Apocalypse of John

Contents From the Editor Introduction The Revelation of John. Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου. Introduction ch. 1:1–8 Chapters 2–3. Seven Churches Chapters 4–5. Heavenly Visions Chapter 5 Chapter 6. Six Seals Chapter 7. Sealing of the 140,000 Sons of Israel Chapters 8–9. The Seventh Seal and the Seven Trumpets Chapter 10. The Vision of the Strong Angel Chapter 11. The Fates of the Church Militant Chapter 12. The Woman Clothed with the Sun and the War in the Heavens Chapter 13. The Two Beasts Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18. The Fall of Babylon Chapter 19. The Supper of the Lamb Chapter 20. The Millennial Kingdom General Introduction to Chapters 21 and 22 Chapter 21. Descent from the sky of Jerusalem Chapter 22 and the last - End and epilogue Excursion. Here's an excursion. Parousia Eucharistic Excursion. Eschatology in the Gospels (“small apocalypse”) and in Revelation Excursus. Appearances of Christ according to the Apocalypse The book about the Apocalypse was the last work of Fr. Sergius, which he managed to complete before his death. The story of this book is this: at the beginning of the war, Fr. Sergius took upon himself to teach one of the courses in the New Testament department at the Orthodox Theological Institute. This course was dedicated to the Apocalypse. Students asked him to publish these lectures; O. Sergius did not agree for a long time. But, under the influence of their persistent requests, he began to correct and supplement his lecture notes and was so inspired by this work that recently he lived exclusively by it. “This book, unexpectedly for me,” he once said, “has grown to become, if not the fourth volume of my trilogy, then, in any case, its epilogue.”... O. Sergius usually gave his works their final literary form when editing proofs. This work is printed from the original manuscript; This explains the fact that in a number of places it has the character of notes and is not averse to repetitions and ambiguities. The latter, however, are always explained by careful reading. The “Revelation” of John is the last book in the Bible, which it completes. By this alone, “Revelation” begs for comparison with the book of Genesis, as with the beginning of the Bible, of which it is the end, in terms of its general plan and theme. Moreover, it is the only book of its kind, generally unlike anything else in the Bible. This place, as well as its general character, testifies to its certain special significance and originality, although it does not prevent its particular comparisons in content with other biblical books. In any case, already by this external place of “Revelation” in the Bible he assimilates the final character of some last word in the Bible, which is in accordance with the first. These are the features of “Revelation” that are subject to general disclosure and identification. But such a special place and meaning of the last word is characteristic of “Revelation” and in its dogmatic content, dogmatic theology is agreed upon and completed in a unique way. 1 “Revelation” in general is one of the most studied books of Holy Scripture from the philological, exegetical, religious-historical, and general biblical perspectives. You could even say that every word and comma has been studied here. If, despite all this, there remains enough room for diverse and controversial interpretations and constructions of a general exegetical, as well as dogmatic nature, then this is the general destiny of scientific biblical research, since it is based, after all, on human conjectures, breaking away from the soil of positive church understanding, since, however, it is sufficient for this, at least in its given state. However, there is already some indisputable area of ​​scientific achievements of critical exegesis, which can also be used for the needs of dogmatics. They establish the general character of “Revelation” in terms of its literary features, external style and structure. First of all, as regards its language, it must be said that it bears obvious and pronounced features of the Hebrew style, which is flawed due to its Hebraisms regarding the correctness of language and grammar. However, this does not prevent him from being distinguished by his exceptional strength, so that one can rightly say about him: “the author of the Apocalypse, although not a perfect artist, he is a brilliant writer, possessing the rare power of his calling.” 2 Of course, one cannot deny the obvious difference in the style of “Revelation” and the fourth Gospel, which is considered to have been written later than the first. However, such a difference does not force us to assert, contrary to church tradition, that both books are the works of different writers. In any case, the possibility of purely scientific disagreement and dispute remains for this. For us, therefore, there is a complete and even scientific opportunity to calmly follow the testimony of tradition, for which “the author of the Apocalypse, like the Gospel and the Epistles, is one and the same, i.e. Apostle John of Zebedee,” 3 John the Theologian, son of Thunder (as was accepted and attested in the canon of sacred books in the East and West). This peculiar style of the Apocalypse testifies to the special strength of the Jewish spirit and temperament, inherent in this book, and comparatively even weakened in the fourth Gospel, in this sense more Hellenistic. And this deliberately Jewish character of this book is even more reflected in its special literary genre and style, namely as an Apocalypse. It is equally characteristic here that the Apocalypse as such is the only book of its kind in the entire Bible (despite the presence of separate apocalyptic texts in some places in other books), and at the same time it is one of many apocalypses that abound in Jewish writing, starting from the second century BC and up to the second century and after it. Despite the presence of individual monuments and non-Jewish origins (like the Sibylline books), it can be said that this apocalypticism for several centuries (from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century after it) was a particularly characteristic expression of the Jewish spirit in its self-awareness and its historical destinies. Already starting with the great post-exilic prophets, the Jewish people think and feel life apocalyptically, although this was not the only thing that determined their self-awareness. The preaching of the Forerunner, Christ and the Apostles, and all of Christianity in general could find a place in it. It defeated the apocalypse. The latter died out with the destruction of Jerusalem, which followed a series of messianic-apocalyptic movements and uprisings led by false messiahs. However, the Church of the Tongues, which adopted Christianity from Israel, did not accept it apocalyptically, but remained free from it. However, and this cannot be emphasized with sufficient force, the Church, having rejected the apocalypses as a special form of national Jewish identity, chose and proclaimed as divinely inspired one of the apocalypses, the only one of its kind. She preserved and glorified it, introducing it into the canon of sacred books. Thus, the Church at the same time abolished, as if unnecessary, but at the same time affirmed our “Christian” Apocalypse in its abiding meaning, as a kind of vetus testamenium in novo. In all the sacred books, not only the Old, but even the New Testament (albeit in the Greek text), the word of God sounds in a Jewish voice, speaks, in a certain sense, in the Hebrew language, so it needs to be translated into a universal dialect, accessible to “all languages.” Therefore, in the New Testament we hear the living speech of St. Paul, as well as the other apostles, which, without losing its personal and national-Jewish character, already becomes a universal preaching. And the same should be said about the Apocalypse, which betrayed and preserved its Jewish style, imagery, temperament as universal, all-human, and generalized this unique text of the local and particular into a national one. But this generalization is not exhausted by this spiritual translation alone. It also has another, broader and more in-depth meaning. The fact is that the language and thought of the apocalypses included elements, one might say, of universal paganism; they are characterized by a syncretic character, the study of which religious-historical science is so successfully and so persistently engaged in. Through her analyzes and inspirations, Jewish images and teachings of the apocalypses are revealed as containing the heritage of deep antiquity from different religions and peoples. We can say that they, and in particular our Apocalypse, were written in the thick syncretic ink of the religious history of the world. They can be identified, and these images can be deciphered by tracing them back to their original sources. In them one can find various influences, traditions and borrowings, which are now being revealed more fully and wider in religious-historical science. Even if the sacred text of the Bible as the religious tradition of the chosen people is not closed to these influences of the surrounding pagan peoples, then for apocalyptic writing it is a general rule. And through it, syncretic images penetrate into our Christian Apocalypse, which through this preserves and carries them, assimilating them with a universal character. “Religious-historical” science, triumphantly discovering these features of syncretism, often uses this to profane the sacred book, secularize and destroy its content. However, this kind of application is not at all necessary and not uncontroversial. There is no need to reject or question the historical correctness of these scientific observations to invalidate their application and meaning. The content of the sacred books, in particular the Apocalypse, does not decompose and is not abolished in its own strength; it includes these alien elements as material, colors and images. Through this, the power and richness of his images only multiply without losing their own meaning. The language and images of the apocalypse, as well as our Apocalypse, thus open the door for world history to the last book of the New Testament. So, the Apocalypse, both in its style and in its character, is an alien book in the Bible, belonging to a certain literary genre of a certain era. However, it is included in the Bible as its organic part, an essential one. And this inclusion as a well-known biblical dogma has become so organic that it makes one forget the historical and specific features of the Apocalypse. He stands before us in all his originality, like a monolith. Its literary and historical features did not prevent it from being accepted as a Christian revelation of a certain nature. This book, Judaistic in style, of a syncretistic nature, took on the features of Christian revelation, became a Christian book, organically becoming part of the New Testament as a revelation about Christ and His Church. The language and its images were assimilated and transformed here until a complete rebirth, and we, reading this book, as part of the Christian revelation of the New Testament, forget about its origin and special properties. It is given to us as Holy Scripture, as a book written by the great Christian apostle. We perceived it in the general biblical context as part of the Bible, a New Testament book, in connection with the entire New Testament revelation. It belongs to the group of prophetic books and as such is the only prophetic book in the New Testament. Although all the prophetic books in the Bible, specifically in the Old Testament, have the character of revelation, since they also contain Christian prophecies, the Apocalypse has an exceptional place in this regard as a specifically Christian, New Testament prophecy: “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon happen... Blessed is he who reads and hears the words of this prophecy” (Rev. 1:1, 3). John, the apostle and evangelist who wrote the fourth Gospel and three conciliar epistles, he is also a prophet in Revelation. There is a difference between prophets, apocalyptics and apostles, although there are common features between them, on the basis of which they draw closer to each other. Prophets teach, denounce, but also foretell the future - sometimes in general and abstract terms, sometimes symbolically and figuratively, and then they come close to the apocalyptics: such is the book of the prophet Daniel and some others. There are insights and prophecies regarding the future in the Gospels, as well as in the apostolic epistles. However, Revelation has a special character, which combines literary features and images characteristic of apocalypses with prophecies characteristic of prophets. We can say that in it the apocalypse ceases to be itself, for it becomes a prophecy, although expressed in a special, apocalyptic language. Apocalypse ceases to belong to apocalypse, but becomes a prophecy. This is the whole uniqueness of the character of the Christian apocalypse. This is also expressed in his self-determination. Open 1:1–2-3: “And He showed it by sending it by His angel to His servant John, who testified the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and what he saw. Blessed is he who reads and listens to the words of this prophecy.” John the Theologian, the evangelist, is also a seer. He, on the one hand, is a witness as a confessor and preacher, an apostle, whose words are “prophecy” in their content and dignity, so to speak, in their meaning and value. This assumes that he is worthy to accept the prophecy and become its preacher in the world. To that extent, in this sense, he is also a prophet. However, his spiritual image at the same time differs from that which is characteristic of the prophet in his own ministry. It is he who is not characterized by prophetic searching, questioning and inspiration, in response to which prophecy is given by the Holy Spirit as the “word of God”, as the “hand of God” on the prophet. To this extent, prophecy is not only illumination from above, but also a question and answer, a divine-human affair. But the seer has visions as revelations. He is shown something that he did not ask about and could not even ask, since what is being revealed exceeds the human horizon, extends beyond it, into a region transcendental to him. If prophecy is divine-human illumination, in which creative inspiration meets divine inspiration, then “vision” represents, as it were, a unilateral act of God in man or on man. The image of such divine influence is expressed as a state of “being in the spirit,” in a trance that leads to transcendence. On the human side, this obviously presupposes chosenness, a corresponding special dignity, but the seer does not ask, but sees, it is shown to him or spoken to through an angel. He is required to be able to see what is being shown, perceive it, tell it to people, but at the same time he himself can resist, bear the prophecy, and not be spiritually corrupted by it. This is precisely the property of “apocalypse”, revelation, in contrast to prophecies. If one can look for a question and answer here, it is only in the most general form of some bewilderment, embarrassment, confusion, nothing more. With all the grandeur of the revelations of the Apocalypse, the visions here simply alternate, follow one after another, and then fit according to a certain plan into the narrative about them, and the attitude of the contemplator towards them remains passive, receptive. This spiritual comparative passivity distinguishes apocalypses from prophecy. In certain cases, something that has the character of an apocalypse in its content and style can also become a prophecy, including elements of a question and answer. Such, for example, are the apocalyptic chapters of the book of the prophet Daniel (cf., for example, Daniel 8:27: “And I, Daniel, was weak and sick for several days; then I got up and began to attend to the king’s affairs; I was amazed at this vision and did not understand it.” Wed. John 1:3). Here, although in general outlines, the personality of the contemplator of the visions himself appears. But we would look in vain for this personality in the John revelation with all its amazing power: here we find only visions of mysteries, but not the seer himself, who remains hidden, not revealed in his personality, although such exists. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for all the difficulty and even unanswerability of questions about the relationship between both sacred writers - the compilers of the fourth Gospel and messages, on the one hand, and the seer, on the other. This impersonality, as it were, the absence of individual traits in apocalyptic writing also explains the pseudonymous nature characteristic of it. Pseudonymy is not only a symptom of a spiritual illness that is characteristic of the state of the diaspora to this day (the disease is contagious, both corresponding to a certain spiritual state and professions: stage, literature, etc.), but also corresponds to the absence of an individual person and the state of the apocalyptic, the passivity of his contemplation, which we spoke about above. In any case, it should be stated that pseudonymy is a feature inherent in apocalyptic writing, which is why it is called apocrypha (except, of course, the Apocalypse of John). A few words should also be said about the place of Revelation in the New Testament. Revelation occupies the last place in the Bible, and this follows from its entire content, as well as its special meaning. Its content is devoted to what can be called the Christian philosophy of history, and this historiosophy borders on eschatology and passes into it. It reveals the fate of the Christian Church in the world, precisely from a special angle - like the struggle of Christianity with anti-Christianity. World history is depicted here as the greatest world tragedy, in which the heavenly armies, together with the earthly church, fight the dragon and his angels, the beast and the harlot fight the saints, Christ wages war and defeats the dragon, and all this ends with a picture of the chiliastic, and then eschatological (which is discussed below) transformation of the world. Thus, the entire “Revelation” is devoted to one topic, one question and answer - it talks about the destinies of the Church of Christ in the world within history. These destinies are considered not only in the light of earthly, human history, but heavenly forces also participate in them, so that the result is an exhaustive in depth and power revelation of the destinies of the Christian Church, a truly “apocalypse.” Such a question and in such a volume was not raised in the entire New (and also Old) Testament. With the exception of individual episodic texts, Christian teaching was not revealed from such a perspective at all. “Revelation” has a very special place in this regard, a place unique to it alone. In this sense, it can be said that if “Revelation” were absent from the Bible, then such a teaching about the militant church would not be in it at all. There would be a gaping void in this place, and the burning question about the fate of Christianity in history would be marked... by silence. (Of course, apart from brief instructions from weather forecasters and in the apostolic epistles). But such a question is not a product of curiosity and idleness, which could and even should be dispensed with through humility or laziness of thought. No, this is an urgent and burning question that cannot be avoided in the Christian consciousness. The theme of “Revelation” is necessary in the Bible, the latter cannot avoid it. Neither the early Christian church nor all subsequent centuries, each in its own way, with growing torment, anxiety and tension, could not help but ask about the future, or about what is “coming soon.” Humanity is immersed in history and cannot help but think about it. The Church has its own historical destinies, the revelation of which it cannot help but seek. Christ reigns in His Church in the struggle with the beast and the Antichrist, and we, being present and participating in this struggle, cannot help but ask about it. And such an answer to these questions, a teaching about the destinies of the Christian world in connection with the church, is “Revelation.” In its presence, it is organically connected with all the revelation that we have in the word of God. What has been said sufficiently explains the special place that “Revelation” has in the Bible; this is precisely the last place, the end and the conclusion. And this naturally begs comparison with the book in the Bible that holds first place, namely the book of Genesis. It contains a revelation about the creation of the world and man, the origin of created being, the beginning of the earthly world and its history. Naturally, otherwise the Bible could not have begun as a divine revelation about the world: it was God himself who told us about it. Humanity could not remain without such a revelation; its absence would mean a stunning emptiness with which the human spirit could not reconcile and calm down. But the world not only begins, but also ends in history: the beginning seeks the end for itself and looks towards it. 4 Therefore, the place occupied in the Bible is correlative, both for Genesis and for “Revelation,” the beginning and the end; “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8). “I am Alpha and Omega, First and Last” (10). Of course, if we consider Genesis and Revelation exegetically, religious-historically, scientifically-philologically, then between them there will be such features of difference and originality that seem to preclude this convergence as a beginning and an end. However, we can say, without fear of paradox, that all the differences between them in terms of their historical appearance or transcription are insignificant and even seemingly accidental in relation to their general theme and its significance. Both of them express in human language the same general idea, namely about the history of the created, becoming world as having a beginning and an end. This is the special weight of “Revelation” in the Bible, in its general plan. Speaking, in particular, about “Revelation,” it must be said that it tends to be the end of the Bible, which contains the completion of the historical world. Therefore, it is a book about the future, about what “must soon be” (1:1; 22:6). It is a book about the end of history, about what will happen and how it will happen. It is a book about the entire world history in its content and accomplishment. It is the history of the world, outlined in symbols and images, in its most essential content. It is by no means a history of earthly events, as it is written and studied; it does not describe any external events or facts that can be precisely confined to space and time. It is the symbolism of these events, their internal summary, ontology, or, in this sense, the philosophy of history. It has its own specific task, special content, which is equally not characteristic of both the Bible and general history. The Bible knows its historical books, and they are truly dedicated to the history of the chosen people, their destinies. This is the “sacred story” dedicated to the construction of salvation. However, their content is limited; it does not include the ontological completeness of history, as well as its end. “Revelation” is universal, it contains, if not the beginning, then, in any case, the end; it is a philosophy of the end, or rather, a prophecy about it. This is the own and exclusive theme of “Revelation”, which is absent in this form in the Bible, in particular in the New Testament. Of course, it cannot be denied that it also touches on apocalyptic themes and contains apocalyptic and eschatological prophecies - their complete absence would be simply unthinkable and impossible, as they are in the Old Testament, especially in its prophetic books. However, one cannot even compare and contrast their presence in Revelation with the rest of the Bible. We can say directly that the revelation relating to the destinies of the whole world and the Church in their coherent history does not exist in other books of the New Testament, and it is the exclusive property of his last book according to its general plan and main task (although we will have to make comparisons with the corresponding biblical texts, in particular the Gospel and Apostolic texts, which are related here). This nature of “Revelation” is associated with its special meaning, the internal and external necessity of having such a content in the canon of a book. Its absence would give rise to a feeling of irresistible emptiness and insufficiency, which would seek satisfaction for itself in the non-canonical or “apocryphal” completion of it, as was the case along with the canonical “Revelation” before and after its composition. Its special problems relate to the frank teaching about the end and outcome of history. Could revelation be deprived of “Revelation” about the destinies of the world and the Church in it, containing, so to speak, the dynamics of ecclesiology, the symbolism of the war of the world with Christ and His victory over it? Of course, all this is already contained in the Gospel, but here it is not the subject of special prophecy or deliberate revelation. However, "Revelation" obviously already presupposes and includes the gospel teaching about Christ. Outside of it and apart from it, it is unthinkable and incomprehensible, although it is not exhausted by it and does not completely coincide with it. It is characterized by its own features, a special dogmatic and historical perspective, its own image of Christ, along with its own special apocalypticism and eschatology. Therefore, it should also be said that all New Testament, evangelical and apostolic dogma is incomplete without “Revelation”; in it it finds its completion, or at least its special perspective. We can say that the Christ of “Revelation” is not in the Gospel, as well as vice versa: the latter does not contain the features characteristic of the first. “Revelation” is, in its way, like the fifth Gospel, or, if we consider it to belong to the fourth evangelist, it is his second Gospel, although written completely differently and according to a different plan. Although each of the four Gospels contains its own end as the completion of the earthly life of the Savior and His earthly ministry, none of them is characterized by the teaching about the end of the world and all earthly human history in connection with the power of the second coming of Christ, which is the completion of the entire path of the history of the world and the Church. But it is precisely this, and only this, that represents the content of “Revelation” as a book about the end of earthly history in connection with all its accomplishments. The “Revelation” of John, although it has similarities with the Old Testament apocalypses (in Daniel and other prophets), as well as non-canonical apocrypha, it differs from them as a New Testament, Christian revelation, containing the teaching about Christ and His image. In this sense, we repeat, it is in some way the fifth Gospel. There are synoptic gospels, which contain, although each with its own distinctive features, a single synoptic image of Christ, and there is also the Johannine image of Christ, characteristic of the fourth Gospel. But there is also a special image of Christ, although it is John’s, but has its own features that distinguish it even from John’s, but the Gospel. The apostolic writings do not have such a special image of Christ, although they have certain features of the dogmatic teaching about Him. This special image of Christ, inherent in Revelation, combines the general evangelical and apostolic teaching with its own properties. In the first sense, we can say that Revelation, according to its relatively late origin at the end of the 1st century, although preceding the fourth Gospel in time, is characterized by a dogmatic completeness characteristic of the entire New Testament Christology. Here we have a teaching about Him, first of all, as a historical person who has the personal name Jesus (1:9; 12:17; 14:12), it is accompanied by the name Christ, separately (11:15; 12:10; 20:4, 6) or in combination of both names (1:1, 2, 6; 22:21). He is assigned descent from Israel, a son of the line of David, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (10:5). He has 12 apostles (21:14). It speaks of His crucifixion (11:8), resurrection (1:5, 18) and ascension (3:21; 12:5). At the same time, He is the Son of God, the only one who pre-exists in His Divinity (1:2; 2:18, 27; 3:5, 21; 14:1). He is the Word of God (19:13), as He is called even earlier than the fourth Gospel in the only text besides it. He is the “Holy and True” (12:7) and the “Holy and True Lord” (6:10), “The First and the Last” (1:17; 2:8; 22:13). He is also the beginning of God's creation (3:14). He sits on the throne with God (3:21; 7:17; 12:5; 21:1, 3). Many of the names and expressions given to God in the Old and New Testaments are also applied to Christ. 5 Further, Christ is depicted by many features in His Glory as “the Firstborn from the dead and the Lord of the kings of the earth” (1:5), “Having the keys of death and hell” (1:18). “He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings (16:14; 19:16). He is the Supreme High Priest, the Lamb of God, “who loved us and washed us from our sins in his blood and made us kings and priests to God and the Father” (1:5–6). Before the Lamb the new song is sung: “You were slain, and with your blood you redeemed us to God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God” (5:9). “To him who overcomes I will give to sit on My throne, just as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (3:21). In Revelation there is in its entirety the teaching about the Redeemer and atonement, which is found in the apostolic epistles (as well as in the Old Testament prophecies, in particular in Isaiah, chapter 53). This is in general connection with the doctrine of the Incarnation, in which the Son of Man is also the Son of God. In short, Revelation contains within itself the fullness of Christology, 6 also in connection with triadology. 7 In this respect it contains, in general, what can be said to flow from the general New Testament teaching. But at the same time, it also contains something of its own, which the latter does not contain: its own special, apocalyptic image of Christ, revealed in history, in the struggle with the prince of this world, the dragon, in world tragedy. This image must, of course, be combined with the Gospel and Apostolic, and this is the special task of the dogmatics of the Apocalypse. (Connected with this is the doctrine of the Church as the Wife and Bride of the Lamb, as well as the end of the world - eschatology). Finally, this also includes that feature that can be defined as Christian, mystical sociologism in such a depiction of history, where it is not so much individuals in their individuality that act as images of spiritual forces in their unification. It remains to add a few words about the relationship that exists between John the Evangelist and the compiler of the epistles and the Seer who wrote the Apocalypse. In terms of language, the character of both is different; this is directly felt when reading. Whether this difference is so great that one can deny that they belong to the same pen, the opinions of learned researchers diverge to the complete opposite. For some, these differences are so great that they exclude such affiliation, while for others there are no such obstacles, and philological examination does not have the last word here. Therefore, there remains every possibility, in accordance with church tradition, to consider both the evangelist and the prophet-seer as one and the same person. However, this in no way denies or even diminishes the difference in style and general literary character of the Gospel with the Epistles and the Apocalypse, so much so that, in any case, the question may arise about the reasons and source of such a difference. Of course, it may also be related to the age at which these works were written. The Apocalypse appeared earlier than the Gospel and Epistles, but this difference is not so significant; it is determined (presumably) by only a few years (3–5), and the sacred writer was already an old man and in exile on Fr. Patmos (about 96). One can seek explanations for the differences in style, based on the assumption that the Gospel and the Epistles had their own editor, which was reflected in the nature of his style. These kinds of assumptions in their various combinations are, of course, possible, but they are arbitrary guesses that can neither be proven nor disproved due to the lack of data. However, the impression remains undeniable that, moving from the Apocalypse to the Gospel, we seem to be entering another world, immersing ourselves in a different atmosphere. The “spiritual” (pneumatic) Gospel of John is all glowing, imbued with peace, goodness, love; on the contrary, the Apocalypse is all on fire, full of storms and revelations, exciting, shocking. It’s as if there are two images of one and the same apostle: the first is the “beloved disciple”, reclining on the Teacher’s chest at the Last Supper, standing at the cross and adopted from it by the Mother of God, all silence, and love, and tender affection, both in youth and in old age, as if not subject to human age, owning the voice of eternity “elder”. The second, the Seer of Secrets, with a fiery straightened soul, his book of revelation belongs not to supertemporal old age, but to supertemporal youth, it is a young book, although it also belongs to old age, it makes one remember other features, albeit of the same image. This is Boanarges, the son of Gromov, this is one of the sons of Zebedee, who wants to bring fire down to earth on the rebellious Samaritans and for whom his mother asked to be seated on the right or left side in the Kingdom of God. A still unpacified human power boils within him, which, however, is pacified in the nearness of the Lord. But the Seer needs this strength to endure all the power and difficulty of revelation. However, these human traits are not sufficient to explain all the huge differences that remain in the general spirit of the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse, so that the difficulty and paradox of church tradition, which unites them in belonging to the same sacred writer, the Apostle John, remains in full force. There can be two outcomes here: one - in disobedience to church tradition, which requires what seems humanly impossible, namely to unite the Gospel and Revelation as sculptures of the same chisel, or to accept it by faith and in it to seek the answer to perplexities. And it is this last outcome that remains the only convincing and intelligible. Yes, the style and general character of both, the Gospel and Revelation, are different, it seems, to the point of incompatibility. However, does it refer to the literary style or to that special, one-of-a-kind content that is inherent in both? Of course, the latter. In all sacred writing, in the Bible, yes, we think, and in all world literature in general, there is no other case of such a combination of not two styles, but two different contents relating to two different objects of religious experience, each of which is so amazing in its uniqueness and strength. We ask ourselves: if it is given to truly one and the same chosen one of God to meet on the path of life and experience in religious experience all the immensity of the Fourth Gospel and all the shock of Revelation, then how should this, albeit one, sacred writer feel in the face of both experiences? How will he narrate it in both cases? Thus, the difference in the nature of tension, which is characteristic of the Gospel and the Apocalypse, should be entirely attributed to the special tone in its uniqueness, the nature of their content, and this constitutes additional evidence of their spiritual authenticity. This is not literature, but a story about the inexpressible, although it seeks expression for itself in human language. And for each of these stories there is its own heavenly music, which corresponds to them in sublimity and inspiration. Moreover, this difference not only does not eliminate the affinity of objects, but presupposes it, although in some cases they are presented differently (as we will note below). Revelation of John. Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου. Introduction ch. 1:1–8 This is how this book calls itself, its very name indicating its special task and character. No other book of the Old or New Testament is called this way. 8 As a title it appears only in the second century (1:27), but the book itself is already defined in the introduction, as the first word of its prologue: The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Its second definition is prophecy (τοὺς λόγους τῆς προφητείας) (1:3). This demonstrates its exceptional character as a prophetic book. Through this, it is included in the category of prophetic books of the Old Testament with their special property of deliberate inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Old Testament prophecy, for all its Old Testament limitations, natural and inevitable, has a broad and indefinite content. It includes both insights related to the future, individual events and even persons, as well as moral reproof and preaching. A similar deliberately spirit-bearing character of prophetic inspiration is inherent in our book, about which it is said in advance: “Blessed is he who reads and hears the words of this prophecy and keeps what is written in it” (1:3). However, this general definition is also accompanied by a particular or specific one – namely, the Apocalypse. The latter already refers to its special literary type, includes it in the general apocalyptic writing, as it was determined in the era around our era, two centuries before and after it. But at the same time, a private, special definition of his character is also given in all its exceptional spiritual significance. If in the prophetic books we constantly encounter the general self-testimony of the prophet: “and the word of the Lord came to me,” “thus the Lord said to me,” and the like, then in the Revelation of John we have even more than that. It is here that special concrete evidence is given of the divine source of this prophecy. It is this that is not only the word of God or the revelation of God in general, among many other similar ones, but is testified with special solemnity: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him” (ὁ Θεός) (1:1). God, that is, God the Father, gives this revelation of the Son, Jesus Christ, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. This definition can be understood in two ways: it speaks of the revelation of Christ received by Him from the Father, or of the revelation of Jesus Christ given by the Father. Both meanings can be combined, and, of course, the source of this revelation must be understood in a trinitarian way, that is, the action of the Holy Spirit must also be included here, although it is not directly named. It is further symbolized by the seven spirits (1:4) who are before the throne of God. Such a trinitarian self-testimony of prophecy is not crowned in the Old Testament already due to its Old Testament limitations, due to the incarnation of Jesus Christ that has not yet occurred. Christ Himself is the one who prophesies and is prophesied; prophecy is given by Him, about Him and through Him. However, it is not given to John directly, as the Lord testified about Himself in His appearance to the apostle. Paul, the first martyr Stephen, but it is given through an Angel, deliberately to him “who was sent to his servant John, who testified the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and what he saw” (2). Such an Angel's sending to announce the prophecy speaks not only of its special importance, but also of the vastness and complexity of its content, as will be clear from its disclosure. The general content of what is testified through the Angel is “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Here we have a synonymous expression: and as means as, equivalence. The Father in the Holy Trinity is revealed by the Word in His Son, Jesus Christ, and this revelation is not only verbal, but also contemplated, visible: “what he saw -ὅσα εἶδέν (2), revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit. This establishes the dyadic nature of this self-revelation of “God” (the Father), trace. threefold power and source of revelation. The first of the seven makarisms in Revelation is added to this: “Blessed is he who reads and those who listen to the words of this prophecy, who keep what is written in it” (3). 9 This satisfaction is connected with the promise: “for the time is near” (ὁ γαρ καιρòς εγγύς). In the prologue of Revelation we have two different, but also seemingly unambiguous statements relating to the time of the fulfillment of the prophecy: the first is its most general definition, which says that it is given to show “what must soon be (ἅ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει) (1:1). What is the meaning of this ἐν τάχει here, is it chronological, as a “circumstance of time,” or ontological, to which in this very sense “ought,” the internal significance and power of accomplishment is assimilated, even if it had to be further expressed in time and times, as well as beyond time and even above time, supertemporally? (This general definition is literally repeated in the closing words of Revelation: 22:6). This ontological character of time is expressed in the book of the prophet. Daniel says: “There are secrets in heaven, and God revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the last days.” (Dan. 2:28–30). This ἐν τάχει, therefore, should be understood not in the sense of a short period, but rather of a transtemporality that has power over time as its internal norm. This normative character of ontological obligation also manifests itself in temporary existence as a guiding principle, a historical pattern. The second meaning, more chronological than ontological, belongs to the second prophecy: “for the time is near” (cf. 3). There is a special emphasis in these words that reinforces the specific meaning of the prophecy as referring to historical time. However, they should also be understood not in the sense of the immediate proximity of the historical moment, but only of a general eschatological perspective. The apostle warns us against the first literal understanding of them. Paul, using the example of the Thessalonians, their superstitious and fussy attitude towards eschatological prophecies: “We beseech you, brethren, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering to Him, not to be in a hurry to be shaken in mind and be disturbed either by the spirit, or by the word, or by the message, as if the day of Christ was already approaching. Let no one deceive you, by any means”... (2 Thess. 2:1-3). 10 Therefore, the nearness of the eschatological end cannot be understood literally and in such expressions as Luke. 28:8: “I tell you that he will give them protection quickly”; Rome has a similar meaning. 16:20: “The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet “soon”; also in Rev. 2:5 ~to the Church of Ephesus: “If it is not so, I will come to you quickly and will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” In all this series of expressions it soon has a different meaning. After this first part of the prologue, which contains, as it were, the title of the entire book, there follows its second part, containing the solemn self-testimony of the compiler of Revelation, John, in the blessing that he sends to the seven churches located in Asia: “grace and peace from God.” This is the general apostolic blessing, taught with all its power and authority. We find such a blessing in most of the apostolic epistles, usually also at the beginning, and this is self-testimony of the apostolic power. So, in form, Revelation is an apostolic letter addressed directly to the seven Asian churches. This, of course, does not give them only a local limited character, which would detract from their significance for the entire church. Therefore, the message to the seven Asian churches is also a “conciliar” ecumenical message to the entire Church of Christ. From whom is this “blessing” sent? It has a solemn, commanding, universal character; it comes from the Holy Spirit himself. The Trinity of the existing God, and first of all, from the eternal God the Father, who is called Thoth. 11 Who “is and was and is to come (I am the one who is coming ὁ ἐρχόμενος)” (4). The eternity of God is expressed here as all-temporality or super-temporality by the grammatical combination of all three times: present, past and future. 12 The blessing continues: “and from the seven spirits that are before His throne” (4), and then follows this: “and from Jesus Christ” (5). Naturally, the question arises as to how these “seven spirits” should be understood: should we see here the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit, namely the third hypostasis, which, however, is given here an unusual, namely the second, place in the Holy Trinity, or only gifts, grace, the action of the Holy Spirit? The order of the hypostases in itself does not have decisive significance here for one or another understanding of the text. The sevenfold number here can mean the action of the hypostasis in its gifts in relation to the church, corresponding to the sevenfold number of private churches. To see angels here in comparison with the First, Fatherly, hypostasis and Jesus Christ, moreover, named before Christ, is dogmatically inconsistent. Exegetically, this question cannot be resolved indisputably, and, however, one or another solution in this case does not even represent any particular significance. (Seven spirits, or seven lamps in the appearance of Christ are repeated in Rev. 3: 1; 4:5; 5:6. About the seven spirits of God, cf. Is. 2:2). The third part of John’s blessing is made from Christ, in a particularly lengthy, solemn and dogmatically meaningful naming of Him: “and from Jesus Christ, the 13 faithful witness, the Firstborn from the dead and the Ruler of the kings of the earth” (5-a). Unlike the IV Gospel, which belongs to the same sacred writer, the Second Hypostasis is described here not from the side of Her eternity, as “the Word that existed in the beginning,” but from the side of Her service in the world, cosmic and soteriological, as “a faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth”: prophetic and especially royal service. But here the high priestly service as a redeemer is also added: “To Him, who loved us and washed us from our sins with His blood, and made us kings and priests to His God and Father, be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (6). Here, in a condensed lapidary form, the doctrine of Christ as a redeemer and savior is presented - as it crystallized in the apostolic age, in the epistles of St. Paul (especially Col. 1:18), Peter, etc. in connection with the internal, hierarchical relationship of the First and Second Hypostases, God and Christ: “Kings and priests to God and the Father.” This also corresponds to the teaching of the IV Gospel (“I ascend to My Father and your Father, My God and your God” (John 20:17). But this does not exhaust the Christological part of the blessing, because it continues in the field of eschatology, and moreover, with a special, one might say, in this sense, as if programmatic force, characteristic of this prophetic book: “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, and those who pierced Him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn before Him" (7). There is a clear consonance with John 19:37 ~ (Zech. 12: 12), and there is, of course, a synoptic eschatology of the “small apocalypse” (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. Wed. Dan. 7:13–14). The treatment of the blessing, which is stated in the third person through the medium of John, is now especially confirmed in the first person, “the Lord Almighty,” God the Father himself, who applies to Himself another special symbol of His eternity: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come” (8). The word of verse 4 is repeated - about the eternity of God. It should be noted here that this same formula: α and ω, first and last, beginning and end, is also used in other texts of Revelation, namely 1: 10-c; 22:13, however, in application not to the Father but to Christ, as follows from the entire context (see below). It is therefore possible to indicate here in advance that this identification testifies to the God-manhood of Christ, in which His Divinity is not diminished, and, on the contrary, is testified with all power by the sacred writer. This ends the prologue, which is the solemn title and introduction to the book of Revelation. It is followed by an introduction containing a call to prophecy, an introduction to it along with a prophetic appeal to the seven churches to which it is directly directed. John calls himself here as “a brother and partner in the tribulation, kingdom, and patience of Jesus Christ” (9), that is, in the Christian feat of suffering and long-suffering, and at the same time in gracious consolation, in the “kingdom” located on the island of Patmos in exile for “the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” “I was in the spirit on Sunday,” that is, in an ecstatic state of divine inspiration, “and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet” (10) (Old Testament image in Ezekiel 3:12), commanding “what was seen” (i.e., heard and seen), to be written in a book and sent to the seven churches to which the message was addressed: then the seer “turned to see, whose voice spoke to him,” (12), this is how the act of mystical concentration and contemplation is expressed in relation to the revelation sent down. Its indescribability and inexpressibility corresponds to this seemingly random inaccuracy of expressions: “turned to see whose voice it was, and turning I saw.” And then this mystical vision is described. About the nature of the vision itself, it should be said that it is presented along with many others like the Apostle John as a seer, who is the only one called to this. Of the ancient prophets, only a few had such visions: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. 14 None of the apostles were awarded such contemplations, although they had heavenly visions of Christ (Apostle Paul) with inspirations inexpressible in human words (2 Cor. 12). This marks the special chosenness of the beloved disciple of St. John. In this first vision Christ appears to him in power and glory. He is described here as “like the Son of Man”: here the Old Testament prophetic vision of Daniel (7:13–14) is united with the New Testament through the common name: “Son of Man”, as evidence of the incarnation. It means: God-man. The individual features of this image are as follows: Christ appears “among the seven golden lampstands” (12–13), and in His right hand He holds seven stars (16). The “mystery” of these seven stars and lamps refers to the seven churches to whom the message is addressed and to their angels (20). With this interpretation, this image is limited to a certain extent and, as it were, localized, it is given a historically symbolic meaning. However, such an interpretation alone is hardly sufficient. Not to mention the fact that the seven churches (as will be said below) symbolize the fullness of the universal church along with its angels, but in general the septenary number is the number of the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And what we already understood (v. 4) about the seven spirits who are before the throne of the Lord, as a revelation of the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit, this here too, in the form of the seven-star and seven-candlestick of the churches, signifies the Holy Spirit resting on the Son, anointed of the Father, Christ. And Christ sends the Holy Spirit to His Church. Further symbolism in the appearance of the Son of Man as the High Priest corresponds to this general thought and correlation. This corresponds to His image “clothed in a robe and girded across the chest with a golden belt” (13), both of which express the high priestly and royal ministry of Christ. His heavenly glorified image is further described by the features of the prophecy of Daniel (7:8), referring to the Ancient of Days (God the Father), but here applied to His glorified Son: “His head and hair were white as white wool, like snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire” (14). Added to this is a feature from Daniel’s prophetic vision of a man from Uphaz, about whom: “His hands and feet are like shiny brass in appearance, and the voice of His speech is like a multitude of people” (Dan. 16:6; Ezek. 53:2). Here, in Revelation, it is said, “His feet were like hot water, 15 like red-hot furnaces, and His voice was like the sound of many waters” (15) (Cf. 2:10). Finally, the following feature is added to this: “out of His mouth comes a sword sharp on both sides, and His face is like the sun, shining in its power” (16) (Cf. 2:12, 16; 19:15). The image of the two-edged sword coming from the mouth of Christ may refer to the power of His word as preaching and judging in truth, but it also expresses His royal power and reign in the world. Such an image is, of course, absent in the Gospel; it is difficult to combine with the image of the “meek and lowly in heart” of Christ, and, however, one is connected to the other and is mutually contained (more on this below in Chapter 19). The image of the sun shining in its power, even among the weather forecasters (Matthew 17: 2: “His face is like the sun” at the Transfiguration, cf. 13:43: “the righteous will shine like the sun”). Taken together, the vision of the seer gives an image of divine greatness, glory and power, which shocks the seer to such an extent that from this vision he “fell at His feet as if dead” (17). Obviously, this whole vision cannot be described in these images, which, if used, are only due to the lack of corresponding words in the human language. But it is natural that the symbolism of the images here is borrowed from the existing stock of prophetic sayings and the vocabulary of apocalyptic writing and, if it does not represent originality, then has a certain spiritual meaning. In response to this sacred horror of the seer, encouragement is given to him: “He laid His right hand on me and said to me: do not be afraid: I am the first and the last, and the living, and was dead and is alive forever and ever, and I have the books of hell and death” (18). The words of Art. are repeated here. 10: “I am the first and the last” and “alive”, this is confirmed in Art. 5–6 testimony of the power and authority of Christ on earth and above the earth, “the keys of hell and death,” revelations of Christ as the glorified God-man. The vision ends with confirmation of the seer’s special calling to prophecy: “so, write what you saw, and what is, and what will happen after this” (19). Revelation is written, therefore, according to the direct command of Christ. Initially it is addressed to the seven churches: “the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lamps, (is) this: the seven stars are the angels of the churches, and the seven lamps which you saw are the seven churches” (20). The ambiguity of this septenary symbolism, according to which seven stars and lamps in different contexts mean the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit and His seven grace-filled gifts, and then seven angels and seven churches, should not cause us any difficulty, since here there are different applications and manifestations of the same divine principle, power, strength, grace. These seven churches are: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. 16 The general revelation of Christ is here confirmed and completed in the addresses to the seven churches (chap. 2-3), each of which has its own special Christological introduction. Thus, we find the sevenfold number in application to the appearance of Christ in the address to the Ephesian church: “Thus says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands” (2:1), as well as in the address to the Sardinian church: “Thus says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars” (3:1) - here, as in the previous chapter (1:16, 20), the spirituality of Christ is testified, on whom the Holy Spirit rests in his sevenfold gifts. In the address to the Smyrna church (2:8), the word 1:17-18 is repeated: “Thus says the First and the Last, who was dead and is now alive.” In the address to the Pergamon church (2:12), the image of a two-edged sword is repeated: “Thus says he who has a sword sharp on both sides.” The address to the church of Thyatira (2:18) repeats the vision of the first chapter, 14-15: “Thus says the Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like halkolivan.” The address to the Philadelphian church (3:7) repeats the image of the key from 1:18~ (with some modification): “Thus says the Holy One, the True One, who has the key of David, which opens, and no one will shut, and shuts, and no one will open” (3:7). And finally, in the address to the church of Laodicea (3:14), 1:15 is repeated: “Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Col. 1:15). This fragmented Christological definition is also collective. Christ is revealed to the church in seven aspects, which correspond to the images of different churches, the totality of which expresses the fullness of the one, holy, catholic (catholic) church, so to speak, Christologically in ecclesiology. Of course, Christ’s deliberate appeal to each of the churches is the secret of the spiritual life of this church and testifies to the diversity of spiritual gifts and callings. One can build various theological and church-historical assumptions to comprehend this mystery, but it is hardly accessible to man in this century, and therefore it is preferable to refrain from idle and unbearable speculation. Viewed from the outside, this choice of seven churches cannot but appear to be largely a matter of historical accident. Revelation is addressed to the seven churches, which in so far is similar to the apostolic epistles in general. The latter are direct written appeals of the apostles to individual local communities or even individuals. They are thereby included within certain boundaries of space and time (only in some cases, individual messages as “conciliar” have a less specific appeal, but this does not deprive them of historical certainty). What can be said in this regard about the seven churches to which Revelation is addressed, as well as about the special nature of this address? Of course, it also bears the stamp of history and archeology, which exegesis establishes to the best of its ability and with approximate accuracy. Ephesus, Smyrna, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea are certain geographical and historical centers, which each have their own different religious and cultural character, their inherent specific weight in the history of the church. Their very choice can be considered, to a certain extent, as a historical accident, depending on the personal orientation of the sacred writer John. However, this does not eliminate its typological and mysterious meaning. At the same time, individual features of these churches are captured in poignant characteristics. Some interpreters also see in them symbols of successive historical eras, marked by corresponding features, although, of course, such an interpretation inevitably allows for arbitrariness and controversy. It is deprived of the key to their historical code; it remains hypothetical. According to the general dogmatic task of this essay, we prefer to completely abandon here the study of the character of the seven Asian churches in its historical concreteness; we are more interested in the religious-dogmatic character of these images as expressing in their totality a certain fullness of church-historical existence in its strengths and weaknesses. All individual appeals to the seven local churches speak about the Church itself, and it is not for nothing that each of them contains a significant appeal: “let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 29), that is, in the person of their one Church of Christ. In the general plan of this book, chapters 2–3, dedicated to the seven churches, have only episodic significance; they are, so to speak, the recipients through which this wondrous message is sent to the entire Christian world, revealing the fate of the world in its history. It is noteworthy that the appeal to all seven Churches is made directly to their angels. It can refer both to their heavenly guardians - the angels who are inherent in local churches, 17 and to their earthly primates - bishops. Both understandings are possible (however, the second also raises some doubt about the attitude towards the universality of episcopate in this era, definitely evidenced in history only from the 2nd century, i.e., after the composition of Revelation). The Angel of the Ephesian Church is pleased with her deeds and work “for the name” of Christ, but most of all patience (2: 2-3), moreover, not only passive, consisting in enduring “much,” but also active, expressed in distinguishing true apostleship from false claims to it - and not exhausting struggle for the truth and work for its sake. However, with this - somewhat unexpectedly - there is also a reproach for leaving “your first love” (4). Whether the first inspiration of love is generally understood here as a lofty gift that was inherent in the first church, but which was gradually lost by it, albeit in the labors and struggle for the truth, or whether this reproach relates, in some special sense, to the entire Church of Ephesus, or to the personal destinies of its individual members, all the same - those guilty are called to repentance for the loss of the only, irreplaceable gift. However, along with this, the Ephesian Church is also credited with its opposition, “hatred” to the works of the Nicolaitans (whatever they may be), that is, to individual specific temptations of sensuality and sin. This spiritual state of the “overcomer” is rewarded by eating from the tree of life, standing in the middle of the paradise of God (Gen. 2:9), i.e., by the power of the special vitality inherent in man, which supports him after creation (doesn’t this eating from the fruit of paradise, obviously spiritual, mean the grace taught in the sacraments of the Church, in particular, the Divine Eucharist?). This promise is spoken by Christ holding seven stars, walking in the midst of seven golden lamps, that is, His spirituality is deliberately demonstrated, which is expressed in the possession and sending of seven gifts of the Holy Spirit of the Comforter, therefore, the gracious nature of the Church of Christ is testified. The seer himself, and as the compiler of the fourth Gospel, the most spiritual, is associated by tradition with the name of Ephesus, which is named in this first address to the seven churches. In the appeal to the Angel of the Church of Smyrna, Christian martyrdom and long-suffering, “works and sorrow and poverty” (9), which, however, is united with the only true spiritual wealth (“however, you are rich”) are blessed. Particular mention is made of slander from the “Jews,” who in reality are “not like that, but a synagogue of Satan.” Therefore, here we can understand not the Jewish, but in general the anti-Christian persecution, which will be expressed in the fact that the devil (the true inspirer of the persecution) “will cast you from among you into prison to tempt you” (2:10) with at least temporary, not completely overcoming sorrow (“ten days,” obviously symbolic). Believers are called to “faithfulness unto death,” that is, martyrdom for Christ, which promises for that “a crown of life,” obviously in the next century. Naturally, such a promise is given by Christ as “the First and the Last,” who “was dead and is alive,” risen and resurrector. He “by His Spirit” tells the churches: “he who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death” (which will be discussed below, 21:8). So, the church is historically and spiritually called to be ready for martyrdom and to be undaunted by it (cf. Matt. 16:17–18). This general call is confirmed in relation to the Pergamon church, through the foreshadowing of the special strength and burden of the tests of faith manifested here (and therefore, its greatest strength, manifested in the killing of “My faithful witness Antipas”); whoever this Antipas may be historically, which we do not know exactly, but this name can also be accepted as a common noun, a generic one for similar tests, in which we are talking about the last tests of faith (“you will keep My name and not renounce the faith” 2:13). Naturally, this revelation comes from Christ as having a two-edged sword (2:12); this is a sign of the conquering truth. However, even the exceptional firmness in the faith of some does not eliminate, along with this, the possibility of temptations for others in the same environment: here they are called “those who hold the teachings of Balaam,” “who taught Balak” (Num. 22:24), a not entirely clear allusion to this historical episode, and again they are called “those who hold the teachings of the Nicolaitans.” Under this general name can be understood various false teachings, both religious-mystical and occult, according to the special spiritual looseness characteristic of this place (“where Satan lives”). In view of such spiritual aggravation, characteristic of one and the same place, or historical era, the Lord gives a special promise: “I will soon come to you and fight with them with the sword of My mouth”: this means that where the greatest tension of the struggle is, there is the grace-filled proximity and help of Christ. “I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (2:16). 18 According to this general deepening of the struggle and intensification of the religious process in history, which we are witnessing even today, new, mysterious promises of help and reward are given by the Holy Spirit; “to the one who overcomes I gave to eat the hidden manna (some new spiritual powers), and I will give him a white stone (a symbol of purity and steadfastness), and on the stone was written a new name, which no one knows except the one who receives” (2:17). This is how the idea of ​​a special mysterious revelation is expressed, containing a “new name”, which will be named in the next century, and perhaps even given to those worthy of it in the present. In any case, it is obvious that this mysterious fact, testified by Revelation, does not find external evidence for itself in history. It remains a mystery of personal revelation. The angel of the church of Thyatira is written about the revelation of the “Son of God” who appeared in His majesty, “whose eyes are like a flame of fire and whose feet are like a flame of fire,” He speaks as a judge who has authority and weighs “works, love and service, and faith, and your patience, and that your last works are greater than your first” (2:18-19). Apparently, this is not about private exploits and temptations, but about the outcome and work of a lifetime. Special temptations here come through the false prophetess Jezebel, who teaches to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols” (20). We do not have the data to decipher this historical symbol by attributing it to a specific place, time and event. Apparently, here is the temptation of a false civilization (that which below takes the form of Babylon), and it extends over a relatively long era (“I gave her time to repent”), and unrepentance is punished by the wrath of God: “I will strike her children with death, and all the churches will understand that I am the one who searches the hearts and the inward parts, and I will reward each of you according to your deeds” (2:23). Is this already the Last Judgment of the Second Coming or is it still a historical, immanent judgment taking place in history? There is no direct answer to this, but in the general context, which relates specifically to historical destinies, it is more natural to see the latter here and conclude that we are talking about historical punishments and upheavals. To this extent, one can see here a proleptic synonym for the images that are given below, in the successive revelations of the seven seals and trumpets, expressed as applied to individual churches. The faithful are once again called to fidelity as “those who do not hold this teaching and who do not know the so-called depths of Satan” (24). What is clear, however, under this name, unfortunately, also remains hidden in historical codes and can only be understood in its most general meaning. The conqueror is called to be faithful to what has been accepted, and he is promised power “over the pagans” (27), he “will rule them with a rod of iron, like earthen vessels, they will be crushed.” (To this is also added: “just as I received (power) from My Father” (27)). This also does not lend itself to historical specification (as is sometimes done when applied to the Constantinian era). But we are talking, obviously, about some clear collision of the Christian and non-Christian world and a tangible manifestation of the power of Christ in history: “and I will give him the morning star” (which below, 22:16, is also called “the root and descendant of David”, as a theocratic earthly king). We are talking here, therefore, about a deliberate calling to royal service with Christ. Each of the addresses to the churches in chapter 2 ends with a special exhortation: “let him who has an ear (hear) hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The same appeal is repeated in the application of the triad of chapter 3 to the churches. The appeal to the Sardinian church is made on behalf of Christ the Spirit-Bearer as having “seven spirits of God and seven stars” (similar to the church of Ephesus). It contains a call to watchfulness (2), for “you bear the name that you are alive, but you are dead” (1), and at the same time to repentance and faithfulness in keeping, along with the threat of a sudden invasion and judgment of Christ (3:3). It is difficult to say whether this relates to certain historical facts and provisions, or whether it generally anticipates the danger of weakening the church. The exception in this case is the minority (“a few people”), who will be clothed “in white robes” of purity and righteousness, their names will not be blotted out from the Book of Life, but “their name I will confess before My Father and before His Angels” (on the day of the Last Judgment of Christ). In general, this appeal has the least specificity; it seems to apply to everyone in general, and not in particular to certain individuals or an era. The same character is inherent in the appeal to the Church of Philadelphia on behalf of “the True Holy One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one will open” (3:7). This is, of course, a symbol of the royal power of Christ. Here Christ testifies to his knowledge of the affairs of this church as a special fidelity to Him, despite its weakness: “you have little strength, and have kept My word and have not denied My Name” (9), and this fidelity is crowned with victory, recognition of it by “the satanic synagogue of false Jews, 19 who “will come and worship at your feet and know that I have loved you” (9). Does not this work of the Philadelphian church, the chosen ones of Christ, who have preserved the word of “my patience” (10), refer to the time of the conversion and salvation of Israel, which was promised in prophetic inspiration by the apostle of the tongues (Rom. 11)? For this they are given a special promise to preserve them “from the time of temptation that will come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth” (10). Whether this promise refers to times of the most difficult tests of faith on earth, such as the present, or directly to the last time, but, in any case, it forces us to connect the position of “Philadelphiaism” in the Church with the era of the onset of historical maturity, about which the Lord says: “Behold, I am coming quickly” (11). The one who wins at this time, as a special merit for his firmness, is given a special reward of fidelity: “whoever overcomes I will make him a pillar in the church of My God, and he will no longer go out” (12). Moreover, a purely eschatological promise is added to this: “I will write on him the Name of My God and the Name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from heaven from My God, and My new Name” (12). This promise is revealed only in the last chapters of Revelation (chap. 21-22), containing prophecies about the final accomplishments, and this further enhances its eschatological character. Believers are especially called to heed him: “let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (that is, not just the local church, but the entire Christian world in general). The last appeal refers to the church of Laodicea: “Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (14). This is consistent with the opening testimony of Christ (1:5) at the very beginning of the book. The end of the addresses to individual churches naturally coincides with its initial and general introduction. This appeal is of a general exhortation nature and lacks certain specific features. It depicts the decadent spiritual state of the church and is remarkable in content precisely in this regard. What causes God's wrath? Moderately lukewarm, self-satisfied and self-blinded? “You are neither cold nor hot, oh that you were cold or hot. But because you are warm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. For you say: “I am rich, I have become rich, and I have need of nothing, but you do not know that you are miserable and pitiful, and poor, and blind, and naked” (15-16). These words condemn with stunning force that spiritual philistinism, the secularization of church life, which in its complacency does not notice its limitations and spiritual blindness. This church Laodiceanism, which is always a spiritual threat, lies in wait for the church on all its paths, can hardly be confined to just one church or era; on the contrary, this warning must be applied to all of them, for they are all subject to this danger and need spiritual self-healing, which is figuratively described (v. 18), and is summarized in this appeal: “those whom I love, I rebuke and punish. So, be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” This call and this promise undoubtedly applies to all Christians suffering from Laodiceanism, as the Gospel gospel: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The one who wins in this spiritual struggle with himself is promised a great heavenly reward: “I will give you to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His Throne,” that is, the kingdom of Christ. The appeal to the Laodicean church, as to all other churches, is confirmed for the last time by the general appeal: “he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (3:22). Thus, all particular appeals to them are united and generalized, acquiring a general ecclesiological, and not just historical significance, the latter being only a reason for their expression. So, how should we treat this seven-day “Asian” churches, which have their own names and at the same time receive their own special, even if the most general, characteristics? Why and why do we find them, so to speak, in the main place of Revelation, as its direct addressees? These inscriptions, it must be admitted, have now faded considerably and have been erased. Special efforts of history and archeology are required to even approximately unravel their specific meaning. And even with the greatest achievements of scientific exegesis, this is achieved to an insufficient degree, which is why the general and fundamental question remains unanswered: why were these, and not other churches, chosen from all the diversity of places and names that could suggest themselves here? This choice remains historically encrypted and mystically incomprehensible, like a certain mystery in the mystery of the Apocalypse, addressed primarily, of course, to contemporaries, but then to Christians of all times and peoples. This choice, in this sense, is an accident for us, having no internal purpose or mystical necessity in our eyes. One can easily imagine that if the Revelation had been contemplated and written down not on the Asian Patmos, but in Rome, Hellas, Africa or some other area, then the names, like the entire historical orientation, would have turned out to be different, just as, for example, the addresses of the epistles of St. Pavel. One should not here completely give in to such considerations regarding the choice of seven “churches” on the basis of historical context, and one can assume here the presence of some unrevealed mystical secret still waiting to be revealed. But at the same time, we must still say with all exegetical sincerity and honesty that when comprehending the entire internal meaning and content of the Apocalypse, this week has a more formal and factual character than a spiritual one. Even the Gospel of John, like his epistles, does not have an inscription that would be similar to the appeal to the seven angels of the Asian churches, and yet this absence does not lose its power and significance. It is therefore permissible to see here rather as a feature of the literary style characteristic of apocalyptic writing, rather than attributing it to the content in essence. To this we must add the following consideration. Not only most of these geographical and historical names, but all of them have faded into history. Currently, and for many centuries, they simply do not exist and say nothing about themselves. However, this in no way means that Revelation as a whole, as in these deliberate chapters 2-3, thereby lost its power and ceased to exist for Christianity throughout the world. We cannot even say that this historical oblivion, which made these historical names erased and unreadable, diminished the very content of these chapters and the meaning of these appeals. Let historians strive to give a comprehensive exegetical interpretation of these names from the point of view of geography and history - this is, in any case, instructive and a duty of pious historical curiosity. The same cannot be said, however, regarding persistent attempts at a mystical interpretation of these churches and cities, symbolically understood as successive characteristics of different eras in the history of the Church, despite all the futility and arbitrariness of this sacred fortune-telling, which is spiritually and theologically - admittedly - tasteless. In the face of this impasse into which such exegesis puts us, it is necessary to change the very formulation of the question, and it is preferable to look for in the appeal to the seven Asian churches not a specific and particular, but a general, typological meaning. We must extract from them not what no longer corresponds to any historical reality and what no longer exists in history, but what retains for us, as for all times of Christianity, its general teaching significance - as prophecy, moral teaching, reproof, encouragement, which is why the content of these seven letters is so rich and valuable, although written to addresses that no longer exist. But there is one common and indisputable addressee of all seven letters, called to receive them: this is the entire Church of Christ, in the sevenfold form of its gifts and ministry. Only in this sense does the place of these letters with their inclusion in the general plan of Revelation become clear. What is contained in individual appeals and promises in the language and symbols of a bygone era remains in full force for our days and for all times: Revelation is given to the churches of the one Church even now, and each of them can and should look into this spiritual mirror, find themselves in it, hear judgment about themselves. Thus, this sevenfold ecclesiology must be isolated and generalized as a special teaching about the Church of the Seer, existing together and alongside - but, of course, not contrary - to the ecclesiological doctrine of other sacred books, in particular and especially St. Pavel. As for the specific names of individual churches, their interpretation belongs, on the one hand, to archeology and church history, and on the other, relates to its mysticism. It remains to this day hidden for comprehension, which will become available in the fullness of time. Exegetes also raise the question to what extent these chapters 2–3 are an organic part of Revelation with an appeal to individual churches, and some of them see in them an independent whole, perhaps one that arose earlier or even independently of the general plan of Revelation and only later included in it. One or another solution to this particular question, however, does not affect the assessment of the significance of these chapters in the general plan of Revelation. They represent a kind of ecclesiological introduction to it of a mystical and historical nature. This introduction, which is in a sense a prologue on earth, is followed by a prologue in heaven, a vision of the sky opening to the seer, a solemn and stunning picture of what is inaccessible to human contemplation in its transcendence, but is given to deliberate prophetic contemplation in images. Chapters 4–5. Heavenly Visions These chapters form a diptych, the first part of which relates to the heavenly vision of the divine world, the Divinity of the Father and the God-manhood of the Son. This picture represents a heavenly prologue to earthly history. This describes a new (or continuing) state of spiritual ecstasy that began on Sunday (1:10): the seer again hears the old voice, like the sound of a trumpet (4:1). This is accompanied by a special vision: “After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened into heaven” (4:1), and a voice said: “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” From this the seer again goes into a prophetic frenzy: “and immediately I was in the spirit” (4:2, cf. 1:10). And this is followed by a description of the heavenly vision: “And behold, a throne stood in heaven (we already have an image of the heavenly throne in the prophetic visions of the Old Testament: Is. 4:1; Jer. 1:26; Dan. 7:9), and there was one sitting on the throne.” There is no naming of the One who sits here at all (not even the same as in Is. 6:1, 3: Lord, Hosts). It is indicated as if by a wordless mystical gesture of “apophatic” theology, and only from the general context of the chapter, and even from the cries of animals: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, is and is to come” (8), we conclude with certainty that the One who sits is God the Father, precisely the First Person of the Holy Trinity. What follows is a brief description of the One sitting in the mystical colors of stones: “like a jasper stone 20 and a sardis 21 and a rainbow around the throne, looking like an emerald” 22 (below we will once again have to encounter the same comparisons). These stones obviously contain a mystical-artistic symbol, but we refuse here to attempt a concrete interpretation of them, so as not to indulge in idle guesses. These colors here, as in further texts of the Apocalypse, obviously represent some kind of mystical evidence of the future; now this is like a note (or a cipher) to which we do not have a key. 23 Further, the throne of God is described in such images of greatness: “and from the throne came lightning, and thunder, and voices... and before the throne was a sea of ​​glass, like crystal” (5-6, cf. 15:2). But to this is also added, as in 1:4, “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God” (5), as a septenary symbol of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the vision is repeated here, symbolizing the Father and the Holy Spirit. But then new images are added to this, which were absent in Chapter 1. They refer to the heavenly powers that stand before the throne of God in heaven. This is, first of all, around the great throne of God there are twenty-four, obviously smaller, thrones, and on them “I saw twenty-four elders sitting, who were dressed in white robes and had golden crowns on their heads” (4). Both are, obviously, a symbol of heavenly greatness and Glory. Such an image is absent in Old Testament writing; it is characteristic only of the revelation of John. The second image, partly characteristic of the Old Testament (namely Ezek. 1 and Is. 6) is “in the middle of the throne and around the throne, four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind” (7) and inside (8), like a lion, a calf, a man and an eagle. These many-eyed animals are also six-winged. The general and preliminary question that arises here concerns what the presence of these elders and animals in “heaven” at the throne of God means here. First of all, they are representatives of the created world, since the animals worship Him who sits on the throne as the Almighty, and the elders praise Him as the Creator: “for You created everything, and by Your will everything exists and was created” (4: 11). In this creation they are contrasted with the eternity of the Creator, “Who was, is and is to come” (8); He is “the one who lives forever and ever” (9). But at the same time, these highest representatives of the created world are in heaven, around the throne of God, therefore, in a state of some kind of heavenly glorification. To them belongs this, although not divine, but created glory and eternity. If we express this thought in the language of sophiology, then we can say that they are the Created Sophia, the world of heavenly prototypes, the created sky connecting the Divine world, the Divine Sophia, with the created world. This is the world of the supreme representatives of the angelic world, which is called “heaven” in the first creation, in its opposition, but also in connection with “earth,” the human world. Therefore, “heaven” here does not mean the supermundane transcendence of the Divine, which can only be expressed in the language of negative theology, apophatically, but precisely the appeal of God to the world in His revelation in creation, His deified image. Next, the question arises: what do these images of the twenty-four elders and four living creatures mean? Their place in heaven makes us see in them the highest representatives of the angelic world, but connected and correlative with the human, heavenly angelic humanity. Seeing the elders as glorified men does not correspond to the general context in which they are described earlier than the appearance of the God-man, the slain Lamb (chapter 5). It would be incomprehensible that such a place in heaven would have occurred before the end of the world and the glorification of humanity. In its own way, the interpretation according to which the twenty-four elders mean the Old and New Testament churches - the patriarchs and apostles who are in heaven before the general resurrection and glorification - is also unconvincing. 