worship the Draconian beast all, but not entirely, but only those whose names are not written “in the book of life” of the Lamb, slain from the creation of the world (XIII, 6–8). It is noteworthy here that all who are carried away by the demonic temptations of wickedness and blasphemy are deprived of eternal salvation, although such salvation was presupposed from the very beginning of the world and was acquired for everyone equally by the atonement of the Lord Christ. It is necessary to perceive and remember this tragic warning to everyone capable of hearing the broadcast of times and events. Everything here is scary, but it is certainly necessary in fact, as in those cases when the one who takes others captive himself ends up there and the one who kills others himself also dies by the sword. Likewise, here the seducers will have to share the fate of the seduced. This is not immediately clear, and is not happening now, but it is quite inevitable. In this, the saints, devoted to the will of God, have actual support for calm and uncomplaining patience with all the troubles and misfortunes that befall them, since the reality assures everyone that all these adversities are fleeting and therefore turn on the persecutors themselves. But this is only a passive quality that does not promise anything more than the fact that, having suffered some evil and been delivered by one submissive humiliation, a person must then expect another, and victory will always be on the side of those who offend and triumph. This situation is unusual and even disgusting for Christians, who endure everything in the name of higher ideals, for the sake of and for their benefit. Along with passive disregard for all the surrounding darkness, spiritual devotion to a bright future is necessary, with the complete conviction that it will undoubtedly follow and become mine in full. This is the Christian faith, which gives confessors calm composure in the face of all external defeats and joyful hope for the perfect realization of their blessed hopes (XIII, 9-10). This is the distinctive dignity of the saints and an unconditional covenant for all other brethren. As you can see, difficult times are not over yet, and the righteous need patient hope and life-giving faith. This perspective is revealed by the further picture, additional to the previous image, of the expected worship of the draconian beast. The spectator sees another beast emerging from the earth, which is already sufficiently corrupted by satanic poison and should become the final arena of the final world events. He is much more modest and, as it were, prettier: he has only two horns and, moreover, like those of a Lamb, symbolizing helpful meekness and benevolent readiness (XIII, 11). But here it was just a tinsel appearance, deceptive and seductive, for he spoke like the dragon himself, as his double and deputy, having all the power of the first beast and forcing him to be given universal worship. He continues the work of his predecessors - and precisely in relation to the Lamb's redemption, showing in himself an omnipotent ruler with great signs of his power, reaching the point that he brings down fire from heaven to earth before people (XIII, 13). Everything goes according to what is said in Scripture, and with his miracles in the face and in the name of the beast that appeared, he convinces the inhabitants of the earth to make an image of the beast that was wounded by the sword and came to life. This image had to speak and act and therefore represented the full figure of the beast, or statue. And if before people reverently marveled at the beast, now they were inclined to deify it, since even its image received the spirit of life and activity, affirming divine omnipotence in it. Disrespect for such an image was already an expression of malicious disdain for the deified prototype and was inevitably punished by death, and veneration had to be accompanied by the fact that all people, of every position and condition, from young to old, received a special mark on their right hand or on their forehead (XIII, 13-16). We are not told what kind of mark it was (χ ά ραγμα), but there is no doubt that it was somehow pulled out (for example, with a sharp object) on the human body and remained a constantly visible sign by rubbing dyeing substances into the wound, and the result was something like a brand or current similar signs (especially among sailors and members of various organizations). Just as Christians used only one figure of the cross, so there was probably some kind of symbol hidden here, but it was terrible in that it expressed belonging and loyalty to the beast until death. This was a terrible obligation, but it was actually justified by the irresistibility that even the material, worked-out image of the beast seemed to be alive, having freedom of speech and power of action. And there was nothing historically impossible in this, for we have enough news about tricks of this kind, in particular from near-Christian times, when, with the help of various devices of a more or less skillful, sometimes crude nature, it was achieved that the statues began to make sounds and, as it were, speak independently 84. And it is remarkable that such magic tricks lasted for a long time at times and produced a mystical and captivating influence on large masses of people, instilling in them an unconscious admiration of superstitious reverence. All the more possible was all this for a special demonic force that developed the intense activity of all seductive energy. And she achieved her goal of enslaving all humanity, for which she served as a reflection of the supreme, divine dominion. It is clear that everything created was seen as an instrument in the hands of the beast, and only those who belonged to it could enjoy the benefits of life. Therefore, it is testified (XIII, 17) that then “no one will be able to buy or sell, except the one who has this mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Moreover, it is worthy of note that all this deadly tyranny is practiced to strengthen the usurper power, which reveals its actual supremacy when everywhere and no one could slip past it, for it was necessary to certify its slavish adherence by a symbolic mark, or designation of the name of the beast, or the number of this name. One cannot help but admit that everything described above seems extremely cunning in plan and no less inventive in execution. There is undoubted wisdom here (XIII, 18), but its quality and merits must be subject to deliberate definition. In the field of wisdom, the participation of the testing mind is necessary. And there the villainous beast, unknown in real outline, appears entirely, and he appears under symbolic marks. However, the latter would have no meaning if they did not express the very nature of their subject. And so everyone with intelligence must “count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and its number is six hundred and sixty-six” (XIII, 18). The explanation given here is purely apocalyptic, adding to one mystery another and doubling its darkness. Therefore, a large number of diverse interpretations have been compiled, each of which is equally probable (for inventors) and doubtful (for readers). Meanwhile, the author inspires with determination that his words provide everyone with the explanation they need according to their perception. Consequently, the obligatory exegetical rule forces one to concentrate entirely on the mysterious text itself and not go beyond its limits into the dark region of vague dreams. It is necessary to take and weigh all the textual details. In them, first of all, the “number of the beast” is put forward. The arithmetic, quantitative definition of something is always the most accurate disclosure of its size, impressiveness and value in its category; the name serves to designate the very essence of a given subject. Therefore, the arithmetical revelation of the first will be the true characteristic of the second. In the case under consideration, success is all the more certain because “human number” is understood (ἀ ριθμ ὸ ς γ ὰ ρ ἀ νθρ ώ που, ἐ στ ί ν). Reference to this property is made to substantiate and justify the commandment of numbering, of course, in the sense that it is understandable to the Seer and sufficient for resolution, as always for ordinary and familiar relations, belonging to earthly human customs. Naturally, it is quite possible for a person to calculate here. Similar expressions further delineate special shades. Thus, πρ ό σωπα ἀ νθρ ώ πων (IX, 7) states human faces, characteristic of people. It is said about the Angel who measured the wall of the city (XXI, 17) that he used μ έ τρον ἀ νθρ ώ που, ὅ ἐ στιν ἀ γγ έ λου. Two measures are compared, of which the second could be completely unusual - then all the calculations would turn out to be completely incomprehensible and beyond human calculation for the human mind and scientific experience. It was imperative to bring them closer to the legal norms of accepted among people and therefore accessible human comparisons and calculations. And we now categorically testify that the angelic measure was the same as the human one, applied in universal human life. According to these direct philological analogies and about the number that interests us, we must think with all conviction that it was purely human, walking everywhere and constantly among people and, therefore, convenient for human understanding. The required number was to be derived from the name of the beast (XV, 2) and was expressed by the number 666. There is another reading - 616, but, in my opinion, this indication was not originally and was created for the sake of certain historical connections, but they appeared later and on the whole they seem to us unsuccessful both in principle and in fact. Using various artificial methods, for example, algebra, which turned letters into numbers and added them arithmetically, it was possible to select different names for all sorts of numbers, from which it is impossible to accurately determine the true names. In our case, there is no need for this, since we are not talking about the exact name, but only about its numerical dignity. Although our interpretation does not contradict 