24 But if it is inappropriate to see people in them, then there is no obstacle to seeing in them heavenly guardian angels, and therefore the angelic prototypes of people, thus assimilating to them (a special humanity, albeit heavenly). If “God created heaven and earth in the beginning,” then in them we have precisely this angelic heaven, which is directly connected to the earth; they are this and that connects them to humanity. This is confirmed by the external human image of the elders, akin to the pre-glorified humanity. We will not go into the religious and historical parallels of these symbols, which, of course, exist, because this would deviate us from our direct task of dogmatic interpretation. What do the four animals (ζωα) mean? This image is found in Ezekiel, ch. 1 (they are called here 10:2, 20 cherubim), although with some differences: in John, each animal has one face, and not four, as in Ezekiel; the animals in Revelation (4:8) have 6 wings, like the seraphim in Isaiah (6:2), but not four, like Ezekiel. The latter (1:5) “had the appearance of a man”; in Revelation (4:7) this is not the case; Each animal has four faces (1:6), Revelation has one. They stand directly at the throne (in the middle and around) (4:6), rather than carrying it, as in Ezekiel. The animals in Revelation (4:8) are “full of eyes within” (a symbol of the highest contemplation in the sight of God). In Ezekiel (1:18) “their rims (the wheels) were high and terrible; the rims of all four were full of eyes.” In general, despite the general similarity and even identity of this vision in essence, there remain some differences in details that do not lend themselves to immediate interpretation. Let us also note that in Revelation (4:7): the first animal is like a lion, the second a calf, the third “had a face like a man,” and the fourth is like a flying eagle (in Ezekiel in a slightly different order: man, lion, calf and eagle, and in Revelation each animal has one of these four faces, and in Ezekiel all four have four faces: “the likeness of their faces is the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side all four of them, and on the left side the face of a bull in all four, and the face of an eagle in all four") (Ezek. 1: 10). This difficult-to-depict quaternary face of each of the animals, in contrast to the simplest one-personality in Revelation, cannot be explained, but it does not change the general thought expressed in this image, namely, that animals combine in themselves the basic images of created animal life, which are called to be on the fifth and sixth days of the world (only fish are missing), and all of them are collectively raised to man, who is also all animals, uniting in himself all the potentialities of life. They are also united in the God-Man, who is characterized by the lambish meekness and sacrifice of the calf, the royalty of the lion from the tribe of Judah, the royal flight and insight of the eagle and, finally, the pan-humanity of man. 25 If you see these aspects: royalty, sacrifice, insight and humanity as the main themes of the four images of the Four Gospels, then it becomes clear why, even starting with St. Irenaeus 26 they became the favorite symbol of the four evangelists. It remains, finally, to ask ourselves what it means “a sea of ​​glass, like crystal” before the throne of God. If we do not limit ourselves to interpreting this image in a general ornamental sense as the glory and greatness of God, but look for the ontological heavenly prototype of the entire created world, then here we can see the prototype of the primordial chaos, tohu-va-bohu, “the invisible and empty land,” but containing everything in itself, from which the Lord consistently brings out all that exists through a creative act. In this sense, the glass sea expresses being in the most general sense, as it is characteristic of creation. One can also raise the question of the hierarchical relationship between animals and elders. In the original order of description, the elders precede the animals: and “around the throne are twenty-four thrones” of the elders (4). However, the place of the four animals (6) is “in the middle of the throne and around the throne,” and the entire description of their many purities and other attributes, together with the incessant doxology in which they are given a guiding significance (9–11) for the elders, forces us to recognize a leading, primary place for them. We have to conclude that the seer begins his description from a more external circle of elders, in order to then move on to a more internal and hierarchically (or ontologically) higher one - animals. We have a similar example in their sequence in 7:9-11, as well as in 19:1-4. In other places where they are simply mentioned together, animals are ranked higher: 4:9–10; 5:6, 8, 11, 14; 14:3. (The individual elder is mentioned in 5:5; 7:13, and the entire congregation in 11:16). The place and service of animals is directed more towards the throne of God, while the elders are more towards humanity, and above all - towards the seer. They have golden crowns and white robes in commemoration of their highest and glorified humanity. They are called “elders” (πρεσβότεροι), the seer addresses them (7:14): “lord” (κύριε), they are angeli intrepretes, mediators between God and man (7:13–17), they occupy the place of the priesthood, offering the prayers of the saints in golden bowls full incense (5:8), they encourage the seer when he cries that no one is worthy to read the book (5:4-5), they give praise to God together with the animals in songs and on the harp (5:8, 14; 11:16; 19:4). This place of the elders - after animals - corresponds to their anthological place, determined by the sophiological hierarchy. They are closer to the earthly creation, more specific in relation to it, so much so that the question and hesitation may arise about how to understand them: in particular, whether they are not glorified, holy people. And if there are sufficient grounds against such a conclusion (see above), then, in any case, we have to note this peculiar, special appeal to humanity, as if they were heavenly guardian angels and prototypes of humanity. So, animals and elders express constant praise to the Creator from all creation in its heavenly form with the trisagion song, heard by the prophet Isaiah (“day and night they have no rest crying”), and when the animals give “glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever” (here the eternity of the Creator, the divine aeternitas of the created aeviternitas, is contrasted), then and the elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever (here again the same thought about the eternity of God is expressed, and they praise God as Creator: “for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created” (4:11). All this happens in heaven, in transtemporality or omnitemporality, not confined to any of the earthly times and events. However, this omnitemporality differs and is contrasted with the supertemporality or eternity of God: here this eternity, aeternitas, is revealed in the temporality of the created sky (aeviternitas), penetrates and grounds it. Here, in these symbolic images, one of the most difficult problems of theology is posed, namely about the relationship between eternity and time, the Creator and creation, and it is resolved in the sense that between (μεταξύ) the world of mental powers, created eternity and created heaven, created Sophia, which has its foundation in the Divine Sophia, is placed between them as the one that connects and separates them. In a word, this 4th chapter is sophiology as an introduction to the history of the world, a prologue in heaven, the world before its creation on earth, pre-created in heaven. However, all the images of this world, elders and animals, already express, so to speak, the content of earthly creation, its ontology, and therefore they are essentially human, they demonstrate heavenly humanity, called to transtemporal existence for the sake of the future earthly creation in time and for time. However, here it is necessary to confirm with all our strength that this heavenly primordial man of the angelic world is not a divine, but a created being; he was also created in time and for time, although super-temporally and all-time. He is an intermediate image of created being between (μεταξύ) God and man, he belongs to heaven and as such is heavenly. This not only does not exclude, but necessarily presupposes truly eternal humanity in God, the God-man before and outside the incarnation, the image of which is expressed by this heavenly humanity of the angelic world. Only about this divine humanity can we say that it is God’s self-revelation, the prototype of God, according to which man was created by God in the Holy Trinity: “And God said: Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). The Bible speaks only about such a creation of angels, which are already assumed as a precondition for it. And only here, in the final book of Divine revelation, is this divine secret of the intelligent heaven, the creation of the angelic world, its presence in heaven, and therefore its participation in heavenly life, revealed. “Elders” and “animals” in the divine world here are not yet angels as servants of the earthly world and messengers of God in it. Therefore, they receive here this other name, which contains, as an indication of their own existence in heaven, in this sense, a kind of super-earthlyness, and therefore superhumanity, but at the same time they already have the prototype of man, and, therefore, the angelic service to him is pre-established, their most active participation in the destinies of the earthly world, as it is revealed in further chapters of Revelation. Through this, they “emanate from supertemporal existence, are sent into the temporal, and become angels.” From what has been said, it becomes clear that the place that belongs to the 4th chapter in the general and internal plan of the Apocalypse. This is not, so to speak, just a vignette to it, beautiful and imaginative. On the contrary: this is the most essential and necessary, solemn sophiological introduction to cosmology, anthropology, philosophy of history, eschatology. Here the sophiological fundamental principle of creation is revealed, and therefore this chapter must necessarily be understood sophiologically. However, Chapter 4 is not yet an exhaustive general theological and sophiological introduction to Revelation, but it necessarily presupposes its further completion, which we have in Chapter 5. It is in Chapter 4 that logology is absent, as is Christology (and pneumatology is only symbolically outlined in the image of seven spirits, lamps, etc.). It therefore necessarily presupposes further disclosure and addition, which we find in chapter 5. This chapter contains precisely Christology, which is absent in the previous chapter. Here we have Christology as a general teaching about the incarnation, redemption and the entire saving work of Christ. To the extent that the entire content of this vision belongs to a different plane than the previous one, it is addressed to the human, created world, for which the redemption and incarnation of the Son of God takes place. And this corresponds to heavenly-earthly, and not just heavenly images. The seer sees in the right hand of Him who sits on the throne a book written from the outside and from the inside 27 sealed with seven seals. This image of a book, common in the Bible and the Apocalypse, does not require special interpretation. It obviously means the mystery of human destinies, which is known only to God, the Creator and Provider. The general idea that all power over the world belongs to the Almighty Creator, the Heavenly Father, who transfers it to the Son, finds repeated confirmation in the Gospel: Matt. 6:8, 32; 10:29; 11:27; In. 5:19–20; 12:3. The “mighty angel” proclaims with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to open this book and to open its seals” (2). Here an angel already appears as a messenger and interpreter of the vision: the heavenly powers, which in the previous chapter stood before the sight of God and were absorbed by him, here already appear as angels addressed to the earthly, human world. Thus, here begins angelology in connection with cosmology and anthropology. The heavenly ladder of angels reaches the human world with its destinies and questions. But the fate of the world is beyond the reach of any creature: “no one in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth could open this book, nor look into it” (3). The Seer, in the consciousness of this powerlessness, in prophetic tension and exhaustion, 28 “wept a lot because no one was found worthy to open and read the book and even look into it” (4). Then “one of the elders,” the supreme guardian angels of humanity, told him that “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered and can open this book and open its seven seals” (5). Here we are definitely talking about the God-Man, who according to humanity is from the tribe of Judah and the Root of David. This word includes here the Old Testament, the entire “sacred history” of the incarnation, and together the New Testament, which is expressed in one word: “conquered.” But this word expresses the full power of the Savior’s redemptive feat. This salvation is accomplished through His sacrificial service, the sacrifice of “a Lamb as if slain” - ἀρνίον ώς ἐφραγμένον. 29 This "as if" of course does not mean that the Lamb was not actually slain on earth, but He has already conquered death in His resurrection, and here He is already in heavenly Glory. “As if” therefore means: which was slain and remains so. His place is “in the middle of the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders” (6), He thereby heads the heavenly world, angelic, as well as human. Of course, this His place in heaven must be understood in connection with His sitting at the right hand of the Father. This is one and the same thing, and between one and the other, of course, there is no contradiction. However, since sitting at the right hand of the Father means His heavenly removal from the world in resurrection, His place in the middle of the throne testifies to His continuing connection with the world, which is revealed in all further contents of Revelation. In other words, the Ascension, and according to Revelation, must be understood in connection with the ongoing reign of Christ in the world and in His connection with it. He, the God-man, through His perfect humanity is the focus of all created and human existence, only He knows the providential secret of his destinies and salvation. He “prepares a place” for people, being Himself in heaven. And this knowledge is characteristic of Him as Christ, the anointed one of the Holy Spirit abiding on Him, since He is “having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (8). We already know this sevenfold image as applied to the Holy Spirit, as abiding with the Father and proceeding from Him eternally, in heaven. Here the Holy Spirit rests on the Son, the God-Man, sent to earth by Him at Pentecost. The Son exercises the providential power of the Father in the world until the Son reigns in it, until He delivers His Kingdom to the Father (1 Cor. 15:24–25). Seven horns generally mean power, strength, kingdom. 30 But as long as this reign of the Son continues in the world, all the providence about his destinies belongs to Him. In this sense it is said: “He came and took the book from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne” (7), for “to Him was given all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). The heavenly creation testifies and praises this power: the animals and the elders “fell before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, and they sing a new song” (8). In what sense is this a new song? The distinction between old and new, obviously, here already refers to temporary existence, to the earthly, created world and, in particular, to the New Testament and the redemption taking place in it: “You are worthy to take the book and to open the seals from it, for You were slain and with Your blood you redeemed us to God from every tribe and language and people and crown and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.” (9–10). Here (as in verse 12) the basis for the Lamb being “worthy to take the book and to open its seals” is that He “was slain, and redeemed us to God with His blood.” This expresses the fullness and power of Christ’s incarnation: the very possibility of slaughter and redemption by blood presupposes this. To this general consideration regarding the fullness of humanity in the Incarnation, one can also add such a thought regarding the very image of atonement that it presupposes for itself a kind of crucifixion memory of all humanity, as well as all its sins, which the Savior atoned for in the Gethsemane languor and Calvary suffering. And this, in turn, presupposes divine-human omniscience about man in His all-human nature, which contained everything human, except sin. That is why we can say that between the symbolic “opening of the book” and the sacrificial slaughter and atonement there is, in a certain sense, an identification: one is conditioned by the other, redemption presupposes omniscience about man, the inclusion of all human nature and his destinies in the divine-human knowledge and redemptive sorrow. And this universal, all-human character is confirmed further and separately: “God has redeemed us from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (9), i.e., each and every one. Here it is noteworthy that the praise of animals and elders comes precisely from the entire human race, which in this case is represented by its supreme representatives in the angelic world, human angels: “from every tribe and tongue, and people and tribe,” and even speaks of their future “reign on earth,” in which, obviously, the angelic world is united with the human. Christ reigns in the world together with His saints: “and he made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth” (10). Here, in the prologue, the main and final theme of the entire Revelation is already outlined, namely the 1000-year reign of the saints (see below, chapter 20). Further, there is some confusion in the following verse (11), which speaks only of angels: “And I saw and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and of the living creatures, and of the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand ten thousand, and thousands upon thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” Here the heavenly armies, previously represented by only four living creatures and twenty-four elders, are revealed as an innumerable, great multitude, “tens of thousands and thousands of thousands,” singing the praises of the accession of the Lamb in heaven. However, along with and in parallel with this, the faces of the earthly creation are already joining the chorus of celestial beings: “and every creature that is in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and everything that is in them (paying attention to the exhaustive nature of this list), I heard saying: To him who sits on the throne (i.e., God the Father) and to the Lamb (who does the will of the Father) be blessing and honor and glory, and power forever and ever. 31 It is noteworthy that this doxology, in addition to its general universality, includes and implies a general apokatastasis: it is from participation in it that no creature of God “in heaven, on earth and under the earth” is excluded. This is an extremely important dogmatic thought, almost silently, as if only hinted at, expressed, however, without any doubt stated and expressed without any restrictions, moreover, with such force and with such assertiveness with which it is not expressed even in the entire subsequent content of the Apocalypse. In this universal doxology, obviously, the thought about the final goal of the universe, and at the same time about its achievement, should sound like a given and self-evident thought. And it is remarkable that this praise of the earthly creation receives a special, deliberate confirmation in heaven, in the angelic world, therefore, it becomes the voice of the entire universe: “and the four living creatures said: Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever” (14), as if on behalf of all mankind. This is the enormous dogmatic significance of chapter 5 in the overall composition of Revelation in connection with chapter 4, with which it forms a kind of dogmatic diptych. We can say that the main dogmatic theme of Revelation, its guiding thought, has already been outlined here. This idea - in terms of Christology - can be expressed in such a way that Revelation contains the doctrine of the reign of Christ in the world, while its dogmatic premise is the doctrine expressed with such exceptional clarity about the redemption of the human race by the blood of the Lamb, i.e. His high priestly ministry. In this sense, Revelation truly includes the entire general content of the New Testament, and to that extent the Old. And all its further content is nothing more than the disclosure of this general theme in images that are new and unexpected, stunning and terrible. But these dissonances are resolved into world harmony, theodicy and anthropodicy, the divine story of the victory of the Lamb. But the royal ministry of Christ, having its basis in His high priestly ministry, is testified in Revelation through His prophetic ministry, since the whole Apocalypse is “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him,” to show His servants “what must soon take place” (1:1). This general thought is expressed with particular force in the vision of chapter 5 about the book in the right hand of Him who sits on the throne, which the Lamb takes from Him. From the 6th chapter the actual content of the Apocalypse begins as a revelation about the fate of the world in its history or about the becoming of God-manhood after the coming of Christ and the accomplishment of His saving work. This story is symbolized in various septenary images corresponding to its accomplishments: seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls. The septenary number here expresses a certain completeness of every accomplishment, its completeness in itself. A general question arises about the plan of Revelation, which naturally confronts interpreters: what is the internal relationship between these three different septenaries? Do they represent only some variations of the same general plan and content, or is the relationship between them determined by their chronological succession in the form as they are given in successive chapters of Revelation, or, finally, there is a more complex and mysterious relationship between them, which simultaneously brings them together, but also separates them? A final and categorical answer to this question cannot be given here due to the very nature of the presentation, since such categoricalness here is arbitrary and hypothetical. But, in any case, it is necessary to recognize one thing: that all three septenaries mutually complement each other and cannot be perceived as a simple allegorical identity or repetition of a general content that has already been said. At the same time, their excessive chronologization, which is sometimes done, is exaggerated, with the search for an allegorical designation of historical eras and events in them, interpreting them as some kind of historical cipher. Such deciphering of the Apocalypse is arbitrary and impracticable. He deals with the ontological realities of history, which shine through in it all the time, although no more, but no less. This is the history of the world in symbols, which takes place in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth and consists in the interaction and struggle of opposing forces, Christ and His adversary, the Church of Christ and the kingdom of the prince of this world. This antagonistic and tragic character is expressed in various images, partly repeating each other, if not in form, then in their inner content. When interpreting individual images and chapters of Revelation, one has to make a choice between understanding them as repetition (recapitulatio) or depicting sequentially developing events corresponding to different eras of history. The introductory chapter to the entire apocalyptic portrayal of history is precisely chapter 6, which describes the successive opening of the seals by the Lamb as the revelation of the general content of history. This general picture begs for comparison with the so-called small Gospel Apocalypse, where the same thought and revelation are given by Christ, but in addition to images, in direct words of prophecy. Why are the seals broken by the Lamb Himself? This means, of course, that the God-man is the focus of all world history, its lawfulness and reason; the words of the fourth evangelist are applicable here: “all things were by Him, and without Him nothing would have happened.” The Lamb is in this sense the highest destiny and the divine law of the life of the world, which are revealed in the opening of the seals. Each of the opening of the first four seals is accompanied by a “thunderous voice” from one of the four animals (in their sequence): “Go.” It is like a world echo that sounds not only on earth, but also in heaven, in the angelic world. This is the essence of events occurring through angelic mediation. They are depicted in visions of the four horsemen. Different interpretations have been and are being offered. Most of them apply these visions to various historical events or eras. These convergences, even if they are convincing in their particular features, suffer from arbitrariness and one-sidedness and deprive these images of their universal significance as world-historical symbols. Therefore, it seems to us that it is more correct, first of all, to adhere to their expanded interpretation. They talk about what can be expected in history in general, what it consists of. These are the essence of, as it were, separate components of world history, the sum of which is obtained from the mixing of different colors, layers and events. In particular, when understanding the first vision, starting with a victorious horseman with a bow on a white horse, different interpretations were used (the very possibility of which is characteristic of the Apocalypse with all the polysemy, and therefore the well-known mystery of its images). And first of all, let us dwell on its interpretation based on the events of the external history of time. The key to interpreting the image of the first horseman is sought in modern political events of the era, for example, he is seen as the Parthian king Vologeses, who in the year 62 forced the Roman army to surrender. The second horseman is interpreted in connection with the British uprising of 61, in which up to 150,000 people died, or the wars of the same time in Germany, or the unrest in Palestine. The third horseman corresponds to the famine of 62 in Armenia and Palestine; the fourth - the epidemic of 61 in Asia and Ephesus; fifth seal - Nero's persecution of Christians. In this case, images of general and symbolic meaning are associated with particular events, which could, of course, be the reason for them, but by no means find an exhaustive explanation in them. A particular difficulty here arises in relation to the first horseman, which early and later Christian interpreters refer to the victorious march of the Gospel in the world through the Apostles and their successors, the primal church, while others see here directly the image of Christ, parallel to the image of the 19th chapter. The exegetical difficulty that arises lies precisely in the lack of parallelism or correspondence between the bright image of the gospel gospel and the dark images of the subsequent horsemen, depicting the disastrous destinies of mankind in history, which are counted in one common quaternity. However, this discrepancy is not a decisive obstacle to such an interpretation. The first horseman, in any case, marks the bright side in history, the victory of good, perhaps the victorious power of the Gospel in the world. This is expressed by the visible symbolism of colors and images: “a white horse, and on it a rider who had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out victorious and to conquer” (2). There is still no reason to see Christ Himself in him, which does not correspond to the symmetry of the four images, and it is enough in the image of one horseman to understand the preaching of the Gospel, the power of Christ in the world. Of course, historically this begs comparison with the victorious march of early Christianity in the world, the apostolic and martyr’s church. Eastern interpreters readily see here even the “Constantinian era” of the union of church and state, when it relied on the support of imperial power, this is also the era of the Ecumenical Councils. However, from this time on, the enslavement of the Church by secular power began, equally in Byzantium and in Russia (“Orthodoxy and autocracy”). One must have a very poor understanding of the calling of the Church in the world in order to see in such a situation the triumph of Christianity over the world; even on the contrary: there is reason to find here features of the completely opposite. In any case, the general idea of ​​this image is that history will also know the victorious power of Christianity in the world, and the first place of this image in the opening of the seven seals speaks of the primacy of this victory. And it can relate not only to one era in history, but to all of them, or rather, to every era, both past, present and future - each in its own way. Therefore, each era does not need to despair about itself, but should find within itself its own special victorious achievements as evidence of the invincibility and irresistibility of the Gospel in the world. But the Lamb also opens the second seal: “And another red horse went out, and power was given to him who sat on him to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another, and a great sword was given to him” (6:4). This image is quite eloquent, it speaks of war and wars, and this prophecy also applies, of course, to many, different, if not all, eras of world history. This has a direct parallel in the Gospel words of the Lord: “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matthew 24:7). Living now and ourselves under the sign of a rider on a red horse with a sword so that they kill each other, we understand this symbolism without any difficulty. But here is a feature that should attract our special attention: these world wars open after the breaking of the seal by the Lamb. Although they, of course, cannot be considered a direct fulfillment of the will of God, they are nevertheless its permission, provided for in God’s plan, included in the program of world history, obviously as a direct inevitability in the fate of the world on the path to the Kingdom of God. And a heavenly voice addressed the second horseman: “Go,” and he was sent from heaven. This completely abolishes the sentimental attitude towards war; it is associated with the highest pattern of world history, which is tragedy, the struggle for the world of Christ and the prince of this world on the path to his expulsion and Christ’s accession in him. This historiosophical truth also has enormous practical significance, because it gives a courageous attitude to the horrors of history, for they are known to Christ, who tells us: “do not be afraid.” The third rider on a raven horse, having a measure in his hand, means hunger. An allegorical foreshadowing is made about him “among the animals” (6): “a quinix of wheat for a denarius, and three quinixes of barley for a denarius” (6) (which historically and archaeologically means high cost, 32 causing famine). This element, hostile to man, is also allowed in God’s plan, although a limit is set for it: “do not damage the oil and wine.” Whatever this allegory means: whether it refers to physical nutrition or to spiritual (the sacraments of the church), it speaks of the ways of Providence in preserving humanity from death even in the presence of hunger. This line introduces a providential line into the coming disasters from hunger; a certain measure is set for them. Finally, the fourth horseman is also foreshadowed by the fourth animal command or at least permission: “go,” like the three previous ones: “a pale horse, and a rider on it whose name was death, and hell followed him, and power was given to him over the fourth part of the earth - to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and with pestilence, and with the beasts of the earth.” This is the cumulative effect of all previous trials (sword and famine), and pestilence and beasts are also added to this, obviously as a consequence of previous devastations. Here he also draws attention to the fact that even this disaster, whose name is death and hell, was allowed, and in this sense, it was predestined in the ways of God, and even more than that: it was “given power” (8) over the fourth part of the earth. This is at the same time a permission or permission, but also a limitation, placing the disaster within certain boundaries. So, these four horsemen represent a general picture of the historical destinies of mankind with their bright and dark sides; this is, as it were, an artistic and allegorical summary of earthly history from the perspective of its destinies (however, obviously, not yet complete, as is clear from further chapters). The opening of the fifth seal refers to what is already happening in the afterlife; Here we are talking about the souls killed for the word of God and for testifying about it “under the altar” (9), where the outpouring of sacrificial blood takes place in the Old Testament. This expression, no matter how it is understood, testifies to martyrdom, and therefore generally implies persecution of the Church without its precise definition. These martyrs “cried out with a loud voice, saying: How long, O holy and true Master, do you not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth” (10). This verse is of the highest dogmatic importance. With it begins multiple testimonies of Revelation about the participation of the afterlife in the life of the earthly world, prayerful and active, albeit spiritual. “And white robes were given to each of them,” as a testimony to their glorification, 33 “and it was said to them that they should rest for a little while longer, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would be killed like them, would complete the number” (11). It is characteristic here that they still receive satisfaction in their anxiety and an answer to their bold questioning, bordering on demand. However, the answer to it is a promise not to ease the fate of those living on earth or to save them from death, but only to replenish the number of those killed, which is needed in the ways of God’s Providence for common destinies. Thus, what seems disastrous in earthly destinies turns out to be necessary and salutary in the destinies of the world. The opening of the fifth seal, thus, completes the general content of the previous four. The tragedy of history here is not weakened in the afterlife. The opening of the sixth seal is associated with the greatest world upheavals, which in many ways can give the impression of the onset of the end of the world and the approach of the parousia, the second coming of Christ. However, this eschatological perception of them does not correspond to reality, although they plunge humanity into fear of the approaching end, which has already been repeated many times in history. The powerful, the noble and the rich, both slaves and free, seek to hide in caves and gorges of the mountains (i.e., wherever possible, in hidden places), driven by fear “from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath has come, and who can stand” (16-17). These world upheavals are expressed in images borrowed from biblical and apocalyptic writing, and almost all of them do not admit of literal understanding. They serve to thicken the colors to express a general idea about the catastrophic state of the world (12–14). Here is an earthquake (the image of which appears many times in other texts of Revelation (8:5; 11:3; 16:18~twice; cf. Am. 8:8; 9:5; Ezek. 38:19; Joel 2:10), the darkening of the sun and moon (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 23:45), the falling of the stars (Matthew 24:29) and the shaking of heaven and earth. There is hardly any need to search for the meaning of each of these images, piled one on top of the other, in order to express the general idea of ​​the catastrophic shock befalling the world. In addition to the literal meaning, this is also the style of the era, as well as apocalyptic writing (however, also prophetic). One must ask oneself about the place in the sequence of events that is assigned to this breaking of the sixth seal and the overall historical concept of Revelation. If all this is not yet the end of the world (which is evidenced by history itself), then, in any case, it is a harbinger of it, making one think about it and be horrified. Is this a short time or a long one? Is it a one-time cycle of events or a typical and repeating one? And in general, what place does it have in the overall world-historical scheme? These questions are difficult, almost impossible, to answer; or rather, each of the answers is acceptable, but in this case its place must be found for it. Postponing the discussion of this issue for further analysis of the content of Revelation, we will see here a general typological picture of the catastrophes that history knows, which from time to time shake humanity on its paths. In any case, already from this first image of human history, which we have in the symbolism of seals, we must conclude that history according to Revelation is not an idyll, but a tragedy, a struggle with Christ and for Christ against the powers of the prince of this world. 34 Chapter 7. Sealing of the 140,000 children of Israel The seventh chapter is an episodic digression that finds its place between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals. It is devoted to a special topic, namely the sealing of the elect and the associated vision of the glorified in heaven. In the order of presentation, as well as in the general context, it all adjoins a series of visions associated with the opening of the sixth seal, and continues them. In the face of catastrophes and disastrous horrors, God's Providence chooses and marks those who are saved. The chapter opens with a mythologically impressive image of “four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that the wind would not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree” (1). By the will of God, the destructive hurricane of the universe subsides under the influence of deliberate guardian angels of the cosmos, subsides so that the cosmic panic, the description of which ends the previous chapter, turns out to be premature and exaggerated. There comes a certain cosmic pause, during which the appearance of “another Angel, rising from the east of the sun and having the seal of the living God” (2). He addresses the four angels of the winds with a prohibition to harm the earth and sea until we put a seal on the foreheads of God’s servants” (3). The physical causality of the life of the world here becomes transparent to the action of the metacosmic forces, the guardian angels of the universe. Both of these worldviews do not contradict each other and do not exclude one another, but they can and should be compatible with each other in the Christian worldview. The guardian angels of creation, fulfilling the will of God, are not supercosmic forces, but cosmic agents, and themselves belonging to the created world, albeit to a different, higher spiritual and mental aspect of it. Occultism, in its language, mostly godless, although spiritualistic, interprets this spiritual side of the life of the world as a spiritual hierarchy of cosmic forces. In this hierarchy, along with hierarchism, there is no super-hierarchical, divine principle, there is no God. But this thought itself, if not identical, is parallel to the Christian worldview and meets with it. The natural connection of the world is not only physical and empirical, but also spiritual, meta-empirical. This is the general idea that is expressed in these images of the angels of the winds, doing the will of God and commanding the world's elements in their own nature. Here, hierarchical differences between angels are also outlined, on the one hand, as ministering spirits “holding the four winds of the earth,” and on the other, “an angel rising from the east of the sun and having the seal of the living God” (2), who commands the angels of the winds “to do no harm” in the world. So, despite the general hopelessness and destruction, the sealing of the elect takes place. Whatever it is expressed in (it does not matter), in any case, it marks the mystical reality, election and deliberate blessing and protection of God. This imprinting obviously requires some psychic time, which is why the destructive effect of cosmic storms is suspended. Is this accomplished on the basis of God's foreknowledge of their free self-determination, or by the power of God's help, flowing from divine election and predestination, or, finally, is it a synergistic combination of both, opere operantis or opere operato, or both? Obviously it's the latter. Grace does not force, but helps. A person is not a thing or a mechanism that is wound up by an external, extraneous and alien force, but a living being, which tends to open and close when the Lord knocks on the door of the heart. The imprinting must therefore be understood as the blessing of those worthy, no matter how it is accomplished (which is kept silent about). In the knowledge of God those worthy of it there is a certain number - 144,000, which expresses a certain completeness and mystical totality: 12 x 12 x 1000 (the same number is repeated again in Revelation as applied to virgins (chap. 14:3), obviously in the same meaning, although with a different application). These sealed ones are chosen from all the tribes of Israel. Such an election is a fact of paramount mystical and dogmatic significance, which increases immeasurably against the background of the anti-Christian persecution of Israel. The latter, of course, is in a hidden or open connection with the general persecution of the Christian Church. The Church of Christ is New Israel, it was established on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, “the cornerstone of Christ Himself,” the son of Abraham, the son of David. Not only cannot it be torn off from its Judeo-Christian root, but it remains invisibly united with it even when Israel is still in a state of rejection, for its “holy remnant” is preserved, to which and through which “all Israel will be saved.” Therefore, the destinies of the Church in the person of the elect are depicted as the sealing of the twelve tribes of Israel, each with its own apostolic 12, 12,000 sealed (5–8). The sealing of Israel must also be connected with the prophetic promise of St. Paul (Rom. 9–11) that the hardening of Israel occurred only until the fullness of days, but “all Israel will be saved,” for the holy remnant is always kept in it. The unintentional or, what is more plausible, deliberate ambiguity in the meaning of the words about the sealing of the children of Israel, although it does not force, at least allows us to think that it refers to Israel even in a state of rejection. This holy remnant, through whose salvation “all Israel” will be saved, is kept in the bosom of Abraham and his descendants. And, according to the meaning of the prophecy of the Apocalypse, both his chosenness and imprinting are maintained. The fate of Israel remains the focus of the history of the Church, and nothing decisive can happen in it without and apart from this most important decision - Israel about itself. Therefore, this imprinting is by no means accidental, but self-evident, no matter how it is understood, in an expanded or narrow sense. We will meet this question further below. These sealed "sons of Israel", at least according to the text of Revelation, are not even supposed to be exclusively Jewish-Christians (cf. Ezek. 9:3–4). Here, with the same reason, one can include “spiritual Israel,” the entire church of the tongues, since, however, it can be divided into the tribes of Israel, as is done in the sealing. This expanded understanding, however, does not detract from the exceptional and primary significance in the Church of the 12 tribes of the chosen people in whom the sealing takes place. This connection of ancient Israel with the new, expressing the dominant significance in the Church of its destinies, is confirmed by the fact that the stunningly majestic glorification of God and the Lamb in heaven, which follows this sealing of the 12 tribes of Israel, comes from all tribes, peoples and languages, is universal. And this quality of universality is given to this glorification, obviously due to the fact that its focus is the 12 sealed tribes of Israel, and with them, in their person, the entire Church, spiritual Israel. This is the inevitable and inexorable sequence of prophecy. Sealing consists of special providential guidance and protection in times of trials, which, in essence, extend to the entire existence of the Church. What does it refer to? Is it to salvation from bodily suffering and death as such? Hardly, first of all, because martyrdom for Christ is both glorification and salvation, which is blessed in the vision of the second part (9-17) of the same chapter. Therefore, such an interpretation would be a direct contradiction, although in some cases, according to the special vision of God, it is also applicable. Rather, this includes protection and assistance in spiritual temptations and enticements, which abounded during the times of the Antichrist’s persecution of the Church. However, even this is not the direct meaning of imprinting. Here, first of all, according to the general context, one should see direct impacts on demonic forces, which will be powerless in relation to those imprinted. In general, it can be understood in all three meanings. In any case, it should be recognized that this imprint itself represents a certain providential secret of God’s vision, which remains unknown to people, apart from direct revelation. Therefore, the imprinting itself cannot be timed to any specific time or limited to it. Shouldn’t we generally consider that the existence of such chosen and sealed ones, like their imprinting itself, can be considered as generally relating to the history of the Church in all its times - and in this sense there is a fact, so to speak, not quantitative, but qualitative, an event that is not a one-time event, but a typological one. It means the presence of some kind of saving fence within the Church for the elect. Next, we should dwell on the list of individual knees and some of its features. The tribe of Judah (and not Reuben) is called first here, according to hierarchical and not carnal seniority, of course, because the Lord was born in the flesh from the tribe of Judah. When listing the tribes, Dan is omitted (according to Jewish tradition: Test. Dan., V, 6–7, Satan is called the Prince of Dan, but according to Christian superstition, the Antichrist will come from him). 35 This omission is filled by Manasseh, who is named along with Joseph. The order of the names of different tribes also deviates somewhat from the book. Life 49. This sealing of the chosen ones from the twelve tribes of Israel, carnal or spiritual, or from both, in the symbolic number of 12 thousand from each, is performed in the face of all future horrors and trials and, of course, calls for vigilance and fearlessness during persecution. It means that there is a “holy remnant” in the world, known to God, and it is indestructible, and this is especially important to know in those times when there is a persecution against Israel, tending to its complete destruction. Human evil will meets here with the divine imprint, and it is powerless to resist it. The second half of the 7th chapter (9-17) presents a majestic, grandiose picture of the heavenly triumph of the martyrs, which, of course, serves as the greatest consolation and encouragement for believers. The viewer sees how “a great multitude of people, which no one could number, from all nations and tribes and peoples and languages, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes and with palm branches in their hands” (9). This is the universal church of martyrs of all times, tribes and peoples. Through earthly horrors and suffering their heavenly glorification and triumph is accomplished. “These are they that came out of the great tribulation: they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (14). This is also the answer to seemingly unanswered questions about how and why terrible persecutions and sorrows, similar to those allowed for a quarter of a century in our homeland, are allowed to happen. For them, only in heaven is the whole meaning and power of what is happening on earth revealed, the fruit of their long-suffering and long-suffering. “They cried with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (9). And this praise of the earth is echoed by the powers of heaven: “and all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces with the throne and worshiped God, saying: Amen. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and strength, and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen". 36 Such is this heavenly-earthly theodicy. One of the main features of Revelation is this double perspective, the parallelism of what is happening in heaven and on earth; all of it, in this sense, is like a kind of diptych, having top and bottom, including heaven and earth. For us living on earth, the sky is closed and what is happening in the heavens together and simultaneously with the earthly events known to us. This double vision expresses the mystical and prophetic character of Revelation, the contemplations of which contain God's answer to human sorrow and exhaustion on earth. And these images must be accepted in all their prophetic and dogmatic power; they reveal the history of the Church in the world, in connection with the earthly history of mankind, and contain, at least in some aspects, the Christian philosophy of world history. In relation to this particular topic, Revelation in general is a book in the Bible, the only one of its kind, because, although other sacred books of the Old and New Testaments contain separate texts and prophecies related to history, nowhere do we find such parallelism characteristic of this prophetic diptych. What are these revelations that relate to the martyrs standing before the throne of God? “For this reason they remain (now) before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His church, and He who sits on the throne will dwell in them, they will no longer hunger or thirst, and the sun and no heat will beat down on them. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will feed them and lead them to living fountains of water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (17). It draws attention to the fact that for them this is already the last judgment of God, taking place already in heaven, before the general resurrection and the Last Judgment on earth. This is the glorification of the saints in heaven, their heavenly canonization. This also obviously applies to them in the apostolic word “about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (1 Thess. 3:13), “when He comes to be glorified in His saints and to appear marvelous on that day” (2 Thess. 1:10), and isn’t it about them, among others, that it is said that “the saints will judge the world” (1 Cor. 6:2). We understand this as a kind of completion of the word of Christ (Matt. 25) about His Last Judgment, which is carried out not only on earth, in the face of all mankind, but begins even earlier, in heaven, with a “preliminary” judgment, which in essence is, however, final, at least for the elect. (This will be discussed further below). So, simultaneously with the general historical destinies, the preliminary judgment takes place through the sealing of the elect on earth and the glorified in heaven. It remains to be added, in order to exhaust the essential dogmatic content of this chapter, that here there is evidence not only of justification and glorification, but also of the already beginning bliss of the saints in heaven, that is, before the general transformation of the world, and even as if independently of it. One cannot help but be struck by the fact that it is described literally in the same terms as the blessedness of the saints on the new earth and under the new heaven in the final chapter of Revelation, 21st. It is here that it is already said that “He who sits on the throne will dwell in them, and the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will feed them and lead them to living springs of water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (7:15-17). But here too it is repeated: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell in them, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (21:3-4), etc. From this we must conclude that in general it is obviously necessary to complicate our ideas regarding the afterlife feast and the Last Judgment and the final destinies of humanity. We will have to return to this thought more than once in the dogmatic exegesis of Revelation. The last dogmatic observation that we can make from the content of this chapter is that the sealing generally refers to the chosen sons from the 12 tribes of Israel, i.e., first of all, to the Judeo-Christian church (although not only carnal, but also spiritual Israel may be included here, which, however, does not detract from the primacy of the first), and then to the martyr church. At the same time, in addition to the apostolic rank, there is generally silence about the other “ranks” of saints that are found in our current “clergy.” This, of course, does not diminish them, and their own glorification is not abolished, but it is placed in its own, not the first, hierarchical place. Perhaps this attitude does not even fully correspond to the spiritual tastes of later times, to which other images of holiness, ascetic or hierarchical, became closer and more accessible, but this still remains so. In any case, according to Revelation, it is the measure of martyrdom, physical as well as spiritual, since the latter is present in ascetic labor, that determines the very measure of holiness. This truth does not prevent us from noticing and assimilating it in our time. The first six seals mean the secrets of the destinies of the world not so much in events or accomplishments, but in individual features or properties. The opening of the seals is followed by seven trumpets, which express already known events that occur sequentially in the history of the world, so that, in fact, it begins from here. Chapters 8–9. The Seventh Seal and the Seven Trumpets The eighth chapter opens with the opening of the seventh seal, which is at the same time a preview of the seven trumpets; it does not have its own revelation, but all the more increases the significance of what follows. The opening of the seventh seal by the Lamb is accompanied by a mystical, of course, “silence in the sky for half an hour,” which expresses not only the significance, but also the menacing nature of the approaching events. The viewer sees seven angels “standing before God,” that is, in heaven, to whom seven trumpets were given. However, they are preceded by a solemn prayer to God in heaven, corresponding to the heavenly-earthly parallelism of events. “And I saw seven angels stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.” “And another angel came and stood before the altar, holding a golden censer; and a great deal of incense was given to him, so that with the prayers of all the saints he would place it on the golden altar, which was before the throne. And the smoke of incense ascended with the prayers of the saints from the hand of an Angel before God” (4). Here again, attention is drawn to the prayerful active participation of “all saints” in the fate of the world, which is entering a time of terrible trials. The image of the altar in the sky is already familiar to us (6:9). This is followed by the angel taking a censer filled with fire from the altar 37 and throwing it to the ground: “and there were voices, and thunder, and lightning, and an earthquake” (5). This is an analogy with the images of chapter 6:12–17; they also testify to the manifestation of God’s wrath in upcoming events, therefore, they give them not accidental, but providential meaning, and include them in the general plan of history. “Seven angels having seven trumpets 38 prepared to sound” (6). Each trumpet corresponds to the onset of a certain series of disasters on earth, and it is divided into two unequal parts (the usual division into 4 and 3): the first four trumpets of four angels are interrupted by the “loud voice” of one angel (an eagle) flying in the middle of the sky and announcing the impending grief: “woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth” from the remaining trumpet voices of “three angels who will sound the trumpet” (13). The first four trumpets correspond to the onset of natural disasters that strike the earth, although not all, but a certain part of it (“the third,” which, of course, does not require a literal arithmetic understanding). One can find here correspondences for this quadruple of pipes in the four elements of nature: earth, water, fire and air; see here, following St. Irenaeus, an analogy to the Egyptian plagues in their generalization, which they receive in the Gospel eschatology: Matt. 24:29 ; OK. 21:2. Through the first trumpet there came fire and hail, mixed with blood, and a third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned (parallel Ex. 9:24). According to the trumpet of the second angel, “as if a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood, and the third part of the living creatures that lived in the sea died, and the third part of the ships perished” (8-9). (Parallel here: Ex. 7:20–21). Through the third trumpet, “a great star fell from heaven, burning like a lamp, and fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of this star is wormwood, and the third part of the water became wormwood, and many of the people died from the waters, because they became bitter” (11). (The parallel here is chapter 16:3–7, the second bowl). Finally, through the fourth trumpet, the third part of the sun and the third part of the moon and the third part of the stars were struck, so that the third part of them was darkened, and the third part of the day was not as bright as the nights” (12). (There is some parallel here to the darkness of the Egyptian, tenth plague: Ex. 10: 21–23) (Cf. also the images of the small Apocalypse: Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 23: 45). (“The third part” when applied to the heavenly bodies sounds, of course, especially allegorical). All these are massive images that bear obvious traces of the heavy intensity of apocalyptic apocrypha and ancient religious mythologies. They express the general idea that “the whole creation groans and suffers together until now” (Rom. 8:22), for it “was subjected to vanity, not voluntarily, but by the will of him who subjected it” (26), expecting that it would be “freed from the bondage of corruption” (21). A more literal interpretation of these images, especially when they are associated with certain eras or events, encounters completely insurmountable obstacles, and even amounts to some violence against the artistic and symbolic style of Revelation. The general idea here is that there are disorders in the life of the natural world that are associated with human sin, but which are also a divine, providential influence on nature, and they relate to different aspects of natural life, its elements. This general idea finds repeated confirmation, “recapitulation,” in further images of Revelation (as we will see). It should only be established that this manifestation of evil in nature is explained here not only as divine permission, but as a saving and educational means on the paths of history, although at the same time it has counteraction in the intercession of the saints in heaven (incense - the prayers of the saints). Chapter 9 is devoted to the fifth and sixth trumpets, which no longer refer to the disasters of the natural world, its disorders, but to the action of demonic forces at war with man. This chapter is distinguished by the greatest accumulation of mythological-sounding images in the entire Revelation. Through the trumpet of the fifth angel, the seer sees “a star falling from heaven to the earth, and the key to the well of the deep was given to it” (9:1). This star is a fallen angel, who below receives the name in Hebrew Abaddon, in Greek Apollyon (destroyer) - Satan, who fell from heaven (Luke 10:8), “and the key to the well of the abyss was given to him” (2). The Abyss in the language of Revelation is the place of preliminary punishment of fallen angels, demons, the beast and the false prophet (11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3) (as the dwelling of demons - see Luke 8:31). “She opened the well of the deep,” and smoke came out of it, darkening the sun and the air; Here, obviously, there is spiritual darkness. From the smoke, locusts come out onto the earth (parallel to the 8th Egyptian plague: Exodus 10:1–9) (cf. Joel 1–2), “having the power of the scorpions of the earth” (3). These locusts are not given the power to harm the earth’s vegetation, but only to people who do not have the seal of God (those without grace), and not to kill, but to torment them “for five months,” that is, for a certain certain time. “This torment is like that of a scorpion when it stings a person” (5), this is mortal anguish, “when people will seek death, but will not find it.” Obviously, here we mean the spiritual state of black melancholy, which affects people and is associated with spiritual illness from demonic influence. Further, this same locust is described by features not only spiritual, but also physical, moreover, clearly allegorical and mythological, as powerful, gentle humanoid creatures in crowns with female hair and teeth, like lions, with iron armor, with the noise of wings, as from the sound of chariots from many horses running to war (cf. Joel 2:4), and with tails that have stings - the demonic “armored division”. She has Abaddon or Apollyon (the destroyer) as her king - if not Satan himself, then, in every sense, the Satanic principle, and her power also extended for five months, i.e. for a limited time. Obviously, the seer is consciously speaking here in the language of religious syncretism, which he uses as a means of describing an almost inexpressible and indescribable spiritual vision of the misfortunes and devastation that befall the unimpressed part of humanity. It seems impossible to us to take this literally or even to make only an attempt to interpret the individual features of these images, as well as their combination, even if it is possible to find parallels for them of a religious-historical and comparative-mythological nature. Their true interpretation requires such spiritual clairvoyance, which modern humanity is not given not only in the form of certain individual interpreters, but also due to the general state or spiritual age of modern humanity. The understanding of these images, perhaps, is a matter of the future, still separated from us by some historical and mystical transcendence. Such inaccessibility to interpretation of individual images, of course, does not deprive them of their power and meaning and authenticity as the Word of God, but it remains hidden in a veil of mystery. This calls us to reverence and modesty, which are equally violated by arbitrary and tasteless allegorization or, on the contrary, by an attempt to open an unopened bud, or to ignore their spiritual meaning, placing these images in the cabinet of curiosities of religious and historical values. The general meaning of these images is quite clear: here we are talking about the effective intervention of demonic forces in human life, which is providentially allowed, although limited by the Providence of God, delivered within certain limits. The same can be said about the sixth trumpet. The sixth angel's trumpet is accompanied by "the voice of one of the four horns of the golden altar that stands before God" (13). This signifies the deliberate action of God’s Providence, which can be connected with the prayers of the saints for peace (8:3–4), which precede and, of course, accompany the action of the seven trumpets with their revelations. The voice commands the sixth angel to release the four angels “bound at the Euphrates River.” Here the hierarchical and service difference is obvious between these messengers and the executor of God’s commands, the angel of the sixth trumpet and the four angels “bound” at “r. Euphrates." This is the area of ​​demonic domination, and at the same time of worldly power (like “Babylon” of the further chapters of Revelation). Unlike the four angels of 7:1, who guard the earth from the destructive winds, these stand at the head of a devastating and demonic invasion. They are obviously just waiting for this opportunity, “prepared for the day and the hour and the month and the year to kill a third of the people” (15). Unlike locusts, which only have the power to torment and not kill, these are given the power to “kill,” although their lethality is only set within certain limits - time and the number of victims, namely, it extends to “a third of people” (15). Next it says about the number of cavalry troops,” “two thousand times” (16), millions. Antiquity did not yet know such a number of troops with their destructive effect, and the seer here penetrates with a prophetic gaze into our days. What follows is a nightmarishly fantastic, almost delusional image of this army. The seer “saw him in a vision” (17), but, in essence, he already corresponds to what we are now contemporaries with. A kind of demonic “tanks” and suffocating gases are described here: “the horsemen had fiery, hyacinth (blue) and sulfur armor; The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; out of my mouth came fire, smoke and brimstone” (17). A third of the people died from these three plagues, and “the strength of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails, and the tails were like snakes and had heads and with them they did harm” (18-19). Regarding these images, we must, as before, abandon in advance the attempt to understand them most accurately. These are clairvoyant images regarding demonic forces that have gained access to the human world. These pictures are similar to the delirium of those hallucinating in “mental illnesses”, accompanied by all sorts of manias. At the end of chapter 9, as if in response to all these plagues and horrors, there is still evidence of the continuing unrepentance of the “others” who survived the works of their own hands, in all kinds of idolatry, “worship of demons” and in various sins: “their murders, sorceries, fornication, their thefts” (9:20-21). Comparison of the end of the 9th chapter with the final picture of the 6th art. 12 (after the opening of the sixth seal) once again testifies to a certain parallelism in the content of chapters 6 – 8 and 9, six seals and six trumpets, the appearance of four horsemen and locusts and a cavalry army. These are not the essence of events following one another, but different sides of one historical process, and - what deserves special attention here - the 6th chapter in its final verses brings the story even to a later time than the 9th, already before the onset of God's preliminary judgment on the world, while the end of the 9th chapter leaves the course of events still unfinished, ongoing. This does not introduce a contradiction or discrepancy between the 6th and 9th chapters about the six seals and six trumpets, but clearly indicates that the plan of Revelation in this middle part contains a “recapitulation” or parallel, as we will see further. In any case, the trumpets refer to the horrors and trials of, if not the very last, then the penultimate days. However, the prophetic meaning calls them not to intimidation, but to Christian courage. He says: do not be afraid; for this too must be. Chapter 10. Vision of a strong angel This is an episodic chapter, a kind of prophetic intermezzo as an introduction to further revelations. This describes a vision of a “mighty angel” (cf. 5:2) descending from heaven: clothed with clouds, a rainbow above his head, a face like the sun, feet like pillars of fire, he places his right foot on the sea, his left foot on the earth. He shouts with a loud voice, like a lion roars (1-3). All this speaks of the high dignity of the heavenly messenger, whose angelic name, however, is not given (and, of course, this is an angel, and not Christ Himself). It is suggested that this may be the archangel Gabriel (and in 5:2~ - Michael). He has in his hands “an open book” (2), and his voice is echoed by “seven thunders with their voices.” Is this even a voice from heaven, or does this relate to the sevenfold spiritual gifts and mean the extreme importance and mystery of revelation. But when the seer wanted to write, he was forbidden to do so by a voice from heaven. Consequently, here there is a secret of human destinies, which must remain (for the time being) unknown to man. The angel, raising his hand to heaven, “swore” to Him who lives forever, the Creator of the universe, “that there will be no more time” (16). Such an oath gives special strength, importance and significance to these words “about time.” However, these words cannot be understood in relation to temporary existence in general, which already fades away in eternity: on the contrary, time continues after that, in accordance with the further content of Revelation. Together with the overwhelming majority of interpreters, these words: “χρόνος οὐκέτι ἔσται” must be attributed to a certain period of time as a period. This means that there will no longer be a delay given in the onset of some final decisive events, which are already approaching with the seventh trumpet, but have not yet come with the previous trumpets (nor even with the demonic invasions of locusts and horsemen). Is this, of course, the approaching Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ? And also no, firstly because, according to the word of Christ, “no one knows about that day, not even the Son of Man” (Mk. 13:32), and secondly, because the Parousia in general will not take place in time, measured by earthly times and periods, but supratemporally and supratemporally, with the beginning of a new time. If we attribute this text that “there will be no more time” to the Parousia, then we must directly conclude that this prophecy was not fulfilled, for the Parousia of Christ did not come in the days of John. The last prayer of Revelation: “hey, come,” still leaves us in the dark, although in Christian longing and anticipation of this coming. So, the absence of a period of time should be attributed to the general context of the sequence of events prophesied here in Revelation: this means that then the last hour of the world is approaching, the times of the Antichrist are approaching, corresponding to the last woe and the last trumpet. However, it must be firmly established that the historical chronology of this accomplishment, as well as the previous era (six trumpets), also remains unknown here. It is outlined in the language of symbolic ontology, but not of geography and history. This simply demonstrates the internal, ontological sequence and connection of world events in their maturation towards the end. This also corresponds to the Gospel foreshadowing of the Lord: “Take the likeness of a fig tree: when its branches become soft and put out leaves, then you know that summer is near. So, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the door” (Matthew 24:32–33). This “near, at the door” corresponds to the fact that “there will be no more time” in Revelation. However, based on the rest of the contents of Revelation, we indirectly conclude that the seer himself, although he wished, did not hope to live until Parousia and even until the last times of the Antichrist, but only prophesied about them. The mystery of God, which was proclaimed from heaven with seven thunders, he was forbidden to “write.” “But in those days when the seventh angel proclaims, when he blows his trumpet (and, however, this “when” remains unknown), the mystery of God will be accomplished, as He preached to His servants the prophets” (7). This same idea can be expressed in such a way that in history and through history the mystery of metahistory, eschatology, which is transcendental, but at the same time immanent in history, is accomplished. It shines through it, but also does not fit into it. This last thought about the immanence of the transcendental, which is nevertheless realized in some of its accessibility to prophetic contemplation, is expressed at the end of the chapter, in its final images. The same voice from heaven commanded the seer to take the “open book” (of the fate of history) from the hands of the angel and eat it, and “it will be bitter in his belly, but sweet in his mouth,” which he does (9-10). And as an explanation of this symbolic action, this Angel told him: “You must again prophesy about peoples and tribes and languages ​​and many kings” (11). From contemplating the mysteries of heaven and in the light of them, we turn our gaze again to the earthly history of mankind (and therefore to historical time with its chronology), which has not yet ended, but continues, is still in full swing, in the middle of its development. However, it is a mistake to expect that this is where the presentation of earthly history begins - “peoples and tribes, tongues and kings.” This is not the case, the content of Revelation refers only to historical ontology or philosophy of history, presented not in the language of historical dates and facts, but in symbolic images expressing the spiritual essence of what is happening in the historical empiricism, as far as it becomes transparent in its spiritual content. This is the proper subject of Revelation as such, in its special way of perceiving both individual events and the general course of world history. “Again” – πάλιν – has a double meaning here: general and particular. The first is understood in the context of this chapter 10, in which the seer is taken beyond the boundaries of the history of this world, into the transcendental region, in this sense constituting “the mystery of God - τò μυστήριον - as He preached the gospel to the prophets” (7); in a particular sense, “again” means the continuation of the prophetic revelation about the paths of human history, but with new ones that have not yet been revealed about its further achievements. At the same time, the general question, so to speak, of historiosophical epistemology once again arises: how is it possible to prophesy about a future that has not yet happened, but is already contained in history, in which the present is fraught with the future? In what sense “can this prediction of the future be understood as already existing, if not in time, then for time? Of course, this question includes or is itself included in the doctrine of God’s predestination, its power and limits, in its difference from predestination as religious fatalism. The viewer contemplates here as events and accomplishments that which has not happened and has no existence for itself and, however, what must be accepted already exists in Divine knowledge, and this is equivalent to the fact that it already exists - in God and for God. This question exceeds the power of human understanding as it relates to Divine life, to the way of knowing in heavenly eternity the living God and Creator of the world. 39 God, on the one hand, creates the world in its originality and humanity in its freedom, releases them to this freedom of self-creative self-determination and thereby places it, as it were, outside the prophetic foreknowledge of the future, which is new and unforeseen, but at the same time He knows it, and to that extent determines it into existence, for the foreknowledge of God is not an abstract knowledge of something outside the existing God, but it is at the same time the power of the created. being, in this knowledge of God acquiring for itself the power of being. And, in this case, the question arises: where is the place for created freedom and originality, since at least that “nothing” from which and in which man was created must remain for its share? Here both equally necessary sides of the antinomy of creatureliness meet and unite: on the one hand, the pre-existence of everything in God, supertemporal and superhistorical, and, on the other, being that arises again in time and for time. Chapter 11. The Fate of the Church Militant The 11th law of Revelation again seems to be a departure from the general plan, unexpected and episodic, in particular from the previous 6-10 chapters about the seven seals and seven trumpets (which remain unfinished and are still broken off at the sixth trumpet). However, in essence, chapter 11 belongs to the general context of Revelation: it is precisely it that is included in the depiction of the world struggle between light and dark forces that takes place in history. If the symbolism of the previous chapters refers to the general history of mankind, then chapter 11 is dedicated to the fate of the Church, which is in this struggle. These destinies, as in previous chapters, are presented in symbolic images, which are especially difficult to understand in detail, although they are completely clear in their general meaning. Here, some historical events, expressed in the language of traditional apocalypticism characteristic of the era, especially merge and intertwine with the manifestation of spiritual forces operating in history almost indistinguishably. This makes the present chapter a subject of special tricks for exegetes, who, however, are unable to lead to any indisputable and final conclusions. Here we have to remember, as in many other problems of the Apocalypse, that the direct and precise prophetic meaning of these images, now insufficient for comprehension, will be revealed only in the future, with the advent of times and dates. “And a reed like a rod was given to me, and it was said: Arise and measure the church of God and the altar and those who worship therein” (1). It does not say directly who said it - an angel or Christ himself; only the divine command to measure with a “reed” is testified, which is the Old Testament (Ezek. 40:16–19) and New Testament (Rev. 21:15–16) image for expressing the significance of the action. What kind of church and altar are we talking about here? If about Jerusalem, then it was already destroyed during the writing or, at least, the last editing of Revelation. Therefore, it is more preferable to understand here the church and the spiritual altar, that is, the Church, “of those who worship in it.” And this spiritual temple is contrasted with “the outer courtyard of the temple, which is not measured, for it was given to the pagans, that is, to those who fell away from the Church and did not enter it. They will trample the holy city for 42 months” (2). This period, of course, is also symbolic, it is used differently (cf. Dan. 7:25; 12:7; Rev. 13:5; 11:3; 12:6; 12:14) in different cases and, of course, it has a mystical rather than chronological meaning. So, here we see a contrast between the Church and the anti-Church, the two cities, civitas Dei and civitas diabolica. The first is given two witnesses who will prophesy 1260 days (i.e. the same 42 months), clothed in sackcloth, “two olive trees and two lampstands, standing before the God of the earth” (4). They are under special protection and care of heaven (5) and have the power to “shut the heavens so that it does not rain while they prophesy, and have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague whenever they want” (6–7). This is an analogy with the prophet. Elijah: 2 Kings. 1:10 ~v.; Is. Sire. 48:3; also 1 Kings. 17:1. Usually these two witnesses are identified with Moses and Elijah, and also with Jeremiah. (The first Egyptian plague is more relevant to Moses; Ex. 7:14 ~f.; 2 Kings 1:10; 1 Kings 17:1 ~f.). (Elijah is portrayed as the forerunner of the Second Coming in Orthodox worship as well). Equally acceptable is not only the particular interpretation of these images as certain individuals and prophets, 40 but also their more general understanding as carriers of the spiritual power of “prophecy.” Both interpretations are mutually incompatible, but it is hardly appropriate to attribute these images primarily or exclusively to two Old Testament prophets. It is also difficult to interpret Art. literally. 5: “If anyone wants to offend them, fire will come out of their mouth and devour their enemies; if anyone wants to offend them, he must be killed” (5). If we see spiritual, prophetic forces here, then it is more natural to understand their spiritual, victorious influence here. Signs and wonders can be interpreted as the power of the prayers of the Church and her prophets. However, the power of the witnesses has a limited time, which ends (“when they finish their testimony”). This is a certain period of time, a historical era, which is replaced by the opposite one. It is “the beast that comes out of the abyss that will fight against them and defeat them and kill them” (7). Who is this beast? Some see here the appearance of a personal Antichrist, who was not yet present in the previous images of Revelation. But in such an interpretation, it seems, there is no direct exegetical necessity. The collective Antichrist (about which is spoken of in 1 John 2:18: “Now many antichrists have appeared”) generally expresses the anti-Christian movement, which initially appears in world history. It also took place in early Christianity during persecution, but reaches its maximum development in our days. All this fits into the general meaning of the image: “the beast coming out of the abyss will fight with them, and defeat them, and kill them” (7). “The beast that comes out of the abyss” is a common mythological designation for the dark, demonic forces with which we repeatedly encounter on the pages of Revelation. What follows is obviously an allegorical description of the enemy’s victorious triumph: “and he will leave their corpses on the streets of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was crucified” (8). The last words speak of Jerusalem as a symbol of militant Judaism. However, let us remember that it was already destroyed when Revelation was written, and in general Jerusalem did not deserve the name “Sodom and Egypt” during the time of its historical existence. Therefore, here we have to accept this topography allegorically, as historical world centers in general - and first of all, of course, Rome for the time of writing Revelation, and in our days - all sorts of population centers in general, which - in turn or simultaneously - deserve these names of Sodom and Egypt. However, the possibility cannot be ruled out that in the future destinies of Jerusalem there are still hidden such possibilities of the anti-Christian movement that are known to the prophetic gaze of the seer. The verses that speak of the triumph of the sons of the earth at the sight of these “corpses,” which is described in detail in specific terms, can have the same allegorical meaning (vv. 9–10). It seemed to godlessness that faith in God on earth was finally over, so this end could be celebrated. How many times already in the history of the world - and even now, before our eyes - has such an opinion arisen, which, however, turned out to be illusory, and the victory of unbelief is only temporary. This temporality is indicated by the apocalyptic period: “three and a half days, when everyone will look at their corpses,” and, obviously, enjoy the spectacle of their decomposition. Three and a half is generally one of the apocalyptic numbers used to determine the duration of mystical accomplishments, times and periods (cf. the prophet Daniel: “time, times and half a time”) (Dan. 12:7). It is expressed 41 in different terms: 42 months (Rev. 11 and 13:5; 12:14), 1260 days (11:3; 12:6). The peculiarity of this context of the 11th chapter is such that while the two witnesses have to prophesy 1260 days, i.e. three and a half years (and the same period of time is given to the pagans to trample the holy city: v. 2), the unburied corpses of the witnesses remain the subject of the enemy’s triumph for only three and a half days. This silent symbolism of numbers, of course, speaks of the comparative internal weakness of the enemies of the faith. After this period, a saving spiritual reaction begins: “the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they both stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who looked at them” (11). This resurrection of the dead, completely unexpected for the enemies of faith - no matter whether we understand the witnesses as certain God-chosen carriers of the spirit of God or as the force of church life - conciliarity - contains a joyful prophecy about the indestructibility of faith on earth and about its victorious triumph in the world, similar to the spiritual resurrection from the dead. This generally applies to the number of such prophecies of Revelation, which, along with the fact that they reveal the most terrible and tragic pages from the history of the struggle of Christianity with anti-Christianity, also contain the most invigorating promises that affirm Christian hope. This rising from dead witnesses is accompanied by a special spiritual sign about the meaning and power of what happened. It is a loud voice from heaven that says to them, “Come up here. And they ascended into heaven on a cloud, and their enemies looked at them” (12-13). Again, this ascent to heaven on a cloud does not require a literal physical understanding at all, because it can simply mean the obvious spiritual triumph of the witnesses and their testimonies. However, it is unnecessary, of course, to exclude the possibility of some actual event, which in the mysterious future will be expressed in a clear sign, obvious to everyone. This is the general property of apocalyptic images, which in their ambiguity permeate several different planes. We believe that there is no need to particularly invent or invent them. This whole picture of the confrontation between the Church and militant paganism ends in the same way that we already met at the end of the 6th chapter, after the breaking of the sixth seal: a great earthquake (6:12-17). Here too we have an earthquake, although it is described in more brief terms. It simply says that “at that same hour” (i.e., simultaneously with the victorious taking of both witnesses to heaven) “a great earthquake occurred” (13), for which, however, certain boundaries are defined: “a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand human names perished in the earthquake” (these numbers, of course, are apocalyptic). The rest, in contrast to their unrepentance in 9:20, after the sixth trumpet, “were overwhelmed with fear and gave glory to the God of heaven” (13). Obviously, what is being described here is not the same thing, but something different, or one of the many historical shocks and catastrophes that have befallen and are befalling humanity and, despite their destructiveness, turn out to be saving for it. This, in fact, ends the 11th chapter (1–13). It is easy to see that in its presentation it is distinguished by particular difficulties associated with its concrete, but at the same time allegorical images that cannot be literally interpreted. According to the general plan of Revelation, the content of chapter 11 represents an episodic retreat, which, it would seem, could not have happened - without disrupting the general connection of the previous and subsequent ones. It, however, together with the previous chapter, the 10th, seems to interrupt the general order of the chapters, as far as it is determined by the counting of the seven trumpets. The place of the seventh trumpet (as well as the seventh bowl) moves away, it is occupied with images piled one on top of the other and, as it were, bursting into the contemplation of the seer, who does not seem to immediately regain his prophetic self-control. However, at the end of chapter 11, as if somewhat unexpectedly, he returns to the interrupted story of the seven trumpets and three “woes”, which he spoke about above, in chapters 8 and 9. Here the list of “woes” begun in chapter 8:13~and 9:12 is restored. In parallel to what was said above (9:12): “one sorrow has passed, now two more sorrows are following it,” here (11:14) it unexpectedly says: “the second sorrow has passed, now a third sorrow is coming soon.” It's like a new title for the next chapter. And yet here, on the spot, in the immediate continuation of the chapter, we also do not find this third grief; we have to look for it in the further presentation (and it is not even directly there, so it has to be established only in connection with the general content of the further 12th and 13th chapters). The exposition is interrupted by the seventh trumpet of the angel and the following revelations. It is worth noting a characteristic “synchronicity” in connection with the sequence of revelations of the “three woes”: the first wo is preceded by the prayers of all the saints before the throne (8:3); the second - by a voice from the four horns of the altar that stands before God (9:13); the third is the seventh trumpet and is accompanied by a new opening of the sky. This again testifies to the main idea of ​​Revelation, that the earth is not abandoned even in the most difficult trials, which at the same time mark heavenly achievements. Simultaneously with the seventh trumpet, “loud voices were heard in heaven, saying: The kingdom of the world has become (the kingdom) of our Lord and of His Christ, and will reign forever and ever” (15). These voices, heard in heaven when the third, final and most difficult test or “woe” is approaching the world, testify that the reign of God does not take place simultaneously, but sequentially, in several accomplishments, and first in heaven and then only on earth. (In the future it is evidenced more than once: 19:6; 20:6; 22:5). Moreover, it speaks here not only of the reign of Christ, but also of “our Lord and His Christ.” In other words, this already correlates with the final reign that the Father receives from the Son, according to 1 Cor. 15:24–28: Christ “must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet,” and “then the end, when he has delivered up the kingdom to God the Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.” This last accomplishment includes in its content not only the history of the world, but also the Parousia, as well as the reign of Christ, which takes place after the Parousia and extends to all creation: “let God be all in all.” Thus, here the mystery of the Divine reign in the world, incomprehensible to man in this century, is revealed, which begins in heaven before the Parousia of Christ, but in its power manifests itself and is realized in the world in its further zone, or, more precisely, zones, “centuries of ages.” Of course, these heavenly times and dates, this “synchronicity” is only evidenced here, but is not explained by the seer, who does not even try to explain the inexplicable. But in heaven, this accomplished enthronement represents a certain self-evidence for the powers of heaven: not only the “loud voices,” obviously angelic, of “animals” testify to this, but also “the twenty-four elders, sitting on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: We thank You, Lord God Almighty, who, if He was (and is to come), 42 that You have received power and reigned.” (17). Heavenly and earthly time do not coincide, and what has already happened in heavenly ontology is still far away in the earthly chronology of this world. And indeed, in response to the heavenly hymn about the reign of God in the world and over the world, we read: “and the pagans became angry, and Your wrath has come and the time to judge the dead and to give retribution to Your servants, the prophets and saints and those who fear Your name, small and great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth” (18). In this new “synchronicity” of heaven, the coming, although not yet arrived, time of retribution is indicated; the final and decisive clash of good and evil and God’s judgment on the world is approaching. And this corresponds to the signs in heaven, visible to the seer: “and the church of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His church” (19). The symbolic meaning of the ark of the covenant in the heavenly church must be understood by analogy with the earthly, Old Testament ark, signifying the union of God with Israel, the center of the holy of holies, the shrine of the church. This is the New Testament union of God with the Church, God-manhood, the power of which was accomplished in the incarnation, is the deification of man. And this accomplishment again, as above (cf. 8:5; 10; 1:18), is accompanied by a great shock in the natural world, and we must also understand the spiritual: “and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and hail” (19). This is the usual eschatological scale of Revelation, which also sounds essentially similar in the small Gospel Apocalypse (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25). This is one of the proleptically repeated pictures in Revelation of the coming wrath of God and judgment of the world. Chapter 12. The Woman Clothed with the Sun and War in the Sky This chapter is one of the most central in Revelation in terms of the significance of its content. In relation to the previous and subsequent chapters, it is a certain independent part, although, of course, included in its general context. It contains a number of essential images related to the destinies of the world and, moreover, distinguished by a special character, prompting religious-historical exegetes to look for primary sources for them, according to custom, outside the boundaries of revealed religion, in distant pagan antiquity. Several different pictures are combined here, and at the same time, in this same chapter, in connection with the subsequent one, one can also see the disclosure of the third “grief”, which in itself does not have a direct designation. Chapter 12 opens with the appearance of the “great sign.” 43 In heaven it is “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” These astronomical and astrological features of the sign make one look for their origin in Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Egyptian myths, beyond the limits of Jewish apocryphal writing. Of course, any such application of this or that mythology raises new and difficult to solve problems about how these images got into the text of Revelation. But whatever the original origin of these images, there is no doubt that since they are found in the Christian Apocalypse, “they must be interpreted in a Christian sense.” 44 Obviously, in the era of writing Revelation, in the literary language of a certain type of writing there was the presence of common images, a kind of apocalyptic lexicon. However, this in itself in no way detracts from their religious-mystical content or divinely inspired significance. And, if we do not limit our task to “religious-historical” exegesis (although it can also be taken into account), but seek a dogmatic interpretation, then our attention is focused, first of all, on the religious-dogmatic understanding of these images. What does the sign of a woman clothed in the glory of the sun, moon and stars, of the entire heavenly star world, mean? Added to this is the fact that “she was pregnant and screamed from the pain of birth” (2). The image of the wife, according to the usual language of comparisons of the Old and New Testaments, as well as the apocrypha, makes us see here, first of all, a certain human society, the people of God, in other words. Church (“wife and bride” of Christ). A further question may also be how far can this personification of the Church be carried out, according to this image? In particular, what does this possession in the womb and the birth pains of the wife mean here? If you see here the Church, spiritually giving birth, but at the same time persecuted, persecuted and even martyred, then this image is completely natural. The details of this image: the sun and moon, twelve stars, the signs of the Zodiac - these attributes of the pagan goddess - are translated, of course, into Christian language, receive a Christian interpretation, meaning the twelve of old or new Israel, patriarchs or apostles. A further question arises: is it possible to see in a woman clothed in the sun not only the Christian community - the Church, but also a Person, namely the Mother of God? In themselves, both interpretations are completely compatible with one another and correspond to the general principles of ecclesiology. However, they also encounter some difficulties, as becomes clear from further analysis of the text. The wife is confronted by another mythological image: a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads; seven tiaras. This image is clearly of a demonic nature, which is repeatedly repeated in different forms in Old Testament writing. 45 The opposition to the dragon's wife, of course, expresses the general idea that the Church is in a direct and bitter struggle with the dragon and the “ancient serpent,” Satan himself, who appears fully armed and together with the earthly or seduced powers. This fullness of anti-Christianity is designated in the same way as the opposite divine fullness, by the septenary number: the dragon has seven heads, that is, seven kingdoms subject to it - in whatever order, simultaneously or sequentially, we calculate this septenary (we leave the exact solution to this political code, in any case, approximate and arbitrary). The seven heads of Satan are crowned with ten horns (a new sign of the fullness of evil - ten), and on these heads are seven diadems. All these are signs of the royalty of the one who wanted to become the prince of this world, for this he needs to abolish the opposing power of his wife, clothed in the sun, to eliminate all rivalry. What he applied to the first wife of man, Eve, and then was successful, the same - although differently - is applied to the new Eve, the Church of Christ. But, as we have already said, the image of the wife here - although not completely - coincides with the image of the Mother of God as the personal head of the Church, then the temptation of Satan powerlessly stops before the holiness of the Most Holy Theotokos. We generally do not know from the Gospel about such a temptation of Her (although it is invented, for example, even by such an authoritative church writer as Chrysostom). It is difficult not to admit that the temptation from Satan, which befell even Christ himself, did not in its own way extend to the Most Holy Theotokos, in Her standing at the cross and spiritual co-crucifixion with Her Son. But this time, only one word sounded in Her soul: “behold the handmaid of the Lord,” just like the word of Her Son: “Thy will be done.” The dragon with the diadems of state power, which nailed Christ to the cross, could then still stand before Her, although it powerlessly tempted Her. But after this temptation, after the resurrection of Christ, new personal temptations for the Most Holy Theotokos became completely powerless, even if they existed (which we are still not told about), and after Her Dormition She remains “more honest than a cherub.” The Spirit-Bearer turned out to be inaccessible to temptation either from intimidation or seduction, and the “new Eve” revealed herself to be different from the first, who was tempted herself and drew the entire human race into temptation along with herself. But even before the fall of man, there was a temptation from Satan to part of the angelic world. We also do not have direct information about how this happened in the spiritual world in the Word of God, which deals with the accomplished fact of the presence of fallen evil spirits, demons, as is especially clear in the New Testament, more than in the Old. And we find the only direct evidence of this in the chapter of Revelation under consideration. It is here that it is said about the dragon, that is, Satan: “his tail carried away a third of the stars from the sky and threw them to the ground” (3). The “tail” is obviously the power of the tempting influence of the fallen first angel Dennitsa (whose own fall and temptation is allegorically described in the images of the kings of Babylon and Tire in Isaiah 14:12–16 and Ezekiel 28:12–17). But even there it is said only about personal pride and the fall of the kings of Babylon and Tire, but nothing is said about the fall of “a third of the stars” that followed them and with them (the number, of course, is allegorical, to designate a large number of fallen). The casting down to earth of a third of the angels is obviously reported in connection with the fact that, together with the dragon himself, they also participate in the temptation of the wife, “an unfaithful and perverse generation,” about which the long-suffering Lord himself says: “How long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? (Matthew 17:17). “This dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth, he would devour her baby.” The dragon's desire to destroy the baby is explained, of course, by the desire for final mastery of the world. “Baby” generally means spiritual birth in the Church; the singular number is taken here clearly allegorically. Seeing Christ here in the baby and timing the event to coincide with the Nativity of Christ is hardly appropriate, although with all the ambiguity of this allegory, even this meaning is acceptable, but in this case, the image of the wife should no longer be interpreted in the collective sense of church society, but in the personal sense of the Mother of God. Although the Gospels do not directly speak of the dragon’s participation in the persecution of the Infant God born in Bethlehem, it obviously was, and King Herod was the instrument of his inspiration. However, such an assumption does not abolish the entire general ecclesiological significance of this image. What follows is depicted as follows: “and she gave birth to a male child, who was to rule the nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and His throne” (5). Who could this Child be if not Christ, the King of kings, “shepherding the nations with a rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27; cf. Isa. 2:9; 1 Cor. 15:25), leaving the world in the Ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father? The Church can be considered - in the person of the Most Holy Theotokos: as Her personal incarnation, as His Mother. The event of the Ascension is depicted here differently than in the Gospel, from a different angle, in the aspect of the struggle with the prince of this world, which is also a general aspect of the Christology of Revelation, as we will see more than once throughout it. The fact that in the entire New Testament there is the glorification of Christ and the completion of His saving work, in Revelation there is a removal from the world as “the rapture to God and His throne” from the evil and power-hungry claims and attempts of the prince of this world. Although Christ leaves the world with the words: “All power has been given to Me in heaven and on earth,” however, this power given to Him, that is, acquired by Him through His saving ministry, can still be exercised throughout the long time of the earthly existence of the Church (which is what the Apostle Paul says: “He must reign until he has put all enemies under His feet... He will betray the Kingdom to God and the Father when he has abolished all authority and all authority and power... all are subject to Him" (1 Cor. 25:25, 24, 27)). It is Revelation, and it alone, or at least it predominantly, that is characterized by this side of Christology, which can be defined as the doctrine of the reign of Christ in the world, which occurs on the basis of His completed salvation. However, the “baby” here can also be understood allegorically as the multi-unity of the conciliar apostolic Church, which is present in heaven in its Saints, praying for the Church and fighting for it and with it. This very truth is revealed in Revelation in its different places and in the general context, and this also allows us to talk about the baby’s rapture to God, and warfare with a rod of iron already refers to the spiritual strength and indestructibility of the Church. In any understanding, it is obvious that the destinies of the Church take place in heaven and “on earth,” and not on earth only. “And the woman fled into the desert, where a place had been prepared for her by God, so that she could be fed there for one thousand and sixty days” (6), i.e. 42 months, or three and a half years. This is a period already known to us and constantly repeated, in application to both the kingdom of Christ and the Antichrist - a certain mystical period of time. What does this flight into the desert mean? It can refer to the persecution of the Church both ancient, contemporary with the writing of Revelation, and the newest, right up to the present day. The Church, in the person of its real spiritual leaders, seems to be hiding in the desert, becoming invisible. This does not mean that it remains inaccessible to persecution, which, on the contrary, can take the most severe forms and the widest dimensions. But the Lord hides the persecutors from the eyes and preserves the “holy remnant”, the “seeds” of the Church, which in good time unexpectedly bear shoots and fruits, so that the Church is indestructible on earth, despite all the fierce malice and persistent enmity of the dragon and his army. What is spoken here is precisely the miracle of the presence and preservation of the Church in the world in spite of all persecutions, no matter how they may seem and no matter how destructive they actually are. This word of Revelation is a confession of faith and the voice of Christian courage, which rang out in one of the difficult eras of its history along with testimony that this very existence and preservation of the Church is a miraculous work, a direct intervention of the Providence of God. This thought confirms the faithful sons of the Church in their Christian courage and fearlessness in the face of what is natural, humanly, and truly capable of frightening. Beginning with the 12th chapter, from the 7th verse, a new picture is revealed of the same importance and significance of the topic and content as the previous one (verses 1-6). This is war in the sky. Here we are not talking about the initial fall of Satan, which carried away a “third” of the angelic world, but also about the continuation of this “prologue in heaven,” which then continues in the earthly, human tragedy. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels rebelled against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels rebelled (against) them” (7). In other places in the Word of God we find nothing at all about this war, which is accompanied by mutual intransigence (this is clear from the twice repeated “fought” when applied both to the armies of Arch. Michael and his Angels, and the dragon and his angels) (7). This war is evidenced as a kind of new event in “heaven,” which, obviously, occurs in connection with a certain maturation of the spiritual process and the final self-determination and affirmation of each of the fighting parties. And indeed, in the Old Testament we still observe some of their mutual tolerance and, as it were, even complacency. Otherwise, it is difficult to understand what is said in the Prologue of the Book of Job. It describes how the “Sons of God” (i.e., obviously, holy angels) “came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them” (1:1; 2:1). In the same tone, the conversation between God and Satan is further narrated, who, in response to his doubt, receives permission from God to tempt Job, although with a certain limitation: “only save his soul” (2: 6). The story of 1 Kings is completely similar in meaning. 22:19-22 about how, in the face of the host of heaven, “one spirit” receives from God permission, if not a direct commission, “to become a lying spirit in the mouth of all the prophets” in order to persuade Ahab to his decision. 46 It is difficult to determine whether before or after the war in heaven the temptation of Christ was allowed in the desert, to which He was led by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1), but the former is also possible. Early commentators see the overthrow of Satan as arch. Mikhail already had his first fall. However, this is difficult to reconcile with the above facts, which rather force us to assume his continued presence in some kind of intermediate state, between heaven and earth, in the region of the heavens. In this case, the overthrow of Satan from heaven should be considered one of the consequences of the Incarnation, and in this sense, it should be attributed even to the time before the crucifixion of Christ, then rather after the temptation in the desert. Isn’t this what Christ is talking about in response to the joy of the disciples that demons obey them in His Name. “He said to them: I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning,” and further (Luke 10:17–20). Of course, this is also said proleptically, in relation to his final overthrow and expulsion from this world (which Christ proclaims in the Gospel), but as an event that has already occurred. War in heaven is to the extent that the angelic world participates in our salvation and redemption through the incarnation. There is an ontological synchronicity here, although it cannot be immediately revealed. This connection is also hinted at in the indicated text of Luke, where 70 disciples sent to preach said that demons obey them (which is preceded by the authority given to them when they were sent to preach). First of all, “having called 12 disciples, He gave them power over unclean spirits, so that they could cast them out” (Matthew 10:1; Mark 3:15; 6:7; Luke 9:1: “power and authority over all demons”). The last word of Christ to the disciples according to Mark. 16:17 also includes: “In My name you will cast out demons.” A hint that the overthrow of Satan is in connection with the incarnation is also the fact that at the head of the heavenly army stands Michael, not only “one of the first princes” (Dan. 10:13), but also “the great prince who stands for the sons of your people” (12:1), chosen by God to serve the incarnation, to give birth to the forefathers of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, the fathers of the Son Abraham, Son of David, Son of God. This speaks not only in general about the participation of the entire angelic world in the work of redemption, in co-serving his service to Christ, but also definitely connects it with the personal service of the guardian angel of Israel, Archangel Michael. This event - the war in heaven in the angelic world - is told only in Revelation, it constitutes its own dogmatic contribution to biblical angelology. What is this war? How can it be understood when applied to the spiritual world? This cannot be answered in human language. But it is clear that the power of Christ’s incarnation, His descent from heaven, was also at work here, because this is exactly what is said about the victory of the angels: “they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and did not love their souls even to death” (12:11). The last words are incomprehensible, since we are talking about disembodied spirits and therefore already immortal. Obviously, the victory of Satan in the angelic world somehow threatened spiritual death, just as the whole struggle was spiritual. The victory was accomplished not only by the blood of the Lamb, but also by the “word of his testimony,” that is, by the confession of the angelic faith in the power and mystery of the incarnation. This is evidenced, in particular, by what is specifically said: they “overcame by the blood of the Lamb” - by faith in its saving power. Even if we accept that the overthrow of Satan from heaven took place even before the crucifixion of the Son of God on the cross, then His very descent from heaven and incarnation contained within itself the possibility and even predetermined the outpouring of the sacrificial blood of the Lamb. And just as the Eucharistic sacrifice in all its power and fullness took place at the Last Supper before, and not after, Christ’s death on the cross, so here the victory of the angels “by the blood of the Lamb” could and did take place even before its actual outpouring on the cross, before the death of Christ. Thus, this entire Christological context forces us to attribute the event of the war in heaven precisely to the time of the completed descent from heaven and the incarnation of Christ. The defeat of Satan is described in these terms: “the dragon and his angels could not stand, and there was no longer room for them in heaven” (8). From here we conclude that such a place in heaven - in whatever sense - previously still remained, which is precisely what is clear, at least from the story of Job. Until now, Satan was already a fallen spirit, shaken in his ways, an evil skeptic and “slanderer” who did not accept the peace of God and was not satisfied with it. In this sense, he was an unloving and ungrateful “slanderer” not only of the world of God, but also “of our brethren, slandering them before our God day and night” (10). This duality of his position, which once already turned out to be destructive for the world, as a result of the temptation of the first parents and their original sin, was obviously still tolerated and tolerated in heaven. The Holy Angels were also tempted by Satan and his angels (“his tail dragged a third of the stars from heaven to earth”) (4), but they somehow still suffered temptation from their fallen brother, without being tempted by him themselves. What proved to be an effective poison on earth in the Garden of Eden remained relatively weak in heaven. But when, with the Incarnation, a decisive struggle for the salvation of the world began against the prince of this world, then this vague and ambiguous state of tolerance and condescension became unbearable, impossible and unacceptable, and perhaps - we do not know this, but only assume - it could turn out to be harmful on the paths of salvation. In any case, we know about Satan’s attempts to interfere in the work of our salvation, about the temptations of Christ himself and His apostles, first of all Peter and Judas, and then all the others (except for one beloved disciple) who fell into the “fear of the Jews.” We know about the demonization of the entire Jewish Sanhedrin, high priests, rulers and soldiers. But we do not yet know and cannot know whether spiritual sabotage remained as a threatening possibility in heaven, which could no longer remain acceptable and unforbidden. At the time when the Son of God came down from heaven to be crucified on earth, the mocking, envious and slanderous voice also became impossible and unbearable, still searching in heaven for new victims for temptation. The time has come for a decisive and final war with Satan and his army. Thus, in the 12th chapter we find in this narrative, so to speak, a kind of parallel to the revelation of Christ’s descent from heaven and the incarnation of God. A spiritual battle took place, decisive and final. We cannot say how it was threatening for both sides, but it was a real battle, terrible and formidable, since it could be said about it that St. the angels “did not love their souls even to death,” that is, of course, not death itself, not the abolition of their very existence (which is impossible), but the threat of its deep damage. We are unable to explain this further, but such was the effective participation of the angelic world in our salvation. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, was cast out to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (10). This was, of course, the greatest disaster for the “son of the dawn.” “How you fell from the sky, Dennitsa, son of the dawn!” (Isa. 13:12). But this fall was salutary, because it deprived Dennitsa, if not of claims, then of hope for a dominant position in heaven and on earth. A loud voice in heaven testifies to this: “now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, because the accuser of our brethren has been cast out” (10). This means that this was indeed the threat and danger from the slanderer, who wanted, as it were, to take advantage of the “descent from heaven” of the Son of God in order to take His place in his madness, for he said about himself: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will be like the Most High” (Isa. 13:14). “And I cast you down as unclean from the mountain of God, I drove you out” (Ezek. 28:16). The prologue of our redemption in heaven has been completed, the path to heaven has been spiritually cleared, its first precondition has been fulfilled. However, this raises the following question: if Satan, even after his fall, until it was revealed in all its final power, was not deprived of staying in “heaven” along with his army as the “sons of God” (Gen. 6:2, 3) (which are spoken of in connection with pre-Flood humanity), then how can one connect with him the manifestation of his actions on earth, and above all the temptation of the first parents in paradise? How can we further combine his earthly images, which were mentioned above (Leviathan and so on), and in general his destructive action in the earthly elements, which was a consequence of the original sin of the power in the natural world and over people that he received through this? “And the Lord said to Satan: “Behold, all that he has is in your hand, but do not stretch out your hand against him” (Job 1:12; cf. 2:6–7). It remains, obviously, to understand that Satan’s continued presence in “heaven”, i.e. His not yet final overthrow from there is connected with his participation in the affairs of earthly life, just as this participation is given to heavenly angels, messengers and servants of God on earth and the guardians of creation. Participation in earthly life is therefore not incompatible with being in heaven, even if it is the main or predominant one. A similar thing can obviously be assumed regarding the fallen angels, until God’s long-suffering left them in heaven, although, of course, their participation in earthly life had a different character than the service of the good angels. It manifested itself in the general deterioration of world existence, in spontaneity and harmfulness, and, finally, in mortality. However, this sabotage of Satan, while he still appeared before the face of God along with the angels, was brought within limits by God’s Providence, as evidenced by the prologue of the book of Job, and even served his saving purposes. The same can be said about God’s permission regarding the temptation of the first parents in the Garden of Eden. The tempting serpent is depicted here as one of God's earthly creatures (Gen. 3:1), into which Satan enters. He is in this sense a heavenly-earthly being, over whom, as such, the double judgment of God is carried out: on the one hand, as over a serpent, and on the other, as over such a spiritual being, for whom God places enmity between him and his seed and the wife and her seed (3:15). It is mysterious and incomprehensible that even such a sentence of God does not yet contain as an immediate consequence the final overthrow of Satan from heaven, although he remains “the slanderer of our brethren before God” (Rev. 12:10), deceiving the entire universe (9). This testifies, of course, to how lofty the gifts of God were entrusted to him and how difficult they are to be taken away (this, of course, also has significance for understanding the coming apocatastasis). No matter how destructive the action of Satan in the world, both in heaven and on earth, this has not yet resulted in him being cast out of heaven, that is, the final deprivation of his angelic dignity. However, as can be concluded from Rev. 12:10, Satan’s demonization continued in heaven, and his poisonous influence sought to spread even in the angelic world, where “his tail carried away a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the ground” (3), that is, he managed to deprive them of their angelic rank and service. But “the slanderer of our brethren” continued to slander them “before our God day and night” (10), and this slander, of course, was accompanied by an attempt to tempt them, which however remained powerless. But the overthrow of Satan from heaven, associated with his final satanization and resistance to God, took place in connection with the descent of the Son of God from heaven and the incarnation of God. In his face, all ambiguity, reticence and inconclusiveness lost their place. Against the Son of God who is coming to reign in the world, Satan has already acted as an open rival with the claim to become the “prince of this world,” and this is where his direct war begins for the world as God’s creation and for power in this world. This war begins now in heaven, in the angelic world. Here Satan suffers his first defeat by the strength of the faithfulness of the angels, who “did not love their souls even to death” (11). There is no longer any place left for Satan in heaven, and he is cast down to earth along with his angels, who from now on definitely become demons. It is remarkable that the Old Testament does not yet know demons, but the Gospel and New Testament history is full of them. It may seem unexpected and somewhat incomprehensible that demons accompany the earthly ministry of Christ. It’s as if, despite the coming of the Son of God to earth, He finds himself surrounded by those suffering from unclean spirits, He drives them out, heals the demon-possessed, but at the same time He himself exclaims: “As long as I will be with you, as long as I will endure you.” The Lord, sending the apostles to preach, first of all gives this authority and commandment: “cast out demons.” The fact of the demonic possession of humanity during the coming of Christ can be understood in the light of Revelation, which testifies to the accomplished expulsion of Satan from heaven precisely in connection with the incarnation. There is an ontological synchronicity here: fallen angels, confirmed in their fall, become demons, and Satan is their leader. The entire history of the Church after Christ is this ongoing war with Christ and His kingdom. The content of the 12th chapter represents the disclosure of this struggle at its very origin. The last question of evangelical Satanology, which arises in this regard, remains unexamined. Does the temptation of Christ by Satan in the desert already refer to his being in a state of being cast out of heaven, or is he admitted to the New Job in the same form in which he was admitted to the ancient Job? There is no direct answer to this question in the Gospel, but there is an indirect answer. The fall from heaven of Satan, which Christ “saw” “fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18), in any case, occurred already during His earthly ministry as a consequence of the war of angels in heaven, and however, according to the direct content of the gospel narrative, earlier than the passions of Christ and the direct participation of Satan in them, which alternately seduced the apostles and all the enemies of Christ. Cast down from heaven and having become not only a tempter-slanderer, but a direct enemy and rival of Christ, Satan no longer tempts Him. The time for such temptations has already passed, and Satan does not inquire who He is, as he temptingly asked in the desert: “if You are the Son of God.” Now he is directly at enmity, waging open war with Him, but he is already tempting His disciples. And only in this sense did this continue the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, after which Satan left Him only “for a time” (Luke 4:13). This, however, links together the first and last temptations of Christ by Satan. It follows that the war in heaven and the overthrow of Satan from there occurred precisely because of Christ’s incarnation. The Gospel dates the temptation of Christ in the desert to the time after baptism and forty days of fasting, and it is said that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–2). If Job’s temptation was directly allowed by God, then this temptation, although it is the tempter’s own, willful work, is not only allowed, but is directly indicated by the Holy Spirit, obviously as irremovable in the ways of Christ’s ministry: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1–2). This whole set of signs does not allow one to think that the temptation of Christ in the desert was the work of a tempter who had already been cast out of heaven after the war of angels. Consequently, it took place, in any case, no later than the baptism of Christ. True, Herod’s evil intent to kill the Infant of God, accompanied by the beating of the infants of Bethlehem, can be considered as the beginning of the struggle of the dragon, seeking to “devour the child” (Rev. 12:4). However, this assumption does not have direct confirmation in the Gospels and therefore belongs to the realm of only theological speculation. The spiritual action of Satan in the world should also include demonism, which manifests itself in pagan religions. Here again the question may arise to what era and to what mode of action of Satan and his angels such an influence should be attributed. But we also do not have a direct answer to the question, except for the general consideration that the spirit of lies sows lies everywhere and in all ways, applying itself to human passions, weaknesses and delusions. The casting of Satan from heaven is accompanied by the following exclamation: “Therefore, rejoice, heaven and you who dwell in them” (12). From this we should conclude that victory over Satan also matters for the own life of the angelic world, giving it final invincibility and stability in goodness. But “woe to those who live on earth, for the devil has come down to you in great rage, knowing that he does not have much time left” (12). Whose is this “loud voice speaking in heaven”? Obviously, the voice of elders or animals, or both? But who does “our brothers” refer to? Does it only refer to the angels who fought, or does it also mean the saints (Old Testament ones, obviously), and then the text should be understood more broadly, as applied to angels and people. This doesn't change the general meaning. This is the third “grief,” which is therefore not associated with individual private events, but refers to a general and grave change, a revolution in the entire spiritual atmosphere: a new special closeness to the world and the bitterness of Satan and, as a result, the demonization of earthly life. “When the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he began to pursue the woman who gave birth to a male child” (13), i.e., the Church. The scope of the dragon's action through this overthrow, although limited, became more fiercely anti-Christian and anti-church. From here begins his direct struggle with the Church, which could not yet be said when applied to the Old Testament Church. Then the dragon did not yet know with complete clarity whom he had to defeat, and therefore, so to speak, he was scattered in his tempting energy. Now he “stands before his wife” and seeks to destroy her, to destroy the Church. This refers to the very beginning period in the history of the Church, when she stood before him as if in childlike defenselessness, about which the Apostle Paul speaks: “There are not many of you wise according to the flesh, not many strong, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the strong things, and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, and God has chosen the things that are not, to confound the things that are” (1 Cor. 1:26–28). The “persecution” of the early Christian Church and even its destruction could then seem quickly and easily feasible. However, the Church was protected by the guidance of God and was inaccessible to the evil and insidious intentions of Satan. This thought is expressed in the following images: “and the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she would fly into the desert to her place from the face of the serpent” (14). The wings of an eagle can be understood as a simple allegory of the speed of timely removal “to its place”, inaccessible to Satan, but also as the power of divine inspiration, victoriously saving the victim from the persecution of enemies. This idea is expressed in the language of symbolism, characteristic of the entire chapter 12 and not requiring deliberate interpretation. “Wilderness” is obviously spiritual concentration, with that concentration of the spiritual forces of the Church, which is its “nutrition” and preservation in times of trials. One can also see here a feat of prayer and asceticism, by which the Church is saved invisibly, in the “desert,” throughout its term. The latter is determined by the apocalyptic period of “time, times and half a time.” This period of time forces us to attribute these times to the entire earthly existence of the Church, because there was no time when the dragon did not pursue it and when a flight into the desert, a spiritual feat, did not inspire the Church, like the two wings of a great eagle, and inspire it. The allegory of the persecution of the wife continues as follows: “and the serpent sent water like a river out of his mouth after his wife, in order to carry her away with the river. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had let out of his mouth” (15-16). This allegory is also not easy to interpret: here we have a contrast between water as a river, washing and carrying away with its flow, and the earth absorbing water. Water in this case means paganism both in its quantitative distribution and in its qualitative power in the fight against Christianity. On the contrary, the earth is a positive force, the energy of the Church, which ultimately overcomes and defeats the forces of demonism. Here we have another image to express the opposition and struggle of light and darkness, good and evil, truth and lies, Christianity and anti-Christianity in world history, expressed in the most general and even abstract form. This will be shown more specifically in the following discussion. This general powerlessness of the dragon before his wife causes new rage in him and arouses new energy of struggle, which does not weaken in history. “And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (17). Here we have a kind of similarity, since “the rest of her seed” are equivalent, of course, to the wife herself, since the members of the Church also form its conciliar plurality. Here we are talking about the struggle against the Church in general, as a whole, in its doctrinal, sacramental, mystical existence, and its individual members, who with their fidelity and firmness deserve special recognition, “having the testimony of Christ.” So, the general thought and content of the 12th chapter relates to the main theme of world history as a spiritual tragedy that begins in heaven and continues on earth. Satan's struggle against the Church, manifested in various types of spiritual seduction, as well as persecution, does not stop, but determines the content of history. In this chapter, this idea is expressed in the massive and polysemantic mythological images of the wife and the dragon. In further chapters of Revelation, this thought finds another expression and makes it more specific. In the previous one, Satan, the dragon, acts as a spiritual force, openly waging a spiritual struggle (although not by spiritual means alone) with the kingdom of God, with the Church. In the 13th chapter, this struggle already takes on a different, not only spiritual, but also spiritual-carnal, alien to the spirit and in this sense, bestial image. Satan operates in the world through the bestial and bestial principles of human life. It is this struggle of the beast with the Church that is depicted in this chapter. Of course, the beast here is still a human element, only in a state of bestiality. This bestiality in man, expressed in his brutality as an unkind, carnal force of life, is already known to the Old Testament, which knows in it the anticipation of satanic, Antichrist persecution. It is spoken about in the book of the prophet. Daniel (as in the apocrypha, for example, in 3 Esdras). Insofar as chapter 7 represents a direct parallel to chapter 13. Revelation, which finishes and clarifies in the light of the New Testament images of the Old Testament. The vision of the beast is contemplated by the seer “on the sand of the sea” (1) as “coming out of the sea.” The latter is here synonymous with the abyss, but in this case it can also mean the sea of ​​the people, natural humanity, taken from the side of its carnal and mental life, in this sense of its bestiality. The beast in this case, obviously, means the state, and not just in the sense of a state organization of law and order, assisting humanity on its paths (as the apostle says: “For there is no power except from God” (Rom. 13:1), but a totalitarian state, claiming to become the only determining and exhaustive principle in human life. Such a state, deliberately exaggerating itself in its significance, is, therefore, the very beginning is not just pagan, but demonic, it is the earthly face of Satan or his multiple faces. Such a state as an earthly kingdom opposes the Kingdom of Christ, fights with it and with the power of things is - consciously or unconsciously - an anti-Christian force, an instrument of the “prince of this world”, his kingdom, and the heads of this kingdom are his faces. The totalitarian state in this sense opposes the Church and fights with it; Thus, in Revelation a new theme is posed and revealed - namely, about the external and internal relationship between the Church and the state, this is the true theme of the 13th, as well as the subsequent chapters of Revelation. The two 13th chapters beg for comparison: the epistle to the Romans and the Apocalypse. So, the new character in Revelation is a beast, to which its corresponding attributes are assimilated: “I saw a beast with seven heads and ten horns.” This is a spiritual and allegorical vision, which is clothed in visual images in the language of the apocalyptic era, starting from the book. Daniel. Here, therefore, a comparison begs for comparison with the images of this book in their similarities and differences. One beast of Revelation corresponds to four great beasts, not similar to each other. The first of them was “like a lion”, the second was “like a bear”, the third was “like a leopard”, the fourth beast was terrible and terrible, which was “different from all the former beasts” (Dan. 7:4-7). In John, these images of bestiality are concentrated in one thing: “the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its legs were like those of a bear, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave it its strength” (13:2). This difference does not change the essence of the matter, which is that the beast embodies the fullness of bestiality with its different sides and manifestations. The Beast of Revelation has seven heads (in Daniel, the same number is obtained by adding the two heads of the first beasts with the four heads of the third and the head of the fourth: Dan. 7:6–8). The seven heads this time are interpreted both concretely and historically in Revelation itself, 17:10–11, as seven emperors and seven mountains (the city of Rome): “the seven heads are seven mountains on which a woman sits, and seven kings, of which five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come, and when he comes, he will not be long.” We can say that some historical mysteries are solved here by others, and one code is deciphered into another. 47 These political hints, which for their time gave the prophecy the sharpness of a political pamphlet, for our time, as for all generally later times, lose their political bouquet and interest, and the septenary number retains only its general meaning - the fullness of the principle that is vitally revealed here, i.e. state totalitarianism and despotism. Ten horns are characteristic of both the fourth beast in Daniel and in Revelation. On his horns are ten crowns (not found in Daniel). These apocalyptic numbers, as already encountered earlier, also signify the fullness and strength of expression of the corresponding life principles - in this case, the demonism of power. But, in addition, this symbolism could also find a specific historical interpretation in modern times, which for us has already lost its meaning. “On his (the beast’s) heads there are blasphemous names.” 48 This expresses the general idea that state totalitarianism, the absolute pretension of state power over humanity, is already in itself godless and blasphemous, is a temptation along the path of which it slides uncontrollably even beyond its conscious spiritual self-determination. Therefore, in relation to any authority, first of all, the apostolic word must have force: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Here this “more” or “less” is possible as a test of the commands of earthly power by the highest criterion of faith and truth of God. But Revelation testifies to more, namely the direct presence of blasphemous names on the heads of the beast, that is, in its consciousness, self-determination, confession. This is not only active non-Christianity in pagan and generally non-Christian states that exist to this day, but also deliberate anti-Christianity as a direct persecution of Christianity. The latter existed at the time the Apocalypse was written, as it exists today, directly in Bolshevism and indirectly in racism. In addition, this also refers to the personal human-divine claims of emperors and heads of state in general, which were expressed in the blasphemous application of divine titles to themselves: Divus Augustus, etc., in giving them divine honors, etc. The diadems themselves on the heads of the beast denote the blasphemous claim of the beast, that is, the totalitarian state, since in Revelation diadems are characteristic only of Christ as a symbol of His kingdom (19:12): “on His head were many diadems, He had a written Name, which no one knew except Himself.” This parody of 10 tiaras with blasphemous names on the heads of the beast is an anti-Christian claim of the state, a “caricature of Christ,” which the Antichrist generally represents in many respects. In general, an absolute state on earth is an image of man-theism and anti-Christianity, the embodiment of the spirit of the prince of this world, about which it is said: “and the dragon gave him (the beast) his strength and throne and great power” (2). If this, in the days of writing Revelation, obviously referred to the Roman state as an image of state absolutism, now it can be applied to the varieties of this principle in general, to Bolshevism and racism (not to mention the pagan man-theology of Japan, etc.). The next verse contains a mystical-political cipher: “and I saw that one of his heads seemed to be mortally wounded, but this deadly wound was healed” (3). This could directly apply to the legend of Nero redivivus - the monster on the throne of the Caesars, who, according to superstitious attitudes towards him, rises with demonic forces even after his death. At least, this is how this verse could sound to contemporaries. However, its more general and significant meaning refers again to the parody of Christ by Satan in the image of the Antichrist, who is not without reason a mystical “monkey” of the divine principle. Just as in 5:6 it is said about Christ: “the Lamb stood as if slain” (ώς ἑσφαγμένον), this same ώς – “as if mortally wounded” is parodied when applied to one of the heads of the beast, showing a false sign of the resurrection. Finally, in an even broader sense, this text generally means the apparent indestructibility and invincibility of the bestial principle, inspired by the dragon, supported by the forces of Satan in history. “And all the earth marveled as they watched the beast, and they worshiped the dragon, who had given power to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like this beast, and who can fight with him?” This describes the hypnosis of state man-theism, which is produced by the power of the beast and is expressed in “worship” of it. 49 It is difficult to add anything to the simplicity and power of these words, which have application throughout world history. Caesarism (Führerism) of our days, both Russian and German, is in its own way a new and seemingly unexpected parallel to Roman absolutism, as well as its triumphant self-affirmation, which drives the peoples subject to it into a state of insanity. But this hypnosis of power is essentially only a cover for the satanic principle that is at work here - the struggle of the prince of this world to reign in this world amid its spiritual devastation and godlessness. The struggle of the beast-state is a special and deliberate theme of the Apocalypse, which is unique to it and is absent in the New Testament revelation. In the Old Testament, it is expressed in the struggle against paganism and its temptations, which surrounded the chosen people of God and constantly corrupted them. This clash reaches its greatest severity, of course, in the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, which is reflected in the apocalypse of the prophet. Daniel (this book is, of course, more apocalyptic than prophetic in type). Other clashes of the Old Testament Church with the power of the beast are described here (Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar). But, of course, only in the New Testament revelation does this antagonism and struggle reach final irreconcilability, and this is expressed precisely in the Revelation of John. In other New Testament writings, like St. Paul and St. Peter (Rom. 13:1–7; Titus 3:1; 1 Tim. 2:12; Pet. 2:13–17), a certain reconciliation with the state is sought and found, its recognition as the legal order of things, ensuring the outside world. The state here serves humanity as a means, and not an end in itself, subject to the highest standards of morality. In this sense, it could be said: “there is no power except from God.” This recognition of the divine value of law applies to any power, that is, not only Christian, but also pagan, since it serves its legal task, but is also limited by it. In those cases when we are dealing with a Christian state, insofar as such has ever existed and can exist, more precisely, with a Christian state, new boundaries and tasks arise for it, namely the service of Christian morality. However, such service presupposes the existence of a certain spiritual balance, in which the state does not go beyond its legal goals. But this state always remains unstable, and the state turns into a beast when it goes beyond these limits. Then, firstly, from the human beginning of life it becomes bestial and brutal, losing its highest spiritual goals, and then, by the force of things, it turns into demonic, satanic, antichrist, and thereby is drawn into direct struggle with Christ and His Church. It is this image of power as a beast, not only with its brutality, but also with its atheism and paganism, and then with active anti-Christianity, that gives Revelation. This teaching about power is his deliberate revelation, which, oddly enough, remained and remains, as it were, unheard in the history of Christianity. True, he was heard - and it was impossible not to be heard - by the contemporaries of the Apocalypse, who themselves experienced the persecution of Nero, Caligula, and Domitian, and in general knew the persecution by the authorities of the Christian faith. However, when these direct persecutions stopped, and the state declared itself Christian and the so-called Constantinian era began, the new state of affairs was perceived as the achieved existence of a “Christian state”, in application to which it becomes inappropriate to even remember the bestiality of state power. True, from time to time the heretical emperors who persecuted the Church still forced us to remember this, but it was easily forgiven and forgotten. In general, peace was concluded with the state, albeit fragile, compromise and insincere. The union of Church and state became its enslavement, bureaucratization, the Church lost its freedom so much that it itself ceased to feel it. For the “state church,” such a union of “Orthodoxy and autocracy” (and in addition other definitions, such as “nationality”) became their normal relationship, and the ears became closed to hearing the word of Revelation. However, now, in the light of modern events, it is no longer possible not to see all the bestiality of power (and also sometimes its brutality), and the revelation of the Apocalypse becomes accessible and modern for us, as if new and hitherto unknown. But now it must be accepted into church dogma as a dogma about the Church and the state. Revelation deals not only with individual historical events, but also with the ontological principles of life in their dialectics and struggle. It gives an image of history not as an idyll of the pseudo-Constantinian era, but as a tragedy, inescapable and terrible, a struggle with Christ by anti-Christian or simply pagan and elemental forces. It further describes the hostile, blasphemous nature of the power of the beast: “a mouth was given to him speaking proudly and blasphemously, and power was given to continue for forty-two months” (13:5). Here, first of all, what arouses bewilderment is the data (ἐδόθη). It can be understood both in the sense of the providential permission of God, and the direct suggestion of the dragon, which, however, could not be realized by his own will alone. It remains to recognize that such a test lies in the ways of Providence, like the temptation of Job, or like demonic possession, or blindness from birth, so that “the works of God may be revealed” (John 9:3). Here we have to distinguish the dual nature of this assumption. It reveals the demonic inspiration and possession of the beast; it is the bestial nature in man that is derived from religious indifference to blasphemous malice. We are now eyewitnesses of active blasphemy, combined with unbelief, in the godless movement in Russia, and all sorts of tricks of blasphemy are combined with the denial of the existence of God in some contradictory frenzy. However, at the same time, even such demonic possession, which - strange to say - according to Revelation is still higher than Laodicean indifference, is included in the spiritual dialectic of human history and, to that extent, has its right to exist, is necessary in its own way. Thus, it turns out that instead of fear, bewilderment and hesitation in faith, which awaken in us in the face of persecution of religion and all kinds of blasphemy, Revelation teaches us with spiritual calm to see in this the allowance of God's Providence. Permission is, although it is an apparent inaction or, as it were, a negative action, here it is revealed precisely in its positive meaning: “given” as a test, as a temptation, as a path, which, on the contrary, is not given to pass, for the fullness of knowledge and the depth of faith. In any case, these lips given to the blasphemous beast suggest a parallel to the angels of God’s wrath, namely the seven seals, trumpets and bowls, which fulfill the divine command given to them. The ability to blaspheme is “the power that was given to him (the beast) to act for forty-two months” (5). This definition of the period once again confirms the power of divine permission, because, obviously, the power of the beast, if it were spontaneously acquired by him or entrusted to him by the dragon, would not have such a time limit, but would remain unlimited. Here this fence is determined by the already known apocalyptic period, which is used in different and even opposite in meaning achievements. This period here also means the completeness of the mystical period. We have a direct parallel to it in Dan. 7:8, 20, 25, the action of the little horn for a time, times and half a time (equal number of months). The same term in different digital versions is applied to the time of the trampling of the holy city by the pagans (11:2), the action of the two witnesses (3), as well as the flight of the wife into the desert (12:6). All these are different aspects of some ontological accomplishment, one mystical period. The question naturally arises: does this mean a one-time event that is not repeated in history? However, we can testify that it has already been repeated in it (and we do not know how many times it will be repeated). In any case, the excessive narrowness of the historical horizon, which would force us to limit this period only to the time of Nero or even the early Christian persecutions, would be decisively inappropriate for our current historical age, which already knows their repetition. Of course, this is also possible in the future. The blasphemy of the beast is depicted in the following terms: “and he opened his mouth to blaspheme against God, to blaspheme His name and His habitation and those who dwell in heaven” (6). We now know from the history of Soviet Russia, Spain (and earlier the “great” French Revolution) the entire deliberate reality of this blasphemy, which is directed against God and against His Name: this is precisely an evil reproach towards the Supreme Being, whose very existence is denied, which, however, does not prevent us from spewing blasphemy against him. Satan himself does not know atheism (for “even the demons believe and tremble”), which is implanted in the union of atheists inspired by him, which is why he himself feels the need for blasphemy, which is, of course, a self-contradiction in the mouths of atheists. However, we constantly observe such a contradiction, an itch, or even a passion for blasphemy among atheists, to whom consistency should only inspire indifference. Name-fighting blasphemy here is combined with blasphemy against everything divine: “His dwelling place (heaven or the church of God) and those living in it (angels and saints).” And this is not only blasphemy, but also war: “and it was given to him to make war with the saints and defeat them” (7). Here again this “given” arouses our bewilderment: how and where this givenness can come from and what it means. In any case, it is God’s permission, although, of course, not His direct will, which, of course, is excluded. But this permission is providential; it is included in the path of building the Kingdom of God. And not only that, this permission or given is not limited to this, but goes even further: “and authority was given to him over every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation, and all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, who was slain from the foundation of the world,” and this thought is further deliberately confirmed: “whoever has an ear, let him hear” (7-9). The beast here is credited with universal power over all nations. This is a thought, on the one hand, terrifying, and on the other, calming, for the spread of the power of the beast is not happening contrary to or apart from the command of God, but as an allowance in the ways of Providence or “given.” Of course, the verbal hyperbolism: “everything” and “everything” should not be taken literally because in the subsequent text we will also encounter a limitation for it, since at the same time “the patience and faith of the saints” will be demonstrated (10). Their holiness, therefore, is still preserved in the world, about which there can be no doubt. As was said above, the blasphemous movement in the world, caused by Satan and carried out by the beast, should not necessarily be understood as a one-time and one-time event. The compiler of Revelation himself had before his eyes what was happening directly; therefore, he observed the era of the early Christian persecution of the Church. However, for our time, these events have already lost their uniqueness; they have become repetitive and have common cosmic features. They are expressed in the fact that people worship the beast, that is, they submit to the totalitarian claims of the state and accept them for themselves as the guiding principles of life, reconciling themselves with the paganization of life, “all who live on earth, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, who was slain before the foundation of the world.” 50 Is there an active predestination to rejection, or at least to non-salvation of those not written in the book of life, or is it just a divine foreknowledge of the plan of history, in which a place is given, along with the salvation of some, for the abandonment of others? Exegetically, no direct answer is given here, and it can only be given for dogmatic reasons. The latter resolutely speak against the fatalistic predestination to the destruction of anyone, but rather in favor of the determinism of universal salvation with the difference in its images and paths. It is this - and only this - that is instilled in the hearing of those who have ears, that is, those who know how to listen, who have mystical attention and understanding. (We had seven similar applications of this same formula in chapters 2 and 3, in the letters to the seven churches, see above). The special character of this pre-election, which overcomes the power of the beast, is further explained: “Whoever leads into captivity will himself go into captivity; whoever kills with the sword must himself be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and faith of the saints” (10). Here two ways, or two methods, of fighting the beast are contrasted: captivity and murder, that is, earthly, bestial violence, which, however, does not lead to success and, quite the contrary, is accompanied by defeat; or through the patience and faith of saints, that is, non-resistance and external defenselessness. However, for a correct understanding of the text it is useful to compare Rom. 13:4: the ruler “does not bear the sword in vain: he is God’s servant, an avenger to punish those who do evil”; like Rev. 19:15: “Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, to smite the nations.” It follows that this non-resistance with the sword, in its various understandings, finds a boundary for itself, beyond which there is still room for Christian warfare. However, this should not be understood as the defense of the Church by the armed force of the state. Her conquering weapon is only “the patience and faith of the saints.” Doesn’t this mean, when applied to the beast, i.e. to a totalitarian, self-sufficient, self-legal state, that for the Church in its relations with the state in history a certain apolitism and hyper-partisanship are natural, to which the militant parties of Bolshevism, racism, fascism, and in general political formations such as the false church are alien? The latter are characterized by claims to the absoluteness of their worldview. The Lord warns the disciples: when “one of those who were with Jesus” wanted to defend Him with the sword, He said to him: “Return your sword to its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). Patience and faith are indicated here as two forces of struggle: passive and active, courage in suffering and enduring it, steadfastness in hope and anticipation of the future. Starting from the 11th verse of the 13th chapter, a new image appears - “another beast”, which, unlike the first one, emerging from the sea, appears “out of the earth”. The interpretation of this distinction by exegetes is that the first beast belongs to the west, the Mediterranean basin, i.e., the Roman Empire, while the second comes from the east, from Asia. The internal meaning corresponding to the indicated difference is such that the power of the first beast is primarily quantitative, based on military strength, while the second is spiritual, occult, mystical, characteristic of a false prophet, bringing into the world the seeds of lies and all kinds of temptation. There is therefore a certain difference between both beasts, although only external and imaginary, but also a similarity that reaches the point of internal identity; the image of the Antichrist is two-faced. This general relationship is expressed in this paradoxical comparison: “he (the other beast) had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.” On the one hand, he adopts the makeup of the Lamb, there is a parody of Him, namely, “he has two horns” like the Lamb. The deceitfulness of this make-up is exposed in advance in the Sermon on the Mount of the true Lamb, in which it was said: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s (= lamb’s) clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). The second beast is directly called “false prophets” in other places of Revelation: 16:13; 19:20; 20:10. We have the same anticipation in the “small (synoptic) Apocalypse”: “many will come in My name and say: “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many” (Matthew 14:5; cf. Mark 13:5–6; Luke 21:8). From here it should be concluded that the false prophet, as a representative of intellectual and mystical power, takes on the image of a Lamb, deceiving precisely with this imaginary meekness and love of his, although in reality he will be a deceiver and, as a bearer of evil, will be of the same spirit with the beast, will not differ from him in essence, although he will hide behind false and flattering speeches. Unlike the first beast, which subjugates itself with fear and violence and makes one say about itself: “who is like this beast and who can fight with it” (4), this beast deceives with flattery. But he receives his inspiration from the first beast, who has it from the dragon and to that extent is also his instrument, the executor of his commands. It is in this sense that it is said that “he acts before him with all the power of the first beast”: “before him,” that is, together with him, fulfilling his will, merging with him and spiritually identifying. However, outwardly he receives “all the power of the first beast,” that is, all the coercive power of the state. The teaching of the false prophet becomes a state-mandatory confession. He becomes the mouth of the beast and a preacher of bestial worship, which is Satanism. By the combined forces of spiritual seduction from the false prophet and external coercion from the state, the forced cult of the beast is carried out - a totalitarian state with absolute claims not only to power, but also to conscience, and it can take on unlimited dimensions and become worldwide. This is expressed in the words: “he (i.e. it is the second beast) that forces the whole earth and those living on it to worship (ἴνα προσκυνήσουσιν - an expression of deification, divine worship) to the first beast, whose wound was healed” (cf. v. 3). What can this picture of the victorious triumph of lies and Satanism historically refer to? Directly in front of the viewer was the power of the Roman emperors with their madness of self-deification in the image of Nero, who instilled in his frightened and trembling contemporaries a superstitious fear of his imaginary resurrection, the legend of Nero redivivus. Of course, there was also a jealous grimace of the Antichrist, who wanted to be like Christ in this too, parodying this similarity with the superstition of his resurrection from the dead. It is also true that the historical panic inspired by these images forced us not only to be horrified by this phenomenon, but also to exaggerate its quantitative dimensions, as well as its qualitative strength. Of course, during the era of persecution of Christianity, there was a battle or even a series of battles against it, but not so much from the side of conscious anti-Christianity - things didn’t come to that then - but from the side of dark and superstitious paganism and state man-theism (then version of early and, compared to the current, still naive racism). Although all this had the stamp of anti-Christianity on it, these were not yet – it must be said frankly – the “last times” of the Antichrist, which were far from approaching. Historically, such an image of Rome and the Roman Empire was still a great exaggeration, as we now see and know. It was only a preliminary or an image that was revealed by the seer in prophetic clairvoyance regarding and in connection with contemporary events, but nothing more. From here follows a general methodological conclusion regarding the interpretation of not only these chapters, but also Revelation in general as containing a plan or diagram of world history in specific artistic and historical images. Although one cannot help but find in them a connection with the events of the contemporary era, however, this connection should not be exaggeratedly overestimated, deciphering them historically in all accuracy and completeness. This is usually done by exegetes, thereby turning a book of prophetic symbols and ontological revelations into a political pamphlet on contemporary topics. The same rule must be guided when interpreting this chapter, in which one can see much more spiritual allegories than historical specifics. The actual transformation of Revelation into a political pamphlet or cipher detracts from its prophetic significance, confining it only to a certain era, although for us and for our time it has clearly outgrown such a limitation. Following the first beast, the appearance of the second is described in the same language of historical symbols. In particular, it is said about him: “and he performed great signs, so that he brought down fire from heaven to earth in the presence of people” (13). This was said under the certain impression of the story of 1 Kings. 