616, but for me it is more likely 666. In it, all the numbers are the same and thereby presuppose a subject of equal qualities in all respects, where nothing is worse or better than another. And in the example under consideration, not one of the numbers signifies either completeness or perfection, but, on the contrary, each indicates an essential deficiency, approaching, but not reaching the perfection of 7, being in the whole composition a continuous testimonium paupertatis 85. This is only a vain and fruitless desire for seven-day completeness, testifying to an insane and malicious claim to something that does not really exist and cannot exist ideally. And since the passage under analysis deals with wisdom, this cannot be understood as a mindless fool, but must necessarily presuppose a conscious scoundrel and an insidious impudent man who deliberately imitates an undeniable authority and deceptively adorns himself with his bright aura in order to successfully achieve his evil goals. And we saw that the beast was distinguished by great signs and wonders and amazed the popular imagination to the point that it was directly deified as the ruler of the whole world. Everything was accomplished according to the eschatological predictions of the Savior about false prophets and false Christs (Matt. 24:11, 24; Mk. 13:22), and about the most important of them, the Apostle Paul predicted that this is “the son of perdition, opposing and exalting himself” to the point that “he will sit in the church of God as God, showing himself to be God” (2 Thess. 2:3-4). But he is not just a man, but the worst of men, and “whom the Lord Jesus Christ will kill with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the revelation of His coming,” precisely that lawless one, “whose coming is according to the working of Satan... with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception of those who perish” (2 Thess. 2:8-10). Doesn't all this fit exactly the picture painted by the Apocalypse? In it we see not only self-deification, but direct deification and the embodiment of world evil. Nevertheless, it is purely human in the worst perversions, and its outward brilliance, broad victories and slavish admiration for them, is the last flash before the impending decline into the abyss where it had its original place. There was only an external tinsel fireworks display, which had to go out with a painful stench, for nothing human can by itself withstand the stolen equality of God. The reality will certainly be, and, undoubtedly, it can be completely different. It was about distracting people from Christ and rejecting His saving atonement through various satanic charms. As if there was someone absolutely great, but now the Lamb Himself appears before the Seer in Zion and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand devoted followers, who have the name of Him and His Father on their foreheads (XIV, 1). And previously such were proclaimed (VII, 4-8) chosen from all twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, twelve thousand from each, who were only yet sealed as warriors of Christ, faithful to death. But now these are already redeemed from the earth and its inherent sinful limitations (VII, 3), that is, from the midst of fallen humanity, who have experienced the full power and sweetness of grace-filled redemption. It is quite natural that only they alone are capable of comprehending an enthusiastic hymn to this saving miracle of God’s mercy. This song, among the preceding and accompanying accompaniment, numerous and loud, coming from heaven, is called, as it were, new (XIV, 2-3). The first shows that the earthly “fighters of Christ” have already “come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and ten thousand angels, to the triumphant council and church of the firstborn written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Testament, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than Abel” (Heb. 12:22–24). They, having entered into a living union with their heavenly brothers, have in their very example the highest reinforcement and encouragement, and, in turn, by their steadfastness they console and inspire joy in their crowned predecessors. Naturally, they had some common language of praise to God the Savior and they, spiritually united, understood each other mutually. Therefore, the most heavenly song of the praising harpists was only as if new - ὡς ᾠδ ὴ ν καιν ὴ ν, and therefore its voices of praise already sound in their own souls. There is all the factual data for this. These people have not defiled themselves with women at all, for they are virgins (XIV, 4: νθησαν). Physical virginity does not at all affirm spiritual purity and in this form, neither in the entire New Testament nor in the Apocalypse, does it rise, in itself, to the primacy of Christian heights. On the contrary, the Apostle Paul boldly commands (1 Cor. 7:9) that “it is better to marry than to become inflamed.” True virginity requires the complete elimination of all lust (Matt. 5:28) and from this side does not at all reject the union of husband and wife (Matt. 19:4 et seq.) in a pure marriage, where the bed of actual cohabitation is immaculate (Heb. 13:4). The specific interpretation of the characteristic in question does not correspond to either the spirit or the letter of Scripture, although true virginity, which required special predispositions (Matthew 19:12; and 1 Cor. 7:37–38), has always been revered in the Christian Church. Along with this, we know too well that the religious union of fidelity to God has always been likened to a pure marital union, and the Apocalyptic says about himself that he “saw the holy city of New Jerusalem coming down from God from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (XXI, 2). Therefore, religious infidelity and betrayal were usually proclaimed as fornicating desecration of the pure marriage union. According to this, and in the analyzed realistically crude phrase, one must understand religious-Christian integrity and complete firmness in the saving confession, as further words suggest (XIV, 4), that the persons described follow the Lamb wherever He goes 86. Here there would not be the slightest connection with physical virginity and, on the contrary, it is quite natural that unshakable devotion to the Lord, with all the conflicts and troubles created in life in the earthly course of God’s leadership, could lead to great temptations of human weakness, as revealed by the Seer himself in stunning images of mass hobbies and popular apostasy from God to the side of Satan with all his detractors. But in our example, all the members remained redeemed from among men and retained this dignity intact, appearing to God and the Lamb with all the advantages of the firstborn, having all the real rights of the undisputed heirs of God. There has never been and is not the slightest lie in their mouths, which many have often sinned and continue to sin out of fear of threats and oppression, telling evil lies about themselves in order to gain external security. Alien to anything like this, these persons were completely pure (ἄ μομοί ε ἰ σιν), like immaculate victims according to the law (XIV, 5) and, obviously, were honored with just such an end. The previous tragic revelations of the terrible renegadeism of mankind everywhere necessarily caused alarm in the strongest Christian hearts, and now we find that salvation is ensured by God's elect, and the comparative fewness of such testifies only to their exclusivity, which is never characteristic of the majority. On this side we are irresistibly assured that "all Israel shall be saved" (Rom. 11:26), for the said 144,000 are considered sealed Israelites, as is hinted at by the name "firstborn" and the comparison of them with the blameless victims. There is no reason to shy away from the indisputable significance of the representatives of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel; only, having previously been sealed as God’s chosen ones, they now openly follow the Lamb in all His saving walks and fearlessly profess their Christian faith, showing themselves clearly in the last hours of world history. This is no less certain for the pagan part. Using, according to custom, ἄ λλος simply to quantitatively distinguish quantities of the same category, the Apocalyptic then sees (XIV, 6) a new Angel, compared to the previous ones, who flew in the middle of the sky, being able to see and attract all those in heaven. He had the “Everlasting Gospel,” of course, not in the parousian sense 87, but according to the eternal obligation of the content itself, which will never cease until it is fully embodied and becomes a real reality, and until then it returns to everyone living on earth in all its multilingual multiplicity. Calling for his eternal, everlasting gospel, the Angel loudly cried out from heavenly heights for all to hear, so that the wicked and indifferent would finally fear God and express solemn external glorification to Him, without delaying this for a minute, for the hour of God’s judgment had come (XIV, 7), with a decisive analysis of all earthly beings, who must now reverently bow before God, with an open by confessing in Him the Creator and Ruler of the universe. Of course, the Angel could not be mistaken in his calculations and invites that pagan department that showed hope for conversion. But there were also very stubborn ones, doomed to death in advance. And they had to hear the sobering word of the last exhortation. The New Angel proclaims, first of all, that there is no external support or excuse for further resistance, for the most tempting and poisonous stronghold has already disappeared irrevocably. For this reason, it is repeated and confirmed (XIV, 8) that Babylon, the great city, fell, and fell completely, for the very same thing by which it previously attracted and subjugated all others, when it stupefied all pagan nations with violent wine, which not only intoxicates, but with its violent strength suppresses and destroys the entire organism for a long time. And the results are all the sadder because, of course, the wine of Babylonian fornication is undoubtedly not in the proper sense, but in the sense that was intended in the speech about