18:38 ~and 2 Kings. 1:10 ~with fire coming down from heaven for the burnt offering and for the fiftieth (cf. Rev. 21:5). No matter how you look at the textual understanding of the Old Testament story, in any case, it is difficult to accept literally this testimony about the bringing down of “fire from heaven before people” (if only for the fact that in our days this fire is brought down in unlimited quantities by the “air fleet”, apart from any miraculous meaning, unless one sees “miracles of the Antichrist” in all this). And there is no need to understand these images literally, and not see in them at all expressions of the stunning impressions of the appearance of the false prophet. This understanding is more consistent with the general content of the Gospel prophecy: “false Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 13:22), as well as 2 Thess. 2:9: “The coming of (the wicked one) according to the work of Satan will be with all power and signs and lying wonders.” In the same sense, this story continues further in Revelation: “and with the miracles that it was given to him to perform before the beast (that is, by his power and inspiration), he deceives those who live on the earth, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast, which has a wound from the sword, but lives.” False miracles - without further designation - introduce forced idolatry, not only the worship of the beast, but also the veneration of its image, that is, all kinds of corresponding state emblems. (Something similar can now be observed in the countries of the cult of the beast, in particular in modern Germany with its “swastika”, portraits of the Fuhrer, Heil Hitler, etc., as well as in Soviet Russia, where the embalmed corpse of Lenin, a false power, is now the subject of forced worship along with the worship of Stalin). However, Revelation speaks not only of this superstitious idolatry, but also of such a mystical trick (there is no other way to call it): “and it was given to him to put spirit into the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would speak and act in such a way that everyone who would not worship the image of the beast would be killed” (15). Here we are talking about the manifestation of religious quackery and superstition, which are moving talking statues (whether through human ventriloquism, ventriloquism, or a person hidden inside them). There are mentions of this in Christian writers, 51 as well as in pagan ones, 52 although this is not directly attributed to any specific imperial cult. Such mass hypnosis of fear and superstition could exist in pagan darkness. But, of course, such an image can be used even less literally than the bringing down of fire from heaven, for later times, and in particular for our days. If it can be applied to us, then, of course, only in the general allegorical sense of all kinds of intimidation of people in order to keep them in a state of magical stupor. This is how we must understand this threat, due to which not only the beast itself, through the direct action of its authorities, but even one thought about it acts paralyzingly and murderously, so that “we kill everyone who will not worship the image of the beast,” that is, even ideologically, in thoughts, and not just in fact, in actions there will be no sufficient honor (προσκυνήσωσιν - to render him divine worship). This allegory expresses the idea of ​​general intimidation by the power of the beast - the absolutism of the state, which we observe at different times in history right up to the present day, when the numerical minority of the party, by the force of its cohesion and mercilessness, rapes the lives of peoples: such are Bolshevism, racism, fascism. This means not only the actual violence of the authorities, armed with all means of external coercion, but also its purely spiritual hypnosis. Therefore, it is attributed to the action of the false prophet, who encourages those living on earth to spiritual idolatry, “to make the image of the beast,” and then “to put spirit into the image of the beast.” In all this, the final triumph of despotism is expressed, together with the cruelty of spiritual and external tyranny. A further trick of the false prophet, aimed at the same affirmation of the absolutism of the beast, is expressed in a special spiritual mark, or mark, as a symbol of the slavery of this power: “and he will do this to everyone - small and great, rich and poor, free and slaves - a mark will be placed on their right hand or on their forehead” (16). There is, obviously, hyperbole for everyone here, as should be concluded from the general context, which still presupposes the presence of spiritual survivors even during this persecution and despotism of the Antichrist, but this expresses the widest distribution of this despotic influence. “The mark” (χάραγμα) “on the forehead or on the right hand” 53 in all the uncertainty of this image obviously means some kind of marking, no matter what this spiritual fall is expressed in (such in our time could be joining the party of the Bolsheviks or racists - moreover, not out of conviction, if one can speak of such in cases of this spiritual brutality, but under duress, out of fear or for the sake of self-interest). What follows is another feature of the same enslavement of the individual to the state, which has not yet found its full realization in ancient times, but is receiving truly prophetic confirmation now. This is enslavement of an economic nature, through a card and ticket system of distribution of economic goods to satisfy the most basic needs “and that 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” (17). Everyone who preserves and asserts freedom from the despotism of the beast is declared an economic boycott, deprived of “food cards” with all its dire consequences - the threat of famine. “The mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of its name” in this case is one and the same - it expresses a sign of citizenship and loyal feelings in relation to the beast. Such is this prophetic and terrifying picture of the future, which is being realized before our eyes and in our days, and no one can say whether this is already the end and peak, or only the beginning of the disastrous enslavement to the beast and the false prophet, organized anti-Christianity. And this whole picture is imprinted with a certain mystical cipher, denoting the name of the beast through the number of this name. It is preceded by a special emphasis on its meaning: “here is wisdom” (even with a member: ἡ σοφία). Here, of course, is not the highest divine wisdom, but a definite, concrete thought, like some mystical secret. This earthly wisdom does not presuppose for itself the inspiration of the highest wisdom, but only the mind: “who has the mind” (ὁ ἔχων νοῦν) practical (and not theoretical, contemplative, “pure” reason), common sense, cunning and cunning, as this corresponds to the base object of this understanding. We are now talking about “counting,” that is, finding out, spying, determining the “number of the beast.” This is possible and accessible to man, because the bestial number is still human, and the Antichrist - personal or communal - in this case it makes no difference - is still a man, albeit obsessed with anti-Christian man-theism. “The number of the beast” - 666, or, in another version, 616 - has always represented the greatest mystery in the interpretation of the Apocalypse, from the 2nd century to the present day. This very technique of encrypting proper names through the sum of numbers corresponding to letters, the so-called gematria, was generally widespread not only among Jews, but also among the Greeks and Romans of this era. 54 However, it is clear that the same sum could be obtained from different terms (and also depending on the language). Therefore, the exact deciphering of the “animal number” is in any case not indisputable. Obviously, for this, a special key is needed, presupposing the special “wisdom” of the initiates. There is some hint here about the existence of such a secret order, but known to John. Since ancient times, different interpretations of the animal number have been proposed: some attributed it generally to paganism: τειτάν or εθὐανας (in St. Irenaeus) or λατεῖνος (in Hippolytus and Eusebius), others see here the name of the Roman emperors, first of all, of course, Nero, but also Caligula (for 616). Here it is possible to assume motives and political conspiracy due to the fact that it was not always safe to directly call a spade a spade. However, such a motive does not fit with the heroic and confessional spirit with which Revelation is imbued. As for the nature of the number 666 = 2x333, it belongs to the category of apocalyptic numbers, expressing, on the one hand, the highest power and quality - three times, but doubled, so to speak, in a double aspect, expressing ambiguity and deceit. In comparison with the sacred number 7, it also expresses a certain incompleteness and inferiority: 6 = 7–1, some kind of shadow lies on it. In general, to this day, only fortune telling remains to interpret this number. 55 If we recognize here the mystery of the revelation about this number of the beast, which was accessible to contemporaries, then for us it has long ago, more precisely, from the very beginning, ceased to be accessible and only in vain disturbs the thought with its mystery. As far as the Lord wills, the mystery of this name will be revealed to the end in the fullness of time, but for now we are left to pass by the incomprehensible, and to that extent, the code that has already become mute for us due to the incomprehensibility of the code. If our attention is attracted by mystery, then the riddle no longer attracts. Meanwhile, the “number of the beast” has become a riddle for us, and our efforts to unravel it stem more from irritated curiosity than from piety. Only one thing needs to be said: of all the features of Revelation that belong to the language and literary manner of the era, this one bears its greatest imprint, which is now alien and already distant to us. By this character, inherent in the literary style of the era and finding a parallel in the works of the apocrypha, Revelation differs from all New Testament writing, as well as from other writings of the Apostle John, i.e. Fourth Gospel and Epistles. Although we can and should find in them individual features that force us to recognize the unity of their compiler, or, in any case, confirm it, we must admit that they still represent, as it were, two completely different worlds, and we absolutely cannot imagine the “animal number” on the pages of the fourth Gospel, as well as the entire New and Old Testament in general (not excluding even the book of the prophet Daniel). The symbolism of Revelation, and especially its "gematria", remains a completely sui generis phenomenon. By this, it stands out from the rest of the composition of divine revelation, perhaps, as an object of deliberate mystery, separated from it by the closeness of these images, their inaccessibility to understanding, but for us now by their actual meaninglessness. It is now even becoming mystically, spiritually and theologically unhealthy for us to strive to decipher this code. There is a tendency in this to a kind of occultism, which is not theology, but may even be hostile to it. So, leaving aside historical and literary-critical exegesis, which has its own relative scientific value, we must admit our powerlessness for the theological interpretation of the symbol of the “animal number”. Here we need a new revelation, which is not extorted by guesswork and tricks until it is given from above. And what is accessible to us now refers to the literary style of the era, is said in the language of the 1st-2nd centuries AD and no longer sounds for the 20th. Therefore, we can only grasp the general meaning of this symbolism, since it generally refers to the ominously demonic nature of man-theism, which, however, arises and reveals itself within the limits of humanity, although poisoned by it. All these manifestations of the brutal principle in man, no matter how blasphemously pretentious they may be, are only human rebellion, the titanism of Luciferism and totalitarianism, which is in different senses a hyperbole of humanity, its rising wave, which has to subside and crumble in ignominy... And “wisdom” here refers precisely to this comprehension: “whoever has understanding, let him count the number of the beast, for it is a human number,” but also only a human one. Everything else, as if it exceeds it, is only a pose, a claim and a counterfeit, and it is precisely the fullness of the divine that man-theism lacks... According to the internal and external rhythm of Revelation, chapter 14 in its contemplations is the complete opposite of the previous one as one of the heaviest and darkest in it. Here the appearance of both beasts on earth is opposed by the appearance of the Lamb on Mount Zion with His saints. “And I looked, and behold a Lamb stood on Mount Zion” (1). What does this place mean here? Is this a heavenly or earthly vision? It is in any case heavenly, since it refers to the Lamb, as well as to the whole setting and other features of the vision (see below). But at the same time, the place of this appearance of the Lamb is indicated “on Mount Zion.” Is there a need to understand this expression precisely topographically, referring it to Jerusalem, which was already destroyed at the time of the writing of Revelation, or should we see here a general, rather spiritual indication of the stronghold and fortress of the Church, taking the name of Zion in prophetic usage? 56 However, it can also be attributed to the Zion of the coming Jerusalem as the place of Christ’s appearance on earth. This vision is not accompanied by a designation of its time; on the contrary, it must be seen as one of the images of apocalyptic accomplishments that rise above the boundaries of space and time or, in any case, cannot be dated to them. However, the entire meaning of this instruction remains in force: the main feature of Revelation is such that human history, like the Kingdom of God, takes place not only in heaven, through the seat of the Son of God at the right hand of the Father, but also on earth on which He reigns. Therefore, it should be said about this appearance of His that it is heavenly and earthly. It is the appearance in heaven of the glorified Lamb on earth, even before the transfiguration in glory, that is, before the Parousia. “And with Him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads” (1). In contrast to the seal of the beast and its mark on the hand or on the forehead, which was discussed in the previous chapter (13:16), here the chosen ones of God are sealed with the Name of His Father on the forehead. The number 144 thousand, 12 x 12, is the number of the fullness of the Church of the Old and New Testaments, already known to us. We met him in 7:4–8, which spoke of those who were sealed from all the tribes of Israel also receiving seals on their foreheads (3). Does this identical number of sealed ones refer to the same chosen ones spoken of in both these chapters 7 and 14, so that the difference does not relate to the persons, but to the different stages of their spiritual path and the trials they passed through? Or are these completely different pluralities: the first are the twelve tribes of Israel, it makes no difference whether we understand the natural or the spiritual, the second are virgins (see below, 4), or should we identify them? We do not find a direct answer in the book itself, so their identification remains possible. In the first sealing nothing is said about the signs on which it is based, so that it itself is an election and, as it were, the will of God, in the second it is put in connection with the special feat of virginity of God's chosen ones, which, however, is not excluded as a possibility for the first. It is important that amid the general spiritual flood, this spiritual ark of salvation for the righteous is built by the special guidance of God, in which their chosenness is expressed. Characteristic in both cases is a certain number, completeness, multi-unity. What follows is a majestic and stunning description of heavenly singing: “And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpists playing their harps. They sing, as it were, 57 a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders.” We already know this from Ch. 5:8–9, like 19:6, with some variations, but with the main difference that the song of the fifth chapter, which is heard in heaven in the face of the Lamb, the glorified Christ, “as if slain” and “victor,” belongs to the four living creatures and twenty-four elders, i.e., primarily to the heavenly order, while song 14 (like chapter 19) belongs 144 thousand saints from the human race, and therefore it is sung before the throne and before the four living creatures and elders, i.e. before the heavenly world (a new confirmation of the heavenly-earthly divine-human character of this appearance of the Lamb: “and no one could learn this song except these 144 thousand redeemed from the earth” (3) of God’s chosen ones. The power of redemption extends, of course, to the entire human race. However, these chosen ones are called redeemed in a deliberate sense, as those who realized for themselves the power of redemption through the feat of their holiness. It is said about them: “they redeemed from among men (as) the firstfruits 58 (firstborn) to God and the Lamb (ἀπαρχὴ τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῷ ἀρνίῷ). This expresses their exclusive chosenness in their sacrificial following of God and the Lamb, and in this sense primacy in the Church is also given about them. definition: “These are those who have not defiled themselves with their wives, for they are virgins” (παρθένος) (4) Here one can see ascetics of the monastic order, which happened in the history of exegesis, but it is also possible to understand the marital state, “marriage is honorable and the bed is undefiled” (Heb. 13:4), as was characteristic primarily of the apostles themselves, except for the apostles. St. John In general, here we mean the purity of marriage or extramarital life. Further, παρθένος - virgins - can refer to both sexes, both men and women (which corresponds to the feminine gender - ἠ παρθένος in the New Testament, however, the same word is also used for the masculine gender). The difficulty of the text relates only to the words: “they were not defiled with their wives,” as if forcing it to be attributed to the male sex and excluding (at least in part) the female, and generally forcing one to mean here male, monastic celibacy. Others (Charles I. p. II, 8–9) see here a later interpolation. Of course, this or that understanding does not have a decisive significance for the general idea of ​​the text, although, indeed, the mention of defilement specifically with wives, i.e. this tilt towards the monastic ideal, and only a male one, is somewhat unexpected, and first of all, it seems to exclude from the “firstfruits” myrrh-bearing women, martyrs, and female ascetics. The second definition of God's chosen ones is: “they are those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (4). “And there is no guile in their mouth, they are blameless before the throne of God” (5). This loyalty and devotion to Christ is characteristic of the “firstborn” of Christianity. Now the main and difficult dogmatic question arises in understanding this chapter, namely regarding the appearance of the Lamb surrounded by His elect. How should we understand it? If we bring it closer to the vision of the fifth chapter, where the slain Lamb takes the book from God the Father sitting on the throne, then it should be interpreted as taking place in heaven, that is, as a heavenly revelation, similar to the Epiphanies of the Old Testament (the manifestation of the glory of God to Moses and Ezekiel in the Epiphany of Isaiah), as well as the New Testament: the heavenly appearance of Christ to the first martyr Stephen, the Apostle Paul and Christian saints in general. The vision of Christ here is His Theophany in glory, “seated at the right hand of the Father” - this is how it can be expressed in a general dogmatic definition. This is not a new coming of Christ into the world in any sense, but only His heavenly appearance: it is given to a person in a state of mystical ecstasy, which the ap. Paul (2 Cor., 12), in “the rapture to the third heaven,” “I do not know whether in the body or out of the body, the Lord knows” (3), mystical transcendence. A similar or analogous vision of first the Father sitting on the throne (chapter 4), and then the Son (chapter 5) in Revelation is described as transcendental to earthly existence, although related to it (book). There is no earthly humanity present here, but only the angelic world praising the Lamb. The only difficulty in this interpretation of the vision is that this doxology involves “every creature that is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and everything that was in them, I heard, spoke” (5:13). This last addition must here be understood “proleptically”, as a prophetic anticipation not of what already exists, but of what is about to be, which is why it is especially confirmed in heaven: “and the four living creatures said: Amen” (14). So, chapters 4 and 5, according to the general plan of Revelation, represent a anticipation of earthly events in heaven. But what is chapter 14 in relation to them, which opens with the appearance of the Lamb on Mount Zion, that is, in Jerusalem, in this world and on this earth? And how can we understand the condition of the 144,000 chosen ones in this regard? Do they belong to this earthly life, as apparently the 144,000 sealed from the 2 tribes of Israel also belonged (7:3–8)? Or they too have already crossed the gates of death and entered the other world; what should we conclude from the continuation of this vision in chapter 7? The latter speaks of “a great multitude from every nation and kindred and people and tongue, who stood before the throne and before the Lamb” and “those who came out of the great tribulation,” and “the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will feed them and lead them to living fountains of water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (14–18). This last picture undoubtedly refers to the state after death, and here the afterlife of the dead in communion with the Lamb is described, filled with the bliss of this communion with the abolition of all sorrow (“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes”). However, the very comparison of the sealed 12 tribes of Israel with those in the afterlife allows us to assume such a connection between both worlds, here and beyond, in which such communication of life and, in any case, its parallelism or synchronicity is possible. Otherwise, we can only assume that the sealing of the 12 tribes of Israel takes place during the transition from the life of this world to the afterlife, and therefore should be understood as relating - at least in terms of the force of its implementation - also to the afterlife. In a word, this entire chapter 14 is a revelation about the afterlife of those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and who follow Him wherever He goes (4). Here we must first of all admit that here is a revelation about the afterlife of the righteous even before the resurrection, about which our school dogmatics knows nothing and does not speak. She walks past him, as if not noticing him. The meaning and power of this revelation refers to the fact that the righteous in the afterlife already have the special bliss of communion with Christ. Christ is already in them and through them preparing His reign in this world before His Parousia. Now the question is, where, to what area of ​​existence should this appearance of the Lamb in chapter 14 be attributed? And to what world do those 144,000 chosen ones who stand with him on Mount Zion belong? This question contains a difficult and completely new dogmatic problem, namely about the approach of Christ to the world and His presence in it before the Parousia. It is clear that those who sing “as it were a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders” have already passed into the next world. They remain in the afterlife state in communication with the heavenly world, but before their resurrection, while still in a state of death, in the separation of soul from body. Their singing is described as "a voice from heaven." But at the same time, they are with the Lamb, who appears not in heaven, on the throne, but “stands on Mount Zion,” that is, in this earthly world, and, however, this is not yet His second coming. Thus, here it is testified that the Lord is in heaven and His seat is at the right hand of the Father, during which He promises the disciples to prepare a place “to take you to Himself, so that you also may be where I am” (Jn. 14:3), is also connected with some of His coming, or stay, or at least appearance in the world. The latter is equally different from both the Second Coming, after which “we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17), and from the Eucharistic, mysterious inseparability from the world through “remembrance”, in the communion of Body and Blood, since the Lamb is seen “standing on the mountain.” At this time, 144,000 sealed ones belonging to the world of the departed are also somehow visible with Him. How can we understand dogmatically this connection of the Lamb’s presence in the world in unity with those who are and remain in the afterlife? When answering this question, some interpreters compare this chapter with Ch. 20. It speaks of the “first resurrection” of those who “came to life and reigned with Christ” for 1000 years. Here they see a “prolepel”, a preliminary, proleptic narration about the same thing. However, such an idea that here one can see the murmur of the 1000th anniversary is not in itself sufficient to clarify the special meaning of this vision of the Lamb on Mount Zion as a mutual connection of chapters 7, 14 and 20, as is clear from the following comparisons. First of all, what is the ratio of the 144,000 of the 12 tribes of Israel (carnal or spiritual) of chapter 7 who were sealed with an angel, and the 144,000 who “had the name of the Lamb and His Father written on their foreheads” (which is also a type of sealing) in chapter 14? Does this number refer to identical or different chosen ones? We do not have direct grounds for a decisive answer to this question: the same number speaks for identification, but it alone is not enough for this, especially since 144,000 can be understood not only as a numeral, but also as a common noun used for an expression that may be characteristic of different speakers of it. If we understand the first sealing as relating only to Israel, then the second, relating to Christian ascetics or ascetics, differs from the first. However, there is no obstacle to including among Christian virgins in the general sense of purity and chastity not only those living in celibacy, as well as in marriage. There is also no reason not to include in it the sealed sons of Israel, especially understood in an expanded, not only carnal, but also spiritual sense. However, the final solution to the question of the identity or difference of 144,000 in both cases is not in itself decisive. It is much more important to know here that there are chosen ones, bound by closeness to Christ, either by virtue of a personal seal or by virtue of a special feat, ascetic or heroic, expressed in special fidelity to the Lamb, “who follow Him wherever He goes” (14:4). More significant in relation to the meaning of 14:1-5 is the question of that fellowship with the Lamb in which the 144,000 "stand with Him" ​​on Mount Zion are found. This last, indeed, makes us think that the Lamb on earth, in His return to the world even before the Parousia, is in special communication with the elect from the afterlife; through the same thing they also take part in the earthly construction of the Church, through the accession of the Lamb. We came across this general idea even earlier, in chapter 6:10–11, where it is said how, after the fifth seal is broken, the souls of those killed for the word of God (which is also a special kind of calling or sealing) cry out to God for vengeance, and they, along with white robes, are given “peace” for a short time. And that prayer cry, like the answer to it, when heard, also testifies to the afterlife participation of the deceased in earthly history, but here it is limited only by the power of the prayerful appeal to God in the afterlife. But this same text also has a connection with 14:1–5, since in the latter this same thought is expressed more specifically: it is here that we are talking about a certain union with Christ on Mount Zion of the souls of these chosen ones still in their state beyond the gates of death. Here is evidence of a certain mystery of revelation, now still inaccessible to us, namely about the coming of Christ into the world before Parousia, as well as this afterlife participation of the chosen 144,000 in it. If we continue to develop this thought even further, until the “first resurrection,” then it will turn out to be related to it, indeed, in a proleptic relation, as a kind of anticipation. However, in itself, this comparison or pronunciation does little to understand the corresponding chapters, each in its own content, and therefore there is no need to exaggerate its exegetical significance. But what is really especially important here is the idea that Christ at certain times in the history of the world came to earth to reign on it, and the beginning of these comings is marked precisely by Chapter 14, “Mount Zion” is the place of His new, but still pre-parous, appearance in the world. Moreover, it is not said whether He is really visible on earth in this coming of His, or whether He remains invisible, being accessible only to knowledge in the afterlife. We will encounter this question in further presentation. The special rhythm characteristic of Revelation is expressed in a peculiar harmony of dissonances, in which there is an alternation of visions and evidence of an opposite nature. What happens on earth does not coincide at all with what is revealed in heaven, and the thickening of earthly darkness is accompanied by heavenly triumph. Thus, in chapter 11, after the great earthquake and the “second woe” in the heavens, the coming of the Kingdom of Christ is proclaimed (15–16, 19). Likewise, here the appearance of the Lamb on Mount Zion is marked by a new and special turn in history towards the advent of more decisive last times. This is expressed in the second half of chapter 14 in the solemn proclamation through the angels, as well as in their actions. A series of visions of angels opens with “another 59 angel flying in the middle of the sky” (16), his triumphant worldwide appearance. He “had the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and kindred and tongue and people” (6). This Gospel is proclaimed universally and throughout the Church, apart from or above the denominational and national divisions of the Church. This is the preaching of the Evangelical, universal Christianity, in which confessions and nationalities merge or are overcome. We must remember that in general the very origin of Revelation, as well as the Gospel, is, so to speak, pre-confessional; it does not know the “division of churches,” and this preaching of the eternal Gospel obviously dates back to the time before their very origin. Here it presupposes that they have already been overcome, freedom from their limitations. Here, therefore, there is also a silent preaching of the “union of churches,” which must take place before the end of the world. 60 The question naturally arises, what is this eternal Gospel and how does it relate to the Four Gospels given to the Church? Is there a new revelation that complements or reveals this last one? It is difficult to answer this question with final certainty. We can only say that the Four Gospels are irrevocable, for they contain the miraculous image of Christ and His teaching. However, its very perception is not immobilized, but, on the contrary, it is revealed in a new way at all times of history along with the life of humanity in Christ. It is not a letter, but a spirit. It is given not only to time, but to all times; it is supertemporal and in this sense eternal. Moreover, it belongs to the life not only of this century, but also of the next century. However, to understand the Gospel only as a book, even if only a book of books, but still one of the books, to which other, further books, even the New Testament ones, even the Apocalypse, can be added, in a certain sense is hardly correct. Isn’t it more correct to assimilate the uniqueness and absoluteness of the Gospel in a certain sense, and even consider the entire New Testament together with the Old as an interpretation of the Gospel? The latter, moreover, is not even limited only to the written word, but includes the entire new tradition and understanding of the Church, the entire life of the Church in Christ and with Christ. And in any case, it would mean to belittle St. The Four Gospels, if next to it and in addition to it we admit some new Gospel (fifth?), hitherto unknown. This would mean admitting some kind of insufficiency of the Four Gospels, which is impossible. But this eternal Gospel is always read anew and in a new way in the life of both an individual and the entire Church. It seems that this is exactly what – no more, but no less – is signified here by the angel’s words about the eternal Gospel, perceived in a prophetic spirit, not deadening, but life-giving. However, this new revelation of St. The gospel in the eternity of its truth refers to its perception associated with the approach of the end and the impending judgment, and it will be carried out on the basis of the gospel. The angel calls to all humanity, both those who are able to hear this gospel and those who are not: “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made heaven and earth and the sea and springs of water” (7). The onset of judgment will be unexpected, for “just as lightning comes from the east and is visible even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27) be sudden, when “he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens and to the end of them” (31). How can we combine this suddenness of the onset of the judgment of Christ with those preliminary events about which it is spoken of in Revelation? Obviously, there is no contradiction here, since both relate to different planes of existence or to different centuries, to the present and the future, which are interconnected and correlative, but are not included in the unity of times and periods. Humanity is once again called to the fear of God and repentance before the end. It is much more difficult to answer here another question, which is also the general question of the entire Apocalypse: how will the anticipation of the Angel revealing the eternal Gospel take place and be perceived in the general context of history, in the life of the world? You can ask yourself how he will notice this appearance of the angel, how will he hear his voice, deafened by his own voices, chatter, noise and his own thunder? How can its immanence, having opened itself, give place to the transcendence of the messenger of heaven? We do not and cannot have an answer other than faith: it will be whether it appears as a new spiritual self-consciousness, which, having arisen in some, will spread to others, chosen to become universal, to embrace the entire Christian world. Or it will be a new prophetic revelation, we don’t know. But in any case, it will be a spiritual event that has not yet occurred, but its coming is expected. Without it, the world cannot mature to its end, and it will appear at the same time as the action of the Spirit of God, the power of Christ in the world, and at the same time as a response comprehension of humanity, “synergy.” At the same time, it is important to emphasize, in accordance with the spirit of the Apocalypse, that it will take place in both worlds, the earthly and the afterlife. In other words, the “unification of churches” on the basis of their new evangelization will take place not only in earthly history, but also in heavenly metahistory, in the afterlife. The saints are spoken of in chapter 14, at the beginning, but they are also remembered now in connection with the harbingers of the end. It speaks of the “patience of the saints” and their blessed end (12) (see below). This is a sign of the approaching end through the maturation of historical Christianity, according to the Revelation of John. This will be the worship of the Creator of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water, combined with reverence and fear of God, as well as His glorification in the approaching “hour of His judgment” (7). The first angel, the harbinger of the eternal Gospel, is followed by two other messengers of God's thunderstorm, judgment of the sinful world. The first of them heralds the fall of “Babylon”: “Babylon, the great city, is fallen, fallen, because she made all nations drink of the wrathful wine of her fornication” (8). Here we mean another, black universality, Babylonian, fornication of the “great city.” This is spoken about proleptically for now (more about this in chapters 17 and 18). It is obvious that the great city of Babylon is generally synonymous with human fornication, generally associated with urban civilization (the closest image is Rome). Here the internal, already predetermined in heaven, but not yet manifested externally, is announced, the fall of Babylon in the general judgment of the world, the hour of which has “come.” These two are also followed by a third angel, announcing heavenly judgment over those who worshiped the beast and his image and received his mark (we already know the meaning of these symbols). “He will drink the wine of the wrath of God, the whole wine prepared in the cup of His wrath, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will ascend forever and ever, and they will have no rest day or night” (10-11). This text, of course, is proleptic: it also speaks of the heavenly predetermination of the fate of beast worshipers. First of all, it is necessary to correlate this with the Gospel and other prophecies about the Last Judgment and through this determine, so to speak, its specific weight. First of all, it is impossible not to notice that Revelation expresses this idea of ​​judgment and judgment over beast worshipers in its own language, moreover, other than the Gospel; in particular, in the Small Apocalypse of the Synoptics (Matthew 25, with parallels), as well as other New Testament texts of similar content, nothing is said at all about the worship of the beast. Revelation contains another special thought. First of all, here we can ask whether Babylon and the Beast Worshipers are the same. After all, regarding Babylon, the collapse of the false principles of its life is evidenced, while regarding the beast worshipers, it is said about their personal destiny, and not about beast worship as such. If it is possible for him to find a known parallel between the teachings of St. Paul in his letter to Thessalonians about the Antichrist (and even in the 1st Epistle of John), then there still remains a certain difference between the Antichrist and the beast, despite all the internal connections. In any case, except for Revelation, the judgment of beast worshipers is no longer directly spoken of. The question is further asked whether this threat is addressed and reaches them themselves, or whether it is a heavenly voice that foretells the future as evidence of the truth of God, as a prophecy. Moreover, if we take the general context of the same issue in previous and subsequent chapters, here this is done proleptically, and we will meet with it again, and more than once. For now, this is, so to speak, a general preliminary judgment of God over beast worshipers, which, however, also contains some special features. Here we speak in symbolic imagery of “the wine of the wrath of God” and “the torment of fire and brimstone.” It is difficult to understand this here other than as a poetic expression of the general thought about the wrath of God and “before the holy angels and before the Lamb” (10). However, what does this “pre” mean here? Does this refer to the Last Judgment of God, for which Christ comes with all His angels? (Matthew 25:31) But, firstly, there is no mention here of “all nations” who will then gather before Him, and secondly, this is not yet the Last Judgment at all, for Parousia has not yet arrived. The fate of the beast worshiper in the afterlife is prophetically revealed in the vision of the Seer, and this is followed by a voice from heaven about the bliss of those who “die in the Lord” from now on (13). Obviously, life in this world still continues, therefore the revelation of judgment should be accepted either proleptically, as relating to the future Last Judgment, or, more appropriately, attributed to punishment in the afterlife. This is not contradicted by what was said that this “torment in fire and brimstone” obviously means spiritual burning after death, in a state of separation from the body, which will take place before St. By the angels and before the Lamb. On the contrary, this is precisely where the spiritual power of this burning will be expressed, that it will consist in separation from Christ and His angels, and this will be the greatest torment in all its strength and severity, like the torment of love for Him. This is also “the smoke of torment, which will ascend forever and ever” (11), that is, for an indefinite length of time. Of course, this is not a synonym for “eternal torment” in the sense of evil infinity, as Catholic theologians conclude (Allo, 1. p. 219) (but, unfortunately, not only them). Such an interpretation cannot be accepted here simply because this takes place in the afterlife, before the Parousia and the Last Judgment (even if we assume that it pronounces a sentence of eternal torment in the sense of endless time, which in this sense, of course, also cannot be allowed). “Centuries of centuries” means here, as in other similar texts, their change and alternation as changing states in the overcoming of what has to be lived out exhaustively, to the end. But this is not at all a meaningless, monotonous repetition or continuation of the same state in its deadly monotony. This is generally not characteristic of the spiritual world; we are talking here specifically about the active overcoming of the torment of rejection “before” the angels and the Lamb, which, exhausted in itself, finds its end. The activity of this elimination is expressed in the second half of the same verse 11: “and they will have no rest day or night.” There is an obvious analogy here, or rather a contrast, to what is said in 4:8 about the four heavenly animals, who also “have no rest day or night, calling out” the thrice-holy praise to the Almighty. And just as here, in heaven, there is, of course, no distinction between “day and night,” and therefore this expression refers not to earthly time, but to transtemporal existence, the same thing here, the absence of rest either day or night expresses the highest degree of spiritual living out in standing before the Lamb in the torments of repentance, which, accumulating, has the ability to live itself out in this. Therefore, this repetition of “neither day nor night” in the latter case has not only a negative, but also a positive meaning. In accordance with the rhythm of contrasts characteristic of Revelation, an outwardly unexpected transition is made here from bestial worship to holiness: “here is the patience of the saints, keeping the commandments of God and the faith in Jesus.” This here, asserting a certain correlation and simultaneity of both spiritual states, once again confirms that it refers to a time even earlier than Parousia, before the end of earthly life. To be in a plague-ridden atmosphere among animal worshipers and totalitarians, of course, imposes a special feat of patience for the saints, for which those who are destined to bear it are crowned. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me: Write: From now on blessed are those who die in the Lord; to her, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labors” (12). This means that the spill of evil on earth corresponds to the special bliss of those who have preserved their faith to the end and die with it in the Lord; they will “rest from their labors.” This text is in relation to 4:11, which says, in response to the cry of the souls killed for the word of God, about judgment and vengeance, so that “they may rest for a little while,” until the number of those who also “will be killed” is fulfilled. Now “from now on” they are promised peace. Something, however, has happened since then both in the earthly and in the afterlife, which was reflected in the fate of the righteous who find their resting place (for which the Church always prays, guiding those going there to the afterlife). It is here that something was added that was obviously missing earlier: “and their deeds follow them.” Does this refer only to the own afterlife fate of the righteous, who receive reward from their deeds, or is something new added here, then still unprecedented, although already outlined? Then the righteous, in powerless languor, only asked for heavenly vengeance as help for the living, but now it is said about them that their deeds “follow them.” This means that they gain influence on the destinies of the world, although they are given an afterlife participation in its construction, which will be further revealed in the first resurrection, but here it is outlined proleptically. In a word, here the truth is once again confirmed, contained only in Revelation, namely, that the afterlife is in a state of active, and not just passive expectation of the resurrection, and life beyond the grave creatively continues. The reward of “patience” of the saints who came out of the great tribulation has a parallel in the picture of chapter 7, both of which represent a kind of recapitulation or repetition (also common in Revelation). This is precisely the picture of the bliss of “those clothed in white robes”, who came “out of the great tribulation” and “for this abiding before the throne of the Lamb, serving Him day and night” (and isn’t this service precisely a continuation of “their works coming after them”). Here the heavenly bliss of the righteous in communion with the Lamb (7:9-17) is described in the most powerful terms (cf. especially v. 16–17), and it is said that “God will wipe away all their tears,” and yet all this happens in the afterlife before Parousia. Undoubtedly, this also applies to the preparation of the general resurrection and transfiguration of the world, which takes place in the interruption of the Lamb at the right hand of the Father. The next vision of chapter 14 contains an image of the judgment of the world, also proleptically, as carried out earlier by Parousia within the framework of earthly history. This is a preliminary, similar to that described after the opening of the sixth seal (7:12-17). “And I looked, and behold a bright cloud, and on the cloud sat one like the Son of Man; on His head is a golden crown, and in His hand is a sharp sickle.” This image has obvious similarities with Dan's vision. 7:13–15: “I saw in the night visions, behold, with the clouds of heaven came one like the Son of Man, came to the Ancient of Days and was brought to Him, and to Him was given authority, power and a kingdom... His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and His kingdom will not be destroyed.” The last image refers to the Messiah, the Son of Man; it can only have a Christological interpretation, which it receives in church tradition (it is almost literally repeated in the Lesser Apocalypse (Matthew 24:30)). However, there are a number of doubts about whether the same meaning can be attached to the image of Rev. 14:14 ~and interpret it as the appearance of Christ himself. 61 It is “another angel” who sends one like the Son of Man into the harvest. However, for this text it is not decisive whether the one sitting on the cloud is Christ himself,” or whether He is only an angel sent by Him, foretelling judgment. His special powers are expressed by “a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hands” (14). And another angel turns to him “with a loud voice: use your sickle and reap, for the harvest on earth is ripe. And he who sat on the cloud cast down his sickle, and the earth was reaped.” The question is, is this command, proclaimed with a “loud voice,” is it heard on earth, or only in heaven, as a heavenly anticipation of earthly accomplishments? Does it reach the spiritual consciousness of the sons of the earth or is it heard only in the angelic world, and through it was revealed in prophetic clairvoyance to the Seer? Judging by the general proleptic nature of this vision, which has not yet taken place on earth, it remains, obviously, to assume the latter. Humanity is preceded by a prophet about the destinies that await it in its unrepentance. The image of a ripe harvest and reaped land is characteristic of more than one Revelation. In Old Testament usage, it is applied rather to the enemies of God (so cf. Isa. 18:5-6; Jer. 49:53; in Hosea 6:11 ~ in a double sense). In New Testament usage, the image of the harvest is used both in the general sense - the end of the age (Matthew 13:39) or the work of God in general (Matthew 9:37–38; Luke 10:2), and the final judgment (Matthew 13:30). In this case, it can be understood in application to the general outcome of world history. However, two more angels are sent to accomplish this harvest. “And another Angel came out of the church in heaven, also with a sharp sickle” (17) - here the heavenly nature of this phenomenon is directly indicated, in which the performer is an Angel coming out of the heavenly church, that is, from the immediate presence of God. “And another Angel, having power over fire, came out from the altar” (of course, heavenly, which once again confirms the heavenly nature of this phenomenon). It is difficult to say why an Angel comes out here, having power over fire. According to the general teaching inherent in the angelology of Revelation, the natural elements in general are under the special jurisdiction of their own angels. The reference specifically to fire may refer to the symbolism of judgment, which is carried out by fire: “in the fire the work is revealed, and the fire tests everyone’s work, what it is... whose work is burned, he will suffer loss, however, he himself will be saved, but as if from fire” (1 Cor. 3:13-15). Obviously, this fire is not only natural, but also spiritual. The angel who has power over fire also turns out to be the messenger of the final judgment, because once again, like his predecessor, “with a great cry” he turns to the one who has the sharp sickle, again with the same call: “Let go of your sharp sickle and prune the bunches of grapes, because the berries are ripe on it.” 62 This image of the ripening of berries can be applied to the entire outcome of history, including the deeds of both the righteous and the sinners. However, further words relate predominantly, if not directly exclusively, to the latter: “and the angel cast his sickle on the earth” (once again here you can see confirmation that “he who sits on the cloud” is only an angel, but not the Son of God, but, as it were, His representative or messenger (cf. Matt. 13:41): “and he will send his angels and gather from his kingdom all offenses and those who practice iniquity”). “And (the angel) cut off the grapes of the earth and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of God.” This image obviously means God’s judgment on people, which also corresponds to the events of human history, expressing a general historical crisis. However, this is not the end of history and the Last Judgment (which, according to Revelation, is carried out by the Father: 20:11~ff.). Rather, it is a historical judgment, expressed in external catastrophes and internal upheavals after the sixth seal: 6:12-16. In contrast, it is depicted as a harvest of grapes, which takes place in the winepress of God's wrath. How does it relate to the Millennial Kingdom? Does it happen before “him or after him”? Such a relationship is not established here, just as in connection with the earthquake of Chapter 6. Exegetically, there is no need to assume it, since both are parallel, albeit correlative, internally connected events, each having its own origin: the first in the judgments of God in history, the second in the special action of the power of God in the first resurrection. One can only conjecture, assume that one precedes the other. Now the question is, what does the further allegory mean regarding this winepress in its various features: “and the berries were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress even to the horse’s bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs”? (20). The juice of the berries becomes blood - in the further development of the allegory (cf. Isa. 63:3) this is understandable, but what does this addition mean here: “in the winepress outside the city”? What kind of city is this, is it a specific place or a general cultural and historical designation of human society, super-urban, not associated with a geographical term? And first of all, is this city Rome, like Babylon, the capital of world fornication, or Jerusalem, like the holy city, the capital of the church? 63 But there are no grounds for either one or the other rapprochement. On the contrary, the action of “the winepress of God’s wrath” is carried beyond limited limits and relates to the entire arena of world history, as a general shock, which is described in the most stunning terms: “And blood flowed from the winepress even to the bridles of the horses, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.” “Blood to the bridles of horses” is an image inherent in the language of Revelation, as is the number 1600 stages, 40x40, this type of apocalyptic number to express completeness as a numerical symbol of it. 64 Summing up the general results of this chapter, we must compare its similarities and differences in comparison with chapters of similar content. We have already noted its convergence with chapter 6 as containing the judgments of God over sinful humanity in the images of an earthquake or a harvest, which, however, take place within history, before Parousia and beyond it. The later chapter 16 also begs for comparison, which describes the warfare of the Lamb and the armies of heaven with the beast and the kings of the earth. It also occurs within the framework of earthly history and even before the Parousia. But unlike chapter 14, where the characters and executors of judgment are angels, here Christ himself appears with the armies of heaven. Is this difference associated with different times and periods, or is the same event described from different sides and with different features, while essentially remaining identical? There is no sufficient basis for such an identification. We have to admit that, given the certain parallelism of both achievements, their difference obviously corresponds to the gradual ripening of the historical harvest. Finally, it should be noted once again that general feature of the angelology of Revelation is that the angels in it are figures of history, its direct participants, although this participation remains unknown and beyond the bounds of the earthly world. In other words, heaven and earth, the angelic council and the human race live one common life, but humanity does not know the extent of this community, it is shown only to the Seer and revealed to him in his Revelation. One can, however, ask oneself how accessible the revelation about it is to a person in this life. Does he remain unaware of what is happening in heaven, in the angelic world; and heavenly and earthly achievements are available only in their earthly outlines? 65 Isn’t the “harvest” of the earth accomplished in the horrors of war and revolutions, in which the judgments of God are repeated and consistently revealed? However, here in Chapter 14, as before, they are depicted not only as spiritual and historical events, but also typological ones, repeating themselves in history, albeit in increasing maturity. But we must distinguish from them individual specific achievements in history, which are described by the corresponding features as occurring with one’s own eyes, in the face of everything not only of the angelic, but also of the human world. Regarding recurring and typological phenomena, it must be said that people do not know in full their own history, as it is known to the angelic world included in it. And the revelations of the Apocalypse, first of all, have the purpose of establishing this general truth regarding its angelic and human character. This chapter has the significance of an introduction to the next section: about bowls. In general, it once again confirms one of the main thoughts of Revelation about the angelic-human nature of the historical process, and the rhythm of its presentation through contrasts, comparisons and contrasts of heavenly and earthly achievements is also again manifested. Here two visions in heaven are compared: “and I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful, seven angels having the seven last plagues,” this is the first. The second is “like a sea of ​​glass mixed with fire, and those who conquered the beast and the hundred image, and the mark of him and the number of his name, stand on this sea of ​​glass, holding the harp of God” (2). “A sea of ​​glass, as if mixed with fire” is different from “a sea of ​​glass, like crystal before the throne of Him who sits” (4:6). It means a lower sphere of existence compared to it (which is expressed, first of all, through “as if” ως), moreover, in the absence of “similarity to a crystal,” but with the addition of the attribute: “mixed with fire.” The latter expresses precisely the dual nature of this symbol as relating not only to the divine realm, but also to the created one, albeit in its highest manifestation of “fire.” Whether we give it a cosmological meaning - the heavenly ocean, or the stellar world, or see the sacraments of the Church permeating created life, but, in any case, this is connected with the victory of those who survived the fight against the beast. “The harp of God” obviously means the appeal to God of this psalm’s praise, which in terms of content is defined in two ways: “the song of Moses,” the servant of God, “the song of the Lamb,” the Old and New Testaments. The song of Moses, sung after crossing the Red Sea, means an analogy with the spiritual victory over the beast, and the song of the Lamb (more precisely, the song of the Lamb) is a glorification of the Savior of the world (either from the 144,000 sealed, or generally from all the saints of the Church of Christ). It should be established here that this song is sung in the afterlife before the Parousia of Christ and the general resurrection, just before the announcement of the seven last plagues that are about to come to earth. What is the content of this song? It refers to the works of God, in the ways of leading the world to salvation. “Great and wonderful are Your works, O Lord God Almighty! Righteous are Thy ways, O King of saints! Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your Name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been revealed.” Thus, this doxology is also a theodicy, as it opens in the afterlife just before the entry of the earthly world into the very last period of trials, the “seven last plagues.” What is the ultimate horror on earth is comprehended and glorified in the spiritual world as a revelation of the ways of God. Thus, human comprehension of their destinies on earth remains limited and blind. But this theodicy, sung in the spiritual world, must be a comprehension of the destinies of God, which are convincing on earth and lead to the conversion and worship of God of all peoples. In the revelation itself we do not find this comprehension, which would correspond to such an effect of the last plagues themselves; on the contrary, it seems to be completely opposite, leading to the final bitterness... However, this prophetic hint cannot be missed, but must be accepted in all its strength. Does it not refer to the conversion and salvation of all Israel with all the significance of this spiritual event and its consequences in the life of the Church for all nations? This assumption is all the more appropriate since the prophecy about this in St. Paul Rome. 9–11 seems to have no direct consonance for itself in Revelation other than the content of the song of Moses and the Lamb in all the significance of this dual connection. In any case, this evidence that “Thy judgments have been revealed” means comprehending the meaning of history in all the complexity and contradictory nature of its paths, in all the world-historical tragedy, in its dialectics... The second half of chapter 15 is devoted to (the symbolic image of the opened church and the “tabernacle in heaven,” 66 together with the exit from the church of seven Angels having seven plagues. They are thus depicted as deliberate secret places of heavenly visions. These angels are clothed in “pure and light linen clothing and girded with golden belts” (6) - a kind of priestly vestment corresponding to their stay in the church in standing before God (cf. Ezek. 9). They have to offer a sacrifice of the righteousness of God. “And one of the four living creatures (that is, from the highest angelic presence of God) gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever” (5, however, this decision in heaven remains under the cover of divine mystery, incomprehensible to people: “and the church was filled with smoke from the glory of God” (smoke is a symbol). secrets), and no one could enter the church until the mysteries of God’s ways, their transcendence until the time of their accomplishment, had ended. This chapter is entirely devoted to the seven bowls of God’s wrath, which seven angels are sent to pour out on the earth “with a loud voice from the church.” Let us therefore first pose a few general and preliminary questions. Of these, the very first, which we have already had to pose more than once before, relates to the general meaning of this revelation. According to him, the angels of God's wrath are sent here from heaven to carry out executions through the pouring out of these bowls. We cannot help but feel some embarrassment at this revelation, which is so difficult to reconcile with the idea of ​​guardian angels leading and saving people on the paths of their earthly life. Here it seems to change to the complete opposite, it is the angels who are the instruments of God’s wrath. However, we must not forget that this does not refer to the final judgment and final human destinies, but to the paths of history, which is a tragic, but at the same time a salvific struggle and a clash of opposing spiritual forces. On the paths of this struggle, the action of the wrath of God, which is carried out through angels, is also salutary. In the Old Testament, the executions of Egypt are carried out through the mediation of Moses by extending a rod or his hand, with which the commands of God are carried out, and only about the last execution, the beating of the firstborn, is it said that it is carried out by the Lord himself (Ex. 12:12), but this expression, of course, cannot be taken literally, it also implies an intermediary performer, who, most likely, is also an angel. Here, in Revelation, angels are the direct executors of God's commands, and the action of God's love for a given situation is revealed in the saving wrath of God. The general purpose of Revelation is to show the ways of the world in its history as the struggle of Christ with the prince of this world for this world. It gives the very plan of the Apocalypse the character of a certain stylization, aimed precisely at revealing this thought, and to that extent it is one-sided. Such one-sidedness, inherent in stylization, of course, must be understood and accepted in the general Old and New Testament context, in which the depiction of angelic service as guardian angels is rather absent, but other features predominate, even seemingly opposite from the outside. And this mutual completion of the teaching about angels in different parts of the Bible in the general biblical context must necessarily be taken into account when understanding its particular features. This applies both to this chapter and to others of a similar nature, where angels are sent to proclaim the wrath of God, as well as to carry it out. Now let's turn to the specific content of chapter 16. It is dedicated to the pouring out of the seven bowls of God's wrath on earth by seven angels from heaven. Here, first of all, the two previous septenaries, the seven seals and the seven trumpets beg for comparison. If the first septenary (seals) represents great differences and can be considered independently, then the second (trumpets) ch. 8 begs for direct rapprochement with the third, in a certain sense it is its variant or repetition of the same motive, its “recapitulation”. There are different shades in the opinions of exegetes regarding the immediate nature of this recapitulation, both in terms of similarities and differences between the two compared septenaries. 67 For us, these particulars are not of decisive importance and do not change the basic relationship between them. Moreover, the seven bowls, like the earlier seven trumpets, represent an analogy (also with certain differences) with the Egyptian plagues (Ex. 7–10), which served as a certain typological scheme for them. Only the fourth bowl does not have a direct analogy for itself; the second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh bowls are generally parallel to the corresponding pipes, only the action of the bowls is not limited to the third part of the object of influence, as is the case with respect to the pipes. As with the trumpets, the symbolism of the cups has an emphasized character of mythological images, and at the same time reveals a clear influence of the general language of apocalypticism, like the narrative of the book of Exodus. A literal understanding of them is extremely difficult, if not impossible. These images can be interpreted in relation to the natural world, as well as the spiritual, and can be understood literally and figuratively. Their main idea is that the spiritual struggle between light and dark forces in the world, accompanying the accession of Christ and the construction of the Kingdom of God, occurs with the active participation of St. angels and the guidance of God, which is described in symbolic images of its direct influence. At the same time, the question remains open whether the actions of angels in the world, fulfilling the will of God in it, are transparent and intelligible as such or remain open in the external events of this world. In other words, does the empirical history of humanity coincide with its meta-empirical ontology? On this basis, one should generally abandon the attempt to literally interpret these images, referring them rather to the language of religious poetry (as in the story of the trumpets) and perceiving only their general meaning. However, it is worth briefly reviewing this series of images. After the pouring out of the first cup, “cruel and disgusting wounds were made on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image” (2), in fulfillment of the threat contained in ch. 14:9–11 (cf. Exodus 9:10–11, sixth plague of Egypt). Obviously, this image allows for understanding both physical and spiritual, and even more so, how in general totalitarian bestial worship entails the phenomenon of spiritual illness and decay. The connection between one and the other, which is revealed here to prophetic clairvoyance, may remain inconspicuous and incomprehensible to the ordinary eye, but the general idea that the spiritual ill-health of any people, like spiritual diseases, also have spiritual causes, is completely clear and transparent here. It is impossible to maintain spiritual health and balance in the presence of fundamental spiritual damage. This image can therefore be applied to a number of historical eras, as well as events of a similar nature, from antiquity to the present day and to the future end of the world, in particular, to individual historical events that become transparent in the light of this image. The second and third cups refer to the waters of the sea and rivers. Under the influence of the second cup, poured into the sea, “blood became like that of a dead man, and everything that was alive died in the sea” (2), but from the third cup, poured into rivers and springs of water, “blood became.” The physics of these plagues is reminiscent of the first plague of Egypt (Ex. 7:17–21). (The effect of the second cup is more widespread than in Egypt, because there the waters of the Nile are affected, but here without any restrictions. And with the same hyperbolism the effect of this execution is described: “everything animate,” and not just one third of those living in the sea, as from the action of the second trumpet. (These inaccuracies and discrepancies only confirm how unnecessary it is to insist on the literal understanding of this poetic speech.) Of course, here too it is difficult and hardly correct to see the transformation of everyone waters, sea and river, into the blood. Isn’t it more correct here, preferring the spiritual interpretation of the physical image, to see an indication of the threatening and deadly spiritual impoverishment and poisoning of the sources of spiritual nutrition, through the replacement of the gospel sermon with the products of the “ministry of propaganda”? This understanding of this image is also confirmed in the interpretation of the second and third bowls in Revelation. Two angels: the angel of the waters (parallel to the angel of fire 14:18~and the angel of the winds, 7:1) as the guardian of the water element, now poisoned, testifies to the significance of what happened together with the “angel from the altar,” that is, from the church from which the angels of God’s wrath are sent. They reveal the meaning of what happened precisely as the action of the wrath of God: “You are righteous, O Lord, who is and was and is holy, because you judged thus: because they shed the blood of saints and prophets, you gave them blood to drink, they are worthy of it” (4-5) and the angel from the altar confirms this heavenly theodicy: “here, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments” (7). Here the providential meaning of these definitions of God Almighty, who rules the world on the paths of righteousness and truth, is indicated. The general allegorical meaning of this symbolism is obviously such that moral spiritual perversion necessarily entails its grave consequences in the natural world. The fourth angel poured out his cup on the sun, and it was given to him to burn people with fire. And the intense heat burned the people; and they blasphemed the name of God, who has power over these plagues, and did not understand to give Him glory” (8, 9). Of course, in this case, this image of a cup poured into the sun does not even admit of literal understanding. This image speaks of the unrepentance of people even during a new test by fire or intense heat. It is accompanied by persistent blasphemy, blasphemy of the “Name of God,” as is sometimes characteristic of atheism, although it completely denies the power of God and His very existence, despite all its internal contradictions. Obviously, this image speaks of a state of severe melancholy, which is a consequence of spiritual decline and bitterness. So, the first four bowls directly affect nature (earth, water and fire), while the last three primarily affect humans, although in connection with the cosmic element (the seventh bowl). “The fifth angel poured out the cup on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became dark, and they bit their tongues in pain. And they blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their sufferings and their wounds, and did not repent of their deeds” (16-11). Here we also have an allegory that does not admit of a literal understanding: “the cup on the throne of the beast,” which darkened his kingdom, obviously means deep melancholy, a painful state of the spiritual atmosphere. There is an analogy here with the action of the fifth angel's trumpets, the falling of stars from heaven, the darkening of the earth with smoke coming out of the well from which locusts come out with their destructive bites, and the search for death from melancholy (9:1-7). There is a complete analogy between the fifth trumpet and the fifth bowl in their action, although the mythological locust of the fifth trumpet is absent (9: 7–10). Blasphemy and unrepentance are repeated after the fifth bowl in the same way as after the fourth. The sixth bowl is also a complete analogy and partly even a repetition of the action of the sixth trumpet (9:13-21), which appears “on the Euphrates River.” The sixth bowl is also poured out “on the great river Euphrates,” “and the water in it was dried up, so that the way for kings would be prepared from the rising of the sun” (16:12). In other words, a favorable environment is created for political movements and clashes, which is facilitated by demonic inspirations of a threefold nature: “and I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs,” these are demonic spirits “working signs” (13–14). Here the dragon appears again - Satan as the general inspirer of evil, and his two obedient tools: the beast - a totalitarian state and the false prophet - a pagan, godless, anti-Christian civilization. As above, they create their “signs” with which they deceive the peoples who marvel at their strength and success. “They go out to the kings of the earth throughout the whole world to gather them for battle on that great day of God Almighty” (14). This is not yet the day of the Last Judgment of God, but one of the shocks and world catastrophes, which were spoken of more than once in other images in Revelation (5:12–17; 9:14–21; 11:13; 14:14–20). Now a first-person digression is introduced, obviously, these are the essence of the Lord’s words relating to His Parousia: “Behold, I come like a thief” (15). In all their unexpectedness and suddenness, they are consonant with similar images of the Gospel minor apocalypse: the parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1–13; Matt. 24:46; Mark 12; 1 Thess. 5:2; Rev. 3:2). Of course, this has no direct relation here to the events described, which only mark the approach of the end, but not its onset. The second half of this retreat contains an allegorical call for spiritual wakefulness: “blessed is he who watches and keeps his clothes, lest he walk naked and lest they see his shame.” The very presence of such an appeal is significant: it means that even in these days of terrible trials there remain the chosen ones, to whom such a word can still be addressed with a call to wakefulness and their satisfaction. 68 This is further confirmation of how literally external hyperbolism should not be taken when describing all horrors, which to a certain extent is characteristic of the apocalyptic style. But there is also another side to this appeal, which requires special attention; it is precisely this: in these days of horror and mystical melancholy, inspired by demonic retention, believers are called to spiritual wakefulness, and therefore to freedom from general panic. This is what is said in the small apocalypse: “Beware that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4), “when these things begin to come true, then look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 24:28). This should be the spiritual response to trials worthy of a Christian: the worse, the better. This gives an answer to the general question, what should be the practical attitude towards the horrors with which the images of Revelation are full, and what is their teaching content. They should not frighten, but cultivate in the soul Christian courage and hope based on trust in God's Providence. These horrors are sent from heaven for the good of people, for the salvation of all, no matter how strange and unexpected such words may seem. The battle for which demonic spirits gather “the kings of the entire universe,” as in this case its boundaries are determined with hyperbolism, takes place in “a place called in Hebrew Armageddon” (16). Here we have, of course, as much a geographical as a mystical interpretation. Armageddon, "the city of Megiddo", or simply Megiddo, is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, and the name sounds ominous in its historical associations as a place where kings perish: Judgment. 4 and 5. So the commander Sisarra died from Barak at the “waters of Megiddon” (5:19), King Ahaziah died here from Jehu (2 Kings 9:27), King Josiah from Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 23:29; cf. Zech. 12:11; 2 Chronicles 35:22). The meaning of the application of this name, accessible to the Jewish listener, thus contains a prophecy of destruction. The seventh bowl does not find a direct correspondence for itself in a series of trumpets (it can only be related to the third “woe,” just as the fifth and sixth bowls are similar to the first and second “woe”). “The seventh angel poured out his cup into the air” (17). This means not so much the defeat of a special element (as was the case in previous cases: fire, water, earth), but rather the general state of the world in the approach of future accomplishments of God’s will, which are foreshadowed in heaven: “and from the church of heaven a loud voice was heard from the throne, saying: It is finished.” Of course, this word cannot be equated with the cross “it is finished” of the Son of God, who made a sacrifice for the salvation of the world. No matter how stunning this “loud voice from the throne” was to all natural nature, it cannot be equal in effect and in meaning to the universal power of the whisper of parched lips that tasted the ocet for the salvation of the world. However, in the given destinies of this world, here too a new facet and accomplishment are noted, which is described in the images of an earthquake: “and there were lightnings, thunders and voices, and there was an earthquake, such as has not happened since people on earth. Such an earthquake, so great.” The sacred writer seems to lack words to express the full force of this earthquake. This image appears more than once in Revelation. The first time after the opening of the sixth seal, 6:12–17 describes the great day of the wrath of the Lamb, in which, along with an earthquake, a general world catastrophe occurs; the second time we have it before the seven trumpets of the seven angels in anticipation of earthly thunderstorms from the fire with the altars thrown to the ground (described in the expressions 8:5 ~ closest to the current text). The next earthquake ends the second woe 11:13, 19. In meaning, although not in the literal similarity of the images, this also includes the “harvest of the earth”: ch. 14:14–20. All these repetitions represent a kind of “restitution” of one general prophecy, although with different shades and details. The same can be seen here as a description of the same accomplishment, or typologically similar, analogous events at different times in the life of the world, but with increasing force. The same can be noted regarding ch. 16 in comparison with the previous ones. So, here we have: “the great city (obviously Rome or the world capital in general) fell into three parts, and the pagan cities fell, and Babylon the Great (the same Rome or the city in general, as the center of civilization) will be remembered before God to give him the cup of the wine of the wrath of His wrath” (19). 