the righteous who did not defile themselves with their wives (XIV, 4). According to this, pagan wickedness is thought of here, spreading from Babylon along with political enslavement. But it was like this a long time ago, and the source itself has collapsed, which is why it can now only serve as a reminder and warning example. There was no historical correspondence to it and cannot be found. They used to point it out in Rome, but the political dominance of the latter was not at all accompanied by religious propaganda and hegemony. On the contrary, we are assured that all the abominations of the East flocked to Rome, which served as their recipient, 88 and not as their producer and planter. As for the imperial cult of the Caesars, we must agree that it rather served the political interests of the Roman Imperial sovereignty and did not necessarily require internal religious recognition, for from the acts of martyrdom it is quite clear that all representatives of the government were content with any external manifestation of submission - even purely formal and hypocritical in the eyes of both sides, and did not look for anything else, in the form of religious confession, limiting themselves to a thrown handful of smoke. And how could pagan Rome tempt to adultery, when from a religious point of view there was not the slightest renegade, but only a transition from the worst to a somewhat better and, in any case, more meaningful and understandable, and in the subsequent historical course of Roman supremacy there are no actual illustrations of apocalyptic words. Therefore, we have to interpret them in a purely symbolic sense about the modern fall of paganism after the overthrow of anti-Christian despotism. There is not even one or the other, and adherence to them becomes fundamentally irrational, in no way excusable and clearly self-condemning. This is what the third Angel loudly exclaims to all the worshipers and followers of the beast, that they will drink the wine of God’s wrath over such absurd resistance to God - whole wine in all its strength - and will be subjected to eternal punishment. Part of God's judgment will be carried out without any leniency due to the absence of even fictitious justifications, and without them, what leniency is possible (XIV, 9-11)? This is precisely the basis for the resigned patience of the saints (XIV, 12), why in the dark periods of violence they actually preserve the commandments of God, without betraying them in their Christian practice, and continue to firmly profess faith in the Redeemer Jesus. Therefore, a voice is heard from heaven, commanding the Seer to write down (XIV, 13) that since everything has now become fully and finally clear, then from now on blessed are all those who die in the Lord, abiding in His sphere with devotion and immutability. There will be for them the bliss of repose from the painful labors of constant life struggle for faith in favor of its triumph throughout the world. This is, first of all, a conscious subjective feeling of peace, when the mood of desired liberation and expected security spreads everywhere. But there will be objective reasons for all this, with the oblivion of all one’s isolation and selfishness. A person exclusively focuses on Christian activity and faith and does not exist outside of them, having completely transferred his entire personality into them. Naturally, such deeds will follow the deceased to heaven and there they will testify about them as good-victorious fighters of Christ. This predetermines the final harvest and its fruits. THE LAST HARVEST AND ITS FRUITS (chapters XIV, 14 – XIX, 10) It is undeniable that this has always been the case, but from now on it is open and clear to everyone by conscious conviction. In any case, everything was prepared and undeniable for the right and the wrong. The time of reckoning had come at the harvest, meaning “the end of summer” (Matthew 13:39), and everyone had to take what they deserve, according to the merits of their Christian life. Hence - a new vision of a bright cloud, on which sits one like the Son of Man, and He has a golden crown on His head, and in His hand is a sharp sickle (XIV, 14). Before us here is the exalted and triumphant Savior, who has come forward to reap the harvest of His saving deed. At this time, a new Angel comes out of the church with a command for the Son of Man (XIV, 15). This church is in heaven, for further it speaks of the harvest on earth, and, moreover, in such a way that obligatory instructions for the Redeemer can come from above. In this case, we must admit the church of God and the place of God’s presence in heaven, where the chosen messengers of God’s will also abide (XI, 19; XIV, 17; XV, 5–8; XVI, 1, 17). At the voice of the Angel, the one sitting on the cloud sends His sickle for the coming harvest to the earth, which was actually reaped (XIV, 15-16). Then another Angel appears from the heavenly church, also with a sharp sword, and the next Angel, who has power over fire and came out of the heavenly (at the church, before God) altar (cf.: VI, 9; VIII, 3; IX, 13), commands the previous one to send his sickle to trim the bunches of grapes (XIV, 17-19). We must think about the earth that it was all reaped, but now we learn that so many of these grapes were thrown into the great winepress of God’s wrath in the countryside that the trampled blood-red liquid flowed in a high stream - up to the horse’s bridles - for a distance of one thousand six hundred stadia (XIV, 20). The city mentioned refers, of course, to Jerusalem, where ancient (especially Jewish) legends dated the scenes of God's final judgment over the nations. And the traveler to the Holy Land, Antoninus, measures the entire distance from Tire to the stream of Egypt (El-Arim) in 1664 stage 89. Then we have that the bloody grape river flooded all of Palestine. Lord of the harvest (Matt. 9:38) made a full harvest, which turned out to be abundant, judging by the extraordinary abundance of the grape liquid. Now it was necessary to distribute everything by class and assign a final fate. Final decisions and actions are awaited. The apocalyptic sees in the sky (XV, 1) another sign, which is called great and wonderful (μ έ γα κα ὶ θαυμαστ ό ν) - great in its results and wonderful in connection with the new relationships being opened. Seven Angels also appeared there, having the seven last plagues, with which the wrath of God was to be completely exhausted, expressed in the fact that some would be saved, others would disappear. Therefore, this wrath is the punishing judgment of God according to its actual manifestation and application. In addition to the Angels, there were also faithful Christians who defeated the beast precisely because during earthly competitions they did not recognize this fighter against God and rejected all of his symbols - the image, mark and number of his name (XV, 2). They all stood on the sea, as if made of glass, which was before the throne of God and was previously (IV, 6) called like crystal, but here it appears mixed with fire. There is no significant difference here, because in both cases something brilliant is drawn, but only now it is described more clearly that the fire, shining through the glass mass, seems to be mixed with it. The image of the sea is probably caused by the memory of the Old Testament church, where there was a “sea of ​​copper,” but there are no earthly partitions in heaven, because God reigns everywhere there and His confessors are present. The latter have already been washed by the blood of the Lamb and do not need water purification, which is why they stand on a sea of ​​glass, which, with special radiance and atmospheric reflection, the vault of heaven may appear to be, now fiery transparent in order to see those on it above. It is heard that these righteous people sing the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the Lamb (XV, 3), from which we are obliged to conclude with certainty that these are Israelites by blood and previous faith and Christian confessors after completing their earthly feat. In the very content of their praises there is nothing specifically Mosaic, and therefore one must understand the similarity of the situation that, having crossed the “sea of ​​life,” the holy martyrs sing like a saved lawgiver (Ex. 14:31–15:1 et seq.). They are also servants of God, but through Christ and in Christ, for they were delivered by Him on earth and with Him they reached the heavenly throne and sing with the energy of their Redeemer, so that in its inner character and lofty tone this praise was the song of the Lamb. It said that the works of God are great in their scope and nature, like an unparalleled miracle, possible only because it was created by the Lord God Almighty, the Lord of everything in general and of every single particular: everything is in His right hand. Sometimes the providential plans of divine guidance are incomprehensible and actually unexpected, even downright strange, judging, for example, by the bitter fate of paganism, which seemed to outwardly triumph, but as a result was condemned and lost. The fate of the righteous arouses something similar, but for a long time everyone accepted that their earthly lot was sad, but they were under the special protection of God. Therefore, of the two different readings (at the end of XV, 3) ὁ Βασιλε ύ ς τ ῶ ν ἁγίων and τ ῶ ν ἐ θν ῶ ν the second is more acceptable for us. It certifies, through the voice of direct witnesses, that the ways of the Lord are righteous and in their harsh decisions correspond to the indisputable standards of justice, because they are true - ἁληθινα ὶ - in the sense that they are factually justified and do not allow the slightest deviation or exaggeration in relation to what actually happened. Everything here is strict, but in accordance with the truth and in proportion to the true dimensions of the phenomena. Nothing else could be expected, for the Decider is the “King of tongues,” their Head and Lord, directing everything for good. What he has done causes inevitable fear, but it is associated with reverence and must be accompanied by glorification of the wise greatness of the Lord. And it turned out this way because it is - μ ό νος ὅσιος (XV, 4) - holy in