11:13 only says that “a tenth of the city perished. And seven thousand human names perished in an earthquake, and the rest were overcome with fear and gave glory to the God of Heaven” (13). Then verse 20: “and every city fled, and the mountains were no more” almost literally repeats the description of the earthquake 6:14. This also adds a feature that is missing above: “and hail, the size of a talent, fell from the sky on people” (21). (Cf. the fourth plague of Egypt: Exodus 9:18–25). City with talent, i.e. very heavy stones (up to 40 kilos) mean, of course, a great spiritual burden falling on human hearts. This is a convergence with a similar action of the fourth and fifth cups. All this, however, ends with a depiction of the former unrepentance and hardness of human hearts: “and the people blasphemed God for the plagues from the hail, because the plague from it was very serious” (21). Here is a complete analogy of the effect of the fourth and fifth cups on people. But this last feature further and for the last time confirms that the action takes place in this world and before its end. The historical judgment of God here is not yet the Last Judgment on all humanity, but the saving action of God's Providence in the world. Chapter 17 (together with 18) is devoted to a common topic - the fate of the beast and the historical judgment of God's Providence over it, and the first of them is devoted primarily to its foreign policy destinies, the second to cultural and economic ones. This thought is expressed in the dual image of the harlot wife, Babylon and the kingdom of the beast, and both of them spiritually merge almost to the point of identification, although they are still different. We already had a prophetic vision of the fall of Babylon, the great city, “which made all nations drunk with the wrathful wine of its fornication” (14:8). Now the same idea is repeated in more specific images. Essentially, the content of both chapters, 17 and 18, is recapitulation, as is generally characteristic of the style of Revelation. In detail, chapter 17 is like a political charade or a rebus, which had a special poignancy for contemporaries, and for them it was, of course, natural to unravel this political code. In this respect, chapter 17 is similar to 13 with its riddle of the animal number (666). Chapter 17 begins with a vision of “the great harlot sitting on many waters,” that is, spreading her influence widely: “with her the kings of the earth committed fornication, and those who dwell on the earth were drunk with the wine of her fornication” (17:2). it was shown by one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls of the wrath of God; the content of this chapter also refers to them. “The Great Harlot” is here a general and preliminary qualitative designation for the kingdom of the beast, civitas diabolica. The angel promises to “show judgment on her” (1) and for this purpose leads her “in the spirit into the desert” (3). This designation “in the spirit” expresses, of course, the special prophetic inspiration, strength and significance of this image. “Wilderness,” obviously, is here a symbol of spiritual emptiness and desolation (the parallel and opposite of the same image in 21:10, which says: “he took me up in the spirit to the great and holy mountain”). “And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast” (the scarlet color here is a symbol of wealth and splendor). Here, as we see, the image of the wife and the beast externally and internally come closer to spiritual identification. (Of course, here too a parallel is suggested by the contrast of “the woman clothed with the sun” of chapter 12). The former attributes of the beast, seven heads and ten horns, known to us from ch. 13, are repeated here (3) along with blasphemous names (except for only 10 diadems). If in chapter 12 the beast is described primarily in terms of its bestiality (13:2), then here the features of wealth and luxury appear in the first place: “and the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, and held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominations and the uncleanness of her fornication” (4). In this symbolism, which does not require explanation, one should, however, especially note the golden cup as, perhaps, representing a blasphemous parody of the Eucharistic cup. “And on her forehead was written: “Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth” (5). The inscription of the name on the forehead, characteristic of a harlot, corresponded to this Roman custom. 69 “Mystery” does not refer here to the special content of Revelation, but indicates the allegorical or mystical meaning of this geographical name. Babylon generally means civitas diabolica in its various manifestations, political as well as spiritual, and here both of these meanings are combined. The anti-Christian character of “Babylon” is expressed in the fact that “the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus” (6). She assimilates power and the will to persecute Christianity. In response to the “great surprise” that this seemingly unusual property for a woman causes, the angel explains “the mystery of this woman and the beast that carries her, having seven heads and ten horns” (7). “Mystery” here also points to the hidden, symbolic meaning of this image, which is common to “this woman and the beast.” In other words, their external and internal connection, spiritual identification is evidenced here. Next, the viewer proceeds to consider the individual properties of the beast. First of all, he is given the following definition: “the beast that you saw was and is not.” In this part, it is even repeated twice in verse 8, at the beginning and at the end, obviously in order to give it greater significance and solemnity. Since the beast, as the Antichrist, parodies the Lamb, the sacred formula is applied to him, used more than once above in relation to the Lamb: “he was and is and is to come,” but here it is also supplemented by a negation: “he was and is not.” The same formula in its two applications has different and even opposite endings. In the first case, it ends like this: the beast “will come out of poverty and go to destruction”, this is the fate of the Antichrist. In the second case, it is said about him this way: “the beast was and is not and will appear.” This is an allusion to the superstition of the era about Nero redivivus - the dead and resurrected Nero, as applied to the Antichrist, parodying Christ's death and resurrection. First, a judgment is made about him on the merits, and then related to his false sign: “those living on earth, whose names were not written in the book of life from the creation of the world, will be surprised, seeing that the beast was and is not and will appear.” This “surprise” will not be the lot of everyone, but only those who will be accessible to it, since they do not belong to the elect, “are not written in the book of life.” This text undoubtedly presents some dogmatic difficulty, since it sounds in the spirit of pre-destinationism, and, moreover, it speaks specifically about predestination to destruction or, in any case, to a severe temptation, before which those doomed to it are defenseless. In this sense, Revelation 17:8 invites comparison with the texts of St. Apostle, which also sound in the sense of pre-destinationism and thus create such great difficulties for dogmatic exegesis. Paul, Rome. 8:29 ~ (“those whom He foreknew, He also predestined”) and 9:11 ~ (“while He was not yet born and had done nothing good, so that the purpose of God in election might come not from works, but from Him who calls”) and 9:18: “Therefore, He has mercy on whomever He wants, and He hardens whomever He wants.” However, this figurative expression about “not written in the book of life from the beginning of the world,” precisely for dogmatic reasons, should not be understood literally and in the direct sense. Otherwise, it would lead to the darkest fatalism, such a doom to destruction that is incompatible with the love of God and His goodness. It is obvious, therefore, that here we are talking only about God’s foreknowledge regarding the various paths of human life. Among them are those who are determined by human freedom, although not to final destruction, but, in any case, to difficult and painstaking paths. Moreover, it is not said in this text, which, moreover, does not have direct dogmatic accuracy, and is generally not characteristic of the figurative language of revelation. The following verses 9–12 contain a kind of religious-political charade, like the previous ones, moreover, it is not so much unraveled as riddled and encrypted. This character of this text is already determined in advance by the introductory words to it: “Here is a mind that has wisdom” (9). (This introduction is similar to our liturgical exclamations: “wisdom”, preceding biblical readings, or some other words that are especially emphasized in their significance). In this case, this indicates or hints at a deliberate reticence, encrypted text for political or censorship reasons. There is a complete parallel here with 13:18: “here is wisdom,” words that also express special emphasis, and together with the encrypted nature of the text (animal number 666). First, the seer here turns to the explanation of the seven heads of the beast (cf. 13:1). This is the essence of the “seven mountains on which the wife sits.” The simplest way of interpretation on the basis of modernity is, of course, the Septimontium of Rome, which for obvious reasons is not named. However, now for us Rome, as a symbol of political primacy, of course, no longer has the meaning that was characteristic of it in that era when it could, naturally, be synonymous with the beast. For us, “seven mountains” have a common symbolic meaning of the sevenfold, completeness in both the extensive sense, universal collective imperialism, and also in the intensive sense - totalitarian statehood. However, another meaning of the septenary number is not indicated here: “and seven kings, of which five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come, and when he comes, he will not be long” (10). Probably, these political hints were full of significance for contemporaries and attracted special attention, especially since they still had to be unraveled. Now it’s even difficult for us to say, to determine whether it was easy or difficult for them and whether it also implied deliberate esotericism, whether it required political commentary that was passed from mouth to mouth. This is even more difficult, of course, now for historical commentary, in which the newest exegetes are sophisticated in their desire to understand a given text in the sense that it could have for contemporaries. This is a crux interpretum, which is a kind of exercise in historical conjecture. Under this septenary number, the names of Roman emperors are searched for, chronologically more or less corresponding to this. 70 But to this sevenfold the following addition is made: “and the beast that was and is not, is the eighth, and from among the seven, and will go to destruction.” (11). The beast, which represents the common spiritual, political and social basis of all the individual reigns, is here defined as “the eighth,” but also “of the seven,” the seventh-eighth. What does it mean? First of all, here there is a distinction between the general and the particular, the bestiality of individual animals, but at the same time their internal identification remains. Obviously, it is said here that even when the kingdoms accessible to the historical gaze of the seer, with their special heads, cease, the bestiality will not cease, which will seek and find for itself new, further personifications. Since these will be new historical figures, or kingdoms, or political entities in general, they represent a collective image of the “eighth king.” Since this is still the same beast, “which was and which is not and will go to destruction,” this presupposes the entire continuing existence of the animal kingdom even after the Roman Empire and its kings. In this way, the thought of the seer is generalized and, what is especially important here, only a relatively historical character is given to the list of seven kings in whose person the beast was embodied and existed for contemporaries. Now, for us, these kings no longer exist, they are forgotten or unknown, so we have to strive hard to unravel their names, but the general type of the animal kingdom and bestiality in general remains in full force. It stands before us now in all its spiritual and political strength. This resolves for us the exegetical difficulty of this text, which is otherwise difficult to overcome. With the same understanding, this problem of the seven kings, which was obviously so vital for John’s contemporaries, seems almost non-existent for us. One can say even more than that, namely, if we attach to it the importance that historical and critical exegesis has actually acquired for it, which is sophisticated in its attempts to decipher this code, it could even detract from the very importance of the prophetic text for us. In its direct and literal sense, it seems to cease to exist for us, and can this not be interpreted in such a way that Revelation has already outlived itself and interest in it relates only to the area of ​​archaeological and religious-historical. Therefore, precisely in order to maintain the correct dogmatic and spiritual perspective in understanding the Apocalypse, we are required to have complete religious sincerity in perceiving it from our own perspective, in which we ourselves now perceive it. This prophetic book was written not only for its contemporaries, but for all times, although each era reads it with its own eyes and in its own way. We can with a certain calm - and we are ready to say, with some carelessness - pass by what is now incomprehensible to us, insofar as it does not exist in the literal sense and yet retains no less, if not more, power in its prophetic essence. Therefore, we allow ourselves not to try to resolve conspiratorial instructions and political ciphers, as if passing by them, unlike most exegetes, who focus their attention on this, relying on the research they have done, which in its exhaustive completeness testifies to the absence of indisputable conclusions, and therefore to its futility. And, in any case, we have to separate and distinguish between the tasks of both the religious-dogmatic and exegetical-critical interpretation of Revelation. However, here, in order to avoid misunderstandings, the following must be added. This cannot diminish our reverent attitude towards the word of God, which for us, among other books of the Old and New Testaments, is Revelation. But at the same time, we should establish a general principle that our comprehension of the sacred text never has an exhaustive, final character, it always deepens and increases, preserving for us in this sense new possibilities of understanding. This applies even more so to books of a symbolic-prophetic nature, like Revelation. Chapter 18. Fall of Babylon This chapter is entirely devoted to the episodic disclosure of one topic, which was already outlined above (16:19): God’s judgment over Babylon and its destruction. It is revealed in a number of paintings and images. This chapter is distinguished by its lengthy and even somewhat verbose character as some artistic development of this topic. It opens with a vision of “another angel coming down from heaven, having great power; the earth was illuminated with his glory" (1). Although he is the messenger of the destruction of Babylon, it is not directly said that he was also the executor of this message, although, of course, the latter can be assumed, since the determination of God also has perfecting power. “And he cried with a loud voice, saying: Babylon is fallen, is fallen” (2-3), and what follows is an allegorical description of this fall in its causes and consequences. The aorist form (ἔπεσεν) here refers to an accomplishment, which, however, still belongs to the future, and here prophetically anticipates it. At the same time, there is “another voice from heaven speaking,” addressed to “My people” (4–9). Before analyzing the content of this address, we must pose a preliminary question regarding both the angel “coming down from heaven” and the “other voice” also from heaven (similar questions have already arisen before us). Both voices from heaven are addressed to the “earth”, to the earthly, human world. However, does this mean that they, as such, are both audible and recognized on earth, or do they generally express the will of God, to which the internal and external regularity of the course of events corresponds? In general, it itself does not reach the consciousness of the characters themselves, except in cases of special prophetic illumination of the elect (like a seer). It is expressed from the outside in the concatenation of seemingly random events leading to a fatal end for Babylon. An empirical literal understanding of these prophecies as untrue would be simply superstitious. Yes, it is not required by the sacred text itself, with its correct dogmatic understanding. Although there is a direct connection between heavenly commands and their earthly accomplishments, which are fulfilled through the angelic world, this connection between earth and heaven does not eliminate the fact that angels and humans belong to different worlds, are on different planes, although not metaphysically (since they equally belong to the created world), but concretely empirically. This common belonging to the created world does not eliminate the fact that for man, since he remains in earthly life and does not pass on to the afterlife, the existence of angels and all their continuous and most concrete participation in our life remains transcendental for us. It is an intelligible postulate of faith, although it can be extremely vital for us, as a source of hope. Therefore, such testimonies of John relate to the highest and true reality of history, but not to its empirical flow. This does not mean, of course, that these prophecies are incorrect or fantastic. On the contrary, they correspond to an ontological reality even higher than empiricism. But it is hidden from direct vision for humans as a historical ontology. This highest reality is revealed to prophetic contemplation and is visible from the afterlife, whose life takes place in communication with the angelic world. Therefore, from there, human history appears as an apocalypse. In this sense, it is a story about her, written as if in the language of the spiritual world about what is happening on earth. In this sense, it is necessary to comprehend it by its content, but not by its literal presentation - translated into earthly, empirical language. A reverse translation is required here. So, another voice from heaven contains a warning and admonition addressed to the faithful and believers, and obviously sounds in their conscience as its command and self-determination in the face of historical reality as a criterion and norm of internal and external self-determination. This voice addresses the people of God, who obviously exist on earth (although it is not said in large or small numbers, and this does not have a decisive meaning here), with a call and appeal, no matter how and through whom they are expressed: “Come out from her, My people, so that you do not share in her sins and do not suffer her plagues, for her sins have reached heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” (4-5), the same in the following verses (6–8). If you can generally ask yourself who this voice from heaven belongs to, then, obviously, “My people” was said, in any case, not by an angel, but by God and about God as the judge, who is the Father (the same applies to the words of v. 8: “the Lord God who judges her is mighty”). However, this could also be said by Christ, since He creates judgment on earth. You can still ask yourself by whom the further words of this appeal were spoken and to whom the further words of this appeal apply: “Render to her as she has repaid you, and repay her twice as much for her deeds” (6 ff. v. 7). If the first appeal refers to the people of God, 71 then to whom does this second address: “Render”? To angels or people? The first understanding does not correspond to the text, which does not speak at all about the angels sent for this purpose, while the second is even more inappropriate, since people are not given to be the executors of God’s commands about retribution for sins. Obviously, only the interpretation that we applied above is applicable here. We are talking about connections, about the course of historical events, which contain the fulfillment of the will of God and the wrath of God. At the same time, such their meaning may remain outside or above their consciousness; the List der Vernunft, which was already mentioned above, is at work here. The whore of Babylon is charged with the guilt of being “famous and luxurious” (7), and in return she is given the same amount of “torment and sorrow.” Her punishment is described in allegorical and hyperbolic images: “one day (of course, this term does not allow for literal application, but only means the suddenness and speed of events) executions, death and crying and hunger will come upon her, and she will be burned with fire” (8). All this means a combination of various historical disasters, which at the same time are not even compatible, but in general ultimately lead to extermination, “burning by fire.” The second part of the chapter (8-20) is devoted to the characteristic laments 72 about the fall of “the great Babylon, the mighty city” with the repeated refrain “woe to you” (10, 16, 19) in the mouths of three different groups of lamenters: the kings of the earth, merchants and sailors. Of course, there is no need to limit the boundaries of “Babylon” only to Rome, even if this was characteristic of the seer himself. But in any case, it presupposes the presence of other kings of the earth, so Babylon has a collective meaning, it is not so much a geographical and political concept as a moral and mystical one. The first cry comes from the kings of the earth, “who committed fornication and reveled luxuriously with her” (9). The second lament, from the merchants of the earth (11–17a), represents, perhaps, a less mystical and more “cultural-historical”, and at the same time a rhetorical picture of ancient commercial life with a rather random and even chaotic, although characteristic list of popular goods, a kind of trade catalog or price list (12–13). Of course, it is completely different from modern industrial trade, since it is not productive, but consumer in nature, relating mainly to luxury goods, so that the purpose of this entire approximate list is to show the wealth and luxury of Rome. Here the characteristic addition to it stops attention; after various luxury items, “both human bodies and souls” are added (13): the first refers to bodily depravity (prostitution, slavery, gladiatorship and other fights), the second to spiritual corruption and depravity in general. The third lament refers to representatives of maritime trade (16v-19), who lost their sources of enrichment. And in contrast to this universal earthly cry, as if in response to it, “heaven and the holy apostles and prophets” (20) are called to joy about the completed judgment of God. Here we have the usual contrast in Revelation between what is happening in heaven and on earth. This heavenly judgment is expressed in a special symbolic image: a strong angel casts a stone like a millstone into the sea as a sign of the overthrow of Babylon (21), “and it will be no more.” This destruction of him 73 is confirmed in a number of particular images: there will be no voices of those playing and singing, no artist, no arts, no noise from millstones (industrial labor), no lamps, no voices of the bride and groom (18:22–23). For “your merchants were the nobles of the earth (the domination of the bourgeoisie, capitalism) and by your magic they deceived all nations” (21–23). “And in it was found the blood of prophets and saints and all those killed on earth” (21). The last words represent an unusual addition, since they refer not only to the persecution of religion and its bearers, but also to all those who died from bourgeois political terror. This gives the thought a somewhat political character - retribution in general for man’s violence against man. This expansion of it should be noted here, especially in this context, where we mean not only religious, but also the generally historical destinies of people along the paths of their history. Here is evidence of judgment not only over individuals, but also over the social and political system, all kinds of despotism, both state and economic. This is characteristic of what we called above the revolutionary spirit of Revelation. This entire chapter is characterized by this character. However, in this regard, the same question once again arises before us: should we see here a one-time event, one that happened once, individual historical, or, on the contrary, a typological one, repeated - with different strength and in different images - in different eras. It is impossible to answer this question in the first sense, that is, to attribute it to the fate of Rome and its history alone, because in it we will not find any one such event to which we could attribute the nature of such an accomplishment. Rome knew revolution, but not one revolution that would have such a decisive and exhaustive significance. It can also be said that in them a historical judgment was carried out on him, but each of them was not yet the final and general judgment that is spoken of here in prophetic clairvoyance, collecting and generalizing similar features of different events in one focus. At the same time, now we can no longer limit the power of this image only to the ancient world, contemporary to the viewer, because it is clearly applicable to further eras, and especially to our present one. For those events and destruction that we are now witnessing, aren’t they also images of God’s Last Judgment over the totalitarian state, over the bourgeoisie and capitalism? It would be a kind of voluntary self-blinding and even spiritual self-castration for us if we admitted that the angry images of the Apocalypse relate only to ancient Rome and are not applicable to our era, which hardly, and certainly quantitatively, reveals much more grandiose images of social and political evil than ancient Rome. Therefore, one should see here its prophetic denunciation for all times of history to which only it is applicable - past, present and, of course, future, unless you believe the childhood promises of the “state of the future”, which are heard in our era more persistently than ever before. However, an important bewilderment also arises here: is it not already being said here - no longer typologically, but historically - about the final destruction of Babylon, like a millstone thrown into the sea: “with such aspiration, Babylon, the great city, will be defeated, and it will no longer exist” (21). What does this mean and can it be taken literally? Obviously, it’s still impossible, since Babylon-Rome was never completely destroyed, although it was destroyed many times. It waxed and waned, experienced crises and revolutions, but not one of them can be called a destruction even similar to what the destruction of Jerusalem was, predicted by the Savior and the prophets. Obviously, what has been said about Babylon must be taken taking into account that verbal hyperbolism, which in other cases is not alien to Revelation: here it is said about the power and significance of individual revolutions that shake and to a certain extent destroy the existing way of life, but, mainly, there is an exposure of the internal inconsistency, emptiness and falsity of “Babylon” in its spiritual foundations. From here follows the further conclusion that if “Babylon” in the collective sense continues to exist in history, then shocks and destructions are repeated in its external destinies, revealing its spiritual deadness and inconsistency, and through this a historical judgment is carried out on it. In this sense, we have the right and even the obligation to say that in our days, in the face of everything that is happening, we are present at some new “fall” of Babylon or Babylons, the wrath of God and the judgment of them. And in the light of this understanding, Revelation ceases to be a political and social pamphlet belonging to a certain historical era and containing the harshest criticism of its life, but remains valid for our modernity. Even more than that, it is a super- or all-time prophetic illumination relating to the historical paths of mankind. This chapter in its first part (1–8) represents a kind of conclusion to the previous chapter, to which it belongs in meaning. According to the usual law of contrasts in Revelation, the picture of God's judgment over Babylon and its destruction is contrasted with rejoicing in heaven regarding such an accomplishment. It is expressed in the alternation of two voices in heaven, 74 testifying to this (cf. 1-3 and 5-7). These voices are an analogy to the previous heavenly praises (cf. ch. 4:8-12, around the throne of God; ch. 5:11-14 about the enthronement of the Lamb; ch. 7:9-17 acceptance from the great tribulation; ch. 11: 15-18 after the seventh trumpet - about the enthronement of Christ; ch. 12:10-12 about overthrow of the dragon). The first and second voices come directly from “a seemingly numerous people” - without further qualification; about the second voice it is also said: “like the sound of many waters, like the voice of mighty thunders” (6) (which is absent in the first). But the first voice is also accompanied by the worship of twenty-four elders and four living creatures. Whose is this voice of the “as if” numerous people in heaven? It is obvious that the souls of the departed are speaking here. Once again we find in Revelation confirmation of the truth that the afterlife in its own way participates in earthly life, responding with prayer and praise to the events taking place in it. The first voice begins “alleluia” (which is repeated in verses 3, 4, 6, only once here in the entire N. Testament; in the E. Testament cf. 1 Chr. 16:36, Ps. 103:35; 105:48) and then follows doxology: “salvation and glory, and honor, and power of our Lord” (cf. similar 7:10), “For His judgments are true and righteous, because He judged the great fornicator, who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and exacted the blood of His servants from her hand.” After the secondary “Alleluia” of the first voice, the following is added: “and its smoke ascended forever and ever” (3). Who is this about? Obviously, about an adulteress. This expression has an almost literal repetition in 14:11 only when applied to those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark (in essence, the spiritual distinction here is not so significant, if it exists at all). And what was said there about this torment forever and ever must be repeated about the smoke rising forever and ever. This expression here has a conditionally hyperbolic, rhetorical meaning and means an indefinite duration, 75 but in no case eternity. The heavenly ones also join the voice of the numerous people of the earth, although they are “in heaven” in the afterlife: “twenty-four elders and four living creatures fell and worshiped God sitting on the throne, saying: Amen. Alleluia” (v. 4. Compare 4:9–10; 5:14). “And a voice came out from the throne, saying: Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, small and great” (5) (cf. 11:18). Whose “voice from the throne” is this? Obviously, it belongs to someone from the heavenly environment, elders or animals, but not to God or Christ, because in this case it could not be said: “Our God,” but “My God,” as in 3:12). Who are these “servants of God who fear Him, small and great”? Does this appeal relate to the afterlife, which is thereby called to active praise, and through that to prayerful participation in the destinies of the world, or to the earthly world? This question should be answered in the first sense, based on the general context. In addition, the “voice from the throne” cannot reach earthly ears, but is addressed to the spiritual world, angels and departed people, the righteous, martyrs and in general everyone who is worthy to be called servants of God, great or small. This once again confirms that the afterlife participation in the destinies of the world is not an individual, but a universal work of those who have departed in the Lord, of the entire afterlife Church. The answering voice of “a large people, like the sound of many waters, like the voice of mighty thunders, saying: Alleluia,” also belongs to the afterlife. This comparison marks his special, reciprocal enthusiasm and strength, “for the Lord God Almighty reigns” (6). This verse has a prophetic and proleptic character: it refers to the fall of Babylon that is about to take place, although it is still taking place in the world, which is also the accession of Christ. And this reign is further described as taking place in the second part of this chapter (11-21), in the war of “the King of kings and the Lord of lords.” This war is still about to take place, but here it is evidenced only proleptically. The meaning and power of this future accomplishment, which is pre-depicted as having already happened, is expressed in images of unique and exceptional significance. They seem to sum up everything that has happened in the world so far. This is the marriage of the Lamb. “Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him” - the call to heavenly joy sounds in heaven, which anticipates events, perceiving the future as already accomplished, for “the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready” (7). In Art. 7 is the first time this major ecclesiological theme of Revelation appears explicitly. Briefly, but in images filled with prophetic power (as in the 21st chapter of Revelation), the teaching about the Church as the Wife and Bride of the Lamb, about the marriage of Christ with the Church is expressed here. These few words contain a whole ecclesiology, dogmatic teaching about the Church. The exegesis of this text requires both biblical and dogmatic commentary. Putting it aside for a special excursion, here we will limit ourselves to brief preliminary remarks. The theme of the mystical marriage of the Lamb and the Church as His Wife and Bride, one might say, was set and prepared in the word of God from the beginning, in the very first chapter of the book. Genesis, which speaks of the creation of man in the image of God: “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27). This means that in God as the Prototype of the human image, in Sophia the Divine, pre-eternal Humanity, this dual unity of the male and female principles is already given, corresponding to the dyadic self-revelation of the Father in the Son and the Holy Spirit. In accordance with this Prototype, the image of God in man contains this dyadic principle of husband and wife as the fullness of humanity. But this humanity was created for communion with God in God-manhood as a combination of Divine and human nature, Prototype and image. This is what the Chalcedonian dogma tells us about the union of two natures in Christ. It is also realized in Christ and the Mother of God. The Mother of God is the hypostatic humanity of Christ, the created center and head of the Church. Just as in Christ all humanity is united in all its many hypostases, in the Mother of God it is united naturally, as human multi-unity. It is not only a personal human hypostasis, but in a certain sense also all-human, although, of course, differently, in a different sense than Christ’s all-humanity: in Christ all humanity is united by creation and redemption, as in the Creator and Savior; in the Mother of God, the New Eve, all humanity is united naturally and createdly, by birth and spirituality, in Her spirituality. The Mother of Christ in Christ gives birth and unites all humanity with Herself. This is where the effective character of the multi-unity of humanity in the Mother of God stems: as Her life in her own created hypostasis of the Virgin Mary from the Nativity to the Dormition and Glorification, and as Her life in humanity and with humanity, in the Church, and this life realizes its revelation in itself as “preparation” for marriage. Just as the Nativity of Christ and His incarnation was prepared throughout the entire history of mankind, through the entire Old Testament, in His “genealogy,” so the coming into the world of the Most Holy One was prepared in humanity. Mother of God, so the history of the Church is “preparation for marriage.” This general dogmatic thought is expressed in various ways in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, Hosea 2:16: “And it will come to pass in that day, says the Lord, that you will call Me, “My husband,” and you will no longer call Me, “Baali” (my lord). Wed. 3:1–7, Isa. 54:6: “For as a woman forsaken and sorrowful in spirit, the Lord calls you, and (as) a woman of youth who was rejected, says your God.” 62:5: “As a young man is married to a virgin, so are your sons married to you; and as the groom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” Ezek. 16:7 ~etc: “And I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became Mine.” Jer. 2:2: “I remember your love when you were a bride.” But, of course, the most important place here belongs to the Song of Songs, this Old Testament Revelation, perhaps the most New Testament book in the entire Bible, in everything not only in the Old, but even in the New Testament. The relationship between Christ and the Church is depicted here in the fullness of symbolic images, not so much in individual texts, but in the very theme and general content of this hymn of love, the sacred poem of mystical eros. The New Testament books abound with images of the same meaning, and above all the Gospels. The disciples of Christ live in the joy of the Bridegroom being with them (Matthew 9:14–15; Mark 2:19; Luke 5:33–35; John 3:29). This also includes tributary images of the wedding feast (Matt. 22:1–14; Mark 2:19; Matt. 25:1–13). Also important here are the texts of the apostolic epistles: 2 Cor. 11:2: “I have betrothed you to one husband, that I might present you to Christ as a pure virgin,” and especially Ephesus. 5:25: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church,” “this is a great mystery, I say in relation to Christ and the Church.” Thus, in many biblical texts, the dogmatic side of the doctrine of the mystical marriage of Christ and the Church is outlined, however, in addition to its application to history. On the contrary, in Revelation this thought is revealed as central not only in the ontology of the Church, but also in its history. Here, without new explanations, the Church is called the wife, and then the bride (21:9) of the Lamb, and her union with Him is called the “marriage of the Lamb,” which “has come,” because “His wife has prepared herself” (7). This preparation is carried out in all the destinies of the Church until the very end of the world, which are symbolically depicted in Revelation, and its entire history in its meaning is defined as this preparation, followed by the marriage itself. The meaning of this preparation is expressed in the words: “and it was given to her to be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright; and the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints” (8). Regarding the expression “given,” exegetes raise the question of its dogmatic meaning: some exaggerately emphasize the grace-filled given of good deeds, “the righteousness of the saints,” which excludes justification by works, 76 but, obviously, this expression also has a more general meaning: “it should, was given, was to come.” In any case, synergism is included here, that is, the combination of created human freedom with the grace-filled help of God. It is the presence of freedom that determines the difference in the destinies of people, as stated in Revelation. The wife and bride of the Lamb, the Church in its conciliarity and universality embraces its all-temporality: past, present and future, as well as supertemporality and, finally, eternity, as a common foundation in God, as the Divine Sophia. But all these sides are outlined with lapidary brevity in these last chapters of Revelation: 19, 20, 21, and in chapter 19 the historical and human side is revealed, and in the latter - its heavenly, divine basis. Accordingly, it speaks here of “the coming of the marriage of the Lamb,” for which “His wife prepared herself.” This preparation is the entire martyrdom and prophetic path of her - “the righteousness of the saints,” the feat of faith and fidelity. And this is once again solemnly confirmed by the words (obviously, of the angel spoken of in the next verse): “write: blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (10). Here we have the fourth makarism of the seven blessings found in Revelation. The “Marriage Supper” (gospel image) and its approach signify the coming of the end of earthly history with the transition to a new eon, in which Christ is close and accessible in his life (cf. Matt. 22:2 ff.). By “called” here we clearly mean those who are worthy of it in their lives. This is in direct connection with preparing oneself and putting on clean and bright linen, which is the righteousness of the saints (7-8). This "calling" in this sense can be equated with the final judgment of the Lamb. Of particular importance to these words is their special confirmation by an angel: “these are the true words of God” (9), which in itself seems unnecessary. The same confirmation is repeated in 21:5, again in connection with the new revelation of the Bride of the Lamb as the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven, and in 22:6, as if at the conclusion of the whole Revelation. This last revelation produces such a powerful effect on the seer that “I fell at his feet to worship him” (10), προσκυνῆσαι - to express his divine veneration. “But he said to me: See that you do not do this: I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers, who have the testimony of Jesus; Worship God - τῷ θεᾧπροσκύνησον - for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (10). (A similar text with the absence of its end - from “for” and with a slight difference: is found in chapter 22:9: instead of “to those who have the testimony of Jesus” - “to the prophets and to those who keep the words of this book”, which, of course, is essentially the same thing. It speaks of the prophetic and confessional spirit, which equates the service of its bearers with the angelic: “I am your fellow servant” (in 22:9: “and your brothers”). Of course, this applies only to this side of the ministry, but does not abolish the entire difference between angels and men, however, it once again confirms the fellow-humanity of angels (which we will encounter below, in the interpretation of 21: 17). The “testimony” of Jesus is, of course, a confession about Jesus, which is the “spirit of prophecy” (as Christ said in response to the confession of the Apostle Peter on the way to Caesarea Philippi: “not flesh and blood revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven,” of course, through the sending of the Holy Spirit). In chapter 12:17 we have another similar synonymous expression about “the rest of the seed of the woman who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The second half of chapter 19 has a very special content and is devoted to other images. It also opens with a celestial picture of the “open sky” with a stunning celestial phenomenon. It presents exceptional difficulties of exegetical interpretation. First, let's look at the immediate content. It begins with an image reminiscent of the first horseman 6:2: “behold a white horse, and he who sits on it is called Faithful and True, who judges in righteousness and makes war” (11). These epithets, of course, are not applied to the rider on the white horse, but we find them in 1:5; 3:7, 14. (Cf. also Isa. 11:3–5). “His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns” (12), obviously, as a sign of the many nations subjugated to the Gospel (here is the obvious contrast and parallel to the seven crowns of the dragon: 12:2 ~ and the beast 13:1). “He had a name written, which no one knew except Himself” (12). This verse, due to its obscurity, as well as its location, giving the impression of “interpolation,” contains the idea of ​​a new name (2:17; 3:12), which will be revealed only in the next century. It is obviously parallel to the proper name Jesus, a human name, when applied to the God-man-theatrical-human. But in verse 13 we seem to have a contradiction that confuses some exegetes and forces them to see in Art. 12 interpolation. These are the essence of the following words: “His name is: the Word of God - ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ” (13). Of course, the presence of this name here cannot but strike one, apart from the IV Gospel, which is generally absent from the Bible. 77 Despite all the differences in the use of this name in the prologue of the fourth Gospel and in this text, one cannot help but see here confirmation that it and the Apocalypse belong to the same writer. In any case, those who deny this have an onus probandi. The apparent contradiction between verses 12 and 13 is resolved by the consideration that Logos, although it is the name of the Second Hypostasis, is in a different sense than Jesus’ own divine-human name, and, obviously, just like this new name of His, unknown to anyone except Himself. In a certain sense, it can be said that the hypostatic name Logos, like the Holy Spirit, and even the Father, is not proper in the exact sense, but, so to speak, a proper common noun, expressing hypostatic self-revelation in the depths of the Holy Trinity. But along with this intra-Trinitarian hypostatic name, Christ also has his own personal name Jesus in His God-manhood, and some other name will be added to it in the future century. At the same time, he is given another name, also more of a proper noun; “On His robe and on His thigh was written the name: King of kings and Lord of lords” (16). Above it was already given to the victorious Lamb (17:14). “He was clothed in a robe dipped in blood” (13), in contrast to “the armies of heaven that followed Him on white horses,” who were “clothed in fine linen, white and pure” as a sign of their purity and holiness. The question is, how is this blood on the Lamb's robe to be explained? Is this the blood of the enemies He kills? 78 However, this defeat, according to the context, has not yet begun (although it may already be “proleptically” designated). Or does it belong to the Lamb Himself, “as if slain” (cf. 1:5; 5:9; 7:14; 12:2)? Both interpretations are equally acceptable and even compatible. “And the armies of heaven (obviously, holy angels) followed Him on white horses” (14). It does not say where they were going, but, in any case, to participate in the great “defeat of the nations” (15) (cf. 14:15-20). “Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword, with which to smite the nations. He shepherds them with a rod of iron. He presses the winepress of the fury and wrath of God Almighty” (15). Here we have a series of images that obviously do not admit of a direct, literal interpretation; neither the “sharp sword in the mouth of Christ,” nor the “rod of iron,” nor the “treading of the winepress of rage and wrath” can succumb to it. All these are obviously allegories or symbols, the meaning of which can only be understood in accordance with the general meaning of this context. We encounter the image of a two-edged sword coming from the mouth of the Son of Man already at the beginning of Revelation, in the heavenly vision of the God-man, in the aspect of divine eternity: “I am the first and the last and the living” (1:7); “He held in His right hand the seven stars... and out of His mouth went a sword sharp on both sides, and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.” The vision of the 19th chapter, although it has a common feature with the first: the sword coming from the mouth, has a completely different character: here Jesus comes into the world as the King of kings to defeat His enemies. This image of a two-edged sword coming from the mouth of Christ, in both cases, obviously, should have, first of all, one common meaning as a symbol expressing the invincible power of the Word, the truth of Christ, which exists for eternity and is revealed in time. However, it is impossible not to note all the significant differences in the image of Christ, as it is given in both of His appearances, heavenly (chapters 1, 5) and addressed to the world, to history (chapters 19, 20), and especially the Gospel, both the synoptic image of “the meek and humble in heart, giving rest to your souls” (Matthew 11:29), and even the John one, in which the light of eternity shines, its eternal Word sounds. This, of course, is not a contradiction or inconsistency, but a difference that must be realized and felt even in order to be fully perceived. These are different aspects of the single image and revelation of Christ, which must be united and coordinated in their life perception. And in any case, it must be admitted that one cannot help but be struck with some sacred horror by the image of the King of Reigns, clothed in clothes stained with blood, with a sword coming from his mouth, at the head of the heavenly armies, rushing towards his enemies in order to destroy them. This extermination and war itself are described in no less harsh and harsh images. The entire last part of this chapter is devoted to this, which has a proleptic parallel in chapter 19: 14-20: “And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the middle of the sky: fly, gather together for the great supper of God, to devour the corpses” - their enumeration follows (17-18). Of course, this allegory speaks of the upcoming bloodshed. “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to fight against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet... both were thrown alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed by the sword of Him who sat on the horse, which proceeded from His mouth, and all the birds fed on their carcasses” (20-21). The battle is described by the cruel features of the Old Testament, 79 and together with the apocalyptic style. And this impression is further strengthened by the fact that the “others” are killed by the sword coming from the mouth of the One sitting on the horse, that is, by Christ - a unique image of its kind, which, being understood literally, is, of course, incompatible with the Gospel and in general the New Testament image of the meek and lowly in heart, “like a sheep that is led to the slaughter, and like a lamb straightly shearing the silent one” (Isa. 53) Christ. All these harsh images, of course, which in no case allow for literal interpretation, represent an allegory of spiritual battle at the extreme degree of its intensity. This is absolutely clear and does not allow for any other interpretation. The question of dogmatic exegesis that arises here will be this: to what event and to what era of the history of the Church can these images be applied? The key to this question is another, more basic one: how should we understand here the coming of the King of Kings from heaven to earth in order to fight the beast and the kings of the earth? Of course, this is not the Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ in glory “judges the living and the dead” at the end of this world. Yes, this is not the end yet, but only an event within the life of this world, and not even the last, because they are followed by a whole apocalyptic era of the 1000-year kingdom (no matter how we understand it), and after it the uprising of Gog and Magog. Therefore, what is described in chapter 19 does not refer to the end, but to the middle of history, although it is already approaching its final maturity. But the Gospels, as well as the entire New Testament, do not speak of any other return of Christ, His coming into the world, except Parousia. Of course, such heavenly, spiritual manifestations of Christ as Apostle cannot be considered as such. Paul on the way to Damascus, Archdeacon Stephen and the New Testament saints. Christ with the heavenly armies appears here and not in heavenly glory, but as if in the earthly majesty of the King of those who reign, with the kings of the earth opposing and conquering them. How does all this connect with being at the right hand of the Father? Here, obviously, the assumption of a literal, concrete understanding of the text (19: 11–20) in the sense of the earthly appearance of Christ in the form of one sitting on a horse with a sword coming from his mouth must be eliminated in advance, already because such cannot be included in the context of the general teaching about the Second Coming of the Lord, His Parousia. This assumption entails a whole series of other, difficult to answer questions: in particular, is it possible to accept that the coming of Christ into the world earlier than Parousia is a visible and generally concrete event in earthly history. To answer these questions, of course, there is no data in the text of Revelation. Then, although even more unanswerable and even incongruous, natural questions arise: does this historical specificity extend to the entire situation of the battle with corpses, blood and other details? Of course, this entire series of questions in itself indicates the falsity of their formulation. Apocalyptic symbols and allegories, at least in this case, do not allow for concrete interpretation. The events that are described in Chapter 19, although they have a certain specificity for themselves, are an allegory and, in any case, go beyond the boundaries of the earthly world. However, even this interpretation is accompanied by new difficulties; it entails further confusion and questions. And the first of them is this: do these allegories refer to a single accomplishment, or to those that are repeated repeatedly or last for a long time in history, do they represent spiritual processes? The parallel in the content of chapters 14: 14–20 and even 6:12–17 (after the opening of the sixth seal) testifies in favor of the second interpretation, and each of these images speaks of a certain increase or a different symbolic image of the same accomplishment, namely the victorious struggle of the Lamb with opposing forces. Next, the following question arises: will the coming of the King of kings into the world, although spiritual, be known and felt precisely as such when it takes place, or will it, being woven into the general context of church history, remain hidden in it, although effective? Such a question leaves us feeling powerless to answer. If we assume that this event dissolves in the general course of history, then this means abolishing it in its concreteness and thereby rejecting the power of the prophetic vision about it. If we nevertheless accept it as an event, albeit a spiritual one, then this currently unanswerable question for us arises: how is it recognized? Has it already happened in history or is it still to come in the future? If it is impossible to deny the first, at least as a preliminary, proleptically, then it is also impossible to eliminate the second. If it is still to come in the future, it means that its history has ended, has not been completed internally. The Church still faces a new spiritual manifestation of the power of Christ, as if His spiritual Parousia, which will be effective and perceptible in all its stunning power and obviousness. However, are we capable and worthy of recognizing this evidence, even if it has already occurred or when it will occur? And at the same time, doesn’t such an assumption open the way to mystical fantasy and religious daydreaming? In this sense, the 19th chapter of Revelation contains some religious mystery, like Ch. 20 with the revelation of the millennial kingdom. If history has not yet ended and new achievements in it are still ahead of us, then this establishes a special way of interpreting Revelation in its prophecies for reverent and believing hope. Not everything in them has been revealed, because not everything has been accomplished; there remains what only has to happen in the future. However, such a conclusion has only a hypothetical meaning for us; for it we have enough prophetic power and boldness, and maybe the time has not yet come for the life comprehension of prophecy. Earlier, in the chapters of Revelation devoted to the symbolism of events and eras of history: seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls, it was natural for us to unravel them, looking for their specific disclosure in historical events, although we were content with even a deliberately conjectural interpretation. There it was natural and appropriate, for one or another of their interpretations in its approximateness had no direct and immediate significance for our faith. On the contrary, there are also prophecies in this prophetic book that are more directly addressed to our life, and therefore require a vital response and assimilation from us, but at the same time do not allow it. Prophecies refer to the past, present and future, the former in a teaching sense, the latter in a hopeful and purposeful sense. Revelation cannot remain a closed book, just like world history, and the attitude towards its prophecies must be not only a humble and believing acceptance of them, but also daring, intense questioning, and prophetic anxiety. They are questioned and comprehended by the spirit of prophecy in us; it is not the letter that kills, but the spirit that gives life. It is obvious that in the images of 19:11–19 one must see spiritual warfare behind the complete impossibility of a literal understanding of this apocalyptic language. These images mark the confrontation between Christianity and anti-Christianity, reaching the greatest tension on both sides. It ends with the greatest triumph of Christianity in the world. Moreover, it is accompanied not by the physically tangible coming of Christ into the world, but by His spiritually tangible presence, effective help and participation in the decisive events of the historian. In this sense, we have to admit that here we will believe about a certain spiritual coming of Christ into the world and, in that sense, about His return to it. There is even more here than in the general last promise (Matt. 28:20). The latter is fulfilled throughout the life of the Church, mysterious and grace-filled. Here we are talking about an extraordinary event or, rather, a series of events, Christophanies, similar to His appearance to the apostle. Pavlou, archd. Stephen and the saints, but even more than that, since here Christ comes, approaches the world, accompanied by the armies of heaven, which are also tangible for people, just like in the Second Glorious Coming in the flesh, in Parousia, although unlike it, spiritually. And the spirituality of this coming of Christ in the world, on the one hand, makes it invisible, intangible, mysterious, but at the same time concrete, tangible, in a certain sense, one can say historical as taking place within history, before its end. It is this specific spirituality, its supra-historical historicity, that represents the main difficulty in understanding this prophecy, the like of which is not found in the entire New Testament (and, of course, in the Old). And then another question arises: will, or was, or is the spiritual coming of Christ into the world as such noticeable and self-evident for people, or will it be expressed in a series of external events and their interconnection, which conceal it within themselves as internal content and driving force? We also do not have a direct answer to this question, or rather, both are possible. However, does not the latter mean a diminishment of the power of the prophecy or even its rejection, if it is reduced only to the internal pattern of history and remains imperceptible in its strength, in some depersonalization and dissolution in the general flow of history. Obviously, from the comparison of Matt. 38:19 ~and Rev. 19:11–19, it should be concluded that different things are said here, although both texts equally testify to the spiritual presence of Christ in the world. This spirituality also has different ways of realizing it (For more on this, see the excursion “The Appearance of Christ in the World”). In a word, step by step we are forced to admit that Rev. 19:11-19 actually speaks of a certain coming of Christ into the world, albeit a spiritual one, no matter in what sensually concrete images it is symbolized. And this is not enough: it will not only become known, tangible to people as the nearness of Christ, His coming into the world along with the armies of heaven, despite His ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father, but it also has a definite and also tangible character for itself - spiritual warfare. This very possibility and significance of this second spiritual coming into the world before and apart from Parousia must therefore be introduced into general dogma, into the doctrine of the ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father, which is not usually done among us. Is it not included in the general preparation of the place for the disciples, which is spoken of in John. 14:3, of course, in relation not only to some disciples, but also to believers in general, to all humanity: “and when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Me, so that where I am you also may be.” Taking to Himself refers to the Second Coming in glory, to the Parousia, to the general resurrection and transfiguration of the world, the preparation is completed in heaven, starting with the ten days between the Ascension and Pentecost - but then this work of Christ, unknown to us, continues in heaven and on earth until the Second Coming. But Revelation expands this work of preparation, since it is accomplished not only in heaven, but also on earth, and not only through the Paraclete, the Comforter, who “abides with you and will be in you” (14:17), but also through the personal appearance of Christ (“I will love him and will appear to him myself,” 14:20), and it does not even say what kind of this phenomenon will be, spiritual only and invisible, or visible, as He appeared to the elect. But besides these personal phenomena, Revelation generally testifies to certain appearances of Christ, moreover spiritual ones. This coming of Christ will not only be spiritually grace-filled, but also militant, with a “sword”. No matter how restrictively we interpret this, no matter how we spiritualize this angry belligerence, we are undoubtedly talking about precisely this manifestation of the face of Christ, which only shines through in isolated moments in the Gospel, but here appears with all its power. We are powerless to bring this revelation closer to our consciousness in order to express in words and concepts this fiery force, which in fear and spiritual laziness we want to extinguish in sweet sentimentality. “Whoever is near Me is near the fire” (apocryphal Ev.) - I came to bring down fire on the earth, and how I would like it to be already kindled” (Luke 12:49). In the images of Revelation, this peak is expressed with merciless and even cruel force. And this power is the action of Christ’s reign in the world; it takes place and continues on earth, regardless of the ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father. Of course, this relationship should not be understood as contradictory; both are not at all just a temporary state for the Risen Lord, but have force in eternity. The second coming of Christ into the world does not at all mean that He left heaven and ceased to sit at the right hand of the Father. But also, His spiritual coming into the world does not interrupt His state after Ascension. All this only testifies to the various possibilities and accomplishments that are included in His sitting at the right hand of the Father and are connected with it, for it, of course, is not a passive and motionless state, but as effective as the stay of the God-man on earth was effective. But to the nature of this belligerence we must add another feature. It is war on both sides: “and I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to fight against him who sat on the horse and their armies” (Rev. 19:19). Armies of various kinds are gathering to fight Christ and Christianity now, before our eyes, and throughout centuries of history, although no one can yet say whether this “gathering” of them, this anti-Christian tension, has reached its limit, although more than once it seemed so to us in exaggerated fear. And, nevertheless, we can say that after the gathering of these forces, a decisive battle ensued, followed by the mortal defeat of the beast. In general, we have to admit that the understanding of chapter 19 in all its significance contains not only a riddle for exegesis, but also a vital secret, before which we still remain powerless. There are two possibilities here: either this mystery generally remains unrevealed for people even when it is already taking place, and in what it is being realized, since in general the spiritual coming of the Lord in power remains unknown to man, or the times and dates for this revelation have not yet arrived and they relate to the future that has not yet occurred. The first assumption, however, is contradicted by the very fact of the presence of this prophecy in the sacred book, in which it is, of course, not for literary decoration, but for life admonition and guidance. Therefore, such an “apophatic” attitude towards it would mean taking away the power from the words of the book of prophecies, which the seer so sternly warns us against at the conclusion of his prophetic book. And, however, no less difficult and daring is the assertion that the prophecy has already been fulfilled, in the absence of self-evidence, which - whether due to weakness or for other reasons unknown to us - we do not have. The Seer with equal force forbids not only to belittle the prophecy, but also to “add” anything to it (22:18). Therefore, until now we stand before this prophecy in embarrassed powerlessness. However, this should not prevent us from treating it with faith and reverence. Our mystical tension and religious attention should be concentrated in gracious hope and anticipation of that future accomplishment, which promises us a meeting with Christ, albeit spiritual, here on earth, “before” the end of the world and Parousia. In other words, although no one knows its times and seasons except our heavenly Father, nevertheless, we are given and instructed to observe the blossoming of the fig tree and conclude from it that “summer is near,” and “near, at the door” (Matthew 24:33). But the same applies to the opposite conclusion about the meaning of the absence of these signs. It testifies that we are still separated from the end of the world by events that have not yet occurred. These include the amazing victory of Christ and Christianity over anti-Christian forces, which, in any case, has not yet taken place. From this we conclude that we are not yet at the end, but in the middle of history. The same conclusion is clearly evident from the general context of Revelation, in which chapter 19 is followed by chapter 20, which contains a number of more important achievements in the life of the Church and humanity. This is precisely the onset of the thousand-year kingdom, which, in any case, represents a special era of history, then, after it, the movement of Gog and Magog with a new uprising against the “camp of saints,” and only after that comes the end. And the same thing follows from the final verses of chapter 19, which does not speak at all about the end of the world, but only about the outcome of the spiritual battle. What should be our religious and practical attitude to this chapter, which begins with a joyful and triumphant hymn in heaven about the completed salvation and the advent of the marriage of the Lamb, and in the second part continues with the story of the battle of the One sitting on a horse with hostile forces and His victory over them? It can least of all be confused and panicky; on the contrary, it must be filled with courageous hope. In the face of the terrible tragedy taking place in the world, there must be, along with Christian courage and the will to spiritual victory, fearlessness in the face of Antichrists, whatever their different images. In this sense, chapter 19 must be recognized as one of the most important in Revelation, if only they can be compared with each other, each in its own special significance. In any case, we have to say that for us the second, spiritual coming of Christ into the world has not yet taken place. And therefore the story did not end; on the contrary, it still stands on the threshold of great future achievements. No matter how terrible and stunning the events of our days are, they do not yet end the story, but, on the contrary, they only precede the decisive achievements that will occur even before its end. The most important and significant things are yet to come; this is the practical conclusion that can be drawn from this chapter. The outcome of the battle described in it is depicted at the end as follows: “and the beast was captured and with him the false prophet... both were thrown alive into the lake of fire, burning with sulfur, and the rest were killed by the sword of Him who sat on the horse, coming from His mouth, and all the birds fed on their corpses” (20-21). Who, of course, became the beast and the false prophet? The first and common understanding of the “beast” places it in Rome and the Roman Empire. It cannot be denied that for the secret viewer himself and his contemporaries, concretely and historically this may have been exactly the case. However, the depth and breadth of prophetic clairvoyance is not limited. For us now such an interpretation has only historical significance, and such limitations have already lost its force. For us, Rome is no longer the exclusive seat of the “beast.” After Rome, which has now become only a political province on the general map of the world, the beast appears in many new images of imperialism and the totalitarian state. To understand it, we already have to be distracted and, to a certain extent, forget about Rome, as it stood before the eyes of the viewer. We cannot limit our contemplation even to our present time alone, because new, further manifestations of the animal principle in the world are also possible. The same should be said about the false prophet, whose image even then, in the era of the Roman Empire, seemed less distinct and concrete than the beast. He is abstract and vague in his definition as having performed miracles before him (the beast) and deceiving him to receive the mark of the beast and to worship his image (20). This characteristic speaks almost nothing to the imagination, even for that era. For ours, this image appears in all the complexity and diversity of different currents of non-Christian and anti-Christian thought and culture, united by a common denial of Christianity, vital and ideological. In characterizing the destinies of the beast and the false prophet, we are also dealing with continuous allegories and symbols that absolutely do not allow for literal interpretation. Their general meaning is such that all opponents of Christ will be weakened in their resistance, broken and thus destroyed. Here expressions of a terminological nature are used, which at the same time have a mythological prescription and tradition for themselves: such are the “lake of fire”, burning with brimstone, the “abyss” (9:1, 11; 11:7; 20:3; cf. Gen. 1:2), as well as “corpses and birds”. The original meaning of the abyss and the lake of fire belongs to general religious symbolism, which is also preserved in the language of the Gospel (“fire hell” Matt. 5:22; 18: 9; Mark 9:47; “deep” in Luke 8:31). Abandoning the religious-historical study of these symbols, let us look for their religious meaning. It directly refers to the punishment and suffering, spiritual and physical, associated with it. This punishment corresponds to the degree of guilt, as well as to the power of the perpetrators and their ability to understand this punishment, in any case, long-term, although nothing is said right here about its duration, much less infinity. Fire has the power not only of burning and burning that which is worthy of destruction, but also of purifying those who are exposed to fire, pass through it, are purified and melted in it. Penitentiary eschatology usually sees in fire only an image of torment, moreover, unchangeable and eternal in its torment. However, this is, of course, an inaccurate and even downright incorrect, meager comprehension of this image, which speaks of suffering as a path of transformation and purification through combustion, however, not combustion. 