its inner essence (ἅγιος) and in its identical, ever-present expression in all applications (cf. Ps. 145:1-7) even His judgments (Deut. 32:4). Such precise harmony turns out to be absolutely unique, not found in anyone else. Here neither severity nor relaxation is conceivable, but only pure impartial truth, which is so certain, even for the revealed decisions of God, that all pagan nations will come and worship before the Lord (XV, 4). A kind of universal conversion of mankind is assumed. All this is prepared by the following vision, that the church of the tabernacle of testimony was opened in heaven (XV, 5). The expression used is too complex and allows for such an interpretation that a church is presented, but it consisted only of a tabernacle, which is called here by a name that is not proper for it in the sense of the dwelling of God. However, it is completely incomprehensible to return to such a distant, long-vanished antiquity, which below (XV, 8) is simply called a temple and is depicted as filled with smoke to the point that this does not quite fit our data about the tabernacle and its structure. It may rather be assumed that the church is especially characterized as the direct successor of the tabernacle, with all its advantages and symbols. This would also be in accordance with the common Jewish belief that the once hidden ark of the covenant in messianic times would again be installed in its former place prepared by God (cf. Heb. 8:5 - all the more so it should have been supposed in the heavenly sanctuary). From him came seven Angels, who had seven plagues, predicted as the last, with which the wrath of God ends (cf. XV, 1). Being executors of the will of God, they are clothed in white and light clothes, characteristic of the inhabitants of heaven (Matthew 28:3; Mark 16:5; Luke 24:4), with golden belts across their chests, as authorized and prepared servants for their mission with all the necessary power (XV, 6). But such a responsible task was also supported by the heavenly representatives of the universe, for one of the four animals gave the Angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever (XV, 7). He is often described in the Apocalypse by similar epithets to contrast with the annihilating catastrophes and to guarantee that there is a Supreme Guardian of true existence, which, in any case, is completely secured. In our narrative, everything that follows must be revealed by assigned angelic acts, and until their manifestation the church remains shrouded in smoke (XV, 8), inherent in the glory and power of God, with which it is sometimes mentioned together. Now, naturally, a command is heard from the church to the Angels to perform their functions (XVI, 1). And when the first Angel poured out his cup on the ground (XVI, 2), then on everyone who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image, nasty and nasty wounds appeared, as if from malignant abscesses, disgusting in appearance and painfully harmful (like, for example, plague). The seal of guaranteed chosenness turned into a murderous defeat, created by the damage to all sources of life. The Second Angel overturns his cup onto the sea (XVI, 3), and it becomes like the decomposed blood of a dead man, which is why it kills all living sea creatures. The Third Angel chooses rivers and springs of water, which everywhere turned into blood (XVI, 4). Now both the people and the necessary means for their support were doomed, creating for the living severe mortal suffering that is worthy of horror and regret - not without a distant hint of excessive unmercifulness in the absence of the slightest mitigation. But the Angel of the waters testified (XVI, 5) that the eternal Lord in His judgments is righteous now, as before, for He is holy essentially and in all His manifestations; He will only force those who shed the blood of the believing saints and forerunners of the will of God to drink blood (XVI, 6), and this is authoritatively confirmed by the voice from the heavenly altar (XVI, 7), that Divine sentences are fair both according to factual data and legal norms. The Fourth Angel causes with his cup the burning flame of the sun and destructive heat for people, especially painful in the absence of water; but the unfortunate ones saw here only the intervention of God that was hostile to them and blasphemed Him instead of glorifying the Lord of these plagues and asking for heavenly mercies (XVI, 8-9). The tyranny of the beast and the worship of it continued. Therefore, the fifth Angel pours his cup directly onto the throne of the beast (XVI, 10), which served as a shining center of attraction for the adherents, but has now gone out, and the entire kingdom of the beast was covered in darkness, while people, not being able to see anything and find at least a surrogate for some quenching of their pains, bit their tongues from suffering and only blasphemed the God of heaven, not at all repenting of their deeds (XVI, 11). The final battle is anticipated. The sixth Angel dries up with his cup the great river Euphrates, which was considered the limit for eastern godless paganism, and makes room for wicked kings from the very east of the sun (XVI, 12). But they, of course, understood the riskiness of their ungodly undertaking, and to agitate them violently, the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, mentioned and supposed earlier, came to their aid; From their mouths came three unclean spirits, similar to toads in their disgust and accompanying demonic attacks. Like their patrons, they perform signs, and in this aura they go out to the kings of the earth throughout the universe to gather them for battle on that great day of God Almighty, allowing that He Himself will openly and loudly announce His decisive war to all wicked enemies (XVI, 15). But the Lord stands at the door of every soul and graciously warns that he is coming unnoticed, like a thief. Under such conditions, only the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him will be blessed and internally satisfied, so that in case of surprise he does not find himself, out of confusion, naked, with his shame open to everyone (XVI, 15). And now it was He who called the rallied enemy army to Himself to a place called in Hebrew Armageddon (XVI, 16). It is useless to search for it topographically and dream of it using the most distant small and random comparisons: history does not mention such a place for such operations, and cannot name it, since it is generally thought of not just in the distant future, but entirely in the unknown, which is why it itself must remain unknown. There is no doubt, however, that it is assumed in Palestine, as is natural, because it is interpreted as an attack on the people of God and, of course, in the sphere of his possessions, where, according to Jewish beliefs, all eschatological events belonged. At that time, the seventh Angel pours out his cup directly into the air (XVI, 17), which is why all earthly possibilities are destroyed and defeated. In this sense, from the church of heaven, from the very throne of the Lord of glory, a decisive summing voice is heard: “It is finished!” - to commemorate the fact that the last ulcers have already been manifested and new ones cannot be allowed, but one should only expect full application, with all acts and consequences. But this is undoubtedly as an inevitable and corresponding matter according to the absolute word of God. With such an undoubted situation of inevitable final catastrophes, terrible world cataclysms are natural, with such an earthquake as humanity has not seen since the beginning of its existence and about which one can only cry out that it is inexpressibly and incomparably great (XVI, 18). At the same time, the great city fell into three parts, and this is no other than Jerusalem, which spiritually became Sodom and Egypt (cf. XI, 8) and shared the fate of the pagan cities. At the same time, its prototype in the world destroyer, the great Babylon, is not forgotten; for his depraved temptations, he must drink enough from the terrible cup of the crushing wrath of God, which will equally touch both the center and the periphery: the islands will disappear somewhere, as if they will run away, and the mountains will no longer exist, everything will level out and disappear from the supreme destruction. And hail the size of a talent, or about three pounds of each hailstone, fell on people, and this caused the most severe defeats; it was necessary to admit exceptional, especially punishable reasons in the suffering subjects themselves, who brought upon themselves such terrible executions, but they perceived and understood only the cruel action and blasphemed God as the punishing culprit in comparison with the dragon, beast and false prophet who created and delivered all sorts of indulgences (XVI, 19-21). Being tied by all being to the latter, people were afraid to perish without them and remained unrepentant in their demonic commitment. What could this unfortunate generation expect? It was condemned on principle and had to suffer, with all specificity and completeness. One of the seven Angels, who have seven destructive bowls, and shows the Seer the very judgment of the harlot sitting on many waters (XVII, 1). Such an expression is not entirely clear in itself and may indicate the spread of powerful influence in many waters and through waterways. In ancient times, they were more accessible and extended much further than earthly communications, which were extremely limited to certain areas, difficult to use and were always under the threat of bandits and robbers - and their terrible power is clear to us even now, at least according to the example of Chinese bandits (Honghuz), who destroy entire trains when there are military guards there. True, no less bloodthirsty corsairs were waiting at sea, but still it was easier to foresee their attacks, it was possible to arm themselves better and escape more conveniently. In this sense, we see before us the predecessor of the newest mistress of the seas, modern England, which, through its maritime connections, captured almost all the world's continents, extracting from there countless benefits and selling the products of its production throughout the world. Only in