80 The beast, which in general, and in particular in this case, means a collective concept, includes all carriers of the bestial and bestial rock, as well as the false prophet, i.e., all carriers of the false prophetic spirit, thrown “alive” into this lake. In other words, this defines their life in its continuation as change, elimination. This life process continues unceasingly, changing and transforming its carriers. To the extent that this image also signifies victory over bestiality and lies in the person of their carriers, they themselves, however, are not subject to personal extermination, for God did not create death. “The rest” were “killed by the sword of Him who sat on the horse,” that is, they were weakened by the power of the Word of Christ, the preaching of Christianity. They are not subject to combustion. They are simply “killed,” that is, delusion and deception lose their power over them. They become healthier after the evil is localized and weakened. These victims of lies, who followed the false shepherds in sheep's clothing, are freed from it, the imaginary principles of life are exposed in their deadness and mortality, they are “corpses” with which the birds “fed.” They cease to be the property of the human world, are scattered into dust, ejected from human use, and cease to be a state of human life. According to the figurative expression of Revelation, they were “fed” not even by human beings, but by birds belonging to the lower animal world, flying in space, where these spiritual corpses scatter. So, this is not yet a judgment, final and final, but only the result of the last clash of the beast and the false prophet with the army of Christ, which overcomes its enemies, weakens and abolishes them. The Gospel wins. The result is a general spiritual recovery, a liberation of the general atmosphere of life from the poisons and miasma with which it was poisoned. The world is thus prepared to enter the last act of its history. What is coming now is the epilogue of history, and at the same time the prologue of the next century, its threshold. This is what the next chapter is devoted to. Chapter 20. The Millennial Kingdom This chapter in content is directly adjacent to the previous one as its continuation. At the same time, it also has its own, in its uniqueness the most unique theme, found only in Revelation, this is precisely the thousand-year kingdom of Christians on earth. In a certain sense it can be said that it contains the focus of all Revelation and its most original teaching, which naturally attracts the exclusive attention of both textual exegesis and dogmatic interpretation. This chapter opens 81 with a vision of an Angel descending from heaven, “who had the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand (20:1). This is, of course, an allegorical expression, a symbol of power over Satan, which was given to him deliberately here or was acquired by him as a result of the victory of Michael and his angels in the war with the dragon and his angels (12:7, 9). Archangel Michael, or even one of his army, “took the dragon, the ancient serpent” (2) (cf. 12:9). His power had already diminished after his overthrow from heaven by the Archangel Michael, as well as after the battle described in the previous chapter, when his tools and servants - the beast and the false prophet - were captured and thrown into the lake of fire. (This thought is also expressed figuratively in Matthew 12:29: “How can someone enter into the house of a strong man and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he plunders his house” or in Luke 11:21). The angel “chained the serpent for a thousand years and cast him into the abyss and put a seal over him so that he would no longer deceive the nations,” after which “he should be freed for a short time.” This “conclusion” seems for a time to contradict Jude. 1:6: “The angels who did not keep their dignity, but left their home, he keeps in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day” and 2 Peter, 2. However, Revelation 20:3 refers specifically to Satan, but in relation to angels it can also have an expanded application, allowing for an exception or a special interpretation: we know from the Gospel that demons are allowed to do their tempting work - in in particular, they ask Christ, who expelled them from the demoniac, “not to send them into the abyss,” but to allow them to “move into the herd of swine” (Luke 8:31). The overthrow of Satan and imprisonment in the abyss with a seal placed on him allegorically means such an influence of divine power on Satan, weakened in his strength, which makes him paralyzed, depriving him of his inherent energy of evil. However, this does not yet mean his final eruption from the world. This state of connectedness has a limiting period for itself, namely 1000 years, a period, of course, symbolic. A thousand years as an apocalyptic number means a certain completeness and completeness of a period or era. It cannot be understood chronologically (just as with the Lord “a thousand years are like a day” Ps. 89:5). The millennium is the period not only of Satan’s imprisonment, but also of the simultaneous onset and duration of the earthly reign of Christ and those who “revived” with Christ in the first resurrection. In relation to Satan, it means liberation of the spiritual atmosphere from his oppressive, corrupting and tempting influence in the world. But this liberation of the world from Satan, 82 although temporary, is accompanied by another spiritual event, namely the first resurrection and the onset of the thousand-year reign of Christ, only after which the last amazing events in the life of this world take place. In the very idea of ​​the earthly kingdom of Christ on earth they see the secret influence of Judaism, and this, of course, cannot be denied. However, this “influence should not be understood in the pejorative sense that is generally given to it in religious-historical research, i.e. as some kind of spiritual infection, an invasion of alien and extraneous elements, but as a continuing religious revelation, the beginning of which belongs to the Old Testament church, although here it, of course, did not reach fullness and purity. The idea that the Kingdom of God will be revealed on earth in the life of the chosen people of Israel, and through it throughout the world, with different shades, was characteristic of the great and small prophets, especially of the era of captivity, as well as the post-exilic period - for some: Jeremiah, Deutero-Isaiah, Malachi - in a more universalistic understanding, for others; Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Joel - more particularistic. Then this general thought passes into the apocryphal writing of the apocalypses and becomes the common property of Jewish self-consciousness around our era. It should be noted that the duration of this earthly Kingdom of God is not limited or determined by a period, but rather is depicted as having no end to itself in time. But apocalypticism here does not directly and clearly transform into eschatology, but rather merges with it. This is usually associated with the idea of ​​​​the majestic restoration of Jerusalem and its church (the second half of the book of Ezekiel is entirely devoted to this: 9-47). In any case, it seems very difficult and conjectural to determine how the duration of this period was understood in rabbinic writing: there are great differences here. Obviously, this was a premonition “like a mirror in fortune telling” of the revelation of the New Testament. (For more information, see the special excursion). This vision of the spiritual world, which includes the deposition and chaining of Satan, is followed by another vision, this time from the realm of the afterlife. It is preceded, like the previous one, by the same “and saw” (and “and” here clearly means sequence and is equivalent to “after”). “And I saw thrones and those sitting on them, to whom judgment had been given, and the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor received the mark on their foreheads. They came to life" (4). From this “the souls of the beheaded” and “revived” it is clear that this whole vision refers to the dead, and they are divided into two categories: on the one hand, those sitting on thrones, to whom it will be given to judge, and on the other, the souls of the beheaded. Both categories are connected to each other by a simple “and” (which provides another example of the entire apocalyptic ambiguity of this union). We would interpret in this case this “and” in the sense: in particular, including, including and under. The first category has a more general meaning and includes the second as part. "Those who sit on the throne" is obviously consonant with Dan. 7:9 ~("thrones were delivered") and 7:26~("then the judges will sit"). In the New Testament this is paralleled by Matt. 19:18 ~ (“You also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”), as well as 1 Cor. 6:2 ~v. (“the saints will judge the world... by you the world will be judged... we will judge the angels”). However, of these New Testament texts, the first refers only to the apostles, while the second has a general eschatological meaning that goes far beyond the preliminary, still earthly judgment, which is spoken of here in Revelation. Therefore we have to admit that Rev. 20:4 ~contains features that were not the subject of New Testament revelation... They relate to the participation of deceased saints in the destinies of the history of the world, which in Revelation and in general is revealed more widely than in other books of the New Testament. The idea of ​​judgment given to “those sitting on thrones”, in the general context, does not mean here the participation of “those who came to life” in the last judgment, “κρίμαἐδόθη” - “judgment was given” in this case refers not so much to the court, but to the judgment or reasoning that is characteristic of people regarding people. This is the internal, immanent judgment of history, which takes place in the consciousness of the human race itself in the person of its holy chosen ones. It obviously also relates to their upcoming reign with Christ, and, consequently, to the completion of history and in it the entire human endeavor, to a preliminary summing up of its results. One can express it this way: this court is deliberative, but is not the verdict that nevertheless belongs to the Father, but is entrusted to the Son by Him, as is testified in John’s Gospel, by virtue of His humanity in God-manhood, John. 5:27: “The Father gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. So of all these souls it is said that they “came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection" (4). This sets them apart from all the “other” humanity. It is absolutely clear that “they came to life” - έζησαν - does not mean resurrection in the body, which is going to happen for everyone at the end of this age. It was the souls that came to life - as incorporeal ones, being separated from the body, and this “first resurrection” does not return their corporeality to them. Souls are understood here in their relation to bodies as it is given in their mortal separation, which separates the body from the soul inspired by the spirit. This last connection of the soul with the spirit is inseparable in death, which is why the spirit and soul are united here and are encompassed by the concept of “soul” as a single whole, although not simple, but complex, so to speak, dual. The body, as can be concluded from this text, remains dead and still inaccessible to the spirit. What then could be the change in souls, which is expressed in the fact that they “come to life”? “Soul” - and in the precise understanding of soul and spirit in their inseparability - is immortal, therefore it remains alive even in the afterlife. Both the Old and New Testaments sufficiently testify to this. However, this life of the soul outside the body is obviously flawed, and in addition, it can differ according to its afterlife destiny. It is in Revelation that in this regard there is very special, deliberate evidence of the afterlife, immortality not as a state of fainting, but also of life continuing in its meaningfulness with participation even in the earthly destinies of humanity, as is clear from a number of relevant texts (see above). “They came to life” must therefore be understood in the general context of the whole teaching of Revelation about the afterlife. It is never, in any of its states, complete death, but at most only a swoon of life, from which souls awaken in varying degrees, according to the state of each. Therefore, the “first resurrection” means the greatest degree of life of the dead and their participation in the life of the living. This fullness is active, energetic, it is defined as participation in the earthly reign with Christ, and this obviously means their earthly service and action. How it is expressed and how it is accomplished is not revealed to us; it is the secret of the future, which generally does not lend itself to premature disclosure and remains inaccessible to us or does not need such disclosure. Of course, one general question remains here, which in similar cases arose before us above: will this event - the first resurrection of the saints - be known to those who are on earth? We obviously cannot give a confident answer to this question due to the lack of revelation data and corresponding human experience. However, a number of leading reflections incline us to a positive answer regarding that special, exceptional image of the “communio sanctorum”; which is the “first resurrection.” If in the experience of the Church regarding the life of the saints we recognize the tangible closeness to us of the afterlife, all the more so is it manifested here in the spiritual transparency of the world, in which - let us not forget - the poisonous breath of Satan is absent, and at the same time the approach of Christ with His “revived” saints has taken place. This means a completely new era in the life of the Church, to the extent that death is partially overcome here. That is why it is called the “first resurrection.” Between the mortal life of this world and the future age of resurrection, a certain intermediate state finds a place for itself, in which earthly life is united - at least for the elect - with the afterlife, so that on the basis of this state a certain new life arises, now unknown to us. Judging by the fact that it occurs after the overthrow of Satan, this very possibility is connected with the beneficial consequences for the world that accompany it. The action of Satan in the world hitherto obviously prevented this connection and established the boundary between both worlds, the earthly and the afterlife. The intermediate state of the first resurrection obviously differs from the general, therefore, second resurrection. The last expression is not directly found in Revelation, but it is suggested through a parallel expression: “second death”, while the “First” resurrection is absent in other New Testament books. This expression constitutes the exclusive property of Revelation, together with its other features. This, of course, should not detract from the prophetic power and authenticity of this insight, since it is contained in one of the last, concluding chapters of the last New Testament book, nor from its overall significance. It cannot pass in silence and unnoticed or be lost in some kind of confused muttering, but must be accepted in all its strength and dogmatic content with inclusion in the general system of Christian doctrine. It is noteworthy that in the Gospel of St. John the Theologian we also encounter a distinction between resurrection and revival. It is in chapter 5 that we read in the Lord’s speech about the resurrection: “just as the Father resurrects (more precisely, it should be said here: awakens ὲγείρει) and revives (ζωοποιεῖ), so the Son revives whomever he wants” (21) - therefore, we are not talking here about a general resurrection, but about revival. Further, the same thought about these certain chosen ones continues like this: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the time is coming and has already come (ἔρχεται ὢρα καὶ νὺν ἐστιν) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard them they will live. (ζήσουσιν)" (25). Here again we are not talking about resurrection in the full sense, but about revival, as in Revelation. The time has already come for him with the coming of Christ into the world. And further this same thought develops as follows: “the time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God and they who have done good will come out into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of judgment” (29). Isn’t it said here again about the “first resurrection” or the revival of the elect, and then, along with this, about the subsequent general resurrection, which, however, begins even now, before the general resurrection in bodies. (Apostle Paul teaches about the latter in more detail in 1 Cor. 15). All this gives a more complex idea of ​​the resurrection, first as a revival, and then as a bodily uprising. In this regard, a more complex idea is given about the court. For if, according to Revelation, the dead are judged as if before the general judgment on the resurrection at some other preliminary spiritual court, then in John. 5:27 speaks of the judgment given by the Father to the Son; in this regard, I seem to speak only of the spiritual revival of all the dead, “who are in the tombs,” who will “come forth” (ἐκπορεύσονται) into the resurrection of life and condemnation. One can ask oneself whether this latter is identical with the resurrection and the general judgment (Matthew 25), or whether it is, in relation to that, still beyond the grave, preliminary, just like the judgment. One can therefore also ask whether the picture of the judgment of Matt. 25 is also some kind of schematic and reverse generalization in general of that division and distinction that occurs both in the afterlife and after the resurrection, if only we understand it in the entire complex context of revelations about the resurrection and judgment. Apparently, it is the latter that corresponds to the essence of the matter. To this we must add another testimony of the same John the Theologian in his Gospel, again in the same speech of the Lord about the resurrection. The Lord says here: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). It is directly stated here that the judgment is not universal for everyone, because there are those who are completely freed from it, for whom eternal life begins (“transferred” μεταβέβηκεν), that is, a new life beyond the grave. And this also confirms the general idea that the image of the court in Matt. 25 should not be considered exhaustive. It is a tributary expression of the truth that humanity in general - πάντα τὰ ἔθνη - all peoples, even without distinction of faith, will be tested by the judgment of their conscience, immanent, regarding the “second” commandment of love for one’s neighbor, and will overcome their sins against this commandment, which is why the Judge here is called the “Son of Man.” And “eternity” - equally for eternal life and for “eternal torment” - refers to the spiritual state of those who have seen themselves in Christ, those who are worthy and those who are unworthy. In general, Matt. 25 about the Last Judgment should be included in the general context of all related prophetic texts, and not singled out as basic and exhaustive, and therefore subject to, so to speak, literal understanding. The latter, however, is impossible due to the allegorism of speech. In connection with this, the doctrine of the “first” resurrection, which, obviously, must be followed by the “second” in bodies, must also be understood. It first of all requires dogmatic understanding without an evasive desire to pass by it, making the excuse that “this must be understood spiritually,” as if the spirituality of interpretation necessarily means the actual annulment of the text. “The first resurrection,” naturally, remains a mystery before its occurrence, but this mystery has to be revealed in due time as a kind of new reality and a new revelation, which otherwise would not have been given in prophecy. Moreover, this first resurrection should be understood not as some kind of accident, a detail that might not have happened, but as a necessary step on the path to the general, second resurrection. The latter, according to the meaning of the prophecy, could not have happened without passing the first, although this connection between them now remains hidden for us, however, like everything in general related to the resurrection and life of the future century, including here the future century, the “millennium”. This first, and in this sense the preceding resurrection according to the text of Revelation is inextricably linked with the participation of those “who have come to life” in reigning with Christ for a thousand years. Just as the general resurrection is preceded by the first resurrection, so the advent of the Kingdom of Christ in the world is preceded by the thousand-year reign of the saints on earth. And this latter, insofar as it is connected with the first resurrection, thereby also acquires a certain intermediate, afterlife-earthly character. So it is with the ap. Paul (1 Cor. 15:24–28), the reign of Christ in the world takes place in a certain sequence and, so to speak, gradually, even with a hint that can be associated with the doctrine of the first resurrection: “just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life, each in his own order: first Christ, then those of Christ at His coming, and then the end, when He hands over the Kingdom to God and the Father, when He He will abolish all rule and all authority and power, for He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.” The entire Revelation is devoted to the depiction of this accession of Christ in the world, for which, however, the last, final act will be the thousand-year kingdom of the saints with Christ, their blessed destiny. They are blessed in the special (sixth) makarism of Revelation: “blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection: the second death has no power over him, but they will be priests of God and Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years” (6). Participation in the first resurrection is expressed primarily in the fact that the “second death” has no power over them. This introduces a new dogmatic concept, also characteristic only of Revelation: this is the second death. We will dwell on it in full below (14); in this context, when applied to saints, it obviously means here a special, profound power of immortal life, which will manifest itself in them before the bodily resurrection, and it protects them from the deadening breath of death. Further it is said about them that they “will be priests of God and Christ,” ἱερεὶςτοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. This (God and Christ) in this case can be equally understood both in the sense of identification: God-Christ, and in the sense of distinction: God the Father and Christ cf. 1:6: “To Christ, who has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen". In the first sense, Christ is defined as the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Divine Hypostasis, God; in the second sense, as the God-man, the Son of God, who descended from heaven, became incarnate and became human, a single Hypostasis in the union of two natures, Divine and human. The “priesthood” of saints should obviously be understood here not hierarchically, in the sense of sacred dignity, but in that general sense of anointing with the Holy Spirit, which is characteristic of all Christianity, as spoken of by Joel in his words, applied by the apostle. Peter in his speech at Pentecost (Acts 2:17 ~ Joel 2:28–30). If we look for a sacramental expression of this thought, then it can be associated with the dual unity of baptism and confirmation, which in a certain sense is the sacrament of the universal royal priesthood. The latter is expressively evidenced by the apostle. Peter, addressing all believers, without distinction of gender or even age: “you are a generation of God, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a special people” (1 Peter 2:9). There is no reason to think that in Revelation the naming of priests of God and Christ would refer only to the hierarchical priesthood, and that the number of participants in the first resurrection would be limited to them alone. There are no guidelines for this. On the contrary, it undoubtedly includes everyone worthy of it. The only feature particularly highlighted here is martyrdom, confession (“of those beheaded for the testimony of Christ” and further v. 4), and this is not directly related to the hierarchical priesthood. Therefore, all those who are sanctified in Christ and awarded from Him, so to speak, reciprocal sanctification, as if spiritual ordination, are called priests here. The royal priesthood is given here to all participants in the first resurrection. This universal priesthood does not deny or even belittle the hierarchical priesthood in its own meaning, but it, being as if independent from the latter, limits it to that extent, placing alongside it another, universal priesthood, which has power in the Kingdom of God in the life of the next century. Here it refers only to the participants in the first resurrection in the thousand-year Kingdom of Christ, but in the general resurrection it extends to the ages of ages. The apostolic revelation is applicable here: “He must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet... when he has put all things in subjection to him, then the Son himself will be subject to him who put all things under him, so that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:25–28). This universal “subjugation” through sanctification will be the royal power of the universal priesthood, through which God will be “all in all.” In this universal priesthood, it is as if the hierarchical priesthood is dissolved, which has its power for the earthly ways of building the Church, but in the coming Kingdom of God it will become like the Old Testament priesthood, since it was abolished in the New Testament. This will be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel, in the words of the apostle. Peter expressed the power of Pentecost, which had to be revealed throughout the entire earthly history of the New Testament Church. However, it will end only in the Kingdom of Christ, starting with the first resurrection, in the general resurrection, and after it forever and ever. So, the participants in the first resurrection are promised to be priests of God and Christ. But this priesthood - not hierarchical, but universal - is inseparably associated with universal prophecy (which is spoken of by the prophet Joel and in the speech of the Apostle Peter: “And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your elders will dream dreams. And on My servants and on My handmaids I will pour out My Spirit and they will prophesy”). The sons of the Kingdom of God, together with the gifts of prophetic and priestly service and inseparably with them, will take part in the royal ministry of Christ, on the paths of His accession: “they will reign with Him for a thousand years” and should be understood in this sense. The content of chapter 20 also refers to the state of the world when Christ, although he reigns in it, is not yet completely, as evidenced by the new liberation of Satan along with the rebellion of the peoples - Gog and Magog - against Christ (7-8). Thus, the expression: “they will reign” (6) does not mean “they will already become kings,” but they will still reign with Him. They are credited with some active participation in this reign with Christ. What this reign may consist of and how it will be expressed is also the mystery of the future. We cannot help but note, however, that this accession will not be accompanied by war, which has temporarily - precisely for a thousand years - already passed, and Satan - also temporarily - has been weakened. (Here comes to mind the prophecy of Isaiah and others about the triumph of peace on earth). Consequently, enthronement with Christ presupposes not only efforts to combat evil, but also the triumph of good. This is the positive construction of the Kingdom of Christ on earth, which prepares for the reign of Christ at His Second Coming. Thus, here is contained a highly important dogmatic thought about theanthropic synergism as applied to the final destinies of the world and the accession of Christ, according to the manifestation of two wills and energies, divine and human. This enthronement is not only a Divine matter, but also a human one, and not only through the union of two natures and two wills in the God-man himself, but also in the own existence of human nature. The entire earthly history of mankind, as it is symbolized in Revelation, is such a synergistic preparation of the Kingdom of Christ and His new coming into the world. His thousand-year Kingdom is one of the final links in this preparation, if not yet the last, then already its penultimate page. Moreover, what is said here about the accession of the participants in the first resurrection in the reign of Christ, and specifically about them, cannot, of course, mean the non-participation of the living, whom the millennial kingdom finds while still on earth. But here it speaks directly and positively about the new participation of the saints who are still in the afterlife, together, of course, with the entire earthly Church in this construction of the Kingdom of Christ. In any case, here is evidence of the advent of a new, unprecedented era in the life of the world, which in the language of Revelation is called the thousand-year kingdom of Christ. This now brings us close to the main and general question: how should we relate to this teaching about the thousand-year kingdom of saints and the first resurrection? The attitude of the historical Church to this prophecy is highly significant: in general it can be expressed in such a way that it has not established any definite and definitive dogmatic and exegetical attitude towards it. The history of dogma knows individual private opinions, which differ to the point of complete contradiction, but there has not been and still is not a church definition. This question was never the subject of dogmatic discussion in a conciliar manner, as if it were insignificant and undeserving. This indifference and failure to notice, of course, cannot be accidental, especially taking into account that the teaching about the thousand-year Kingdom of Christ is a bright and dazzling star on the dogmatic horizon, a stunning revelation in the Revelation of the Apostle John. Meanwhile, the impression still remains that church teachers not only do not notice it, but also seem to not want to notice it, they close their eyes, as if they are... afraid of him. But since the Church is infallible, although church people can err by erroneousness and limited judgment, we must understand this silence of hers in the same way as some positive answer. We interpret it in such a sense that this prophecy contains a certain secret that has not yet been revealed, because the time and timing for this have not come, just as the Old Testament prophecies about Christ for centuries were kept in the Church in all incomprehensibility for their contemporaries, and perhaps even - in all their power - for the prophets themselves, in order to shine to the world in their New Testament fulfillment. Also in the New Testament there are separate prophecies relating to the future destinies of the church, which do not yet sound to us with all their power, remain incomprehensible and unheard. This includes mainly prophecies relating to the future destinies of the world and the church. In this sense, the entire book of Revelation, to a certain extent, still remains sealed for the future. This is expressed in the fact that it (as noted above) does not have proper and appropriate liturgical use and seems to be kept silent in the church. And if individual sayings and images of the Apocalypse still seep into the liturgical language, then in vain, of course, we would look here for anything relating to the first resurrection and the thousand-year reign. One might think that here the indifferent and distrustful attitude towards Revelation remains valid as a book that, being in itself and not needed for Christian teaching, ended up in the canon by historical accident, as a legacy of Judaism with its apocalypticism. She at one time destroyed Judea along with the holy city by supporting her utopian dreams and destructive revolutionary spirit. Now it’s as if we have nothing to do with her. However, since such a kind of neutrality of silence is impossible in relation to the sacred book, moreover, imprinted with the name of the Evangelist Theologian, then, as a positive answer to natural questions about it, interpretations are given, sometimes strange and clearly unsatisfactory, although some of them are imprinted with the names of authoritative interpreters, but contradictory among themselves. All this can also be explained by the fact that historical maturity has not yet arrived, in the light of which the images and prophecies of this only New Testament prophetic book receive all their meaning. The Apocalypse in this sense is a book of prophecies not only about the future and not only about what was, but also “what will happen after this” (1:19), but also for the future. The latter had not yet occurred in the days of his writing. After all, no matter how grandiose the images and events that were directly contemplated by the seer himself, and even more so by his contemporaries, may seem, they were understood and measured by the scale of their time. For us, these measurements have now become insufficient in the face of all subsequent history, as well as our modernity. Moreover, all her achievements have not only not ended yet, but have not even reached their zenith. Without comparing our era with the early Christian era, for all its uniqueness in its own way, we cannot help but say that historically we have now become more mature than it, and much has already changed. In particular, for us the Roman Empire has lost its exclusivity, together with the “eternal city”, which has descended to the position of one of the European provincial centers, and its image has only a typological and symbolic meaning. Continuing history is an unfolding historical-dogmatic commentary on the Apocalypse, which one must be able to comprehend, and it is far from clear whether the time for this has already come. In a state of exegetical and even more dogmatic confusion, it is natural to flee into the imaginary “spirituality” of understanding, which actually abolishes the very power of prophecy. Although there has never been a consistent understanding of the thousand-year kingdom of Christ, in the first two or three centuries of our era a concrete historical understanding can be considered predominant, relating it to a specific event or era. Apart from Cerinthos, we find such an understanding among church writers in St. Justin Martyr, at St. Irenaeus, St. Hippolyta, Tertullian, bishop. Methodius of Olympus, Victorinus, Commodianus, Lactantius and others. They usually see in this the influence of Judaism, and, indeed, it is difficult to deny it, taking into account the wide and dominant dissemination of its chiliastic ideas, together, of course, with the corresponding cycle of related prophecies of Isaiah, Ezekiel and others. A distinctive feature of this understanding of chiliasm is its earthly and sensual character. This, undoubtedly, is the teaching, first of all, of such authoritative and blessed holy writers as St. Justin and St. Irenaeus, who undoubtedly were chiliasts in this sense. Now their ideas seem to a certain extent childish and naive and, in any case, even in need of a certain spiritualization. They have only indicative value as evidence of the extent to which it was possible to deviate in interpretation in this direction without incurring church condemnation, although now, of course, such an understanding would be impossible and unacceptable. However, in a fundamental and methodological sense, it retains its significance even now and should be fully taken into account in the fullness of the church tradition that relates here. It cannot simply be discarded and forgotten, so to speak, as unusable. But at the same time, Clement of Alexandria, like Clement of Rome, Hermas, and St., do not know chiliasm. Cyprian, Origen, whose general spiritualistic direction of thought he, of course, least of all corresponds to, Dionysius of Alexandria and St. Ephraim the Syrian. In the 4th century in the West, supporters of chiliasm were Victorinus, as was Sulpicius Severus; attitude of St. Ambrose of Milan remains unclear. But his decisive opponents are Bl. Jerome and Bl. Augustine, according to the general spirit of his theology, as did Tichonius. The latter opinion triumphed both in the West and in the East. In the first case, this is due to the clerical-papist nature of Western Christianity, for which it was easy to accept the general idea of ​​bl. Augustine that the millennial kingdom is the Catholic Church. This conscious or semi-conscious connection of Augustinianism with the Vatican dogma in Catholic theology extends to the attitude towards the question of the first resurrection and the millennial kingdom, which is to have a pope in the Vatican. A similar trend in Eastern theology is associated with the general predominance of ascetic-spiritualistic features in it, and this was also supplemented by the Constantinian ideology about the connection between church and state. The latter also silently tended to find the thousand-year kingdom, if not in the Vatican, then in Constantinople, and later in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Of course, at the present time it is absent “for lack of an address” (however, the mystical concept of the “White Tsar”, characteristic of Russian Orthodoxy, 83 like some early ideas of V. Solovyov, is distinguished by a different, already chiliastic character). Protestant theology turned out to be free from those preconditions that prevented the understanding of the prophecy of the millennium in its essence, but it is deprived of sufficient general ecclesiological foundations. Therefore, it does not oppose private opinions in its favor and does not force the sacred text to be violated for the sake of prejudice. Therefore, here we find the theological opinions of individual exegetes who generally accept the prophecy of the millennial kingdom, although they are powerless to implement it in the general dogmatic context (such as Charles, Zahn, etc.). This is the position of this question at the present time, when history, one might say, persistently asks about the meaning of the doctrine of the thousand-year kingdom: the question still remains unheard and unanswered. Obviously, not only events that have not yet occurred must occur, but also dogmatic shifts in both Eastern and Western theology that will free him to a creative and daring perception of prophecy. For to do this, you need to have not only the letter of it in front of you, but also the prophetic spirit within you, which actually remains under some spiritual prohibition or suspicion. Until now, the attitude towards the Apocalypse is precisely characterized by the predominance of attention to the letter in the absence of a life-giving spirit. External exegetical study of it, as of the entire sacred text in general, reaches absolutely exceptional perfection. The science about it is at an unprecedented height, but the spirit still remains unawakened. Will he now awaken to the very apocalypse of life? The dominant thought of theological exegesis now boils down to the fact that the prophecy about the first resurrection and the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth does not refer to a new event and revelation of the Church in earthly history, which has its own times and dates. It is simply an allegory about the effectiveness of the Church on earth from the beginning and at all times. This interpretation actually simply crosses out the 20th chapter of Revelation, taken in its entire context. 84 It can be said that defensive theology, itself being alien to prophecy, actually wages here a direct struggle against prophecy by violence against the sacred text, but even more against its main meaning, which, obviously, is that there are not one, but two resurrections: the first and second, as well as the coming of Christ into the world, also not one, but at least two - to the thousand-year reign on earth and to the general resurrection and transfiguration of the world in Parousia (and therefore there is also not one descent of the heavenly Jerusalem, but two, as we will see below). Of course, this teaching represents something that is missing from other books of New Testament revelation or is only present in hints. These prophecies of “what must soon be” (1:1) or “what will happen after this” (1:19) are so different from the traditional view of theology that it requires revision in order to accommodate this new prophecy, or it remains to be hidden from it, overlooked or reinterpreted. This is exactly what is done in traditional theological doctrine, which knows only a direct and continuous path from the Ascension of Christ to the Antichrist, after which the catastrophic end of the world and the second coming of the Lord occurs. The Apocalypse, between both, places a special coming of the Lord into the world (and even more than one), preparing the Parousia. The entire content of the Apocalypse boils down, in essence, to the disclosure of this preparation and is an image of the path to it. There are two revelations in the Word of God about the end of history and the world: the first is immanent-historical as internal maturation, and the second is transcendental-catastrophic, associated with Parousia, with that new action of God in the world, about which it is said: “I am making all things new” (21:5). There are common features between this and the other revelation about the end of history and about Parousia; it is to it that the tragic path of the ripening of wheat and chaff, the struggle of the prince of this world with Christ leads; one is a precondition for the other. In the general historical and eschatological perspective, both paths merge together and do not seem to differ from each other. It is precisely from this perspective that both of them are depicted in the “small apocalypse” by the weather forecasters, in particular Matt. 24–25. What is presented in the 24th chapter of Matthew, although it differs in detail and style from the corresponding content of Revelation 6–19, however, largely coincides in essence, as well as with the corresponding chapters of the apostolic epistles: 1 and 2 Thess., 1 Peter. etc. However, here the transcendental-catastrophic nature of the Second Coming is affirmed precisely in its suddenness and unexpectedness (Matthew 24:42–44; Mark 13:32–3), like the coming of the bridegroom in the night. In Matt. 24 obviously and as if deliberately two plans merge and mix: historical and eschatological, the destruction of Jerusalem and a brief, in its own way apocalyptic scheme of world history with the end of the world in a single, but infinitely polysemantic mystical transcendental “then” (25:30). This deliberate confusion of plans, of course, has its basis in the unity of the world and historical process, which has a common tendency towards its outcome, towards overcoming and end. In general, there is such a relationship between the philosophy of history and eschatology that the latter contains, dissolves and absorbs the former, and yet history is by no means abolished by eschatology in its reality, is not erased from existence, but retains all its power as a precondition for the end, which necessarily precedes Parousia. Therefore, the small Gospel and the New Testament apocalypse in general must be understood in connection and unity with the Apocalypse of John. The former gives place within itself for the latter, it contains it. However, for this it is necessary to understand one in connection with the other in one general context, without forcefully replacing one with the other. Just as the prophecies of the Old Testament must be understood in connection and in a general context with those of the New Testament, so the Revelation of John about what is to happen “after this” is, as it were, an addition or afterword, the newest testament in the New Testament, as this corresponds to its final place in the Bible. Therefore, both for general theological and exegetical reasons, we consider the prevailing allegorical interpretation of the prophecy about the thousand-year kingdom and the first resurrection to be an impermissible violation of the sacred text and, to that extent, an extinguishing of the prophecy, which stems from prejudice or from spiritual timidity and inertia. Consequently, we must seek a direct understanding of it that would not weaken it. The first part of the 20th chapter, 1–6, which relates directly to the constraint of Satan and the millennial kingdom, must first of all be included in the general context of the last, final chapters of the Apocalypse, with which it forms one whole, connected by the unity of plan and content. It is at the beginning of the 20th chapter that the advent of a new era in the life of the Church and all mankind is very briefly spoken about, only its title is given, but more detailed content is set out in the last chapters, the 21st and partly the 22nd Revelation. However, the immediate continuation of the text here seems to violate the general consistency in the disclosure of this topic. First it talks about the millennium, then about the end of the world and judgment, and then the first topic returns again. This inconsistency and, as it were, disorder of different images crowding and piling up on each other presents, of course, a considerable difficulty for exegesis. However, here we must submit to this inconsistency of the text itself. So, the millennial kingdom is a certain era in the history of the Church, which has a beginning and an end for itself, 85 and this is in connection with an event in the spiritual world, namely the connection of Satan. You can also ask yourself whether there is something in other prophetic foreshadowings of the Old and New Testaments that can and should be brought into connection with its connection with Satan and the advent of the millennial kingdom. In our opinion, only one definite answer can be given to this: here we have to recall the prophecy of St. Paul Rome. 9–11 about the salvation of all Israel and their conversion to Christ. On the one hand, it is completely unacceptable that in the face of the thousand-year kingdom of the saints, the stubborn unbelief of Israel should still remain, powerless before the accomplishment of this most important and final work in history. At the same time, it cannot be denied that it is the converted Israel that will infuse a new force of life into Christianity, which is necessary for the completeness of its work and history. This conversion itself is already an eschatological fact, marking the approach of history to its end, and therefore it remains to bring it closer in time to the onset of the millennium or even identify it with it. In Revelation we have no indication of this, but it is natural to attribute the final onset of this event precisely to this time of Satan’s binding, although it could have begun earlier in history. The millennium has for itself not only a beginning in history, but also an end, as it is directly said about this: “when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison” (20:7). What exactly this liberation of Satan from his prison means here is not said here; it remains a mystery of God’s vision. But, obviously, the world must drink to the end the bitter cup of satanic temptations and go through all the hardships of fighting them to the end. God allowed the fullness of temptations for the righteous Job, just as He did not reject them even to death on the cross for His beloved Son. And if in general the serpent was allowed into paradise and was not prevented from the deception of the forefathers, with which the entire sorrowful history of fallen man began, then here, at the end of history, he must be tempted for the last time by the final temptation. Here it is directly stated about this action of Satan: “he will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, and gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea" (7). Who are these Gog and Magog? This is one of the biblical 86 expressions (like Armageddon) in the Apocalypse to designate a spontaneous multitude of peoples inspired by satanic warfare against God. Exegetes also seek historical commentary in the images of peoples who have appeared in history. This is the symbolic name of militant universal atheism - “the nations located at the four corners of the earth,” their last and general uprising, prophesied by the psalmist: “the princes of mankind gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ” (Ps. 2:2). The vastness of this uprising is evidenced in the words: “their number is like the sand of the sea” (7). Does this leave room for the “holy remnant” of believers who remained on earth in this last and terrible hour of history? Or will the whole earth be enveloped in unbelief and atheism, as some exegetes think? (Charles II). There is no direct indication of this. However, if we compare this text with Matt. 24:22, which speaks of the elect, for whose sake “those days will be shortened,” it must be assumed that the Church, although uniting only a small part of humanity at the end of the world, will still have a faithful, albeit small, flock on earth. Although quantitatively small, it will be spiritually great and powerful enough to arouse the hatred of the ruling majority and the desire to destroy it. This is symbolically expressed in the following verse (8): “and they went out into the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.” The “breadth of the earth” is the universe from which peoples gather, from the four corners of the earth. This is a kind of spiritual, cultural and social multi-unity, united by hatred of the Church, a universal anti-Church. However, there still remains that “camp of saints” that they surround. “The beloved city” here naturally means Jerusalem as the spiritual capital of the millennial kingdom. What does this last spiritual event in history mean - namely, “the encirclement of the camp of saints and the beloved city,” which, however, will not cease to remain the center of the world? This is an image that, in its greatest brevity, cannot be revealed in any concrete way, and we are left here to submit to this divine default. Does it mean that this event itself still remains in such a historical distance, which naturally prevents its vision, except in the most general silhouette, as if the shadow of future events? Of course, the same can be said to a certain extent regarding other apocalyptic symbols, which in their mystery cannot be translated into the language of specific history (which is what exegetes so persistently strive for). However: it should be noted that the images of Revelation generally become more and more schematic and abstract as we approach the end. In particular, this must be said about the entire 20th chapter, which is an epilogue of history (it is followed by eschatology). Does this sketchy imagery mean that the last times of the world should remain so hidden? It should be remembered that the small Gospel apocalypse is distinguished by similar features, although in a slightly different way: it is there (Matthew 24–25 with parallels) that we have a seemingly deliberate mixture of features relating to the near, middle, distant and the very last - from the destruction of Jerusalem through the tragic paths of history to the end of the world and the Second Coming. To the extent that here it is possible to observe different manifestations of the same law of the apocalyptic and eschatological perspective. In any case, here it remains to humbly limit ourselves to establishing only the general meaning of the image. In Art. The 8th denotes the new and final triumph of evil and atheism, which appears in the conscious struggle and resistance of the Church, in an effort to completely eradicate it, to expel Christianity from the world and make it the finally godless kingdom of the prince of this world, who is heading towards his final reign. But through this comes the last and greatest world crisis, followed by the final catastrophe. If the concept of synergism can be applied here, then we have to say that the end of the world comes synergistically, not only through the direct action of the will of God over the world: “behold, I make all things new” (21:5), but also by the internal death of the world and its decomposition, with the achievement of the final maturity of the fruit falling from the tree of life. Parallel to this, if not in the literal text, then in the general sense, is the coming of Christ in the Little Apocalypse, Matt. 24–25. So, the last revolt of the nations against the Church will be expressed in the encirclement of the camp of the saints and the beloved city, i.e. Jerusalem as the center of the thousand-year kingdom. The image of Jerusalem in Revelation refers to different times and different states. In 11:8~he is “the great city which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was crucified”; the corpses of two witnesses killed by the beast will be left on its streets. Now he is the “beloved city” (Ps. 77:68, 88:2; Hos. 2:23), the image of the universal Church. The encirclement of Jerusalem here marks some decisive and final action of those deceived by Satan against her. No longer through the beast and the false prophet, but Satan himself leads all of humanity in open battle, except for the “elect” (Matthew 24:22). And heaven itself answers this call: “and fire fell from heaven from God and devoured them” (9). We also find this image applied to Gog and Magog in Ezek. 38:22, see the entire chapter 39. Of course, here these images are complicated by Old Testament geography and history, but they are preceded in ch. 37 God's reign on earth: 37:23–28. How should we understand this image, which, with its brevity, achieves the greatest strength and expressiveness? Of course, it cannot be understood literally; it sounds mythological. Just as the uprising of peoples is, first of all, a spiritual movement, and not a political one (even if we assume that it is expressed in some kind of military-political actions, which is not impossible), so the response fire that fell from heaven from God and “devoured” them does not belong to the phenomena of the natural world, even if it is reflected in them, but rather means an event of a spiritual nature. This fire that fell from heaven can be understood primarily not physically, but metaphysically: it signifies the eschatological transcendence that separates this world from the new world (“I am making all things new”), marks the ontological threshold, which in various New Testament texts is symbolized as fire or passage through it: 2 Peter. 3:7 ~ (“they are reserved for the fire for the day of judgment”), “the elements, having burned, will be destroyed, and the earth and (all) the works on it will be burned up” (16) “fire will test the work” (1 Cor. 3:13), “in the fire it takes vengeance” (2 Thess. 1:8), “the coming of the day of God, in which the burning heavens will be destroyed and the burning elements will melt” (2 Peter 3:12), Matt. 13:40–42 an image of tares being burned in fire, temptations and iniquities being cast into the “furnace of fire”). Being devoured by fire does not mean killing in the sense of earthly death, but passing through the fire to the future age of resurrection and the judgment of God with the cessation of life in this age. One cannot draw the conclusion from this that by the end of the century the earth will be empty and depopulated (as Charles 1 does, p. II, 189). On the contrary, the end of the world and the Second Coming, although it is anticipated and accomplished in its suddenness through the resurrection of the dead and the “change” of the living, their presence thereby presupposes: “we will not all die, but we will all be changed, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet” (1 Cor. 15:51–52). Wed. 1 Thess. 4:15-17 “we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not warn those who have died... the dead in Christ will rise first... then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord.” In general, Revelation should be taken in the general New Testament context, and in particular, its eschatological texts as not canceling it, but either complementing it, or expressing it in a different way. Therefore, 20:9~c. should be understood as a special expression of the general eschatological catastrophe, which is described differently, in a different, so to speak, perspective, in other prophecies. Fire here simultaneously means both transformation in the general resurrection and condemnation, the burning of the worthy, i.e. judgment, which in Chapter 25. Matt. depicted in other images. Further, this same transcendence of the world, which is also the judgment over it, is especially depicted as applied to the devil: “and the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (10). Here, what attracts attention first of all is the comparison of the devil with the beast and the false prophet, which to a certain extent provides the key to understanding this text. The beast, like the false prophet, are not individuals in themselves, but express the general spiritual principles of life, which define not only individuals, but also entire societies. Eternity in any sense cannot be attributed to them. On the contrary, burning and combustion awaits them, that is, complete destruction. This destruction relates, first of all, to these very spiritual principles of atheism and fight against God, which will be exposed in their falsity and emptiness by a new theophany, which will itself eliminate them. They are burned out of the souls of their carriers, individuals, who, thereby, if they are saved, are, as it were, out of fire (1 Cor. 3:15). But what should be said about the devil himself, “who deceived them” (10)? Of course, his inspiration and deeds are also subject to destruction; they will burn in the “lake of fire and brimstone.” But precisely the fact that the devil, together with the beast and the false prophet and, so to speak, as if on equal terms with them, is thrown into the lake of fire, testifies to the fact that this does not have final eschatological significance. In other words, this does not speak about the final fate of the devil himself and does not contain either rejection or denial of apokatastasis 87 and refers not so much to the final fate of Satan as to Satanism. Otherwise, Satan would not have been equated with the beast and the false prophet in the place “where ὄπουκάι” they are located together. And in general this refers to the end of history, on the brink of the next century, so to speak, the elimination of the evil principle, but not to the final fate and judgment. True, it also says here: “and they will be tormented forever and ever,” which Catholic exegesis takes, of course, in the sense of the infinity of torment. However, one should in every possible way resist such an exegesis “forever and ever,” which, in any case, is not the only possible one. 88 So, “torment day and night forever and ever” means committing to the final abolition and destruction of the false and evil principle of life towards the end of world history, on the verge of its end and the beginning of a new age, the kingdom of Christ. You can ask yourself: throughout Revelation, this defeat of evil forces is spoken of more than once, although not in the same general context. Thus, this includes 14:2, 5, 20, even 11:19; 19:11–21. How to understand this repetition of the same theme and thought? Does it mean the multiplicity of the event, or is all this a “recapitulation” of the same achievement? It is difficult to answer this question with complete confidence: a positive answer is supported by similarities that allow, in any case, to see the maturation of one general result throughout history, but the different place occupied by these repetitions in the context speaks against it. From the 11th verse of the 20th chapter a new topic begins - about judgment. “And I saw a great white throne and Him sitting on it, from whose face heaven and earth fled away, and no place was found for them.” This image of the Seated One is directly repeated in Dan. (7:9–10). The picture of judgment is depicted here differently than in Gospel eschatology: in Matt. 25:31–45 (with parallels). This difference is quite understandable in relation to the non-representable and expressed only in symbolic images. Their dogmatic content should be revealed. And first of all, who is the One sitting on the throne: the Father (according to the symbolism of Daniel) or the Son who carries out judgment according to Matt. 25. Essentially, both interpretations are equally valid. According to the fourth Gospel (5:25), “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son” (Cf. Matt. 7:22; 16:27: “The Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then will reward everyone according to his deeds”; Acts 17:31; 2 Cor. 5:10). However, on the other hand, cf. Matt. 6:4, 6, 14, 18; 18, which speaks of reward from the Father. Ap. Paul attributes the judgment to Christ (Rom. 14:10: “we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ,” cf. 2 Cor. 5:10, according to Rom. 14:12: “each of us will give an answer to God for himself,” i.e. To my father. 89 Is it possible to combine both of these understandings, although they seem to contradict each other? Yes, you can and should. The Father, as the initial Hypostasis, is the Primary Source of all created being in all its states, but the Son, as the divine-human Hypostasis, is the revelation of the Father 90 in the world, in particular in its destinies and in judgment. To this can be added a silent but effective participation in the life of the world and the Third Hypostasis as perfect. This corresponds to the difference in the texts, where judgment is spoken of either in relation to the Father or to the Son of Man. The place of the trial is not indicated. This means that there is no earthly place for it, since it takes place outside of earthly space, in the coming century. This general thought about meta-empirical existence is expressed in the words: “from whose face heaven and earth fled, and no place was found for them” (11) in the transformed world in its transcendence to the earthly world. This corresponds to a similar lack of indication of the place of judgment in Matt. 25:31–3 (“the right” and “left” sides here mean not so much a place as a spiritual state). A further peculiarity in the depiction of judgment here is that Revelation speaks of judgment only of the dead: “I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God... and the dead were judged... then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead that were in them” (12-13). The question naturally arises, does this mean that the number of those judged is limited only to the dead, that is, obviously now coming to life, or also to those resurrected? But in this case, how can this be reconciled with the teaching of revelation that the Lord will be met on earth by both the resurrected dead and the living, who go through a certain “change”, obviously tantamount to resurrection (1 Cor. 15:51–2)? Of course, there cannot be any contradiction in this difference in texts. Obviously, they are not talking about different things, although in different ways, touching only on different aspects of the subject of presentation, in accordance with the general plan and context. Therefore, in Revelation, if it speaks of judgment only over the dead, then the general resurrection is meant here as the gate through which all humanity enters the future world and appears before the judgment of Christ. Here, as it were, different categories of those rising from the dead are indicated: great and small in general, then the sea, death and hell, giving up their dead. The truth of the general resurrection does not receive the deliberate revelation here that it has in some other New Testament texts (especially 1 Cor. 15); the return to life of the dead is stated without further explanation as a universal destiny, and judgment follows. And the focus here is this last one. Moreover, as an image of the court here, as in other texts of similar content, the “opening of books” is indicated. First it speaks of the “books” (plural), by which “the dead were judged according to their works” (12), and along with this it speaks of the “book of life” (singular) (12:15) which apparently contains the names of the elect: “whoever was not written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (15). Who is this trial being carried out on? Here we find ourselves faced with a certain surprise, or, in any case, uncertainty. Where we would expect a general resurrection, it says this: “and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before the throne... and the dead were judged according to what was written in the books... then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead that were in them,” and then it also talks about the second death (14). Nothing is said about the bodily resurrection at all (12–13). However, this use of words does not at all eliminate the understanding that what is being said here is precisely the resurrection from the dead, i.e., the bodily resurrection, and this provides the simplest and most natural interpretation of the text. It must find justification for itself in connection with the general biblical, Old and New Testament teaching, which generally speaks of the resurrection. So, we read first of all from the same John in the Gospel: 6: 39-40: “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that... to raise all these things up on the last day.” “I will resurrect αναςτήσω him on the last day.” 91 This also applies, of course, to 1 Cor. 15; 1 Thess. 4:14, 16, etc. If there were not all these overwhelming and decisive evidence with the promise of a general resurrection, one would be limited to the interpretation of the texts of 20:12-14 without any context, then one could still fall into doubt as to their true meaning. However, if they have a common understanding in the sense of a general bodily resurrection. This is dogmatically obligatory. And in any case, the content of these texts is combined with this teaching. Is such compensation possible and how is it possible? Doesn’t it seem possible, and in its own way even convincing, to understand the texts about the judgment of the “dead” in the context of the teaching about the first resurrection of the saints, who “came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were ended” (5)? Doesn’t this “until” the deadline, after the onset of a certain “revival” or incorporeal resurrection already apply to the souls of all the dead? Such an interpretation would mean that the general resurrection in bodies is also preceded by a general, but not simultaneously occurring, revival of souls, their awakening from mortal sleep or fainting, which is expressed by the words “revived.” Then this idea expands in the sense that the general Last Judgment, which is to take place after the resurrection, is still preceded by some preliminary judgment of souls who are in a state of mortal disembodiment, in separation from their bodies. This generally includes “the dead, small and great, standing before God,” both the righteous and those belonging to “the sea, death and hell” (13). They stand in this first resurrection and the first judgment of God before the great and white throne and Him who sits on it. Likewise, the “first resurrection” of the saints is preceded by a similar vision (4): “And I saw thrones and those sitting on them, to whom it was given to judge, and the souls of those who had been beheaded,” who, obviously, also appear before this throne for judgment, for them short and merciful. 92 If we accept this interpretation, then we must further conclude that this revival of souls takes place in the afterlife, the spiritual world, not on this earth, but beyond its borders. Therefore, it is quite possible and even appropriate to assume that earthly life from the first to the general resurrection in the flesh continues, and, in any case, nothing is told about it in relation to this revival of souls. But in connection with this, another question arises: what is the attitude of the living, who have not yet passed through the gates of death, to this general spiritual resurrection? Does it apply to them, and if so, when and how? If we accept such an exegetical hypothesis, then it will introduce its dogmatic completion and complication into the general doctrine of resurrection and judgment: both happen twice, and this duality must be dogmatically understood in some connection, as duality, for which, however, there is no other data in Revelation. 93 Here we stand before a New Mystery, which is not revealed, although slightly revealed in the 20th chapter of Revelations. Here there is equally no way to confidently answer either yes or no, and one can only wait in humility for the Spirit of God to shed His light on these mysterious writings. But with any understanding of the texts under consideration, one should make a general conclusion that in the future perspective different achievements merge, and this should once again warn us against the crude schematism of legalistic ideas about the end of the world and judgment as a kind of one-time sentence. On the contrary, the perspective “forever and ever” accommodates diverse steps and multiple accomplishments in the life of the next century. Now the task remains of interpreting the last images in the symbolism of the 20th chapter, which relate to the revival of the dead. It is said this way: “then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead that were in them” (13). What does "sea" mean? If we adhere to the literal understanding, then here we are talking about those drowned in the sea as a special image of death, therefore, either about the resurrection of bodies, or the revival of souls. It is difficult to take this image literally, in a restrictive sense, for the sole reason that it is not clear why it is said only about the dead in the sea, but not on land. 94 Therefore, it is more natural to understand the sea not in the literal sense, but as a general image of the mortal element, of the dead in general. In this sense, this figurative expression is close to the next one: “death and hell” as the personification of gaping death. It is possible, of course, that a shade of meaning is being introduced here that it is the souls of sinners that are meant here (although there is no need for such an interpretation). The general meaning of this 13th verse most likely refers to the general resurrection - mental or physical, and this is the resurrection of judgment: “and each one was judged according to his deeds.” If we see here only the resurrection of souls, preceding the general resurrection in the flesh, then we have to accept the judgment of souls, preceding the general judgment after the resurrection. Such an assumption would raise a new dogmatic question about the relationship between these two types of judgment, but insoluble, due to the lack of data for this in revelation. No less mysterious is the following verse (14): “Both death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (cf. 1:8; 6:8). If we compare this verse with 20:6: “on them (participants in the “first resurrection”) the second death has no power,” then we should conclude that the “second death,” which consists of “casting into the lake of fire” (15), is subject to some of the “dead” who stand before the throne. It is “whoever was not written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (15). Here, of course, is the fate of sinners who belong to death and hell. However, it is hardly possible to give an exhaustive meaning to this allegory, at least if it is compared with texts speaking about the abolition of death. So, already here, in the next chapter (21:4); “and there will be no more death,” just as in the triumphant words of the Old Testament Gospel from the prophet Isaiah: “death will be swallowed up forever” (25:8), which is echoed by the New Testament word of St. Paul: “the last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:26), where the apostle quotes the words of the prophet. Isaiah, like Hosea: “Death! where is your sting? Hell! where is your victory? (these words are also given in the Easter sermon of John Chrysostom). The same is the general testimony of our Easter hymn: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and giving life to those in the grave.” However, if 21:4 undoubtedly speaks of the destruction of death, which “will no longer be,” then the question arises: does 20:14 speak of death in the same sense or in a different, allegorical one? In the latter case, the expression “death and hell” being cast into the lake of fire refers to the fate of sinners as not being written in the book of life. And in this regard, the same question arises; Is this their last and final destiny, or does this sentence mean some passage through fire, after which, according to the word of the Apostle, although his work will be burned, “he himself will be saved, though as if from fire” (1 Cor. 3:15). Casting into the lake of fire would mean here the abolition of those spiritual principles that are worthy of it: “the beast and the false prophet” are thrown into it, then the devil joins them (20:10), and now death and hell. If we attribute the content of the 20th chapter only to mental “revival,” then this purgatory fire—the awareness of the falsity and sinfulness of one’s path and repentance for it—lights up in the afterlife, before the general resurrection in bodies; if we mean the general resurrection here, then we have to see here a sentence that sends sinners into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25). However, even then a further question arises: is this fire the last, final, or only a temporary purifying state? But this question, in addition to the general eschatology of 95, will be considered in connection with the last chapters of Revelation. What does this “second death” mean, from which those awarded the “first resurrection” are free, but which awaits “death and hell” and all those cast into the lake of fire with them? Revelation speaks of a “first resurrection,” although it does not speak of a second, which, however, is implied by this presence of a “first.” But it is said, however, about the “second death,” which, in turn, obviously implies the first, universal death. Does the “second death” mean “eternal” dying or torment that will never end, or does it have its end, and combustion leads to the burning of the doomed, i.e., to final destruction? The first understanding of the eternity of burning and torment is generally accepted in theology, no matter how difficult it is to accept for the Christian consciousness and no matter how contrary to revelation. Essentially, it is blasphemy in relation to the love of God and to His Wisdom as the Creator and Provider. But no less, if not more, blasphemy and even outright heresy is the second understanding, which allows for the final destruction of everything, cast into the lake of fire. This is the doctrine of “conditional immortality” of some exegetes. 96 Of course, the allegorical nature of the images of Revelation here, even more than in other cases, does not allow for literal understanding and encourages us to look for their hidden meaning and symbolic interpretation. It must proceed from general dogmatic premises and be consistent with the entire biblical context. Negative prerequisites for this are, on the one hand, the inadmissibility of never-ending eternal torment, always burning, but never burning hellish fire, and on the other, burning with complete destruction. While preserving all the stunning power of this image, one must look for its meaning in the understanding of the lake of fire, burning with sulfur, as a spiritual combustion, burning everything worthy of it, but through this cleansing, freeing from it the creation of God, which is saved, but as from fire, according to the word of the apostle. Pavel. This primarily spiritual suffering can be accompanied by spiritual-physical suffering, due to the connection of the soul with the body. However, it remains purifying, purgatory, but not hellish or deadly (of course, “hell” in all the ambiguity of this word should not be understood as a synonym for some kind of evil eternity, scorching, burning, but not refining and not purifying). The specific, exact meaning of this image as relating to the life of the future century, which is now beyond us, is the mystery of God’s vision, which now cannot be revealed. It is only indicated in symbolic and even mythological images, but also ontological ones. General Introduction to Chapters 21 and 22 These chapters are undoubtedly not only the last, but also the most important in Revelation, because they contain prophecies about the most final accomplishments that were prepared throughout the entire Apocalypse. This, in fact, is the apocalypse of history and, at the same time, eschatology as the doctrine of the end of history, and together of this entire world. This content of Revelation, naturally, is the most difficult and inaccessible to understand, since it relates to what is either completely transcendental, or presupposes an accomplished transcendence and describes it. Apart from individual prophetic texts (in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah and some others), such prophecies are generally absent in both the Old and New Testaments; they are characteristic only of the Revelation of John. Therefore, it is natural that the symbolism is more mysterious here, and the exegesis more difficult. However, in addition to this natural darkness, the text of these chapters contains deliberate difficulties, inconsistencies and contradictions, to which one can, of course, apologetically turn a blind eye (which is often done). However, this does not help the matter, and it requires special sincerity and honesty, as well as exegetical courage, to face the questions that arise here. Other exegetes, and the majority of them (at least in Protestantism), prefer, without experiencing religious or dogmatic difficulties, to follow the path of exegetical hypotheses and fantasies, assuming here any corruption of the text: rearrangements, the participation of different authors, etc. 97 With these small means a way out of great difficulties is sought. However, these exegetical conjectures are limited only to the area of ​​literary criticism and arbitrary constructions; they argue with each other, but do not have dogmatic convincingness, even if they find a sufficient reason for themselves and even formal justification in the text. In this way, they sharpen their attention and open their eyes to real difficulties. In a word, the text of the last chapters of Revelation is distinguished not only by the mystery of its content, but also by some actual vagueness and mystery of its very presentation. The task of religious-dogmatic exegesis here is, first of all, to give oneself a full and clear account of all these main features of the text, and then to take into account the difficulties arising from the general plan and the special sequence of presentation, as well as the order of its arrangement. I. – The complete renewal of creation with the exclusion from it of all sorrow, as well as everything “cursed”, is spoken of twice in 21:1-5 and 22:3-5. However, these two texts, which seem to be repetitions of the same thing, are arranged by other texts that either differ in content or seem to contradict it. It is the repetition of this thought that refers to Jerusalem, although it has come down from heaven, but undoubtedly still remains on the former earth, which still knows “diseases healed by the leaves of the tree (22:2); here the “salvation of the nations” is still ongoing (21:24–27); but most importantly, the presence of rejection, uncleanness, abomination (21, 27), even the state of “the second death” (21:8; 22:11) is assumed here, although for the first time it is said directly that “nothing will be cursed” and “there will be no more death” (21:4). Likewise, the main and general contradiction arises in the fact that this general renewal and transformation of the world, in which there will be nothing cursed, is combined with the greatest forgiveness regarding sinners (21:8-9, 27; 22:11-15). II. – The second and most important bewilderment is aroused by the fact that in the same chapter 21 the descent of Jerusalem from heaven is spoken of twice, although in different contexts: the first time – in a general eschatological context, the second – in connection with the previous chapters (see below). And this is the main mystery and difficulty of the exegesis of the last chapters: in what context and how to understand this repetition, and at the same time the doubling of the same image. This will constitute the main theological problem in the exegesis of not only the last two chapters, but also of the entire Revelation. III. – There are also other features added here, although of secondary importance, but, in any case, worthy of attention. Thus, he draws attention to the fact that the “marriage of the Lamb,” His “wife and bride,” is spoken of here not even two, but three times: twice in chapter 21: 22 and 9, in application to the double testimony of Jerusalem’s descent from heaven, and in chapter 20, 7–8, even earlier than that. This also includes individual features describing the new Jerusalem, the first time (21:2-4) and the second (21:10-27; 22:1-2). Finally, these different, if not directly contradictory, features in the totality form a special complex that allows for different interpretations. We will consider these different possibilities also in a more detailed analysis of the text. Now we will limit ourselves to just a general, so to speak, methodological remark. The only correct and pious attitude towards the text for us here is to accept it in its literal meaning, or essence. This is the first and most important thing. The second, and at the same time secondary, is the order and sequence of individual parts of the text, which may not correspond to their internal connection, of course, if such a discrepancy is seen. We do not consider it right, because of this external discrepancy, no matter how it is explained (and there may be various assumptions about this), to force the internal connection and dogmatic meaning of the content. The exegetical key and basic premise here is some understanding of the millennial revelation, 21:1–6. The actual denial or abolition of this revelation, which has become established in Western and Eastern theology, tends to force the text in one particular direction, namely Manichaean dualism or spiritualistic allegorism. On the contrary, accepting the sacred text in its direct content opens up the possibility, if not directly forces it, of a different understanding of it. Commentators on Revelation state the presence of a coherent internal plan and structure of Revelation throughout all its chapters, however, except for these last two, which seem to violate its logical architecture. Without denying that these chapters are characterized by special difficulties and originality in particulars, we can nevertheless discern the integrity and consistency of the entire structure of Revelation, subject to the acceptance of the doctrine of the thousand-year kingdom. In this case, it is precisely this that can be considered the main theme of the entire Revelation, and not only the last chapters 20–22, nor in connection with them and all the previous ones. The Apocalypse is precisely the Christian philosophy of earthly history, which has as its focus the preparation of the thousand-year kingdom, which is the necessary threshold of the end of the world. Revelation is much more historical than eschatological, although, of course, it cannot be limited to only the philosophy of earthly history, in which there would be no eschatological perspective of the end of the world. Meanwhile, those who deny or actually abolish the power and significance of the prophecy of the millennium thereby, so to speak, drown history in eschatology. 98 Chapter 21. Jerusalem's descent from heaven This chapter opens with a picture of the life of the future century, a transformed creature. This is no longer something that fits into history, at least as its conclusion, but what will follow history, after its completion. This transcendence, separating history from metahistory, is expressed in a number of images, but first of all and primarily in the fact that this life of the future century has everything new (καινός), in contrast and opposition to the previous one. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. “And I, John, saw the holy city Jerusalem, new, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (21: 1-2), and further: “And he who sat on the throne said: Behold, I am making all things new” (I do ποιῶ, 5). This is the general definition of everything that happened and was revealed in vision to the seer. This general eschatological prophecy about the renewal of the world transforming everything is available almost verbatim already in the Old Testament, namely in Prov. Isaiah 65:17: “Behold, I am creating a new heaven and a new earth, and the former will no longer be remembered and come to the heart”; 66:22: “The new heavens and the new earth, which I will create, will always be before Me,” and this is echoed by the New Testament prophecy, 2 Peter. 3:13: “According to the promise of God, we look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness.” This universal novelty is an apocalyptic-eschatological concept, expressing precisely transcendence, transition, correlation. As a “new creation of everything,” it is compared with the first creation of the world “out of nothing,” and in a certain sense it is contrasted with precisely this “newness” as a renewal of the former. However, it is not the first creation “out of nothing,” so to speak, an absolute creation by God, but is, as it were, its continuation. This is the same heaven and earth, created in the “beginning” by God, but now renewed by the transforming action of God, which in this very sense is defined as “creation”. It consists in a more complete osophification of the creature, clothing it, making it transparent for its Divine sophia, conforming to its prototype, transfiguring it. It is this idea of ​​creation as transformation that is expressed in the opposition of “new” and “former”, and the latter is not abolished, for God does not abolish anything that He called into being, but is elevated to the highest image of his being: “and I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had already passed away.” One may ask oneself: how is “heaven and earth” understood here? In Gen. 1:1 ~the same expression is applied in relation to the two worlds, spiritual and natural, earthly, or angelic and human. What is the meaning of this expression in Revelation? Should it be narrowed down to application to two aspects of the natural world, i.e., our earthly planet and the entire stellar world, which, obviously, in any case is included in the general transformation of the world? Or here it is necessary to understand this in the same expanded sense as in Gen. 1:1, i.e. including the spiritual world here? There is no doubt that this is exactly the case here: the new heaven and new earth mean a complete renewal of the entire creation, that is, with the inclusion here of the spiritual world, as well as the earthly, human one. However, how then can such renewal be expressed in the spiritual world? Is it possible to talk about it in relation to St. Angels as incorporeal beings? However, nevertheless, it is possible and should. Here it is necessary to remember the connection and correlation between both worlds, which is expressed in the co-humanity of the angels, 99 since they, serving the world, are in an essential and vital relationship with it. The transformation of the earthly world, the earth, is therefore necessarily reflected in the degree and depth of the ontological intimacy of this connection, the new content of heaven and earth. It was predetermined for them in the original design of creation. We even admit that this renewal for the representatives of the spiritual world themselves will be only a reflected consequence of the transformation of the earth in its new openness to the spiritual world. But even this already introduces new, hitherto unrealized possibilities into the relationship between both worlds, and through this into one’s own life and the spiritual world. However, even this is not enough. The new creation of heaven and earth presupposes and includes it and its general renewal through the transparency it has acquired for its own self-determination, sophization, overcoming that created cosmic turmoil, which is a consequence of sin - first thanks to the fall of Dennitsa and his heavenly angels in the spiritual world, and then to original sin in man and the general sinfulness that followed on its basis. It is about the removal of this dark, sinful veil from the creature that the second half of this text about the new heaven and earth figuratively speaks: “and the sea is no more” (21: 1). Obviously, here this cannot be understood literally as the abolition of the primordial (Gen. 1:10) water element: was not the word spoken about it by the Creator: “and let the water that is under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear. And so it became. And God called the dry land earth, and the collection of waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good” (9–10). What God defined as “good” cannot, of course, be abolished in its very existence; it must take an indisputable place in the renewal of creation. From here we conclude that the sea, which “no longer exists,” here means the element of sinful excitement that obscures the original face of creation. It is overcome and subsides not only in the water world, but also in the entire earthly world, and above all, of course, in the spiritual world, in which the original source of evil was revealed. It was about such a sea that it was said in the same Revelation: “And I saw, as it were, a sea of ​​glass mixed with fire and conquering the beast”... “standing on this sea of ​​glass, holding the harps of God, and singing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (15:2-3). The glassiness of the sea, not tossed up by storms of adversity, here means precisely the overcoming and taming of the water element, which rises titanically in sin and fight against God. And this applies equally to both the earthly world and the spiritual. If you think through to the end this sacred secret, which is contained in these few, but words of infinite depth and significance, then you have to directly and decisively say that here we are talking about a general apokatastasis. 