ancient times trade was completely different. Then the great harlot acted, who reached the point that the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and, following their example and temptation, those living on earth became drunk with the wine of her fornication (XVII, 2). It is impossible to historically find something similar with a similar approximation, because the sea peoples (for example, the Phoenicians) were not distinguished by the intelligible properties of depraved seduction, and in itself a poisonous fornicating influence on such a global scale is completely unthinkable. It is necessary to return to a common understanding, namely, that religious betrayal of the union with the true God is conceived; and pagan wickedness, of course, spread more easily and further throughout the world along sea routes and was associated with every particle of goods being transported, when those buying involuntarily told each other that it was from where they revered such and such as the patron of a certain productivity (according to the general custom in ancient times). With his vision, the Angel reveals the main misfortune of human destruction in the treacherous pagan fall of people. But with such an undoubted result, one naturally asks about its very possibility - and the Angel discovers this by bringing the Apocalyptic “in the spirit,” or in a state of spiritual admiration, into the desert, where he sees a wife sitting on a scarlet beast, filled with blasphemous names, with seven heads and ten horns (XVII, 3). Sitting on such an ominous throne, this wife showed her true nature, as going through the complete blasphemy of ultimate godless interests, with all the energy of reason and with enormous power of power. This is how the pagans acted at first and have always continued to act. The same is seen in the woman: she appears in the royal majesty of a porphyry-bearing ruler, and her bloody being is covered with the splendor of precious promises, supposedly already in her golden cup, with a corresponding countless treasure, although in fact there were all sorts of dirty tricks and impurities of fornication (XVII, 4). It seems incomprehensible that such greatness should be so disgusting in its essence. Therefore, it is written on the forehead (XVII, 5) that this is a mystery: how the great Babylon could rise to royal heights, being only the ancestor and supplier of the harlots who continued it with all earthly abominations. It is all the more surprising that the wife is drunk to satiety with the blood of the holy members of the Christian brotherhood and the faithful witnesses of Christ, sacrificing their lives for Him (XVII, 6). The Angel explains this greatest bewilderment of the Seer in relation to the wife and the beast in an apocalyptic manner, no less mysteriously. He says that the beast that was seen (and now seems to have disappeared from view) was, and is not: this is its natural fate, and therefore it will emerge again, also from the abyss, in the remaining full armor of its former power, but will still go to destruction (XVII, 8), since it has no other way than returning to its destructive original source. The inevitable, fundamentally described flow will be amazing only for the demonic minions ejected from the “book of life”, who do not understand that the beast was with immense power - and, however, disappeared like a tinsel seducer, and then will appear, of course, in its former splendor. How are these mysterious transitions possible, and what is the point in them, when everything here, in appearance, is unnatural and irrational? It is obvious that in such a majestic game there must be a special hidden “mind”, like a mechanical process of materialistic development, incomprehensible in its internal course and ideological progress, according to the Hegelian law of position, opposition and reconciliation, with a gradual increase in successive acquisitions. We have something similar in the present case, in that he conceals a mind with wise plans - according to plans: after all, the seven heads of the beast on which the wife sits are seven mountains (XVII, 9). But earlier (XVII, 1) it was said that she sits on many waters. Given the concrete understanding here, no reconciliation or agreement is conceivable. A figurative explanation of the spiritual sign is required. On this side, the mountains symbolize the strongest supports, which, judging by the number seven, are all-perfect. And they consist in an exalted world-powerful kingship, unlimited and indestructible - according to the same arithmetic, but natural, earthly and essentially perishable: after the five fallen kings, the sixth already reigns, but this is only the precursor of decisive death, because the seventh will not last long (XVII, 10). Such is the ephemeral energy of the fornicating seductiveness of that wife who, with such internal fragility, cannot be secured in external power. He was served entirely by the beast that was and is not; but this is already the eighth, as a superfluous agent, leading to the same completeness of seven similar elements, and therefore it will inevitably perish (XVII, 11). True, the beast has ten horns, testifying to the enormous prevalence of its power everywhere, but in fact the designated ten kings did not yet exist, and they were theoretically allowed only due to the deceptive conviction of the absoluteness of animal power. There is no real foundation for the celebration, and it can only be fleeting - for an hour (XVII, 12), although simultaneous. These are numerous flashes, scattered across different countries and shining evenly, but without their own support, shining only with the beast and as a result disappearing in it, like its obedient factors. In this capacity, they will begin to fight against the Lamb and will be defeated, for the Lamb is Lord over all lords and King over all kings and, naturally, cannot have any rivals, and the followers of the Lamb are called and chosen - therefore, undoubted both in the highest decision and in their own merits (XVII, 13-14). This fortress is impregnable and invulnerable. On the other hand, the waters on which the harlot sits are people, peoples, tribes and languages ​​in the pagan masses scattered throughout the universe. The latter are slavishly submissive until they feel the despotic power of the ten horns over them, and such, in the person of the ten kings symbolized by them, must disappear into the beast itself (cf.: XVII, 13) and in due time realize that they served their wife in vain, due to her fatal temptation - why they will become enraged, ruin her, expose her to a pitiful ridicule and destructive decay, and in the end burn her without a trace disappearance (XVII, 16). This will be according to the will of God, in fulfillment of His one unchangeable decision to transfer the entire kingdom to the beast itself by the harlot wife, who represents the great city reigning over the kings of the earth (XVII 17-18). Earlier (XVII, 5) it was said that on the wife’s forehead it was written: “Babylon the great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” Attributing all this to historical Babylon or its repetition is hardly possible under any strain, and we must again return to the fundamental interpretation in the sense of a universal genetic center for the universal pagan adultery of falling away from Christian lordship into the most shameful darkness of all kinds of perversion in thoughts, words and deeds. All this understanding is quite abstract and not concrete, but it fits well with all the previous images in the speech about the trial of the great harlot. It is here that we must absolutely agree that no factual convergence is simply impossible and unacceptable for ordinary common sense, because then, indeed, the dark and mysterious phrases of the apocalyptic text turn out to be downright strange, incredible and absurd (for example, that the beast is the eighth of the seven, XVII, 11). All exegetical and critical tricks are not able to eliminate that universal truth that it is impossible to explain and save the incomprehensible by turning it into visual absurdity, which is always an exposure of internal meaninglessness. We must come to terms with the fact that in the intelligible sphere we do not even see with a mirror in fortune-telling (1 Cor. 13:12) and must be content with general teaching in order to prepare for reality itself and penetrate with faith into the unknown mystery of the divine world-plan. And in this regard, we received that the earthly anti-Christian fighters are retreating irrevocably, and their inspirer and leader himself, the beast, with all his blasphemous apparatus, comes out to fight. What does this portend in historical application? The seer beholds (XVIII, 1) an Angel descending from heaven of great power and such radiant brightness that the whole earth was illuminated from his glory. At the same time, it is loudly proclaimed that Babylon, as the world’s harlot, has not only fallen, but has already become a refuge for all demonic, disgusting evil spirits (XVIII, 2). Its world-corrupting role ended, and it became empty and died out due to the disgust of the jaded debauchees and the inevitable disappearance of the rich middlemen (XVIII, 3). Everything has reached the final disastrous edge, requiring only a warning about mortal danger. Another voice from heaven - apparently God Himself - invites His people, including all those called and chosen, to come out of this damned sphere, so that by their presence there they will not fall under the blows of the plagues falling on it for sins that have reached heaven and caused divine wrath (XVIII, 4-5). On the contrary, we must, on our part, go towards the punishing judgment of God. You should pay the harlot twice and treat him twice as well (XVIII, 6). This is not an act of malicious vindictiveness, which is not characteristic of any of the interested parties to the formulated commandment, but a necessary property of the court itself, which cannot be permissive and condescending and must be fair in its retributions. But the latter are always such that perfect irreparable evil is not simply held accountable for its actions. This is not enough, because it would still retain its destructive energy, at least