100 The eschatologism of this prophecy leads us far even beyond the borders of God’s judgment with the division of the justified and the condemned, heaven and hell; with the lake of fire, in which sinners, the beast, and the false prophet and Satan himself burn but are not consumed. He leads us through the mysterious “ages of ages” to their refining in this flame and the final spiritual restoration, after which there will be “God of all things in all.” The idea of apokatastasis finds further and final confirmation in 22:3–5, which, in essence, relate to 21:2–5, representing an inextricable continuation in its meaning (see below): “And nothing will be cursed any more (καὶπανκατάθεμαοὐκἔσταιἔτι), but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will serve Him... and they will reign forever and ever.” But isn’t this same prophecy about the universal apokatastasis heard in the heavens, as we read at the very beginning of the book of Revelation, the hymn of the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, sung by them here on behalf of the entire creation without any limitation or exception? They sing to the Lamb, who was slain and redeemed us to God with His blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and has made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth (5:9-10). Further, the praise of the Lamb rises from “many angels around the throne and living creatures and elders, and their number was ten thousand and thousands of thousands” (11). But this doxology was joined by “every creature that is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and everything that is in them” (1-3), “and the four living creatures said: Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever” (14). Is it possible to express more fully and more powerfully this eternal, heavenly revelation and promise of universal apokatastasis, destined in heaven? This - and only this - corresponds to the fullness of the eschatological significance and scope of this prophecy, about which it must be said with special force: “let him understand.” Of course, we will immediately encounter the greatest difficulties in accepting such an interpretation, and as if in direct contradiction to it in the subsequent text, we will have to reckon with them theologically and exegetically. However, nothing can and should diminish the full power and significance of this prophecy, which is revealed and confirmed in the following verses. You can ask yourself what does “I saw” a new heaven and a new earth mean here, is this a direct vision of what is invisible, beyond, transcendental for our earthly vision? Unlike other visions that were communicated through angels and related to the events of this earthly world, here the seer “sees” directly visible things that have not yet come, relating to the future age. Obviously, here, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he is given an insight that penetrates through the opaque thickness of the earthly, sinful world into the distance and depth of the accomplishments of apocatastasis. Such a revelation, if given full power and faith, is, of course, the greatest miracle, a super-prophecy among all prophecies. After the general thought about the general transformation and renewal of the world, there follows a further revelation of how it is accomplished, precisely accompanied by the descent of Jerusalem from heaven. Here, too, we have not so much the contemplation of a vision or a picture, which is even impossible to see (for what can a visually contemplated descent of an entire city from heaven mean?), but rather a spiritual, mystical intuition of that transformation and renewal that is associated with the image of St. Grad. However, before we talk about this contemplation according to its content, let us first dwell on the text pertaining to it. “I, John (here this proper name emphasizes the personal, intuitive nature of this perception, apart from any intermediary links), saw the holy city of Jerusalem, new, coming down from God from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (2). Leaving aside all the other features of this city for now, let us dwell here once again on the definition we have emphasized: new. Of course, it can only have meaning in comparison with the ancient, earthly, historical Jerusalem, and when it is included in the general idea of ​​​​the renewal of all creation, heaven and earth. However, this would be so if this vision of Jerusalem were the only one. But, as we already know, there are not one, but two visions of heavenly Jerusalem within the same 21st chapter. They differ primarily in the manner of their perception: the first is directly perceived, as we have already said, by the seer himself (“I, John, saw”), while the second is solemnly shown to him by a certain Angel, namely “one of the seven angels who had seven bowls.” He “came” and said to me: “Come, I will show you a wife, the bride of the Lamb. And he lifted me up in spirit (that is, in a state of mystical ecstasy) to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which came down from heaven from God” (9-10). What follows is a detailed description of this city (11–23). The mere comparison of these visions in their image is sufficiently convincing that there is not one, but two different visions. Although they refer to the same topic, Jerusalem, they are presented differently and therefore cannot be identified. These are essentially two different visions. And this is also confirmed by the fact that in the first vision, Jerusalem coming down from heaven from God is called new, which name is completely absent in the second (at least, it would seem, based on the external sequence of presentation, “new” should be not the first, but the subsequent one: new, in the sense of the newest, repeating again, the second). Together with Charles (II, 15-19) we conclude that here there are not two different stories about the same vision, but two are spoken of, different from each other: the previous one in the order of presentation refers to a later event, the second, although placed in the text after it, is previous and earlier, and, in any case, both of them cannot be identified. This special order of presentation obviously creates a special, independent problem of exegesis, extremely difficult and almost insoluble (more on that below). However, it cannot eliminate the obvious difference in content between both descriptions. So what does this vision of the holy city of Jerusalem, new, coming down from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, mean? First of all, we must admit that the sacred writer uses here an image that is the most familiar, dear and sacred to Judaism. It projects all the images of both the earthly triumph of Israel, its messianic kingdom, and the kingdom of God on earth in general. The roots of this belief lie, of course, in the entire sacred-historical significance of Jerusalem, with its focus on the church as the only place for worship of the God of Israel and sacrifices. This attitude towards him became even more aggravated and deepened after the first destruction of the church, and even more after the second and final one. “Jerusalem” has become a natural synonym for the shrine of Israel, in which its chosenness by God manifests itself. The dream of restoring Jerusalem on earth was equally inspiring in its own way, both revolutionary Zealotism with its utopian messianism of impostors, and religious hopes. The latter is expressed most forcefully in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, ch. 60–68, which are entirely devoted, on the one hand, to the external description of the city and the church, as they were revealed to him in a heavenly vision through an angel in connection with the arrangement of the entire life of the New Israel, as if by a new short Deuteronomy, together with the promise of theocracy on earth. 101 Therefore, in the language of apocalypticism, like the prophets, “Jerusalem” has the meaning of the capital of the coming messianic kingdom. And this alone forces us to abandon the concrete historical understanding of the “descent of the holy city from heaven,” a representation in its obvious mythology or allegorism, and to seek a spiritual interpretation for it. The simplest and most general understanding, which exegesis can be said to grasp (for example, Allo, I. p., 306), relates it to the previous Jerusalem in heaven as the church, the society of holy souls in heaven and on earth who have not yet received full glorification. However, even if such an interpretation is applicable, it is not sufficient precisely because of its dogmatic vagueness. The entire life of mankind, at least within the Old and New Testaments, is the history of the church, but such a general interpretation does not capture the special and new event, which is spoken of as the descent of the new Jerusalem from heaven. It would be more correct to speak here not abstractly about the church in general, but more specifically about a new churchization of the world and humanity, about a new revelation of the Church or a new era in its life. This new churching is precisely expressed in the images: “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband,” and “God will dwell with them, they will be His people, and He will be their God” (3). However, here too one image - of Jerusalem - is replaced by another, no less abstract - the tabernacle of God with people to “dwell with them, and they will be His people.” In itself, such an expression requires dogmatic exegesis, translation into the language of ecclesiology. Obviously, here we can talk primarily about the hypostatic dwelling of God among people in Christ. This primarily relates to the promise of the Farewell Discourse and can be understood Christologically: “Children, I will not be with you long now: you will seek Me and, as I said to the Jews, that where I go, you cannot come, so I tell you now” (John 14:33). But “when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be” (14:3), “and lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). This same promise, however, cannot be exhausted by Christological interpretation alone; it necessarily presupposes the pneumatological one: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). Finally, this also includes the revelation of the Father, about which it is said: “My Father will love Him, and We will come and make our abode with Him” (23). But even these promises do not exhaust the fullness of future accomplishments, because it is also said about them: “When all things are put in subjection to Him (God the Father), then the Son himself will be subject to him who has subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:23). Here, along with the self-revelation of all three hypostases, it is also said about the universal deification of all creation, its complete blessing, the realization in it of its divine prototype. In other words, here we speak not only about the Trinitarian God, but also about the Divinity, which becomes the life of the creature “all in all” (how else can this “in” be understood dogmatically?), about its perfect deification, or, what is the same, about God-manhood, which is the revelation of all three hypostases in the one Divinity. But this entire order of ideas can and should be revealed and expressed sophiologically, as well as ecclesiologically, which in this case is the same thing. The world was created on the basis of Sophia the Divine, which is both the foundation and the goal, the entelechy of creation. However, in Sophia, the created world and man in the state of his fall lose the fullness and purity of their sophia. They need sophia, which corresponds to the fulfillment of God-manhood. They go through a number of different states in their approach to God, deification or deification, through the Incarnation, Pentecost and further general transformation. The latter is final as its completeness. This is the perfect revelation of those divine forces that are present in the world as its foundation, “new heaven and earth,” the fusion of Divine and created Sophia, God is all in all. This is precisely the transformation of the world and of course in the new creation of “a new heaven and a new earth”, in which the “former”, incomplete, imperfect has already passed. But this also means the descent of the new Jerusalem from heaven; it is the Divine Sophia, translucent to all creation, shining in the created Sophia. Consistent sophiology also leads to ecclesiology, which in a certain sense is identical with it. 102 There is the heavenly Church, pre-eternal humanity, or more precisely and more fully - angelic humanity. It is also the humanity of Christ, overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. 103 The ontology of the church is revealed in the history of the Old and New Testaments, which insofar as it is an apocalypse. She knows different eras and ages. Further in its own life, the New Testament church knows the different degrees of its revelation: the Incarnation, Pentecost, the life of the historical church in different eras, including the millennial kingdom with the preceding appearance of the Antichrist and the subsequent rebellion of Gog and Magog. Further here, in the history of the church, we should include the life of the next century after Parousia, the second coming of Christ, with its Last Judgment and division. It is the “last” in relation to our passing age, but by no means the last, but rather the first in the centuries of centuries that will follow one after another (and this is not revealed to us, except for the very fact of their existence in the future). However, all this time and times, centuries and centuries belong to the Church, there is its life and revelation. And the word of God, in particular and especially the Revelation of John, concerns the life of this world with its latest achievements, including what is now beyond its reach. This eschatology, of course, is barely outlined in its most general outlines. But we repeat once again, all these centuries of centuries are the church, which embraces the life of all creation and in this sense there is all God in everyone - ontologically, historically and, finally, eschatologically. This pan-ecclesionism is the sophia of creation, and the Church is Divine Sophia in its foundation and being and created in its formation. According to the meaning of this symbolism, the Church is both Jerusalem, earthly and heavenly, “former” and “new”. The former Jerusalem is an earthly, historical phenomenon of the Church, which, however, mysteriously, sacramentally contains heavenly, divine power in its sacraments, hierarchy, worship and revelation. We can say in this sense that all of it is in what is truly divine in it, there is mystery and occult action, the mystery of sacraments, all-mystery. The nature of the sacrament is such that here the power of God is given and accomplished in earthly images (it has “form and matter”). However, this all-sacrament in the gradual revelation of the Church becomes the all-sacrament of life itself; “form and matter” will cease to be a shell, although containing, but also concealing divine energy, the heavenly in the earthly. This dualism of the sacrament as form and matter, on the one hand, and divine content, on the other, is overcome in a certain divine-human duality, so to speak, in sacramental monism. This is expressed in the images of the Apocalypse in the following words: I did not see the church (which is in the expanded sense “form and matter” of the sacrament, its sacramental shell) in it (in heavenly Jerusalem), for the Lord God Almighty is its church and the Lamb. And the city has no need of either the sun or the moon to illuminate it, for the glory of God (the Divine Sophia herself, God is all in all) has illuminated it, and His lamp is the Lamb” (21:22-23). So, the symbolism of Jerusalem is church-historically justified by the fact that the holy city is the place of the church - church, sacramental revelation and worship of God, which, accordingly, was established by God himself first as the tabernacle, and then the temple of Jerusalem, as the only place on earth for the sacramental presence of God. This in the Old Testament corresponds to sacrifices along with worship and celebrations. All this was directly established by God through Moses (according to the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy) and then historically restored through the construction of a new church, upon the return of Israel from captivity along with Jerusalem, which in theory is connected with the first by some kind of continuity. This divinity of the church as the center of the holy city finds prophetic confirmation in the contemplations of the prophet Ezekiel, in which the very idea of ​​the church finds architectural and geometric expression for itself as the “form and matter” of church construction. In the New Testament Church, church building, like church piety, receives its own “form and matter” in accordance with Christian sacramentalism, but, in essence, this is, in a certain sense, a continuation of the temple of Jerusalem. However, the revelation of the Divine Sophia in the created makes here the total sacrament of the Church and the total sacrament of life, and therefore surpasses and abolishes sacramentalism by the universal presence of God - the total sacrament of life: “God is all in all.” This is what is said here in Revelation: “And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, they will be His people, and God Himself with them will be their God” (21:3). The Church is, first of all, the sophia of the world, the Divine Sophia in created Sophia, the holy city and the church in it, the total mystery of being. But she is also God-manhood and in it the adored humanity, and in this sense human society, sacramentally, hierarchically, institutionally organized, the people of God, Old Testament and New Testament Israel. And here the difference between the “former” and “new” Jerusalem is manifested in the fact that it loses its institutional character, external, “canonical” forms, but is a direct life of God, inspiration of God, revelation of God, God-manhood, the universal sophia of life. This idea is expressed in the text just cited about the tabernacle of God with people, which is opposed precisely to the church, but is the direct “dwelling of God with people,” similar to the heavenly state. There was also no church in Eden, but God came to talk with people: “and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day... and the Lord called to Adam and said to him” (Gen. 3:8–9), and then this conversation is described, containing God’s judgment and sentence on fallen man. However, even this conversation is not hierarchical in nature, which corresponds to the absence of other people in the world who have not yet come to it, and therefore, it is not sacramental. This is the heavenly church, pre-existing in creation as its sophia even before the reproduction of humans. Her latest revelation corresponds to the new Jerusalem that came down from heaven, and it is fuller even than the original, heavenly one. It takes place in the face of the creation revealed in its fullness, and not just the first parents, but already all of humanity, “The Tabernacle of God with men” (21:3) without any limitation, who will be the “people” of God. These brief words again contain the mysterious revelation of God about universal salvation or apocatastatic, as at the beginning of the 21st chapter about the new earth and the new heaven. Further sophiological-ecclesiological revelation is contained in the mysterious words about “the New Jerusalem, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (3). We have already encountered this sophiological-ecclesiological thought in chapter 19, 104 about the “marriage” and “marriage supper” of the Lamb. If we do not deprive these dogmatic definitions of their own power, then they can be understood and accepted only in a sophiological interpretation: the wife and bride of the Lamb is the Divine Sophia in the created. Their connection and relationship are determined by the self-revelation of God in His Divinity in divine eternity, which has the image of hypostatic and non-hypostatic love in God, since the hypostatic God loves His Divinity, and It loves him with a reciprocal, albeit non-hypostatic love. At the same time, the Divine Sophia in God is the dyadic self-revelation of God the Father in the Son and the Holy Spirit, who are united by mutually hypostatic love, and she, according to the personal properties of both hypostases of revelation, is the prototype of male and female love, which is therefore present in the image of God in man: “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him: male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27). The hypostatic dyad of self-revelation of God the Father in the “beginning” or Divine Sophia is therefore the prototype of male-female love, and that is why we can and should speak about the “marriage of the Lamb” and about His “bride and wife” in eternity, in the Holy Trinity and in the Divine Sophia as its self-revelation. Just as the church pre-exists in heaven, in divine eternity, so the “marriage of the Lamb” expresses their pre-eternal relationship, prototype, foundation in eternity and completion in the life of the earthly Church, in created Sophia. One cannot think that the “coming” of the marriage of the Lamb and the “preparation” of His wife can be understood in the sense of a new emergence in time, in church history, of that which, not existing in eternity, is revealed in time in created life. Therefore, the words “new” Jerusalem, descending from heaven, “prepared like a bride adorned for her husband,” must be understood in the fullness of their sophiological and ecclesiological content as spoken of eternal marriage in heaven, for the revelation of which the time will be fulfilled on earth, in church history, in the life of mankind. They thus contain the revelation of the same thought about deification, or the sophia of creation in its transfiguration, the revelation of the Divine Sophia in the created. This is “the great mystery of marriage, into Christ and into the church,” spoken of in Eph. 5:32. One cannot help but be amazed at the strength, depth, and at the same time conciseness of these few words (1–3), in which the entire completeness and coherence of sophiological ecclesiology is expressed. And to this sophiological justification is added the actual ecclesiological one, as one facing the created world (we have already considered it: v. 3) about overcoming church law and institutionalism by the power of direct communion with God. Now it remains to explain one more feature of the doctrine of the marriage of the Lamb. This is mentioned twice, in two subsequent chapters: 19:7–9 and 21:2. Thus, the same revelation is repeated, identical in content, but in a different context. It is precisely for the first time that it is an expression of the end of history: “The Lord God Almighty reigns” (19:6). However, here this is said proleptically: these words indicate what is about to happen, namely the final clash of good and evil, the victory of Christ and the armies of heaven over the beast and the kings of the earth, events related to the end of history. But they are not the last and not the final, because they are followed by a number of other events: namely the first resurrection, the thousand-year reign of the saints and the last rebellion of Gog and Magog. All these events, which have a common meaning, which is the accession of Christ, here merge into one common perspective (as is characteristic of the style of Revelation in its other places). They are considered as a single accomplishment, which includes several moments united by a common content. This earthly end of history is the marriage of the Lamb and the wedding supper with those invited to it. However, such only an earthly, historical understanding of the end is not enough, and one cannot stop there; it is necessary to step over the line of history into the life of the next century. Historiosophy here turns into eschatology, since the earthly end of history is only a preliminary and precondition for the end of this world as an ontological accomplishment. That is why this apparent repetition turns out to be necessary, which refers to the same accomplishment, but in its different images, both on the path to the transformation of the world, and after it, beyond history. Both cases speak in the same way about the “preparedness” of the bride and wife for the marriage of the Lamb. This is one and the same, albeit ongoing, preparation, taken only in different aspects of history and eschatology, the life of the present and future centuries (more precisely, future centuries), the catastrophic end of history and general apocatastasis. This is the relationship between two adjacent chapters, which both contain prophecies about the end of history and this world, about judgment and division, as well as about apocatastasis. This is the meaning of these images: the heavenly and earthly Jerusalem, as well as the marriage of the Lamb in the present and coming age. This is sophiology in images and the eschatology associated with it. Any other understanding of these images is not only insufficient, but also directly inappropriate, unworthy of their greatness and significance. Their literal or even just allegorical understanding would be guilty of gross mythologization or rhetoric, i.e., it would actually abolish this central place of Revelation. Now let us turn to the continuation of the 21st chapter, to the teaching about the life of the future century, under a new heaven and on a new earth, in a new Jerusalem, in a state of general apokatastasis, with the complete elimination of not only evil, but also suffering, about the kingdom of Christ and its bliss. The seer continues about this as follows: “And God will wipe away every tear from their (human) eyes, and there will be no more death; There will be no more mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away” (21:4). Is it possible to express this general idea about apokatastasis more powerfully than in these seemingly sculptured images? Their power is increased by their brevity - the conciseness here, as in the previous verses, corresponds to all the solemnity and significance of these prophecies, which in their content exceed our current understanding and therefore can only be designated symbolically. And as if in order to finally consolidate the meaning of these words in relation specifically to apocatastasis or universal restoration, it is also said here: “and there will be no more death,” and, moreover, next to it, in the same context: “there will be no more crying, no crying, no sickness.” Previously, something else was said, namely: “both death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (20:14), this refers to the catastrophic end of history and its affairs. Now, already in application to the life of the next century, it is said that there will be no more death (ὁθάνατοςοὐκἔσταιἔτι) - neither the first nor the second. This corresponds to Isaiah’s prophecy above: “Death will be swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces” (25:8). And all this general renewal and restoration in conclusion is once again solemnly confirmed from the lips of “He who sits on the throne,” that is, himself. God: 105 “Behold I make all things new” (5). God the Father, who is also the Creator of the world, here completes his creation with a new, also creative act on him. The creation of the world here seems to be in apokatastasis, which is its final purpose. We already have this prophecy about apocatastasis in (the second) Isaiah: “Behold, I am creating a new heaven and a new earth, and the former will no longer be remembered and will not come to the heart” (65:17: cf. 66:22. Cf. Ps. 101:26-81). This word of God, in accordance with all its importance, has a special confirmation for itself: “And he said to me (obviously also He who sat on the throne): write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me: “It is finished (γέγοναν – plural, 6a), these words have been fulfilled.” What does this refer to? Obviously, this cannot refer to the eschatological prophecy itself, the fulfillment of which lies beyond the boundaries of this age. It cannot be attributed to the historical prophecies of the Apocalypse, which also have not yet come true, at least at the time of its writing. It remains to understand this word not specifically historically, but ontologically, relating it to the entire depth of creation with the possibilities of the present, past and future inherent in it. In this sense, the word means that in God, in the divine fullness and sophistry of creation, everything is already contained and present, regardless of its empirical, concrete revelation in space and time. This understanding also corresponds to the general context, according to which this γέγοναν, placed at the conclusion of the most significant place of the Apocalypse, should be understood in such a broad sense. On the contrary, the same word in 16:17~γέγονεν - (in the singular), although also emanating from the throne of God, may, according to the context, have a private, specific historical application; it refers specifically to the pouring out of the seven bowls of God’s wrath, also foretold by a voice from heaven (16:1). And finally, “it is finished” (John 19:30), τετέλεσται, which sounded from the cross from the mouth of the Son of God, in its literal sense refers only to the Calvary accomplishment, which, however, is at the same time a universal accomplishment, and in its meaning combines both the beginning and the end of creation. Further, this “has been accomplished,” which confirms the full significance of what has been said in this chapter, is deliberately further consolidated on behalf of the Speaker himself: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end” (6). The last words, as in the introductory text of Revelation (1–8), clearly belong to the One sitting on the throne, the Father, Creator and Almighty (cf. I, 8), as well as the testimony of the original creation and new, in their ratio. (On the contrary, the same word, repeated in whole (22:13) or in part (5:10), with all the evidence of the context refers to Christ.) Further, turning in the person of the seer already to earthly humanity in its history, the Lord makes a promise: “To the thirsty I will give freely from the source of living water” (21:6) (this must be compared with the promise and call of Christ: John 4:14; 7:37–39), which is revealed to us in the grace-filled life of the Church with its sacraments. To this is added a further encouraging promise with a call to struggle and victory: “he who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son” (21:7). This obviously refers to the deification or osophification of all creation (“he inherits everything”) and the universal sonship of God in the incarnation and becoming man of the Son of God. Verse 7, in fact, ends the passage relating to the new Jerusalem of the future century with its apokatastasis, and from here the new part of the chapter begins. However, in terms of content, it has a continuation for itself, in meaning connected with it together, although it unexpectedly finds a place for itself only in the next chapter, 3–6. This surprise relates to that mysterious mixture of texts in chapters 21 and 22, which from the outside gives the impression of some kind of confusion. This has already been said and will be said again. But, without dwelling on this issue here for now, we must establish that in these verses 22:3–6 we have a direct semantic continuation of the image of the prophecy of apokatastasis, which is understandable only in this connection. Here the bliss of the coming communion with God is described. This is the description. First of all, it says here: “and nothing cursed will be there anymore (καὶ πᾶν κατάθεμα οὐκ ἔσται)” (3). Of course, this can only mean overcoming death, hell, condemnation and rejection of sinners and even Satan and his angels, universal forgiveness and reconciliation with God, generally universal apokatastasis, otherwise this text cannot be understood. This thought, expressed at first in a negative definition (“nothing cursed”), is expressed positively in the next verse: “and they will see His face and His name will be on their foreheads.” The first is the vision of God, promised with a pure heart (Matthew 5:8; cf. 1 John 10:3, 2: “we will see Him as He is”; 1 Cor. 13:12: “... then (we will see) face to face.” The second is the Name of God on the foreheads (cf. Rev. 7:3; 14:1). This is how communion with God, knowledge of God and life of God. “And the night will no longer be there, and they will have no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord gives them light” (5a) Here is the promise of complete overcoming the night and its darkness (cf. Isa. 60:19 ~ it also says that “the city has no need of the sun or the moon to illuminate it, for the glory of God has illuminated it and the Lamb is its lamp.” So, here it is spoken of the “glory of God” illuminating him, there – of the Lord God himself illuminating them; here it speaks of "saved nations" who "will walk in its light" (24), there it is applied without any limitation: "and they will reign forever and ever." In general, the main idea of ​​Art. 3–5 refers to the complete deification, and not just the glorification of all creation. And just as in 21:5 we have a deliberate confirmation of the prophecy of apokatastasis: “these words are true and true,” so here it is repeated as if in evidence of its importance and significance: “and he said to me: these words are true and true” (22: 6a). This entire passage, which is formally included in the description of Jerusalem, but in meaning cannot belong to this context due to an obvious contradiction with it (see below), must be connected with 21: 1-7, no matter how unexpected and incomprehensible the place it occupies here is, before the explanation of which external exegesis is exhausted. Let us now turn to explore further general context. Already 21:8 ~ the verse immediately following the chapter on apokatastasis leaves us in complete bewilderment, because after the promise of the life of the future age, in which “the first things have passed away” and the complete renewal of creation begins, when there will be no more death, no crying, no sickness and nothing will be cursed, forgiveness of sinners appears again: “the fearful, and the unfaithful, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their fate is in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; this is the second death.” This is said as if in a different voice and refers to a different previous and already overcome state of the world. This verse takes us back to the end of chapter 20 (10, 14–15) and 19:20. Here again all the power and insurmountability, or at least the insurmountability of sin, together with the lake of fire and the second death, is assumed, in general, the division that comes at the end of this world and this age. It is, of course, incompatible with the state of apokatastasis. Either there is an irreconcilable and hopeless contradiction here, or they are talking about different things, namely different centuries in the general series of centuries following the general resurrection and leading as the final goal to a general apocatastasis. And after this follows a description of the descent of heavenly Jerusalem. Thus, verse 8 relates in its content to the previous context of chapters 19–20; it is, as it were, its continuation, a new and formidable warning to sinful humanity, which cannot bear the fullness of the bright promises of apocatastasis without being tempted by them and not inclined to laziness and relaxation. This once again confirms to sinful humanity that apokatastasis is not reconciliation with sin and leaving it without consequences as free forgiveness. All the power of sin must be overcome and suffered in these centuries of centuries, and the immediate, primary thing that awaits all of humanity is judgment with all the inexorability of its righteous sentence. And the more dazzling and unlimited the promise of apokatastasis, the more menacing and merciless the foreshadowing of sinners about the lake of fire and the second death, which inexorably awaits them. Traditional eschatology is easily satisfied with the perpetuation of death and hell, with which it considers the bliss of the righteous to be compatible. She portrays them as stupid self-lovers, so easily forgetting about the lot of their brothers, eternally burning in the lake of fire or even completely burning in it, which makes, as it were, an amendment to the universe and corrects the error in it by which they were called into existence, while there cannot be a place for them in it. This eschatological terrorism is opposed by an equally false, sentimental and cowardly desire to evade the truth of God, to avoid its menacing and inexorable judgment. This trial and its verdict represent as irreducible and self-evident a postulate of eschatology as the revelations of God’s love in the destinies of mankind. Here is a mystery that is usually designated as an antinomy for human thought. However, those who do not heed this revelation of the antinomy and do not comprehend with their minds and hearts all its truth and wisdom feel in it only a contradiction, which they want to overcome, sliding first to one side and then to the other. Therefore, some exegetes make efforts to weaken and abolish the bright sides of eschatological prophecies, such as those about the millennium, especially about apocatastasis, while others, on the contrary, try to free themselves from the fear of God’s judgment in all its tragic seriousness and formidability. But in the life of this century, it is precisely in such duality that eschatological promises can only be perceived, being antinomically lived out, according to the word of the Apostle, which depicts their synthesis: “he has imprisoned all in disobedience, in order to have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways!” (Rom. 11:33–34). But “the imprisonment of all in disobedience” here does not mean “amnesty” as a spiritual gift, but includes the hard-won fullness of punishment as an inevitable consequence of sin. This punishment is the first and closest thing that awaits sinners, each according to his deeds. But it should not lead to despair and hopelessness, for the hope for revival and pardon shines in it, not in spite of it, but precisely on its basis. Therefore, the apparent contradiction that conceals the antinomy, in both its parts, thesis and antithesis, refers to different planes: namely, the first, hellish burning is a preliminary, a warning, a call to repentance, and it can be defined as “economy”; the second, pardon, refers to the centuries to come, separated by torment and repentance, with which our history ends, the life of our century, passing into the life of the century to come. And if, due to human weakness and spiritual laziness, bright promises are more readily perceived, which can easily lead to relaxation, then all the more appropriate and appropriate is the formidable and inexorable voice of judgment and repentance. Therefore, the greatest wisdom and love of God are manifested here precisely in the fact that the greatest promises are combined and alternate in prophecies with formidable reminders of the truth of God and all the inexorability of its judgment. This, in our eyes, should be the general interpretation of this feature inherent in the eschatology of Revelation, which cannot but amaze and even confuse when studying the sacred text. This general consideration provides an explanation in this particular case, when both visions of Jerusalem descending from heaven are interspersed with the exhortation of verses 7-8, in which two paths are depicted: those who overcome spiritually and those who are overcome by sin, and it applies equally to both the contemporaries of the sacred writer and to all of us who are now heeding his word. From 21:9~a completely new part of the chapter begins, the second description of the descent of Jerusalem from heaven. We have already said that here we should not see a repetition that already exists at the beginning of the 21st chapter; on the contrary, it refers to a completely different vision. There are various reasons for this conclusion. And first of all, the introductions to both are completely different from each other: about the first vision of the new heavenly Jerusalem it is said that the seer “saw” it, but the second was shown to him by an angel: “and one of the seven angels came to me, the second had seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, and said to me: go, I will show you a wife, the bride of the Lamb. And he took me up in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which came down out of heaven from God” (9-10). Thus, this last vision is brought into connection with the seven bowls, which, undoubtedly, belong to history and are included in it. This vision appears to be “one of the seven angels” in the order of historical clairvoyance, and this already indicates that it belongs to a different plane than the first. It is precisely this that relates to history, even to its metahistorical part, while the second part of history is transcendental, belonging to the life of the future century, in which centuries of centuries merge. It further describes how exactly this second vision is revealed - and also in earthly terms: ““he took me up in spirit to a high holy mountain and showed me.” “In the spirit” means, of course, the “ecstatically prophetic” nature of the vision, as was already found above, 17:3~ (in the description of the vision of the harlot wife in the desert). The desert, like the mountain, equally indicates that the events described are still happening in this world, on this earth. The desert, like the great and high mountain, is obviously an allegorical spiritual landscape, corresponding to the nature of revelation. What is its main content? It has as its subject, like the previous one, “the wife, the bride of the Lamb.” Does this identity of the object in itself mean the sameness of both visions? It is obvious that in both cases we have the revelation of the Church in the sophia of creation. The same revelation about the “coming marriage of the Lamb” is given even earlier, according to Rev. 19:7–9, also before the end of history, before the descent of the new Jerusalem from heaven and the final judgment. All these three images contain a qualitative general definition that can be applied equally to the phenomena of the Church. However, each of these phenomena belongs to a different historical context and corresponds to the images of the revelation of the Church to varying degrees. This difference is expressed in the sacred text itself in its nuances: while in the first vision it is said of the heavenly Jerusalem: “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband,” and “behold the tabernacle of God with men” (21:2-3), likewise, although with greater uncertainty, above: “the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready” (19:7); in the second vision it only says: the city “has the glory of God” (11), in this context it sounds, of course, much weaker (see below). Therefore, based on a comparison of both texts, it should be concluded that both narratives about the descent of Jerusalem from heaven do not refer to the same thing, but to different ones. The descent of Jerusalem itself in both cases is described in almost the same words: “the holy city Jerusalem, new, coming down from God out of heaven” (21:1), and “the great city holy Jerusalem, which came down out of heaven from God” (10). Both texts, speaking of the heavenly city descending from heaven, are obviously inspired by the last chapters (40-48) of the book of the prophet. Ezekiel. They differ from each other only in one word, characteristic of the first and absent in the second (as if contrary to the direct sequence of alternation, due to which they should be placed in the reverse order): this is a new definition - only one word, but fraught with the deepest prophetic meaning. Of course, you can pass by it without stopping deliberate attention to this word. However, in this text of exceptional prophetic significance, with its exceptional conciseness, we must hear this word with prophetic hearing, comprehend the theology and metaphysics of its content. And this, in short, means that the first descent of the new Jerusalem refers to the transcendence, to the life of the next century, from history to eschatology. So, both descents of Jerusalem refer to the deification or osophification of creation, but the first to the final - when “God will be all in everyone”, the second to his earthly manifestation, even in history before the end. For such a conclusion, in addition to the indicated differences in the text, there are a number of other reasons. 106 The whole nature of the description of heavenly Jerusalem in its second descent forces it to be attributed to the state of the world before the final deification and the end of history, and not after it, and therefore corresponds to its known period. Before a private analysis of the text, summing up its features, we can establish the following observations, which force us to attribute this descent of the heavenly Jerusalem to the earthly history of the not yet transformed world, in which, along with the heavenly Jerusalem, although outside it, evil exists with all its consequences and manifestations. These features are: 1) although in the kingdom of the new Jerusalem there will be no more illness or death, but in Jerusalem, descending from heaven to earth, illnesses remain, for “the leaves of the tree will be for the healing of the nations” (22:2), obviously, still possible and necessary; 2) in contrast to the kingdom of the new Jerusalem, in which there will be “nothing cursed” (22–3) and there will be “the tabernacle of God with men” (21:3). Here, on the contrary, it is said that “nothing unclean will enter into it (the holy city), nor anyone devoted to abomination and lies, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (21:27), although along with this (saved) nations will bring their glory and honor into it... and will bring into it “the glory and honor of the nations” (21:24, 26). From this we must conclude that history is still ongoing, both inside and outside of St. hail. 107 The preaching of the Gospel continues, the Christian enlightenment of “the saved nations who walk in its light,” i.e. the “lamp” which will be “the Lamb” (21:23), according to the gospel of the angel bearing the furnace gospel (14:6–7) and the promise of the song of the Lamb (15:4); 3) all this leads us to make the general conclusion that the appearance and revelation of heavenly Jerusalem takes place before the end of the world and before the Parousia of Christ, before the general judgment and resurrection, still on a sinful and untransformed earth. It is an island in the ocean of the sinful world, or a holy city, surrounded by a wall, into which only those entering through the gates penetrate, but outside the sinful life of the world remains. If we combine all these images with the content of ch. 20 about the first resurrection and the temporary bondage of Satan, which, however, will be followed, after his liberation, by the uprising of the peoples of Gog and Magog, “surrounding the camp of the saints and the beloved city,” then such a relationship is established between the 20th and 21st chapters. Both of them talk about the same thing, with the only difference that some (like Charles) see in the content of the 21st and 22nd chapters not one, but two descents of the heavenly Jerusalem, while others combine them into one (like Zahn), without stopping in the face of all the difficulty of combining the different and even opposite features inherent in both descriptions. The question of such a convergence of both chapters, of course, does not have a direct textual resolution, and this identification, in any case, remains only as an exegetical hypothesis, but it has serious grounds for itself in the text. If both visions of the descent of the heavenly Jerusalem to earth have different meanings, it follows that one of them, namely the first, refers to the life of the future century, which is transcendental for us now, coming after the transformation of the world, while the second refers to its earthly history. In this case, the following question arises before us: why does that which relates to the final accomplishment in the text itself precede that which still belongs to earthly history? What does this reverse order of presentation mean? We do not have a direct answer to this question, unless we resort to arbitrary reconstructions and rearrangements of the text, according to the custom of rationalistic exegesis. This order of presentation does present the mystery of these last chapters of Revelation, although even it cannot overcome the obvious difference in the content of the two passages. In the text of Revelation we have the following sequence: the thousand-year kingdom (20:1-6) - the rebellion of Gog and Magog (7-10) - the end of the world, judgment and judgment (11-15) - the descent of the New Jerusalem from heaven, the new heaven and earth in the next century (21:1-7) - again the judgment (8) - the descent of Jerusalem to earth with a description of life in it (21:9; 22:1-2) - again a description of life of the next century under a new heaven and a new earth (22:3–6) – Epilogue (7–21). The presentation is intermittent and in this alternation incomprehensible. Of course, generally speaking, a certain damage to the text is not completely ruled out, allowing and perhaps even requiring reconstruction in accordance with the original internal plan. However, such a reconstruction still remains arbitrary and hypothetical. Therefore, out of reverence for the sacred text, we take it in the order in which it is given, although it may arouse a certain bewilderment. This external disorder, as it were, is not accompanied by a violation of the internal meaning. In it we must look for a general guiding thought for its understanding with the establishment of its internal consistency, partly even in spite of the external one. First of all, the subject of these chapters, namely the end of history together with the end of the world and its transformation, is such that it, in essence, does not allow for an exact follow-up, a pragmatic historical presentation, it is metahistorical and in part even metacosmic and metaempirical. It combines in a common perspective features relating to different historical and metaphysical planes, as if in some diversity and amalgam. This nature of the presentation, with the absence of an external plan and even some of its confusion when different plans are mixed, and generally characteristic of the eschatological prophecies of both the Old and New Testaments, always complicates their exegesis. But such is the nature of things here, for what is beyond the reach of earthly clarity is beyond the grasp of earthly clarity. In particular, this has to be said about the small Gospel apocalypse (Matthew 24:5 ~ with parallels), where a particular historical event is obviously combined in one context - the end of Jerusalem, the tragedy of history and Parousia. One has to accept that such excitement in prophecy is, so to speak, his style. The viewer in his narration outwardly connects and alternates features belonging to different planes, but united by the common theme of the end: the end of the history of this century and this world. However, this multi-part and diverse presentation by alternating different topics and plans is not inconsistency, and this is the most important thing here. There is such a relationship between them, due to which the temporary and limited - namely, the last events related to the end of earthly history - are included as particulars in more general achievements in the life of this and the future century, and this general covers and, as it were, absorbs the particular, previous and secondary - in an intertwined presentation. Both parts of chapters 21 and 22 are therefore written, so to speak, in a different eschatological font (which even allows for their external typographical distinction). It can be said that the seer first speaks about something more general and important, namely the latter, in order to turn from it to earthly history in its ways, and then concludes the presentation again with “the life of the future century.” And after this immersion in the future, in the epilogue he again turns to the present, that is, to current history, present and future, with final doxologies. Now let us turn to the analysis of the text relating to the heavenly Jerusalem descending to earth. As already said, the belief in the existence of a heavenly Jerusalem, descending to earth at a certain time in time, was characteristic of Judaism throughout this era. Therefore, especially under the impression of Ezekiel’s prophecy, it was natural to clothe the aspirations of the spinner in precisely these images. At the same time, here, just as above, of course, a literal understanding of these images is impossible. However, we must, bringing them closer to each other, must at the same time significantly distinguish the two images of the heavenly Jerusalem descending from heaven as belonging one to eschatology, the other to metahistory (which we can conditionally call, together with some interpreters, the “millennial kingdom” or chiliasm). These are the essence of two different categories of metahistory: eschatological and chiliastic. Both Jerusalems are brought closer together by the fact that they “descend” from heaven from God to earth (or, one can understand, to the earthly, historical Jerusalem, which forms the center of the world and history). This convergence, which obviously does not allow itself to be understood topographically, but ontologically, means deification, osophification, transformation, glorification. This is a creative action of God, which, however, does not overshadow the general principle of synergism and occurs only with the onset of historical and spiritual maturity of creation, in response to its aspirations and thirst and in interaction with it. To this extent, both convergences of Jerusalem have identical or, in any case, similar, although differing in degree, meaning. It is the last (and in the order of presentation, the first) descent from God of the “new” Jerusalem that marks the fullness of the sophia, accessible and intended for the creature (“prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 21: 2”), in the first this is not said, but simply: “a woman, the bride of the Lamb.” 108 Further it is said about it: “the great city, the holy Jerusalem, it has the glory of God.” This expression itself can have different shades of meaning. In the highest sense, the Glory of God is the Divine Sophia itself, the appearance of the Divine on Mount Tabor, the light of Tabor, the revelation of the Third Hypostasis, resting on the Son “before the existence of the world” and returning to Him through glorification from the Father (John 17:5). This glory is given by the Son to His disciples (22) and to creation in general as their glorification and deification; we all, “beholding the glory of God, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). It is precisely this glorification, with the ascent from glory to glory, that is to be understood here as applied to 21:11. It, like deification, has different measures and different degrees. The Sophia of the created Sophia, which is the earthly Jerusalem, is revealed from glory to glory on earth, to the “former” and the new, there is a connection between them, but there is also a distance. The descent of the heavenly Jerusalem to earth in both cases means glorification, the touching of creation, we must establish the difference between them. Let us therefore dwell on the features in which this is expressed in the second case in comparison with the first. In this first there is not, and of course, there cannot be any, even figurative, description of the life of the future century that is transcendental for us now; it speaks only of general renewal, transformation, deification with the elimination of all sorrow and evil (21: 3-6; 22: 3-6). On the contrary, in the second case, life in the heavenly Jerusalem is described in concrete terms, whatever this concreteness may be. And first of all, even the “word of God” is described here, that is, the glorification of Jerusalem: “its light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, crystal-shaped” (11). This alone does not allow us to equate this earthly luminosity with heavenly, Sophia enlightenment; it still applies to earthly life. Further, this character of hers is expressed in a whole series of earthly images that have an allegorical and mystical meaning, but above all can be understood literally. 109 And this common feature, characteristic of the entire description, forces us to attribute it to earthly life and earthly history, albeit in its special, exceptional, new era - let's call it conventionally - chiliastic. However, here this light gives divine illumination, there is a revelation of sophia. On the one hand, the likeness of jasper makes us remember vision 4:3, where theophany is also expressed in earthly images: “He who sat (on the throne) was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardis, and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.” Here these comparisons from the natural world are undoubtedly applied to the divine world. Further, the appearance in glory of the God-man is also described in earthly likenesses: “and he was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as snow” (Matthew 17:2), “as a bleacher on earth cannot whiten” (Mark 9:3). A similar manifestation of the glory of the Lord shone upon the shepherds in the appearance of the angel of the Lord (Luke 2:9) on the night of the Nativity of Christ. And finally, in Rev. 21:23 ~we read again: “And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to illuminate it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp” (23). This image, in its paradoxical massiveness, also speaks of the revelation of the power of God through the phenomena of the natural world - spiritual light is also a lamp. This is not yet talking about a complete transformation of the world, but only about the beginning or a certain degree of transformation manifesting itself in this world. All this suggests a parallel with the radiance of Moses’ face after the appearance of the glory of God to him, which, however, was also not his complete transformation: Ex. 34:29–35. “Moses did not know that his face began to shine with rays because God was speaking to him. And Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, and behold his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him... and Moses put a veil over his face.” The manifestation of the glory of God in Ezekiel is described in a similar massive way (43:2, 5 ff.). All this should also be compared with the text of Isa. 60:19: “The sun will no longer serve you as the light of day, nor the brightness of the moon to shine on you, but the Lord will be your everlasting light and God your glory,” and further. The entire context of this passage does not allow us to clarify whether it has historical or eschatological significance; the features of both merge in a common perspective, as is generally typical of Old Testament prophecy. However, if 21:11, 23–4 is compared with 22:5, then the entire difference between the revelation relating to earthly history, to the “millennium” and to the future age appears clearly. The latter is spoken of in such a way that it has no need at all for illumination not only by the sun and the moon, but even by the glory of God, for “there will be no more night there, and they will have no need of either a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God illuminates them.” This is something more than the illumination of the glorified Jerusalem, and already the last, after which nothing can follow. But let us return to the context of chapter 21 with its description of holy Jerusalem. It contains, in its own way, an accurate description of the city, similar to Ezekiel’s, which, like the latter, is shown by an angel “who had a golden reed to measure the city, and its gates, and its walls” (15), cf. Ezek. 40:3. First of all, the wall of the city is described: “it has a large high wall, it has twelve gates” (11) (similar to Ezek. 30–31), “there are twelve angels on them.” Wed. Is. 62 in the description of the Old Testament millennium: “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have placed watchmen who will not be silent day or night. O you who remind us of the Lord! Do not be silent before Him until He restores and makes Jerusalem a glory on earth.” These are the heavenly guardian angels of the earthly city of Jerusalem, which came down from heaven, glorified, blessed, blessed. Walls mean certain boundaries separating the holy city from the rest of the sinful, untransformed world, and at the same time establishing it on solid foundations. This is expressed in the corresponding names. These are the Old Testament names, written on the gates (of the twelve tribes of Israel) (cf. Ezekiel 48:31), and the New Testament names, written on the foundations of the city, of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. These names for the holy city are self-explanatory. Here we need to see not only the spiritual unity of ancient and new Israel, but also their church-historical union in the Judeo-Christian church. It is permissible to conclude from here that this also indicates the completed return of Israel to Christ, according to the prophecy of the apostle. Paul about the “salvation of all Israel,” and accordingly the sealing of the chosen ones from the twelve tribes of Israel before the great trials (chap. 7, 4-3). The union of the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles (together with the angels) characterizes the holy city as the universal church 110 existing on earth. There is no indication of the pagan, extra-Christian world, because here there is no talk at all about all the peoples included in the church, but only about its spiritual leadership. What follows is a description of the city in various details. It has twelve gates (a number symbolizing the fullness of his life), three on four sides: east, north, south and west (cf. Ezek. 48:30–34). The symbolic meaning of these triple gates can be understood in the sense of the all-encompassing universality of both the scope and the horizon of universal churchliness. To measure the city and the gates and walls, the “speaker” (angel) has a golden reed (as in Ezekiel 10:3, 47–48), a symbol of the divinely established indestructibility of the city. It is arranged in an equilateral quadrangle, 12,000 stadia on each side: four and twelve (equal to 3 x 4) are the numbers of completeness and perfection. This size (about 1500 miles), whether attributed to each of the parties or to all four together (the first follows more from what follows, v. 17), is, of course, extremely hyperbolic if we attribute it to a city coming down from heaven literally; what remains is its symbolic interpretation in the sense of its significance. Comparing these data, we have to conclude that it has the shape of a cube, since “its length, breadth and height are equal” (16), 12,000 stadia each. These dimensions also allegorically speak of the importance and sacredness of the city. The city wall strangely differs significantly from the size of the city itself, having only 144 cubits. It is noted that the angel measured the wall “with the measure of a man, which is the measure of an angel” (πέτρονἀνθρώπου ὃἐστιν ἀγγέλου). Interpreters usually pass by this text, not without bewilderment, but it is of paramount dogmatic importance for angelology. This here is an unexpected and seemingly only incidental remark relating to the “measure” of man and angel and establishing their identity, should be generalized and understood as an expression of the general relationship between angels and men, “heaven and earth.” Angels are co-human, and humans are co-angelic. Despite all the differences between them, relating to the corporeality of some and the incorporeality of others, they are united by the unity of the image of God that is inherent in them. Direct communication is possible and exists between angels and humans. The appearances of angels, as described in the Bible, take place in human form; True, this is not their only and exhaustive image, which corresponds to the general difference in their life and ministry, but for this issue it is the presence of a human image in angels that is essential (this is expressed iconographically in the depiction of angels as having a human image, although with some special attributes: winging, fiery appearance, etc.). Further, in mutual communication, angels and humans use the word equally, one might say, they speak the same language. Further, they are characterized by the same or similar movements and gestures: he came, showed, etc., they are characterized by singing, etc., etc. The entire structure of the Apocalypse presupposes this mediation of angels between heaven and earth in their communication with people. That is why we have to conclude that this brief remark about the unity of measure of men and angels contains a lapidary formula for all apocalyptic, and then general angelology. 111 What follows is a description of the city from the point of view of the material from which it is built. On this subject a few preliminary observations and remarks must first be made. Although it “descends from heaven from God,” this does not prevent the fact that it is built from earthly material, which is only distinguished by a special, one might say, fabulous-fantastic character in value and beauty; it sparkles with noble metal and precious stones. And first of all, “its wall was built of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass” (18), and “the foundation of the city was decorated with all kinds of precious stones” (more on them below) (19), and “twelve gates, twelve pearls: each gate was made of one pearl. The city street is pure gold, like transparent glass” (21). First of all, one cannot help but be struck by the sensual materialism of these images when applied to the phenomenon of the holy city descending from heaven from God. However, it is necessary to point out here once again that the application of these images to the “new” Jerusalem of the future century seems completely impossible and is absent from the text (21:2). Their presence in 10:18–21 is additional evidence to confirm that these two testimonies about Jerusalem, God descending from heaven, do not refer to the same phenomenon, but to two different ones: one to the earthly life, the other to the life of the next century; here there is, so to speak, evidence to the contrary. Even the most daring images used to describe the greatness and glory of the earthly city, although “descending from heaven” to earth, turn out to be unacceptable and impossible when applied to the “new” heavenly city descending to the “new earth”. However, it is not easy to understand and accept these images even when applied to the first descent from the sky of Jerusalem to the former earthly land. To overcome the difficulty, all that remains is to apply allegorism here, spiritual and mystical. Noble metals and precious stones are images of corresponding spiritual qualities and states in the life of the holy city. However, this allegorism should not be so abused as to completely spiritualize, so to speak, disembodied the life of this city. On the contrary, it is necessary to view this spiritual content in its transparent embodiment and, therefore, allowing, if not yet a complete and final transformation of the world, which awaits it only in the next century, then at least its essential enlightenment and transparency for the spirit, which will be accomplished by the power of God (which is expressed in the words: “descending from God”) still on earth, within the limits of earthly life, in the thousand-year kingdom. Thus, in addition to that preliminary and general prophecy about the “first resurrection and reign with Christ,” some figurative concretization of this still earthly kingdom is given here, however, with the appearance of the Glory of God on earth, its manifestation, although not yet final, but only preliminary, and not universal, since it does not extend to the entire creation, but is limited to the boundaries of the Holy City as the capital and focus of the earthly kingdom Christ, revealed in this world, in the kingdom of the prince of this world. In this regard, the question may arise: during the appearance of this kingdom, does there remain a place for the action of his power in the world, or does he remain “chained for a thousand years” (20:2)? We do not have a direct answer to this question in the sacred text, but we find an indirect answer from a general comparison of its data. It is precisely even that thousand-year reign of the first resurrection, during which Satan remains bound and, therefore, doomed to powerlessness and inaction, that evil and sin are not abolished in the world. They are just waiting for their time to show their strength. The uninhibited Satan, coming out to “deceive the nations,” finds fertile ground for himself to gather and motivate Gog and Magog, who during the first resurrection apparently lurked in the shadows, in a state of exhaustion, but then quickly regained their strength. We have a similar relationship in relation to the life of the Holy City that came down from heaven. For along with the saved nations walking in the light of it (the city), and the “kings of the earth” bringing into it “their glory and honor” (24, 26), there still remains an area about which it is said: “and nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one devoted to abomination and lies, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (27). These words do not refer to the division at the Last Judgment on the brink of the next century, but specifically to the life of this century. Therefore, there is every possibility of connecting chapters 20 (4–7) and 21 (10–21) as referring to the same event. And, on the contrary, there is no way to relate 21:26–28 to the life of the next century, i.e. to allow the presence of “unclean things and those devoted to abomination and lies” in the coming Kingdom of God along with the glory of the Holy City on the new earth and under the new heaven. Even if we assume the final separation of heaven and hell, good and evil, light and darkness, their joint existence one next to the other cannot be allowed. In the description of the city, special attention is drawn to the presence of various precious stones that decorate it; there are twelve of them, and, of course, each of them has its own special radiation of light and receives a mystical and allegorical meaning. “The foundations of the city wall are decorated with all kinds of precious stones; the first base is jasper, the second is sapphire, the third is chalcedon, the fourth is emerald, the fifth is sardonyx, the sixth is sardolith, the seventh is chrysolite, the eighth is virill, the ninth is topaz, the tenth is chrysoprase, the eleventh is hyacinth, the twelfth is amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was made of one pearl” (19–21). These stones correspond, although in a slightly modified order, to those that decorated the breastplate of the Old Testament high priest (Ex. 28:17–20) according to the number of the 12 tribes of Israel, whose names should be carved on each as on a seal (21). This means that their mystical meaning primarily relates to the old and new Israel as the foundation of the Church. 112 This is also confirmed in Ezekiel 4:31: “The gates of the city are called after the names of the tribes of Israel.” Already these comparisons, of course, again testify to the earthly character of the holy city of Jerusalem, which is discussed in Rev. 21:9–27, 7 and Ezek. 41:31. This list of stones in itself requires all sorts of commentary applied to each of them, which we do not pretend to provide here. It also contains a certain mystical secret that will someday be revealed, but now remains hidden from understanding, encrypted in allegorism. However, we should here again emphasize the earthly and even material nature of these images. To allegorize or spiritualize them, turning them only into spiritual symbols, would simply mean to abolish them in their concreteness, although they undoubtedly also have a spiritual and symbolic meaning. It is also impossible in their naturalness to transfer them to the life of the next century, which is closed to us and does not allow description in the language of things of this world. Therefore, it remains to make a general conclusion that the described city still belongs to the present century, albeit in a transformed, enlightened, blessed, special state. In connection with this, the following question arises: is this city, “descending from heaven from God,” and at the same time earthly in character and material, a new creation of God? In other words, the image of “his descent from God from heaven” means its very emergence into existence or only a change, transformation of the earthly city through the descent onto it and the shining in it of the heavenly image, its prototype or paradigm. Obviously, the descent from heaven does not mean a new creation, which is specifically spoken of on behalf of God: “Behold, I make all things new” (21:5), as it is also said about this: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (21:1). Therefore, if Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God, is not new (as it is in the first vision: 21:1), but, so to speak, only renewed and presupposing the former, then from here it is necessary to conclude that, being the work of God in its renewed state, it belongs to the human world in its original, “former” existence. In other words, it belongs to history and to that extent it is the work of human creativity, its crown and limit, which only it can achieve. This is, therefore, a divine-human work that crowns human history, therefore it is necessary to fully understand all of this humanity. But it also reveals his grace, the power of God, revealed in the transfiguration. This is the manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth, although in still earthly possibilities, as the revelation of God, the closeness of God to creation. This thought is expressed in further imagery: “I did not see the church of God in it” (21:22a). This does not mean a godless creation, but, on the contrary, a deified creation: “for the Lord Almighty is his church and the Lamb” (22c). There was no church in paradise, which was the place of God’s presence on earth, where God came and spoke to man (Gen. 3:8–19). (Cf. Ezek. 48:35: “And from that day on the name of the city will be: The Lord is there”). Here the phrase “Lord God Almighty”, “God the Father” and “Lamb” draws attention (we find a similar juxtaposition in 7:9; 14:4; 22:1). The shade of thought that is introduced here is such that the divine-humanity of the Son as the Lamb in His redemptive service is joined to the premium, transcendental Divinity of the Father: the Father is revealed in the Son, and the closeness of the Father to the world is the divine-humanity of the Son. This general idea receives a more specific expression in relation to the “illumination” of the city: “and the city has no need of either the sun or the moon to illuminate it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (21:23). We already have this image in Isaiah 60:19~ff., of course, only in the Old Testament expression, with no indication of the Lamb. However, this text in its expressiveness begs for comparison: in the new Jerusalem (cf. the entire 50th chapter) “the sun will no longer serve you as daylight, and the brightness of the moon will shine for you; but the Lord God will be your everlasting light, and your God your glory... And all your people will be righteous, and will inherit the earth forever.” Consequently, even here we are talking about an earthly city, which, however, will be a place of such an obvious presence of God and the manifestation of the glory of God, a revelation of the sophia of creation in this world, still on this “former” earth. Here too, the city “has the glory of God” (21:11), and “the glory of God has illuminated it” (23). What is striking here is the convergence of natural light, from the sun and moon, with the light from the glory of God and the Lamb. However, we must remember at the same time what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration of Christ, when “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as snow, as a bleacher on earth cannot whiten” (Mark 9:3, cf. Luke 9:29–32). The Transfiguration of the Lord took place on this earth, and the glory of God was manifested in light and in the natural world. Is it not a similar manifestation of glory in the transfigured world that is being spoken of here? And in accordance with this, attention is turned even to earthly history: “The saved 113 nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor into it” (21:24). “And they will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations” (26). It is absolutely indisputable that both the salvation of peoples through their enlightenment (“walking in the light” of the holy city), and the bringing of one’s honor and glory, that is, all of one’s spiritual and earthly achievements, refers to the history that continues during the millennium. The Holy City will be a spiritual focus and enlightenment for all historical humanity, and its influence will spread widely. This is figuratively expressed in 21:25: “its gates will not be shut by day, and there will be no night there.” This is most naturally understood in the sense of the general evangelization of all nations, foreshadowed earlier in Revelation through the appearance of an angel (14:6) “flying in the middle of heaven, who had the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Likewise, in the “song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,” which those who defeated the beast sang on the glass sea, it is proclaimed: “all nations will come and worship before You” (15:2-4). This universal preaching of the Gospel, like the worship of God and the Lamb from all nations, the universality of the Church, which has not yet been revealed in the paths of world history, first of all presupposes the overcoming of its main limitation, which was and still is the falling away of Israel. But in him, “according to the election of grace, a remnant was preserved” (Rom. 11:5). His entry into the Church is, in its power, the salvation of “all Israel” (Rom. 11:26). “If their wealth is lost to the world, and the wealth of the Gentiles fails, how much more is their fullness” (12). Although Israel is not directly mentioned in this text (21:24–26), this does not mean that it can be forgotten. The prophecy about the thousand-year Kingdom, which originated with the Old Testament prophets (see excursion) and was nurtured in the centuries-old history of Israel and in subsequent messianism, although with obscurations and distortions, is revealed here in its truth. There is therefore reason to connect, and in a certain sense even identify, both series of events: the conversion of Israel and the appearance of the holy city on earth as the triumph of Christianity (albeit temporary, millennial, before the end of history). We have a number of Old Testament prophecies regarding the conversion of peoples to faith in the one true God through union with Israel. This includes, first of all, chapters 65-66 of Isaiah: “And behold, I will come to gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see My glory... and will present all your brethren from all nations as a gift to the Lord... to My holy mountain in Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the children of Israel bring a gift to the house of the Lord in a clean vessel: from them I will also take to be priests and Levites, says the Lord. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will create, will always be before me, says the Lord, so will your seed and your name be” (66:20-22), Dan. 7:14, especially Zech. 2:11–12. “Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Zion. For behold, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. And many nations will flee to the Lord on that day, and they will be My people, and I will dwell in your midst.” 