in relation to others. Therefore, it is necessary to destroy him himself for the complete deliverance of everyone. The demonic harlot used extreme patience for a long time, but this did not bring her to her senses and only became embittered in her satanic arrogance (XVIII, 7). The former royalty of dominion and admiration will be replaced by extreme humiliation and disgust. The judgment of God with all executions is sent to her (XVIII, 8), and the former adherents, for various fornicating interests, will mourn only that such a great and incomparable city was deserted in one hour (cf. XVIII, 19), depriving them of both profit and all the pleasures for which he despotically disposed even of human bodies and souls (ο ὐ δε ὶ ς ἀ γορ ά ζει ο ὐ κ έ τι... κα ὶ σωμ ά των, κα ὶ ψυχ ὰ ς ἀ νθρ ώ πων) 90 with lupanary foulness and insane, bestial readiness (XVIII, 9–13 et seq.). Suum cuiquë is an inevitable law and moral satisfaction. The latter is all the more sublime and broader, the larger in strength and size the court itself, which in this case captured all the contentious relations of earthly confrontation with heavenly Christianity. This subject of dispute between both sides was finally resolved to the triumph of heaven and to the joy of the holy Apostles who prepared for it and the Christian prophets who announced the necessary consequences (XVIII, 20). Everything was accomplished completely and irrevocably, as evidence of which a strong Angel throws a large stone into the sea with a terrible sentence to Babylon, where there will be no more life, for it was revealed that all peoples were simply misled and enchanted by various sorcery (XVIII, 21-23), which had enormous religious application for the physical and magical influence on deities (cf. Gal. 5:20). In the city itself the blood of the harbingers of God, the holy members of the Church of Christ and all those killed on earth was found (XVIII, 24) for these anti-Christian motives, just as in general in ancient times murder was widely spread and practiced even for the sake of purely religious needs (in human sacrifices). In the case we are considering, all this was accomplished by anti-Christian theomachism, fundamentally intolerant, and filled the very center, to the brim, with martyrdom, which naturally cried out to heaven and cried out for retribution, at least by the cessation of demonic activity. From this side, the final verdict of absolute condemnation is inevitable and fair, but in the preparatory course there are some significant ambiguities. We are talking about the well-deserved death of the evil and blasphemous Babylon - but it is portrayed as not only lengthy, but also extremely inconsistent procedurally. Much earlier, it was certified by the Angel (XIV, 8) that “Babylon, the great city, fell, because she made all nations drink the wrathful wine of her fornication.” Next we read a less definite testimony (XVI, 19) that “Babylon the great will also be remembered before the Lord, to give her the cup of the fury of His wrath.” Apparently, the remembrance of God actually consisted in the fact that the terrible cup was now drunk with all its content and effect, since the great city split into three parts and the pagan cities fell. This means that the previous statement was somewhat premature. Then the trial of the great harlot is shown (XVII, 1), which bears the inscription “Babylon the Great” (XVII, 5) and symbolizes “the great city that reigns over the kings of the earth” (XVII, 18): her minions “will hate the harlot, and destroy her, and strip her naked, and eat her flesh, and burn her in fire” (XVII, 18). 16). Here something future is already affirmed, which is still only supposed to be inevitably realized, and not something past or happening. Finally, the strong Angel, who threw a large stone into the sea, decisively states (XVIII, 21) that “with such a desire, Babylon, the great city, will be overthrown, and it will no longer exist” (Οὕτως ὁ ρμ ή ματι βληθ ή σεται - but it still exists and can be found. In all these categorical testimonies, equally possessing heavenly authority, one notices a considerable mutual inconsistency, bordering almost on direct contradiction. The latter is difficult to admit, for a healthy mind, in a consistent story about a common subject for him, which is simply stated through direct observation. From here arise fierce attempts to eliminate this glaring defect, accepting that it was not one person who wrote, but individual fragments were merged together without the slightest consideration of their factual data and... with the usual ubiquitous meaning. The same thing happens when guessing about different primary sources for different indications or with confusion of author's sheets, contrary to their correct arrangement. On this occasion, numerous reconstructions are being created, striking in their unparalleled tenacity, perhaps of a scientific construction, but not even at all witty in their very design. Let the disharmony discussed be undeniable, but the writer himself or a later collector, who deliberately sought to rationally systematize the material, really did not understand the difference between “was”, “is” and “will be” and deliberately put the past “fall” before the future “will be defeated”? After all, such absurdities are only permissible in an abnormal subject, and no one considers the Apocalyptic as such, who, on the contrary, is distinguished by subtle and judicious calculation in the use of verbal forms, for example, in relation to the Lord God: Who is ὁ ὤν κα ὶ ὁ ἦν κα ὶ ὁ ἐ ρχ ό μενος (I, 8). The Church, however, did not bless the Apocalypse for general church reading, but knew what it defended against early attacks even within itself and approved in spite of objectively authoritative objections, for it no less weighty and important than later critical attacks. Couldn’t both sides notice the most obvious dissonances, and the Church failed to smooth out and eliminate them, at least through the special scientific works of its writers? Under such conditions, we must agree decisively that in the Apocalypse the incriminated contradictions were not assumed, but sufficient internal solidarity was seen. Is it possible to find reconciliation on this path, which, in any case, should be explored first of all, because various radical repairs cannot be recommended without the presence of faults. Are the latter really present – ​​and to what extent? We are told (XVI, 19) that “Babylon the great will be remembered before the Lord” (ἐ μν ή σθη ἐ ν ώ πιον το ῦ Θεο ῦ). This means that there was already a matter with him before that, which was postponed for now and, as it were, consigned to oblivion. Therefore, between the two evidence there is not a mechanical conflict, but a mutual connection of the second’s assumption of the first. This is not expressed quite usually for our consciousness, but the Bible speaks freely about forgetting (Ps. 9:13, 19, 33, 12:2, 76:10; Isa. 40:27, 49:14; Jer. 23:39; Am. 8:7; Lam. 5:20; Hos. 4:6), and about remembrance (Gen. 8:1, 19:29, 30:22 ; Исх. 2:24 ; 1Цар. 1:19, 15:2 ; Иов. 14:13 ; Пс. 97:3, 108:14 ; Иер. 44:21 ; Плач. 5:1 ; Апок. 18:5 ) Божием для антропоморфического оттенения той идеи, что тягостное for people, God’s definition is, as it were, forgotten out of supreme condescension for the sake of human correction and salvation, and in the absence of the expected repentance and improvement, it is remembered and put into action. This difference between a fundamentally undoubted thesis and its conditioned actual application is also accepted for the case under consideration in St. Andrew of Caesarea on the Babylonian cause σης. And one cannot help but see that in the words about the fall of Babylon (XIV, 8) only the coming judgment is mentioned (XII, 7) and does not in the least affirm its direct implementation, which for beast worshipers refers to the future (XIV, 10-11). It is clear that a foregone conclusion is delayed for secondary factors, but this could not happen with the immediate activity of the central causes. Therefore, in the latter there must be a certain delay. Then we must then wait for its elimination and the concomitant onset of actual application. But if the fundamental determination can be suspended, then the implementation, of necessity, becomes gradual, since, being instantaneous, it would lead only to instantaneous general destruction, although, no less than its producer, it must be as fair and punishing as it is benign and admonishing. In any case, it is formulated somewhat vaguely (XVI, 19) that “Babylon will be remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the wrath of His wrath.” Memorization is done for the sake of rapture and is actually exhausted by it, but here it is not emphasized at all that this will happen immediately and all at once. On the contrary, it is noted that the ready-made bowls of God’s wrath were sent down to the earth (XVI, 1) with a certain sequence (XVI, 3, 4, 8, 12, 17) and did not soon fall on the very throne of the beast (XVI, 10). Some preliminary work had to be done so that the supporting supports would fall in a systematic order and finally the very top would fall. And this was all the more inevitable since those struck resisted, blasphemed the Almighty and were not at all admonished (XVI, 9), and God’s mercy is immeasurable and until the very end sought saving repentance (XVI, 11). Along with this, new enemy helpers arose, not very long-lived in their dominion, but united by perfect unanimity, unyielding determination and royal power (XVII, 12-14). On the other hand, the development of evil required preliminary preparations (XVI, 12) and had to proceed in a justifying progression, so that it would be revealed to everyone with clarity that the world crisis is proceeding conditionally, responsibly and necessarily, as an inevitable result of the fact that those who are perishing are deceived for rejecting the saving truth, for devotion to lies and untruths (2 Thess. 2:10-12). All this should delay the process connected by earthly relations until it reaches such a degree that there will be a final and irrevocable destruction and complete extermination of all evil, with all its manifestations and ramifications. It seems to me that such an interpretation is completely rational and sufficiently eliminates the main difficulties that we cannot help but expect in a purely and strictly apocalyptic depiction of the unknown future, where the heavenly and the earthly are so incomprehensibly intertwined and reflected in the latter with forced deviations, delays and repetitions, so as not to become despotic and violent, contrary to human freedom and Divine goodness. This understanding, in any case, is simpler and more acceptable than all critical experiments and fantasies and is more valuable for genuine science, for it satisfactorily explains and reasonably protects for it the precious monuments of Christian reality in faith and hope. It only states what is expected and must certainly happen. The final struggle begins, and both sides do not feel exhausted and crushed. It is necessary to assume the duration of the battle with all sorts of vicissitudes, which are inevitable and even natural when the process takes place in an earthly environment, in strict accordance with its limitations and the moral laws of retribution. This is required by both human truth and God’s mercy. Of course, the inequality of forces and the probability of the outcome are already obvious, but at these very moments the struggle is more protracted and intense due to the tenacity of the weakest, who has nothing to lose and will die anyway - but not as a cowardly slave and a pathetic traitor, but proudly, with a sword in his hands. This is especially natural in the clash of such extreme opposites - absolute good and fundamental evil - in a dispute over the possession of conditional and fluctuating quantities, which, through their participation, introduce inherent confusion and chaotic complexity. If the merciless will of God were carried out without limit at once, then everything would be exhausted immediately, but since this was arranged among and for the sake of limited rational beings, then the act of waiting must certainly be slow, if the redemption itself dragged on for a long time. It was necessary to use all saving paths and not leave anyone without available opportunities - even the devil, who, theoretically speaking, could, through internal transformation through repentance, return to heaven, from where he fell down due to his anti-divine mood. If everything that goes before is probable, then we get that things have reached the end line and there is nowhere and no one to move further. All hostile elements are neutralized and destroyed, and only one Eternal God remains in His righteous, humane court, punishing evil and restoring royal good. This is already the boundless triumph of the triumphant Council and Church of the firstborn, written in heaven, with filial unity with God, the Judge of all (cf. Heb. 12:23). Nothing more is now required or expected. The end of sorrows and the death of those who persecute, the victory of good and the joy of the suffering! It is normal that behind this the Apocalyptic hears the loud voice of a seemingly numerous jubilant people, proclaiming the victorious sacred cry “Hallelujah,” prayerfully chanted by the inhabitants of heaven and, of course, first of all by the angelic hosts of heaven. Contemplating this unforeseen, completely greatest mystery of universal deliverance, they praise the perfect salvation, extol the glory, magnify and glorify the honor and power of the Lord as their Master, reigning over all the angelic ranks with divine excellence (XIX, 1). This is not just the delight of victory and defeat, for the judgments of God are actually forced and legally righteous, since the great and incorrigible harlot, who corrupted the entire universe with her fornication and rejection of God, has been condemned, and since the martyr's blood of God's servants has been exacted. Therefore, “Hallelujah” is proclaimed for the second time, and the smoke of the burned criminal will rise forever and ever, since she embodied and personified the principle of eternal and unchangeable evil (XIX, 2-3). The twenty-four elders, the Church of the saved and the four exponents of the vital power in the universe join this proclamation, and bow to God Almighty with the same confession of “Hallelujah,” which is certainly true: “Amen.” The same confirmation is heard from the throne of God: now all the servants of the Lord and those who fear Him, faithful from time immemorial and those who have come later, great and small, must praise God, who is ours for the speaker (together with those invited) and, therefore, the Angel co-present with the greatness of God. Along with this, the voice of a seemingly numerous people resounds, like a cascade of many waters and the crackling of strong thunders, with the solemn proclamation “Hallelujah,” on the basis that “the Lord our God Almighty reigns” (XIX, 4). 91 Now the kingdom of God has become the reality of our possession and makes it known to its worthy citizens in the person of the glorified members of the triumphant Church. For them, through the victory of Christ, the Almighty God Himself became His own, because He is the Almighty, Great in creation, providence and the achievement of the final triumph in the work of Christ, since the latter was truly God’s according to the divine unity of His Performer. Therefore, everyone is invited (XIX, 7) to rejoice inwardly and outwardly rejoice in appropriate manifestations, giving glory to God, always Glorious and Worthy of eternal praise, in particular for the fact that the marriage of the Lamb-Christ has actually occurred, for the bride is prepared to share this marriage union and is clothed in bright linen, shining with its unblemished purity. This is just fine linen, but in this case it is the righteousness of the saints (XIX, 8: ί ν). Consequently, the wife is surrounded by these saints as closely and tightly as clothing fits the human body. It is clear that they are her closest members, wholly attached to her in the dignity of the Bride of Christ, already prepared for her Heavenly Bridegroom and corresponding to Him with their unclouded brightness. This purity of the Church is transferred to all glorified Christians and, obviously, must consist of ecclesiastical perfection. The latter will be an exact implementation of all the norms required for this, which in their implementation turn out to be exact embodiments. In this case, the truth of God reigning in the Church, necessary in us by our very justification, passes into righteous religious and moral practice, and is expressed in τ ὰ δικαι ώ ματα, or in righteous deeds. In terms of objective acts, this is not revealed in all its depth and breadth, and we do not hear much about special righteous deeds on the part of the “saints”. But they were adamant in their selfless faith and absolute devotion to it until confession and martyrdom. Here is the source of all righteous Christian activity, in all specific reflections, for they are already contained there dynamically and are correctly named to calm the Christian conscience, which should seek not only the abundance of righteous acts and deeds, but especially the hidden depths of unshakable and pure faith, not clouded by any extraneous impurities. In this sense, it was said to the Apocalyptic (XIX, 9), inspired by his guiding angel (XVII, 1, 3, 7, 15), that blessed are all such persons who, being called to the wedding supper of the Lamb, experience inner satisfaction and outer triumph. This applies to all such servants of Christ and is the crowning of their previous asceticism, which did not foretell such a sweet end. The latter is, humanly speaking, somewhat unexpected, but completely undoubted and therefore required the highest certification for the entire earthly sorrowful struggle and the final joyful result. For this reason, the Angel adds the supreme sanction that all these words heard throughout all heavenly visions and revelations are the words of God, true ε ἰ σιν), which actually convey former divine utterances and reproduce them with impeccable accuracy. It is as if the Almighty Himself speaks through the Angel, and in terms of content there is not the slightest difference. If it is not God Himself here, then, undoubtedly, His messenger, closest and trusted. Embraced by this great thought, sweet and terrible, the Seer involuntarily falls at the feet of the Angel in a feeling of religious reverence προσκυν ῆ σαι α ὐ τῷ, XIX, 10 cp.: XXII, 8). This was in no way a deification of a created being, but only a retribution of honor in the person of him to God Himself. But the Angel could not accept this, since he had assimilated what solely and exclusively belonged to God (cf.: I, 17; V, 8, 14; VII, 1; XI, 16; XIX, 4). There was an absolute exaggeration here with unacceptable oblivion of the Primary Source of all existence and everything that happens in the world. Naturally, the Angel warns that the Apocalyptic should be attentive and consider some fundamental impermissibility: he, the Angel, is shown, as it were, divine respect, but in fact he, together with all fellow believers, is a co-servant of the entire Christian society and each of its members. They all have one Lord, and they are all only servants of the Lord. Between them there is not only a connection of equal mechanical enslavement, which does not imply any internal affinity, - on the contrary, it is the latter that predominates, which is why they have a real mutual brotherhood, which is not at all exhausted by a simple name, for example. "Christian". It must be as real in everyone as the most real brotherhood, formed by the likening of everyone to each other. This cannot be achieved independently by them and, of necessity, requires a unifying principle in a third, dominant magnitude. And since we are Christians, then the reconciling factor will certainly be in Christ. And from this side it is stated that they all have the testimony of Jesus (XIX, 10: ῶ ν ἐ χ ό ντων τ ὴ ν μαρτυρ ί αν Ίησο ῦ ). For a real title, this can be strictly real, no less valid in fact than the fraternity itself, and for a certifying act regarding the fraternal status of certain persons, it is necessary that the required certificate is actually given by them themselves, and not received from outside, even justly. This is a further inevitable moment that