114 These prophecies remain divinely inspired for us, but must be understood in the New Testament as relating to Christianity. We find their interpretation in the prophecies of Revelation about the thousand-year Kingdom and the holy city of Jerusalem, descending from heaven to earth. So, the new Jerusalem and in it the New Israel in the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth are the focus for the whole world; about it it can be said that “the nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor into it” (24-26). This idea of ​​the new universal calling and ministry of Israel cannot be expressed more powerfully than in this prophecy of the triumph of Judeo-Christianity throughout the world. It is also consonant with the prophecy of Simeon the God-Receiver about the Child of God, who is “the light of the revelation of tongues and the glory of your people Israel” (Luke 2:32). Whether we want it or not, whether we like it or not, such is the prophecy and such is the will of God... And now - in complete surprise - the following prelude breaks into this bright image of the messianic kingdom with a sharp dissonance: “and nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one devoted to abomination and lies, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (27). How should this limitation or exception be understood and attributed to? If we see in the image of the holy city and its life the transformation of the future century, i.e. understand it eschatologically, then, obviously, this limitation will have to be attributed to the dark region of the rejected and condemned to hellish torment, as this is most easily and most readily accepted by the supporters of their eternity. However, for such an interpretation in this case, there is an insurmountable obstacle in the text, which speaks not about the rejected, condemned and bearing the full weight of the sentence “into eternal fire,” but about their ongoing sinful resistance, active “uncleanness” and devotion to lies, therefore, about the struggle with the truth. This is an additional and new confirmation that the triumph of the holy city on earth, which here of course, refers not to the future century, but to the present. It does not exclude the continuing existence of evil along with the messianic kingdom in history, and this clearly proves that the whole prophecy should be understood not eschatologically, but chiliastically or apocalyptically, within history. What are the boundaries and scope of this kingdom of evil and darkness, which exists along with the triumph of the earthly kingdom of Christ, is not told here, but he is taught a certain persistence in evil, “devotion to abomination and lies.” Consequently, the struggle between good and evil is still ongoing, and the tragedy of world history has not ended. Nothing unclean will enter the holy city, “but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (21:27). This expression occurs repeatedly in Revelation, and not only in a positive form, as here, but also in a negative one: 13:8: “whose names were not written in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world,” 17:8: “whose names were not written in the book of life,” 22:19 says: “God will take away his part from the book of life and from the holy city and from the things that are written in this book.” The main bewilderment, of course, here is caused by the expression: “those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” If it is understood, so to speak, post factum, in relation to the saved, then bewilderment disappears: these words state the lot of those who have earned salvation by their deeds. But it is much more difficult to understand what is said about those written in the book of life of the Lamb, and even with the addition: “slain before the foundation of the world.” This sounds deterministic and can be understood as an eternal predestination to salvation or destruction (this is the same difficulty that we encounter in the dogmatic exegesis of the text of Rom. 8: 28-30 ff.). Dogmatically, such predestination cannot be accepted as final, at least in relation to destruction, as contrary to the goodness and wisdom of God (which is evidenced in the 11th chapter, 32-36 of the same letter to the Romans). We find indirect confirmation of all the relativity or conditionality that is inherent in this recording in the book of life here in Revelation. It says that God, for certain sins (see below), can “take away one’s participation in the book of life and in the holy city” (22:10). And therefore, here, the most that can be allowed is a providential, and by no means a final, rejection of those not included in the book of the Lamb from the creation of the world. They still have to fit into it on a long and sorrowful path that continues “forever and ever.” In any case, the thousand-year kingdom will not be universal; the sinful part of the world will remain outside it in its sins. The seer especially calls for observing the prophecy about him in all accuracy, undiminishedness and completeness in the concluding words of his book: “And I also testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds anything to it, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away anything from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the book of life and from the holy city and from what is written in this book” (22:18-19). Chapter 22 and last – End and epilogue This chapter consists of several different parts: firstly, the end of the previous chapter belongs here: verses 1-2; secondly, the end of the first part of the previous chapter (21:1-5), namely verses 3-4; thirdly, - epilogue: 6–15; and finally, the general conclusion: 17–21. Let's start with the first part. Some other features of the holy city are indicated here, namely the river and the tree of life. “And he showed me a pure river of the water of life, like crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” The image of the river has its origins in the Old Testament. First of all, this suggests comparison with the river of paradise, which came out of Eden to irrigate paradise and was divided into four rivers: Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates (this last feature is absent in the description of the city of God). Just as much as the river of paradise belongs to the earthly world, and is characteristic of it initially, even before the Fall, so the river of the city of God should be sought in earthly history, namely in the thousand-year kingdom. In Old Testament prophecies, this image as applied to the holy city of Jerusalem is found in the prophet Ezekiel 47:1: “water flowed from under the right side of the church, on the south side of the altar.” Next (2–12) follows a description of this flow through its measurement and its action. This image in Ezekiel also has a chiliastic meaning; it expresses in the Old Testament language the same vision that the seer has in the content of the holy city descending from heaven. 115 And the first, direct purpose of this river in Ezekiel relates to its special natural, heavenly blessings: it is the power of life, spilled in nature - “waters of life” (1). But this image can also receive a corresponding spiritual interpretation when applied to the grace-filled power of the sacraments of the Church, and first of all, of course, to St. baptism There is no obstacle to understanding the “pure water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and the Lamb,” in the Trinitarian light: “the throne of God and the Lamb,” the Father and the Son, is the source of the gifts and grace of the Holy Spirit. In this general sense of the special grace of life, which is communicated through the water of life, we find in other texts of Revelation: 7:15–17; 21:6; 22:17. “Water of life” is the sacrament of life, which is accomplished through the communion of a spiritual-physical source and has an increase in strength and effectiveness. There is no church in the holy city, just as there is no church in paradise, and divine grace is taught apart from it, in direct communication with God. This immediate all-sacrament of life is the water of life. But in addition to this water and in connection with its action, gracious food is also served here in the eating of the fruits and leaves of the tree of life: “in the middle of its street, on either side of the river, there was a tree of life, bearing fruit twelve times, giving its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations” (22: 2). This “tree of life” is similar to (paradise’s “tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God” (cf. 2:7: “to him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”) The chiliastic image of monthly trees bearing fruit is not absent here, as in Ezek. 47:12: “Water flows for them from the sanctuary, their fruits will be used for food, and their leaves for healing.” In addition to the fruits, eating leaves for healing is also served, as clear evidence that the disease, and therefore death, is not yet defeated here and requires special healing against itself. (It is clear from this that the eschatological text 21:4: “there will be no more death..., neither will there be any more sickness” does not refer to the chiliastic image). Here the question naturally arises about the relationship between these fruits of the tree of life and its leaves with the bread of life, that is, the Divine Eucharist. It is completely natural to take their eating into the image of this latter, in connection with their general meaning as a kind of natural, extra-church sacrament of life. This idea can also be supported by the general dogmatic consideration that since the Divine Eucharist (contrary to the opinion of some Catholic theologians) will not be taken away even in the next century, this analogy is even more applicable to the life of the thousand-year kingdom. However, there is still no direct expression of such a thought in 22:1–2. One may ask oneself whether the absence of a church in the holy city also means the abolition of the priesthood for the administration of the sacraments in it? We have no direct knowledge of this. Verses 22:3-5, as already stated above, obviously cannot refer to the millennial kingdom, but only to the future age, the prophecy of which, beginning in 21:1-5, is interrupted by a retreat relating to the city of the present age. In essence, it continues here. This very retreat and break in a coherent presentation remains, as we said, a mystery for exegesis, but there is clear semantic evidence for restoring the connection. The prophecy of 22:3–5 cannot be applied without obvious contradiction to the millennial kingdom and to the heavenly Jerusalem of the present age, since there remains room alongside it for “the unclean and the devoted to abomination and lies” (21:27). Meanwhile, the prophecy about the “new” Jerusalem of the future century begins with the words: “and nothing will be cursed anymore” (22:3). This verse is a direct continuation of verse 21:4, to which it is related in meaning. It is enough to put them side by side and unite: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, no more crying, no crying, no more death, for the former things have passed away. “And nothing cursed 116 will be there anymore, but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will serve Him.” The second half of the verse (“the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it”) is close in meaning to 21:22: “But I saw no church in it, for the Lord God Almighty is His church and the Lamb.” However, in the second case, the emphasis lies on the absence of a church, in the first - on the holiness of the place due to direct communication with God, which still has different degrees in the present century and the future. In general, 22:3–5, like 21:1–5, presuppose the accomplished universal apokatastasis and testify to it with full force, 117 albeit in the most general outlines. In fact, what else could this mean “and there will be nothing cursed (rejected) anymore” (έτι) if not the abolition of evil and even imperfection in the sense of inconsistency with one’s idea, every minus of being? Can this text be understood otherwise than in the sense of complete apokatastasis, which is to take place in the final outcome of created existence? To evade this direct conclusion, it remains to look for an outcome only in the monstrous and blasphemous assumption of the annihilation of evil and imperfection, the ontological death penalty, with the help of which the shortcomings in creation will be corrected and made up (!) and the necessary amendment will be made to it. This thought is parallel and almost identical to the thought that Christ came into the world to save only one part of humanity, and even a smaller one. And if for victory over evil and death the action of one divine omnipotence, violence over the world for its salvation, is appropriate, then is not the incarnation and atonement unnecessary? Obviously, such an idea is a religious absurdity that does not deserve refutation. This idea raises against itself all the objections that can be made against the theory of “conditional immortality.” 118 Communion with God and the manifestation of God in the future century is further expressed as follows: “and they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads” (4). Seeing the face of God is an all-encompassing promise of created bliss, for the revelation of which there are no words in human language and no ability to comprehend in the life of this century. It is commanded by the Lord in the commandments about purity of heart (“blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” Matthew 5:8), and about “holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” This promise is greater than what could have been given to Moses, to whom God said on Mount Horeb: “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live... You will see Me from behind, but My face will not be visible” (Ex. 33:20–23). But what the great prophet and seer of God Moses was not given to see is the common lot of God’s servants in the next century. Obviously, here comes a new ontological maturity for man, by virtue of which he can be given, as is customary, knowledge of God and vision of God. It’s scary to think and talk about this now for us, sinful sons of a sinful world, but it will be accomplished by the power of God. You can also ask here about John himself, who in his revelations was awarded the vision of the Lord or the Glory of God on the throne (like the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel). The vision was no longer given in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, in that condescension of God and the approach of God to the world, which took place through the incarnation. Yes, and the vision of the prophet. Isaiah must also be understood in the limiting context of John. 1:18 ~ (cf. 1 John 4: 12; 1 Tim. 6:16), In any case, no matter how these Old and New Testament texts are correlated, it remains indisputable that Rev. 22:4 ~refers to that new vision of God that will become available to man only in the life of the next century. It presupposes not only his grace through the appearance of the Divine, His Glory, the Divine Sophia, but also the personal, hypostatic revelation of God, the vision of “His face.” And this hypostatic character of God’s revelation is confirmed by the following: “and His Name will be on their foreheads” (4). Imprinting with the Name of God is precisely a personal meeting with God, His hypostatic self-revelation. The name, as a “proper” name, the subject, and not the predicate or definition, belongs to the hypostasis. We read about this in the letter to the church of Philadelphia, 3:12: “He who overcomes will I make a pillar in the church of My God... and I will write on him the Name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new Name.” The same is said about those standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion, “who had the Name of My Father written on their foreheads” (14:1). The Name of the Father is the Word of God, the Name of the Son, in which the Father is revealed by the Holy Spirit. This trinitarian self-revelation is nothing other than the trinitarian revelation of the Name of God, and the new Name is the revelation of the future age. This hypostatic revelation of God is also joined by the cosmic: “and there will be no night there, and there will be no need for a lamp, nor for the light of the sun, for the Lord God illuminates them” (5a). The element of light most fully expresses the interpenetration of the spiritual and the natural, the sophistry of creation, its permeability with divine energy (“the light of Tabor”). God Himself is spoken of as “the true Light” (John 1:9; 8:12; 9:5; John 1:5 ~etc.). “God lives in unapproachable light” (1 Tim. 6:16); The transfiguration of the Lord took place in the illumination of His face and clothing. The self-revelation of God in creation begins with the creation of light, shining in the pre-created darkness of non-existence, and in the final revelation of creation about its completion in the glory of the future age, it is naturally said: “and there will be no night there.” Spiritual, divine light merges, is identified with the light in creation, so that “there will be no need for a lamp or the light of the sun,” for “the Lord God illuminates them,” the glory of God, the sophia of creation shines in it. This will not be a new image of illuminating the darkness like a new lamp, but a new light that overcomes, abolishes darkness itself as the emptiness of non-existence or pre-existence, ontologically fills it. Here it should be noted that the same thing is said when applied to the holy city descending from heaven to earth, even earlier than the apokatastasis and general transformation of the world: 21:23. Essentially, what is being said here is about the same thing, about spiritual-natural light overcoming darkness, about the revelation of the sophistry of creation. However, there may be differences in the degree of sophia as the transparency of creation for the divine “light of Tabor”, which is spoken of in both cases. If both phenomena of Jerusalem differ from each other, like the world before its transfiguration and after it, in a state of grace, even if its highest manifestation or glory, then this difference is reflected in the sacred text: about the first Jerusalem, which still belongs to this world and the thousand-year reign of Christ, it says this: “the city has no need of either the sun or the moon to illuminate it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp Lamb" (21:24). Regarding the second Jerusalem - the future age, it is no longer said about the glory of God, but directly that “the Lord God illuminates it” (22:5). This shade of thought, of course, refers to the degree of deification or blessing of both cities; let us accept the second more fully and definitively than the first, as far as this difference can be expressed in human language. “And they will reign forever and ever” (5c) - this is the last promise of Revelation. Of course, it does not refer to the thousand-year earthly kingdom, but also to the life of the future century, which comes in its final fulfillment and contains “the ages of ages,” a concrete, qualified eternity. We have already spoken more than once about this meaning of the expression: “eternity of ages” as referring not to the eternal, Divine, unchangeable in its fullness of eternity aeternitas, but to an eternity that becomes, reveals, fulfills its eternal content from century to century and forever and ever aeviternitas. This should be especially noted, since here we are talking not only about life in eternity, but also about the salvation that takes place in it. This image of the all-conquering and all-filling divine omnipresence is applicable in relation to apokatastasis, which is ontologically synonymous with “the ages of ages” as a gradual and gradual revelation of eternity in time. So, Revelation ends with the promise of the reign of Christ and the kingdom of God forever and ever and, moreover, without any restrictions. For it is said above that “there will be nothing cursed” and “the servants of God will serve Him (the Lamb)” (3). Consequently, here we assume a general and complete subjugation of all creation to the Lamb, about which the apostle says: Christ “will abolish all rule and all authority and power” (this refers, obviously, to Satan and his kingdom), “for He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet... He has put all things in subjection under His feet... He will put all things under His feet” (1 Cor. 15:24–28), and “There will be God everything is in everything.” Both solemn promises about universal apokatastasis, or the subjugation of everything to God, or the reign of God in the ap. Paul and the Apostle and the Evangelist and Prophet John merge into one and do not allow for any reinterpretation or derogation. “They will reign forever” in meaning is completely equivalent to “God will be all in all,” the kingdom of God, in which creation is given participation in the fullness of living God. There cannot be a promise more solemn in its lapidarity, brevity and power and more joyful than this last word of Revelation, and since it is the last book of the Bible, then in general the last word of the Word of God, its final revelation. The creation of the world in the six-day period, in all its particulars, ended with individual testimonies of God about “great good,” the perfection of creation, and this was also applied to the entire creation without any limitation: “And God saw everything that He had created, and, behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). However, this original perfection became imperfection by the force of sin and death entering the world. But after the coming into the world of the Conqueror of sin and death, its perfection returns; more than that: it becomes the Kingdom of God, which is vitally accessible to man. The world fulfills the purpose given to it at creation, and it is already inalienable from it, remaining with it “forever and ever.” The beginning meets the end, the creation of the world ends with its deification, the Fall is defeated by apocatastasis. This is ultimately the revelation of Revelation, its power and content. It is necessary to insist with all our might on the completeness of this promise and defend it from “pious” derogations that seek to diminish the realm of the Kingdom of God, to limit it to only a certain or even a small part of creation, for which Christ supposedly came into the world alone. These deletions (of course, as well as arbitrary additions) include the forgiveness of the seer in the final words of the book: “And I also testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away anything from the word of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the book of life and from the holy city and from what is written in this book” (18-19). The first boldness, adding to the words of this book, receives a warning for itself, although with less threat than the second, since “plagues” are still a temporary punishment, while deprivation of participation in the book of life, as well as in the holy city (here, obviously, is meant the first city of the earthly millennial kingdom) and “in what is written in this book,” is a more severe and significant punishment, in accordance with the greater importance and greater gravity of what was done. sin. Such a dogmatic sin of all historical theology (with only a few exceptions) is the belittlement or outright denial of apokatastasis, which is dogmatized in the Catholic Church and elevated to the level of generally accepted and obligatory theological opinion, although it has never been formally dogmatized in the East. But the entire content of the Apocalypse, in all its stunning and terrifying images, is an image of the path to apocatastasis. He is the book of revelation, first about the earthly, temporary, thousand-year kingdom, and then about the universal and final kingdom of the saints forever and ever. And from those who piously apply their mind and heart to these sacred prophecies, they are required to answer with all the strength of faith and hope: AMEN. And as if in response to possible fear and doubt that arise when reading this sacred book of the mysteries of God about the destinies of humanity and all creation, in its epilogue, at the end of its essential content, it is once again confirmed (cf. 19:9; 21:5) it is confirmed: “And he said to me (these words are obviously attributed to the angel who showed the vision of the holy city of Jerusalem): “These words are true and true, and the Lord God of spirits He sent His angel to show His servants what must soon take place” (22:6). This confirmation, in itself seemingly unnecessary, testifies to the extreme significance of the prophecy, and at the same time to the difficulty of containing it; This is also indicated by the unusual definition: “God of the spirits of the prophets.” The unusual “spirits of the prophets” can refer to the spirits of different prophets (as in 1 Cor. 14:32: “and the spirits of the prophets are obedient to the prophets”), but it can also mean the combination of different prophetic gifts or inspirations in the same prophet as evidence of his special anointing by the One Holy Spirit. In the latter case, this generally refers to the content of Revelation, in which various visions and prophecies are given through angels or in direct revelations in a state “in the spirit” to the same seer, who is thereby exalted above other prophets (which corresponds to the entire importance of this only New Testament prophetic book). The general content of all these prophecies is determined in the same way as at the beginning of the book: “to show His servants what must soon happen (ἐντάχει, 22:6c) (cf. 1:1). Soon here, as well as there, is not chronological, but ontological. It refers to what has happened and is contained in the depths of created existence, that is, to the power of the incarnation, which has to be expressed in its further revelation in Parousia, in the return of Christ to the world. This is what is said further, whether in the direct words of Christ, spoken to the angel and repeated by him here, or spoken by Christ directly to John and written down by him precisely to confirm the full power and importance of the prophecy contained in Revelation. This word of Christ is again followed by makarism: “Behold, I am coming quickly: blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book” (7). “Ερχομαι ταχύ” appears many times in Revelation: the closest text is 22:12, where this word clearly comes from the mouth of Christ Himself, but also 22:5, 16; 3:11 and also 16:15. This, like the previous word of Christ, obviously refers to Parousia, but is applied not so much ontologically, as in the previous case, but chronologically, it is said in the language of human time. However, what does soon mean here? What meaning is attributed to it here: eschatological - the end of the world, or historical, some stunning event, the world of the future? This question is not easy to answer historically, since it was sounded and perceived differently at different times. The leading church understood this literally in the sense of daily expectation of the end of the world and the second coming, on the basis of which a certain fearfulness and fussiness developed, from which the apostle. Paul warns the Thessalonians. In his first letter to them, he considers it still possible to assure them: “You yourselves know for sure that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, for when they say: peace and security, then destruction will suddenly befall them, like the pain of childbirth in the womb, and they will not escape” (1 Thess. 5:2-3), then in 2 Thess. 2:2-3 he already directly exhorts: “We pray to you, brethren, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering to Him, not to be in a hurry to waver in mind and be troubled either by the spirit, or by the word, or by the message, as if sent by us, as if the day of Christ was already coming.” From the second century onwards, people began to defend themselves against the obsession with the speed of the sudden coming of Christ with prayer de mora finis. This idea is deliberately instilled on certain days indicated by the Typikon (to the sounds of sweet-voiced singing: “Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight”). With victorious (although still not conquering our inertia) power, it is proclaimed in Revelation. For this, one can look for a religious-historical “explanation” from the psychology of the moment, but one can – of course, and must – give this word of Christ all the power of His prophecy about His coming. In this case, it takes on the meaning of a call to a certain structure of the soul, thought and whole life, to “vigilance” (“blessed is the servant, he will be found vigilant”). Such eschatologism was the main tone characteristic of the early Christian church, although it was quickly lost. What follows is a new confirmation of the authenticity of this entire prophecy, as if the prophet’s own signature: “I, John, have seen and heard this. When I heard and saw, I fell at the feet of the angel showing me this to worship him.” And at the same time, what had already happened earlier was repeated once again (19:10): the angel forbade this worship as “one who serves with you σύνθουλόςσου and with your brothers the prophets and those who keep the words of this book: worship God” (9). The general angelology of Revelation is characterized not only by this power and, so to speak, the intensity of communication of angels with the seer (as well as with other people) in revelations, the co-angelism of people and the co-humanity of angels in the unity of “measure” (21:17), but also their communication with each other in co-service with God. If angels, as the executors of God’s commandments in the providence of man, are servants of God, messengers of His will, then in the general course of the life of the world and the historical destinies of mankind they are also “co-servants”, accomplices in a common cause (based on it, it becomes clear that, according to the word of the Apostle, we humans will judge the angels: 1 Cor. 6:33), and this cooperation extends so widely that it includes, in addition to the seer and “the prophets and those who keep the words of this book,” that is, living members of the church. To this the angel once again adds: “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near (ὁ καιρòς γὰρ ἐγγύς ἐστιν 22:10). Thus, the book ends with the same word with which it begins: “Blessed is he who reads and hears the words of this prophecy, and keeps what is written in it, for the time is at hand” (1:3). Only here the same makarism is repeated somewhat more briefly: “Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book,” but this admonition is further strengthened by the command “not to seal the words of this prophecy.” If we sincerely ask ourselves whether this command has been fulfilled, we must answer in the negative: it has not been fulfilled; on the contrary, the book of Revelation has been sealed and is being sealed under various circumstances. This is expressed, in particular, in the absence of church readings from the Apocalypse, in the fearful attitude towards his prophecies, in the desire to weaken them through reinterpretation, with the extinguishing of the joy and call to Christian boldness that they contain. In modern times, means of scientific protection from the power of prophecy are used. The Apocalypse has become the subject of the most detailed scientific study, but it has ceased to be a subject of religious comprehension; rather, it is even closed to it. And that “the time is near” does not sound to him. What should this “time is near” mean? This cannot refer to a calendar period, to today or tomorrow, which remain in their alternation in terms of time. This is an inner, ontological closeness, aspiration for the future as the present, a chiliastic and eschatological sense of life, lost as “first love” in the Ephesian church and replaced by lukewarmness in the Laodicean church. The “near time” is the entire New Testament era, extending from the First Coming of Christ to the Second, to Parousia. In this sense, it is primarily opposed to the Old Testament, which, in comparison with the New Testament, is “a distant time” (Dan. 8:26). 119 This is followed by a new appeal to contemporaries, and through them to all generations of the historical church: “let the unrighteous still do unrighteousness, let the unclean still be defiled, let the righteous still do righteousness, and let the holy one still be sanctified” (10). The prophecy is now completed, and the angel, through the prophet, speaks with a rebuking exhortation to the unrighteous and with an invigorating promise to the righteous and saints, who, obviously, will abide on the earth for all time until the end of the age. The latter ends with the Last Judgment: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward everyone according to his deeds” (cf. 2:23). This “speed,” we repeat, is not chronological and calendar, but ontological. Christ, who has accomplished the work of salvation and sits at the right hand of the Father, also has the power of Parousia, which is ready to manifest itself at every moment of the life of this century, just as He is already present in the world: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” And this promise is once again sealed by the same self-name of God with which Revelation begins: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (13). It is also applied in some versions first to the Father, the “Almighty” (1:8), and then to Christ (1:10, 17; 2:8; 21:6). According to the general context, in these particular cases it refers to Christ. This is not so certain regarding Art. 14–15, which may also belong to the viewer himself. In them, he once again addresses his contemporaries with prophetic reproof, exhortation and intimidation. Here we have the seventh and final makarism. 120 This apocalyptic beatitude, however, is accompanied in its second half (15) by threats, which naturally sound in the mouth of a prophet addressing his contemporaries. This entire text reads like this: “Blessed are those who wash their robes, 121 so that they may have the right to the tree of life and to enter the city through the gates. And outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and everyone who loves and practices iniquity” (22:4-15). Obviously, we are talking about earthly Jerusalem, as well as not yet about the last Last Judgment, which Christ Himself commits. 122 However, one cannot help but notice that the understanding of Art. 14–15 as containing the words of the prophet breaks the connection of vv. 12-15 and 16, which undoubtedly belong to Christ. However, in such a break or insertion (which by no means must necessarily be an “interpolation”) there is nothing impossible according to the general meaning of the Apocalypse. Subsequently, there is a solemn confirmation of the divine authority of Revelation as the word of Christ addressed to the Church: “I Jesus sent My angel (cf. 1:1) to testify to you these things in the churches” (16a), here we have a return to the original address to the seven churches. “This” - ταυτα - has, of course, the broadest and most general meaning, referring to the entire content of Revelation. And this testimony is especially and solemnly confirmed by a personal signature: “I am the root and descendant of David, the bright and morning star” (16). This self-designation of the God-man according to his humanity as “the root and descendant of David” is extremely significant; Of all the names of Christ in Revelation, this is chosen here, affirming His connection with humanity through the medium of Israel. It contains its focus, the “root”, and at the same time its descendant, the “branch”. With the same name the Lamb appears in the heavenly introduction to Revelation: 5:5: “the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David” (“son of David” - as the “genealogy of Jesus Christ” is revealed, according to the Gospel of Matthew 1:1). The Old Testament is connected with the New, the “root” with the future, that which is to be. And the naming of the “bright and morning star,” which is added here (cf. Christ’s promise to the Thyatira church: “I will give him the morning star,” 2:28), sounds the same as the Old Testament prophecy about Him through Balaam: “a star rises from Jacob” (Num. 24:17). In general, it cannot be emphasized with sufficient force that the Apocalypse in the entire New Testament is the most Judeo-Christian book. It ends with a solemn confession of this spirit, which here, for the seer, speaks about itself in the language of Jewish apocalypticism, and for the evangelist and Hellenic wisdom: the root and descendant of David and He who is in the Beginning, the Logos, the Word of God. This is where Revelation actually ends. The rest, the last verses of the last chapter, represent a series of postscripts, have the nature of an afterword. They are located in a certain inspired lack of order or external connection, spoken as if in a voice choked with excitement in a state of prophetic frenzy, “in the spirit” of ἐν ἐκστάσει (although this is not directly said here in words). In the first place of this afterword is the most thunderous word in the thunderous Revelation of the son of Gromov, which contains the entire revelation of the Church. This is the word: Both the Spirit and the Bride say: come! Here every word requires explanation, both individually and in general connection. Let's start with this last one. What does this and mean here, moreover, what is said twice and through this in a double sense: namely, and - and can refer to the enumeration of two principles in their separateness, but also in their identification, both - and. In the first case, the presence of two principles is established, allowing for differences between themselves, in the second, their connection and identification: the Spirit of the Bride or the Bride in the Spirit. It is necessary to consider separately both members of this duality. What does Spirit mean here? Here, first of all, a restrictive interpretation is possible, which some interpreters adhere to (for example, Charles, II, 179). According to him, the Spirit in 22:17 means the Spirit of Christ (similar to the expression: “The Spirit speaks” in 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 14:13; since in all seven epistles to the churches Christ Himself is the speaker. In this interpretation, the expression “Spirit and Bride” means: Christ and the Church, or Christ in the Church, or the Church in Christ. It turns out a strange conclusion that Christ is making a call to “come” to Himself. However, what else is the “Spirit of Christ” if not the Holy Spirit resting on Him, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity? Christ, anointed with the Holy Spirit, Himself applies to Himself this word of the ancient prophet: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He has anointed Me,” etc. (Luke 4:18, 21, Isa. 41:1–2). In this sense, the Holy Spirit can be called the Spirit of Christ, but without thereby diminishing His own hypostasis. At the same time, the expression “Holy Spirit.” can be understood both as a hypostasis, namely the Third, and as the totality of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (the beloved sevenfold of Revelation) residing in the Church, in the body of Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit. 123 However, with all these shades of meaning, it must be said once again that the “subject”, the subject of the “Spirit” here must be understood as the Third Hypostasis, and not the Second. “Spirit and Bride” here thus means that the Church, being itself the body of Christ, is inspired by the Holy Spirit, who “intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be expressed” (Rom. 8:26) in her prayer, which is the prayer of prayers: come! On this basis, since the “Bride” (νύμφη) refers to the Church, the phrase “Spirit and Bride,” or rather, precisely in it, indicates this unity or identity of the life of the Church and the Holy Spirit, inspiring it and accomplishing its deification as the Body of Christ. And it means, in other words, the Church living in the Holy Spirit, human nature in unity with the divine, God-manhood accomplished by the Holy Spirit in Christ. The link also has immeasurable dogmatic content, expressing this fundamental truth of ecclesiology: the Church is God-manhood, in which humanity resides in the dyadic unity of the Second and Third hypostases, in the Holy Trinity revealing the First, the heavenly God the Father. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God... we have received the spirit of adoption, by which we cry: Abbe, Father! This very Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:14–16). Let us now turn to the exegesis of the word “Bride.” This is one of the most living and exciting images of all biblical ecclesiology, starting with the mysterious mysticism of the “Song of Songs” (Song 4:8–12; 5:1), continuing with the prophetic images of the Old Testament (Isa. 61:10; Jer. 2:2, 32), ending with numerous gospel texts. In the context of the last chapters of Revelation we read first of the marriage and marriage supper of the Lamb, for which “his wife prepared herself” (19:7–9); As a prophetic foreshadowing, the angel says in 21:9–10, “Come, I will show you a woman, the bride of the Lamb... and she showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, which came down out of heaven from God.” As stated above, this refers to the thousand-year kingdom, which marks the end of earthly history, this age. But in the same chapter above (2) it also speaks of the new Jerusalem, coming down from God from heaven, prepared as a bride, “adorned for her husband,” and this already applies to the life of the next century, belongs to eschatology. This combination of different meanings in the interpretation of the image of the Bride as applied to the Church of the Old Testament, New Testament and the coming century, the Kingdom of God, forces us to give it the most general meaning, church-historical and mystical. This is the life of the Church in all manifestations and strength, on the paths of preparation, as well as in the state of readiness, before Parousia and after it, all its fullness in time: present, past and future, and in super-modernity, in communion with eternity. All this is contained in this naming of the Church as the Bride of Christ in full preparation for marriage and her wedding supper. Of the many definitions of the Church by which it is expressed, the most reverent, sacred and erotic is chosen here: νύμφη, which sounds with the heavenly music of the Song of Songs, the joy of the joys of perfect love. All ecclesiological meanings and their shades are contained in this verbal sculpture, which in its strength and compactness is similar to the beauty of a marble statue as an image of love. “Both the Spirit and the Bride speak,” turning to the Bridegroom, to the Beloved, whom “I sought at night on my bed” and found only for brief meetings that did not satisfy an insatiable soul. Therefore, now, in the fullness of time and timing, this call is heard, and together with the prayer to the Bridegroom: come (ἕρχου), come this time in all fullness, in all inseparability. This is the voice of the entire Church, heavenly and earthly, in which the calling voices of the entire universe merge. It expresses the love of the Church for Christ. This is the voice of the Spirit and the Bride. The Spirit itself is a hypostasis of Love, hypostatic love. The Church in the Spirit loves the Bridegroom with creaturely-hypostatic, multi-hypostatic, “conciliar” love. The Church is conciliar, it is a catholic multi-unity in which all voices merge into one, all hypostatic “I” are united into the multi-united Church Self by the Holy Spirit: νύμφη is not only the body of Christ, but also a personally living being, a multi-hypostasis in which the Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit shines. Here we involuntarily approach the last secret about the Church, the last word of revelation about it. The Church as the Bride is the Unbrided Bride, “My Sister Bride” and Mother, the female face of God-manhood, the Ever-Virgin Mary. She herself is not named here, but is only described, indicated, however, in such a way that this indication cannot remain ununderstood and unheard. Here, as in the entire New Testament, the revelation about the Ever-Virgin is taught more audibly in silence than in words, more shown than spoken or proven. However, in this one word, or rather two words: Spirit and Bride, it is also said: Spirit-Bearer, Bride - Wife of the Logos, Mother of God. Her sacred name, not named but indicated, ends this prophetic book. On behalf of all humanity, on behalf of the entire created world, she calls: “Come.” And this come also corresponds to the all-human, universal, all-created living echo, to which, turning, the prophet says: “And let the one who heard say come! Let the thirsty one come and take the water of life as a free gift.” The Mother of God speaks here on behalf of all humanity, which She leads. And every human soul, together with the faces of angels, merges with Her in this prayerful and joyful call. 124 Finally, it should be added that this general ecclesiological thought about the Church calling the Lamb can be given a Eucharistic emphasis, and in this case it receives the meaning of epiclesis, the prayer of the transposition of the Holy Gifts, which each time represents the new coming of Christ into the world, as if His descent from heaven, combined with their non-abandonment. Apparently, such a thought was not alien to the primal Church: in Didache, X, 6 we find a prayer after communion: “let grace come and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the Son of David. If anyone is holy, let him begin; if not, let him repent. Yes, come, Lord (maranatha)! The question now is: to whom do the words belong: “Both the Spirit and the Bride say: come!” (17a)? Although they directly adjoin verse 16, which undoubtedly contains the words of Christ, they obviously cannot be put into His mouth in accordance with their content. Obviously, they belong to the seer himself as his prophetic testimony. It continues further - in the call and promise: “let him who thirsts come, and let him who desires take water freely,” as well as in the final testimony about the holiness and inviolability of prophecy: 22:19. The latter is addressed, of course, to all eras of history, present, past and future. Each of them involuntarily adapts in its own way to its own taste and, according to its limitations, the words of the prophecy, adding or subtracting to them, and thereby distorting it in different senses. Those who read, on the contrary, are called to understand and accept it in its entirety. The final words of Revelation obviously belong to Christ: “He who testifies to this says: I am coming quickly” (28) Ναὶἔρχομαιταχύ. This “I am coming quickly” occurs seven times in Revelation and is repeated three times in this final chapter (7, 12, 20). It is also concluded by him with a special yet solemn confirmation: ναί, which in meaning is equivalent to: “truly, Amen.” These words contain the main content of Revelation, the power of its promise. It was precisely this that sounded so victoriously in the preaching of early Christianity, ignited it with its fire, consoled the martyrs and confirmed the confessors (cf. the appearance of Christ to St. Stephen, Acts 7). It contains the secret of his victory in the world, for it expresses his brightest hope. It is impossible to express in human words what is contained in it. Revelation begins with the good news of the soon coming of the coming Christ (1:1, 7), and it ends with it. To whom is she addressed? Is it only to the first Christian generations, the contemporaries of the seer, who, in their naivety and in their unexperience, every day looked forward to the promised coming of Christ, unlike us, sobered, disenchanted, who, without immediately waiting for it, then (since the 2nd century) began to pray pro mora finis, and then simply stopped thinking about it? In place of the fiery Christian hope, a warm, cool confidence was substituted that in our churchliness we already have all the fullness that does not need to be replenished. Some were protected by the fortress of the Vatican, others by smaller fortifications, as well as by the self-sufficient grace of the sacraments (as if it does not call, but only calms in some kind of self-satisfaction). In the end, this is where the hidden or open, active or passive struggle against the Apocalypse began, both through its ecclesiastical disuse and spiritualistic or “religious-historical”, critical neutralization of it. In any case, the thunder from heaven: “Yes, I am coming quickly” ceased to reach the spiritual ears of Christians and even began to seem like some kind of misunderstanding, which was clarified by the history of the church. (Only in some mystical-exalted sectarian circles there was still interest in Revelation, however, with a clear violation of spiritual balance). But how could this non-fulfillment of the most basic Christian prophecy actually be perceived, and what does it really mean? Is it because its time has already passed, why is it left to be consigned to history as unnecessary (perhaps along with our very faith)? Or should we know, still have no doubt, that there should be no thought of failure to fulfill the promise of Christ, which is addressed to all times and to all Christians without any exception, and now, just as before and after, until we see Christ coming in His glory? We have already said above that soon - ταχύ - has not a chronological, but an ontological meaning here as a special Christian tonality of life, which penetrates and colors all of it, in all its temporality. Therefore, in it those who have become like those who have not, not having the city that abides here, but seeking the one to come (Heb. 13:14). The promise of Christ is already a fulfillment that has authority and power. It must always be carried in the mind and heart as a kind of revealed transcendence of the life of the future century. One must have this feeling of life as the most central and essential, as the highest spiritual reality and certainty. This is Christianity, this is our faith and its law. Without this, Christianity is non-apocalyptic, non-eschatological, it is a dangerous counterfeit and secularization. And in order to awaken this feeling in us, to confirm us in it, this wondrous book was given to us with its promise: “I am coming soon,” always, at all times I am coming, I am the one who is coming. But the one who is coming is not the one who is coming at all, He is coming to our entire world, as well as to each of us. If there is one who is coming, then there must be a one who is meeting, and every Christian is called to be ready for this meeting. And this is why the last promise of Revelation is accompanied by the response of faith, its acceptance: “I am coming to her quickly. “Amen, come, Lord Jesus” (20). Amen here is a response, confirming yes to His question to us, silently expressed in the promise of the Lord: do you want it, do you accept it? The question is addressed to everyone, and the answer must also be given from everyone personally. This amen should express the movement of our soul towards the promise, that μετάνοια, to which people are called in the first sermon of the Forerunner: from worldliness to unworldliness. And this answer consists not only of passively agreeing yes, but it must be actively realized in the prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus,” the most ardent, most pan-Christian prayer. The Lord teaches us to pray: “Our Father... Thy kingdom come,” which is the deification of creation in Christ by the Holy Spirit. Here this prayer is the same and the same, but more specific: that very terrible thing that we call the Last Judgment, and before which the soul trembles, this is precisely the content of the prayer, the first and for a long time the only one among Christians. That is why we are still afraid of the Apocalypse, we hide it from ourselves in various ways and close ourselves off from it, precisely because it calls us to this last and terrible prayer: hey, come, Maranatha, may the Lord come! And again, it should be emphasized that this prayer and the call to it apply not only to the first Christians of that time, who were to receive the Apocalypse as a message to the churches (to the seven, but through them to all). No, he is addressed with equal force to all churches and to all of us now, and to each of us. The seer himself already gives for us and from us, together with us, an answering amen, along with an answering prayer: her, come. And this should be not only a word, but a living, fiery prayer, which gives a living feeling of confidence, knowledge of the Future. Both this faith and this prayer have now completely faded away in us. We do not pray this prayer of prayers at all, and it is not in our prayer books. We pray to the Holy Spirit: “come and dwell in us,” we are enough for this because we have previously interpreted for ourselves this coming of Him as partial, as some kind of grace-filled help in our infirmities, which, however, leaves us in our own place in everything. But in the Jesus Prayer: She is coming, there cannot be any partiality, while remaining in the same place and in an unchanged state throughout our entire life; (the same is the “Jesus Prayer”, which we, having loved only for ourselves, left as a prayer for the forgiveness of sins and for personal salvation in all its uncertainty). But Christ Himself gave us not this, but another, His “Jesus Prayer,” which we have forgotten, if we ever knew. But now the time comes when these words light up for us with a new fire, glow with new inspiration, and demand from us a living Amen. And, having once heard this call, we cannot protect ourselves from it, but we also don’t want to. Hey, come! there is a personal appeal to “Jesus”. This name of His in this sense is the only time found in Revelation (we repeat again that the personal appeal in the non-apocalyptic Jesus Prayer, already in its extensiveness: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” to a certain extent even loses this personal character). Here, in Revelation, this is, as it were, a kind of personal “You”, addressed on the part of humanity to the God-man. This appeal gives even greater immediacy to the prayerful meeting of the Coming Christ. And to the extent that Revelation in general, as we have already said, is characterized by its own special image of Christ, identical, but at the same time different from the Gospels, this feature is also imprinted in this last context of the apocalyptic prayer of prayers: “Come, Lord Jesus.” Amen. This is the last word of Revelation. It is followed only by the apostolic blessing, which is usual for all apostolic epistles. This book is one of them. This blessing, which is stated differently in different epistles, is here most brevity. It is given only on behalf of “Jesus”: “The blessings of the Lord Jesus be with you. Amen" (21). (Eschatologism of Revelation in comparison with other New Testament books) The question naturally arises: what does the promise “the time is at hand”, “I will come soon” mean in connection with the response “I will come, Lord Jesus”? It has been pointed out more than once by interpreters that this “soon” is significant. It can refer not only to the Second Coming of the Lord, to Parousie, but also to embrasse touties les manifestations de la puissance du Christ, sane etre bornee a la Parousie.” 125 However, this polysemy in the context of the Apocalypse and in its final chapter receives a special, concrete meaning. First of all, let us ask ourselves: how does this promise sound in the hearts of believers based on synoptic texts containing the words of the Lord about the Second Coming? It sounds like a formidable and frightening precursor to the Last Judgment, at which everyone will be exacted according to their deeds to the last penny. The human soul “trembles at the terrible day of judgment,” and the Church in its liturgical texts (on the week of the Last Judgment) reveals precisely this side of it (a similar attitude towards it is expressed in the apostolic epistles of Apostle Paul, Apostle Peter, Apostle Jude). To call for this day of judgment, to joyfully anticipate it, obviously exceeds human weakness, which is capable, at most, of the memory of the day of judgment and the trembling fear of it. However - such is the antinomian nature of this dogma - this promise of the new coming of the Lord into the world contains the greatest joy that can only be revealed to a believing heart: to see the Lord coming again with glory, although “to be judged by the living and the dead,” yet “of His kingdom there will be no end.” And we find the same evidence of this in the Gospel of the same John, in the words of the Lord Himself in His farewell conversation with His disciples, whom He consoles and encourages with this promise: I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. a little more, and the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me, for I live and you will live” (John 14: 18–19). “And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be” (3). This promise, in all its breadth and without certainty, is all-embracing. It contains various aspects of both eschatology and apocalypticism. Addressed to the disciples, whose loyalty and courage have this night to endure a terrible test, it, at least then, is not yet terrifying. On the contrary, like the entire farewell conversation, it sounds like a blessing and loving caress, even despite the fact that it contains a sad warning: “the hour is coming, and has already come, that you will be scattered every one to your own and leave Me alone” (16:32). However, this does not interfere with what is said next in the high priestly prayer: “I say these things in the world, that they may have complete joy” (17:13). Thus, in the light of the fourth Gospel, in a certain sense, the tragic horrors of Revelation are dissolved and overcome, and - we must remember - both belong, according to the testimony of the Church, to the same sacred writer, the beloved apostle, and, moreover, The Gospel was written not before, but after Revelation. Therefore, we can say that already within the four Gospels there is a double or, in any case, complex perception of Parousia not only as the Last Judgment, but also a joyful meeting by the orphaned apostles, and in their person and together with all humanity, Christ returning to the world, “coming again with glory.” But what does it mean and what does it sound like “hey, come, Lord Jesus” in Revelation, and with it throughout early Christianity (in Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. 16:22; Didache X, 6: “maranatha”, Aramaic: “Lord, come!”)? First of all, the whole difference in shades in the nature of Parousia’s aspirations here and in the Gospels, at least the synoptic ones, is obvious. Can and dares, does the creature, trembling at the “terrible day of judgment,” dare to call upon him at the same time? This is not and cannot be in relation to dies irae dies ilia, in which quid sum ego tune dicturus. In the service of the “meat-eating week” of the Lenten Triodion we also find only diverse and repeated expressions of fear and trembling before the judgment of Christ, and here (as, indeed, in other services) there is absolutely no place for bright images of Revelation, but only for those filled with extreme horror. Only sometimes, as if contrary to the general tone, as a rare exception, one can find individual expressions of a different nature from the prophets and Revelation 126, mainly in Easter services (such, for example, “Shine, shine, new Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has shone upon you, rejoice now and be glad, O Zion”). The incompatibility of repentant horror and its prayers for personal salvation and forgiveness with the final invocatory prayer of Revelation to her is completely obvious: here only either-or remains. The prayer to her, come, does not fit at all into the context of “meat-eating”, awe before the coming of Christ; for him it is not boldness, but impudence, not inspiration, but spiritual charm. Therefore, here only the same attitude remains towards early Christianity, as towards apocalyptic Christianity, and this reveals another common feature of the attitude of historical churches, not excluding the eastern one, towards the Apocalypse, which remains, if not under direct prohibition, then under suspicion, bound by some fear, which is expressed in its liturgical non-use. 127 So, a general and fundamental question arises: what is the specific meaning of this prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus,” which is the last word of the last book of the entire Bible, and therefore of all Christianity? Does it refer to the Judge who is coming to judge the living and the dead, as He is portrayed by the Synoptics and throughout the New Testament writing, as well as even in Revelation itself (20:11–15)? Or does it not even directly relate since it is separated in the context by chapters 21–22, dedicated to the heavenly Jerusalem and the city of God? Otherwise, the same question can be expressed this way: what content is put into the prayer: “hey, come,” what is its “intention,” eschatological or chiliastic, or both? It cannot be directly eschatological or just that, since the trembling of the terrible day of judgment closes the lips and strikes with horror before such a prayer. And not only this one thing, but its very subject is too transcendental to become the concrete content of prayer. Parousia is beyond the life of this century, and it will not take place within its boundaries, and in this sense it is generally outside of our time. 128 It is therefore concluded in ignorance, that is, in practical non-existence for the time of our century. It refers to God's new creation in the world by an act of Divine omnipotence. 129 In this sense, it is said that “about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32, Matt. 24:36: “about that day and hour no one knows, not the angels of heaven, but only My Father”). Therefore, in relation to the Second Coming, there remains vigilance, to which the Lord calls everyone, that is, an attitude as to a guiding idea, a general direction of life, and not an event or goal, which can become the subject of prayerful hope (otherwise, as regarding the general favorable outcome of all life, namely “the Christian death of life and a good answer at the Last Judgment of Christ”). Otherwise, in another, literal sense, our prayer for the Second Coming of Christ for judgment is ontologically a misunderstanding as containing a contradiction, and religiously a kind of familiarity, simply inappropriate due to its pointlessness. All the previous reasoning tends to show that in one sense, namely eschatological, in relation to Parousia, the prayer “he come” is both inappropriate and impracticable, which is why it is absent in such a meaning in the Word of God, as well as in the church liturgy. From here it should be concluded that its appearance in the early Christian Church and the fiery call to it that we have in Revelation, in its very possibility, as well as reality, must have a meaning other than eschatological, namely concrete historical. It can be answered in this sense in relation to time, namely: “Hey, I come quickly, Amen,” already as the penultimate word of Revelation, in response to which the last one sounds: “Hey, come, Lord Jesus” (22:20). “I am coming soon” can and does have a different connotation of meaning in different contexts of Revelation. We distinguish it as ontological, relating to internal accomplishment, to the onset of maturity, and as chronological, in relation to time or period. (Thus, the first verse of the first chapter of Revelation: “what must soon be” has an ontological meaning; on the contrary, the last verse (20) of the last chapter: “I am coming quickly” has a rather chronological meaning, referring to our time and timing). However, despite the difference in these shades, one common and basic meaning remains for them, which alone makes both the prayer: “Hey, come,” and the promise: “Hey, I come soon” possible and intelligible. This meaning is not eschatological, but chiliastic. It is necessary to strictly distinguish between these two meanings, although they are usually confused in the general concept of eschatological. This last applies not to the achievements of the historical time of this century, but to those lying beyond its borders, in the life of the future century, metaphysical and even metachronological. The chiliastic understanding of the last times and accomplishments relates them to the life of this century, to history, although even to metahistory, but not in the transcendental sense of the life of the next century, but only to the last part of it, the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. With such a distinction between two meanings, chiliastic and eschatological, historical and transcendental, it becomes completely clear which of them receives the early Christian prayer: “hey come,” in which it is natural, possible, permissible. After all, the entire Apocalypse represents some kind of introduction to its final chapters, preparing them. The promises of chapters 20–22 are not episodic in it, which therefore remain to be discolored or weakened by allegorical or spiritualistic interpretation; no, this is precisely the proper theme of Revelation and its deliberate prophecy, which contains something new that is absent in the entire New Testament (although not in the Old, as we will see below). Revelation through the actual distinction of two plans, historical-chiliastic and transcendental-eschatological, does not allow mixing in one general concept of eschatology what does not belong to it and what actually does belong to it. It places between them a certain intermediate state, which in relation to our still ongoing history is in a certain sense even eschatological, however, it does not belong to true eschatology in the exact sense, but is only a conclusion, a sort of epilogue to history. The eschatology of Revelation is therefore dual: on one side it is addressed to history, it belongs to it, even if only as a metahistorical epilogue, but at the same time it also goes beyond history, relating to the life of the future century. In the earliest early Christian consciousness, Parousia was understood in two ways: immanent-transcendent, historical-eschatological. The first Christians had such a living memory of Christ’s presence in the world, such an intense memory of Him, which was not obscured or overshadowed by the later eschatological horror. They expected Him and called upon Him, spoke and thought about Him as an event of tomorrow and, in any case, lying within the boundaries of human life, even their own. From here arose some ugly exaggerations or distortions of this feeling, which had to be fought and corrected. This is what we see in the admonition of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, warning them against the spiritual fussiness developing on this basis. Along with the foreshadowing of the Lord Himself, repeated by the Apostle (1 Thess. 5:1-2; 2 Peter 2:10), about the suddenness of the coming of the day of the Lord like a thief in the night and the resulting call for constant remembrance of that, we also observe the opposite - a call for a certain eschatological sobriety: “we pray to you, brethren, about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering to Him not to hasten to waver in mind and be troubled either by the spirit, or by the word, or by the message, as if sent by us, as if the day of the Lord was already coming. Let no one deceive you in any way.” In fact, the apostle here warns against confusing these two plans, apocalyptic and eschatological, and instead offers, as it were, his own apocalypse regarding the historical anticipation of the Day of the Lord, thereby transferring the discussion of the issue to another plane, namely the historical. However, his own apocalypse remains limited and even meager in comparison with John’s; it is he who contains only the coming of the Antichrist, the “man of lawlessness”: “until the apostasy comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son is lost” (2, 3). Thus, along with this feature inherent in Revelation, the ap. Paul is missing the whole apocalypticism as the path to the millennium, which is the subject of the latter. It goes without saying that Paul’s apocalypse is not such as to arouse feelings other than horror or, at best, courageous readiness to face the final trials and temptations (which are foreshadowed by Christ Himself: Matthew 24 with parallels). In any case, it is clear that in this kind of apocalypticism there is no place for the prayer “Hey, I am coming,” as well as the answering promise: “Hey, I am coming soon,” which constitute the exclusive property of the seer. Thus, the anticipation of the ap. Paul casts a heavy shadow over the bright early Christian hope regarding the speedy coming of the Lord. One can, if desired, even discern a certain conscious and deliberate opposition in both apocalypses: Pavlova (together with Petrov) and Ioannov. For the latter, it was a matter of, in a certain sense, restoring apocalyptic, prayerful and contemplative inspiration. This comparison further emphasizes for us the special character of Revelation in relation to its conclusion. If ap. Paul had to reckon with unhealthy mystical fussiness, then the ap. John, on the contrary, wants to restore a healthy and necessary Christian sense of the Apocalypse (from which our modernity is hiding), in particular, and the prayer for the coming of Christ, taken in context, in its apocalyptic fullness. And this holistic context necessarily includes all the revelations and promises of the Apocalypse, relating not only to the Second Coming of Christ, but also to the events preceding it in earthly history. This includes, first of all, the mysterious prophecy about the coming of Christ to earth for the final battle with the army of the beast and the false prophet, and then, equally mysterious, another promise about His reign on earth with the saints and the first resurrection, and, finally, about His stay in Heavenly Jerusalem as the center of His kingdom on earth. All this, if one can put it this way (albeit with the awareness of all the inaccuracy of such a definition), precedes the Second Coming of Christ, His Parousia, belongs to history, even if only to its supernatural and supra-historical plane. All this must happen on earth and in history, it belongs to our earthly life and our time, we can look forward to this and call upon it in prayer, and all this is precisely included in the prayer “he come.” Let us repeat once again: it is chiliastic, not eschatological, and therefore it is precisely it that is possible and required of us. One cannot exaggerate the entire historiosophical significance of this orientation, which is given by such an understanding of this prayer. If with its eschatological understanding, in its impracticability and inconsistency, it would lead to hopeless fussiness, then with a chiliastic understanding, a new sense of life and history lights up in it, precisely in closeness to Christ, filling it with His power and presence, through His presence in the world and on earth, which is wonderfully united with both the Ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father. The promise: “I am with you until the end of the age” is filled with a new, namely apocalyptic meaning, gives a different sense of life, which is lost and even rejected by ascetically understood Christianity with its transcendentism. Earthly life and history are not only the path to death, to the afterlife and resurrection, to the life of the next century, but it also retains its own meaning, meaning a Christological interpretation as the ongoing reign of Christ, and therefore His royal ministry. The dogma of the Ascension, which has two antinomically related sides: removal from the world and continued stay in it, receives an apocalyptic revelation and confirmation. Without fear of paradox, we can say that the Apocalypse is written as if it does not include the events of the Ascension in its context. True, he assumes it has already been accomplished, since the Lamb that was slain is already in heaven. However, the main subject of Revelation relates to His still ongoing and ongoing ministry on earth. The new song, addressed to the Lamb in heaven, says that He has redeemed us with His blood “and has made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on earth” (Rev. 5:9-10), reigning with Him. And other voices in heaven said: “The Lamb who was slain is worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and glory, and blessing” (12-13). Thus, the acceptance of all these sevenfold blessings is spoken of in such a way that this can be attributed both to what has already been accomplished (in the Ascension) and to what still has to be accomplished in the reign. The high priestly ministry here is revealed through the royal ministry. The coming of Christ into the world and staying in it despite, along with and together with the Ascension into heaven continues “until the end of the age.” And more than once throughout this wondrous book this accession to the throne is testified as still taking place and destined to take place. So, once again in a context corresponding to a certain place in history, after the trumpet of the seventh angel, “loud voices were heard in heaven, saying: the kingdom of the world has become (the kingdom) of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever” (9: 16), and the twenty-four elders say: “We thank You, Lord God Almighty, Who art and was, that You have received Your great power and reigned.” (11:17). This also includes a figurative testimony about the accession of the “Word of God - the King of kings and Lord of lords,” which is accomplished through his victory over his enemies (according to Chapter 19:11-21). Further, this also includes, of course, chapter 20, 1–6 with the prophecy of the millennial kingdom, along with the last concluding chapters. The reign of God over the world, which takes place in the “royal service” of Christ, has, of course, like all Christian dogmas, its Trinitarian side. “The kingdom of the world has become (the Kingdom of) our Lord and His Christ,” and in return the elders thank the “Lord God Almighty” for the fact that He has reigned; God and the Almighty Creator is the Father, Who reigns by the Son and through the Son, the God-man, “King of the Jews.” This enthronement, the deification of creation, is accomplished by the action of the Holy Spirit. It is not in vain that the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom come” has an option for itself: “Let the Holy Spirit come.” The Lord's Prayer for the Kingdom of God through the Father is addressed to the entire Holy Trinity, respectively to each of the Hypostases. However, although this accession has taken place and is taking place in heaven, it also takes place on earth, in the human world. This is also the meaning of the prayer for the coming of the Kingdom of God, about which the Lord speaks: “until now the Kingdom of God has been taken by force” (Matthew 11:12). The universal significance of the teaching about the Kingdom of God in all its versatility and completeness presupposes synergism, human action and effort towards its coming. And thus understood, human history, like the entire history of the Church, is revealed in the light of the teaching of Revelation, and in particular, the last prayer: “Hey, come.” In a certain sense, its content is unambiguous or consonant with the prayer: “Thy kingdom come,” which is revealed in its power in the following petition: “Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth.” And to this extent, it not only relates primarily to personal will, to the self-determination of individuals, but also to all life. It can be said to be as much chiliastic as it is eschatological. But she, in her appeal to the Father, refers to the will of God, providentially acting in the world over man, so that without her and apart from her, a hair does not fall from the head; the prayer “hey, come,” when addressed to the God-Man, also means the synergistic participation of human creative feat, and is addressed to history, not only to metahistory. Understood trinitarianly, the prayer “hey, come, Lord Jesus,” when addressed directly to the God-Man, silently includes an appeal to the Father who sends and the Holy Spirit, through whom it is sent. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit (pneumatology) is generally less expressed in the Apocalypse, and in this place of decisive importance it seems to be completely absent. How to combine the chiliastic, first return of Christ into the world, as well as the Second, Parousia, with Pentecost, the Ascension from the world of the Son with the sending into the world of the Holy Spirit? Obviously, there is no direct correlation here that existed in the Incarnation. It is the Annunciation as a personal Theotokos Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit onto the Mother of God, that is united here with the descent from heaven of the incarnate Son of God. This cannot exist here. The Son, after the Ascension, remains in heaven, but the Holy Spirit after Pentecost is already in the world. (This does not interfere with the fact that the Holy Spirit remains in heaven even after Pentecost, just as the Son after the Ascension does not leave the world and His disciples, but remains with them until the end of the age: both do not contradict either the Ascension or Pentecost). Nevertheless, in a certain sense, the Parousia of Christ, both chiliastic and eschatological, is still something future for the world, for which one can and should pray: “Hey, come.” On the contrary, the new descent of the Holy Spirit or His Parousia is something that has already happened, for which it is therefore no longer possible to pray. We have here a relationship opposite to that which was at the Incarnation: the Holy Spirit embodied, the Son was embodied by Him as sent down from the Father, in Parousia the Son descends from heaven, met by the Holy Spirit, hypostatically existing in the world, and He prays for the coming of the Son into the world. This truth is hidden in Revelation, where in general so little is said about the Holy Spirit separately. However, this truth about Him is here expressed precisely in the last part of the last chapter. These words are: “Both the Spirit and the Bride say: come. And let him who hears say come.” And it is to this call that the answer is given: “He who testifies to this says: Yes, I am coming quickly. Amen,” and in response to this answer, the last, final prayer is heard, obviously again from the Spirit and the Bride, as from everyone who “heard”: “hey, come, Lord Jesus.” Thus, in this context of Revelation, we not only do not have the absence of the hypostatic Holy Spirit, but, on the contrary, His presence is solemnly proclaimed: He, from the world in which He dwells by virtue of His descent into it at Pentecost, calls Christ who comes into the world in Parousia, chiliastic and eschatological; The Spirit says: “Come,” the Spirit prays and calls for it. However, the Spirit does this not only on His own in His divine nature and hypostasis, so to speak, not alone, but together with the Bride, who is the Church, the Body of Christ. He descended into the world and remains in it also divinely human, however, in accordance with His hypostatic character: not through incarnation, but through descent and grace-filled overshadowing. The Bride is the Church, humanity, overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and adored by Him, together, with one mouth, they cry out to the God-Man, in whom the one Filial hypostasis unites two natures: Divine and human. On behalf of the Bride, scorched humanity, “intercedes for the saints according to the (will) of God,” “The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26–27). The Spirit and the Bride, that is, all blessed humanity, and with it the world, all creation, with one mouth says: “Come.” Such is the significance, solemnity and power of this call. But this is not all that can be said regarding this. There still remains in all its significance the image of the Church as the Bride, which with such certainty and significance suddenly appears in the context of these last chapters of Revelation, where it is said “about the coming of the marriage of the Lamb” (19:7), and the New Jerusalem is shown, “like the bride of the Lamb, adorned for her husband” (21:2): “Come, I will show you the wife, the bride of the Lamb” (21:9). And only in all the consonance and completeness of this context does the last one appear: “both the Spirit and the Bride.” If in general the Spirit and the Bride as the Church are understood here in all the ambiguity of their various aspects, then it is necessary to include Her personal headship, which is the Unbrided Bride, the Most Holy Theotokos, the Virgin Mary, “the Woman clothed with the sun.” In other words, not only an ecclesiological, but also a Mariological understanding of the text under consideration is necessary. There is some ecclesiological evidence for such an interpretation. Namely, if the Church, the Spirit and the Bride are crying out here, then in the Holy Spirit she does this on behalf of all her living members. Each of them, doing this in the person and on behalf of the Church, in and of itself becomes a bride and relation to the Heavenly Bridegroom, to the God-Man in His God-manhood. If such a conclusion is applicable to every member of the Church, then primarily and to an exceptional extent this applies to the Ever-Virgin Mary as the personal head of the Church, which is never separated in anything and cannot be separated from Her. Thus, we conclude that here it is the Most Holy Theotokos Herself who cries out at the head of the Church and on Her behalf. This is the hidden Mariological meaning of this last revelation in Revelation: like everything relating to the Virgin Mary, all Mariological dogmas are revealed in sacred silence (such, after all, except for the Annunciation, which also does not refer to Mary herself or, in any case, not only to Her alone, but to the Holy Spirit descending on the Spirit-Bearer). Revelations about Her are reported in the Holy. Scripture not through words, but through silence. Also, everything that relates to the action of the Most Holy One is generally kept silent. Theotokos in the next century. 130 Similarly, here the action of the Most Rev. The Mother of God and Her participation in church-wide prayer, which cannot always take place apart from this participation, is hidden or, more precisely, enclosed in silence. And her own word about herself is especially applicable to this revelation: “as you look upon the humility of your servant, for from now on all your kindred will please me.” They truly please Her with the last fullness and strength in this last prayer: “Hey, come.” The image of the Church, which refers to “Jerusalem” as a society of saints, the entire conciliarity of the church in its catholic unity, like-mindedness and common feeling, also has a personal expression in the Unbrided Bride, Who is the personal intercession of the Church, Mary, the Mother of God. It is She, the Spirit-Bearer, who calls out with the Holy Spirit on behalf of the Church and the whole world: “Hey, come.” It would be completely incomprehensible if in this last call, in this last word of the last book of the entire Word of God, in this voice of all creation, She was absent, Her voice would not sound, if Her voice were kept silent and She would be - terrible and blasphemous to say - forgotten. But no, the Christian consciousness says triumphantly: She is here, with the world and in the world, She calls and meets the Second Coming of the Son. So, the Most Pure One Herself, together with the Church as the Spirit-Bearer, and in this exclusive sense being the Spirit and the Bride, cries out: “Hey, come.” But if this is so, then the further conclusion necessarily follows that She calls Him along with the world, on its behalf. However, doesn’t this entail new dogmatic difficulties: how to bring such a thought into connection with the dogma of the Dormition of the Most Holy. The Mother of God, Her Resurrection, Ascension and, in general, the glorification that took place, which seems to place Her above the world and outside the world, separating Her from it? How can She Herself, being in departure from the world, cry out for the coming of Her Son into it, and pray together with the world for that? Is there a fundamental contradiction here? However, this contradiction is apparent and can be eliminated by taking into account further dogmatic considerations and clarifications. And first of all, the Dormition of the Mother of God does not mean separation from the world, tantamount to the Ascension of Christ. Rev. The Mother of God, as the Church directly testifies to this (in the troparion of the Dormition), “did not leave the world in the Dormition,” although in Her glory She abides above the present state of the world, which has not yet been glorified and transfigured. (This general idea is confirmed and revealed in church tradition, testifying to the special, maternal closeness of the Mother of God to the earthly Church, about Her heavenly Cover over the world, which She visits, as if leaving heaven for the sake of this communication with earth). Her Ascension means only Her personal resurrection and glorification before the universal. There are also no obstacles to understanding the prayer of the Mother of God “hey, come” in both senses: both eschatologically and chiliastically. In the