the brothers are recognized in this state by their common Father, but for now what is needed is actual proof by each of his equal Christian brotherhood with all Christians. In this case, this is not the testimony of Jesus about them, but, on the contrary, the testimony on the part of every believer in favor of Jesus and the equal belonging to Him for all. Hence the use of the name of Jesus is understandable, which reminds us of the redemption of people accomplished on earth and obliges all the redeemed to bear witness similar to the Redeemer in His Spirit and power, i.e. unyielding, even to the point of being sealed by death. But the redemptive martyrdom of Jesus was for the sake of God and in fulfillment of the will of the Father, and therefore all the redeemed, fraternally uniting in Christ with the Most High, must confess by their Christian behavior the Lord Almighty as the First Author and Source of their Christian, gracious-brotherly existence. For this purpose, the Angel inspires the Seer: “Worship God” (τ ῷ Θε ῷ προσκ ύ νησον) and always show religious veneration to Him with appropriate religious manifestations (cp. IV, 10; V 14; VII, 11; XI, 16; XIV, 7; XV, 4; XIX, 4, 10). Understandable from the preceding, this dignity of the testimony of Jesus among Christians is justified by its very factual character: προφητε ί ας. Here lies the objective reason (γ ά ρ) for the formulated conclusion about the worship of only the One Lord God. But, apparently, this was not clear in itself, if it caused some misunderstanding on the part of the Apocalyptic, who was allowed to contemplate the greatest mysteries of God. This means that this truth had to be revealed through a living act, undoubted for everyone. And it consisted in the fact that each believer bore his testimony for the sake of Christ and for Christ with his entire devoted life, sometimes (and even for many) crowned with confession and martyrdom. Limiting ourselves to this simple observation, we should accept that what is being stated here is only belonging to Christ, perhaps, as it were, some kind of merging with Him through a redemptive feat. However, we found that in this feat there is hidden something greater and higher, taking us to God himself, connecting every Christian with Him according to the main root cause of Christian existence itself in all its exceptional dignity. Nevertheless, nothing of the kind is directly visible in the phenomenon itself, and therefore a special penetration into real reality with higher, spiritual insight is required. The latter is called (XIX, 10) prophetic because it foresees and predicts future facts, which only then, in due time, will be obvious to everyone, but for now can only be contemplated by the spiritual insight of inspired prophetic aspiration. This is certain from the very beginning example in the first martyr Stephen, who, “being filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said: “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55–56). And all Christians, in essence, walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), not having the city that abides here, but seeking the one to come (Heb. 13:14) according to the prophetic revelation to them and in them. Thus, everything earthly through Christ in the Spirit was raised to God and found in Him the perfect reconciliation of the marriage union with His worthy bride - the Church of the saints. This will already be the triumph ensured in the kingdom of God and the Father of Christian glory, the gospel of which is given in the last, third part of the Apocalypse (chap. XIX, 11 - XXII, 5), before its conclusion (chapter XXII, 6-20). Rev. Prof. H. V. Swetë The Apocalypse of St. John, p. XXXIIÏ “it is of the nature of apocalyptic literature to be involved in some measure of obscurity; and this is not the least notable of its characteristics, for it affords an escape for the Christian judgment.” CXIII, 18; XVII, 9. Archbishop E. W. Benson: The Apocalypse, an introductory study. London, 1900, p. C; Rev. Prof. H. B. Swetë The Apocalypse of St. John, p. XLI; R.H. Charles: The revelation of St. John, I, 348; Apocal. XIII, 2. “the figure is wholly fantastic and plastically conseivable.” I take an example from a completely different area. In a report on the “posthumous book by A. Ya. Levanson” about the ballet artist Sergei Lifar, Prince S. M. Volkonsky writes: “There is, on the occasion of the mention of Lifar’s early years in Kyiv, a description of chaos - this is a wonderful page in images, but without facts, above the facts. This page is reminiscent of a painting by M. Chagall, where a human figure rushes across the sky above the houses.” Jaques de Lacretellë Les aveux étudiès. Paris, 1934 and about this book an article: “Portraits”, Mrs. Y. Sazonova, in “Latest News”, Paris, 1934, No. 4832 for June 16. R. N. Charles: The Revelation of St. John, I, p. 142: “The Apocalypse deals with ideas not with plastic conceptions. The terms used have become for the most part purely symbolical and metaphorical." – Post emerit Selmar Keferstein: Die Offenbarung St. Johannis nach rein symbolischen Auffassung. Gütersloh, 1907. Some (see Rev. Prof. H. B. Swete: The Apocalypse of St. John, p. 75; R. Prof. E.– B. Allo: St. Jean Apocalypse. Paris, 3,1933, p. 82–3: “ce livre doit avoir la me d’un rouleau non d’un codex; et d’un rouleau See Prof. W. Bousset: Der Antichrist in der Überlieferung des Judenthums, des Neuen Testaments und der alten Kirche. Ein Betrag zur Auslegung der Apokalypse. Göttingen, 1895, S. 112–15 (Der Geburt des Antichrist aus Dan). Judeophile professor Ivan Gavrilovich Troitsky wrote in the treatise “On the question of the attitude of the Talmud to Christians” (magazine “Christian Reading”, 1917 Petrograd, book 1, No. 1–2, pp. 26–27): “The Christian day, according to Rabbi Ishmael Tannai, 2nd generation Ishmael ben Elisha (Pth centuries), forever prohibited." Abboda Zaraf, 6, according to the Venetian edition of the Babylonian Talmud, and according to the Munich manuscript: “Christian (or Christian),” according to R. Ishmael, is forever prohibited, that is, business relations between Jews and Christians are prohibited not only before the holidays and on the holidays themselves, but also after the holidays.” Both with this and with another reading in the words of R. Ishmael expresses a negative, almost intolerant attitude towards Christians. In all visions, it is the Angels who are the heavenly heralds, and therefore it is hardly likely that the “eagle” appears here quite unexpectedly, which could be brought in from apocryphal symbolism, alien at this point to the Apocalypse. And about the Angel flying in the middle of heaven, see XIV, 6, where he is called “another” νμεσουρανήματι ). From modern times we know that in 1929, in Algeria, about 50,000 hectares of land were invaded by locusts, which threatened the entire crop. The government mobilized up to 60,000 people to fight such a dangerous pest, providing this army with a huge convoy of special “military” devices and means. 12 million francs were allocated for this fight, and in the event of failure of this defense it was planned to send squadrons of military airplanes. Something similar happened in 1890. See Paris Latest News, No. 2900, April 30 (Tuesday), 1929. In ancient tradition Enoch and Elijah were usually supposed to be the accusers of the Antichrist: Prof. W. Bousset: Der Antichrist, S. 134–39. This is too reminiscent of the Jewish customs of gloating over defeated enemies, as was the case during the celebration of Purim (Esther. IX, 22): the 14th and 15th of Adar the Jews were obliged to celebrate annually “as such days in which they became calm from their enemies, and as such a month in which their sorrow turned into joy, and lamentation - on a holiday, so that their days would be made - Therefore, we cannot agree with Prof. Th. Lahn: Die Offenbarung des Johannes ausgelegt, II, S. 608, that the “second death” means for the Apocalyptic the complete destruction of being itself. See Dr. Ferdinand Weber: Judische Theologie. Leipzig, 1897 2, S. 162 ff., and here: “The Good News of St. Apostle Paul according to his origin and essence." I, St. Petersburg, 1905, pp. 383, 804; II, St. Petersburg, 1910, pp. 208, 485, 807, 1002, 1254, 117 - about three, four or seven heavens. Due to this connection in the movement of thoughts, it does not seem probable to me (cf.: XIII, 1 and 1) that in XIII, 1 one should read: “And he (the dragon) stood on the sand of the sea,” as Prof. S. Godet: Bibelstunden, deutsch bearbeitet von J. Kalgï zweiter Teil: zum Neuen Testament. Hannover, 1892, S. 230. See Rev. Prof. H. V. Swetë The Apocalypse of St. John, p. 171–72. Cp. S. Keferstein: Die Offenbarung St. Johannis rein symbolischer Auffassung. S. 132. Wed. Herm æ Pastor. Sim. IX, 13: α ἰ δ ὲ παρθ έ νοι... ἅγια πνε ῦ μα ε ἰ σ ί . So Rev. Prof. H. V. Swetë The Apocalypse of St. John, p. 1810. Sallust et Catil. XXXVII, 5: Romam sicuti in sentinam confluxerant; Tacit. Ann. XV, 44: Urbem... quo cuncta unitique atrocia aut pudenda confluunt celebranturque; Juvenal: III, 62, S. 99, says that in “Celeucia Syrian every year a swarm of depraved creatures, the products of age-old rot, landed on ships and infected Rome.” See "Orthodox Palestine Collection", no. XXXIV: Traveler Antoninus from Palestine, late 6th century. Published, translated and explained by Prof. I. V. Pomyalovsky. In ancient times, sold slaves were considered “bodies” (σ ώ ματα). Ephesus was famous for the fact that sometimes up to ten thousand “bodies and souls of men” were sold in one day. See Rev. Prof. H. V. Swetë The Apocalypse of St. John, p. 234–35. The combination of the last two terms indicates not just slavish use, but precisely the whole, when the soul itself was sacrificed to bodily voluptuousness. Note Publisher: The part of the text, enclosed between the signs, is also available in another edition, which we present here, in the note: “... four animals fallen prostrate before God sitting on the throne (XIX, 4).” The text itself follows: “Now the kingdom of God has become a reality...”, etc. Based on the state of the original manuscript, it is impossible to establish which of these two editions the author had in mind for publication. You might be interested in: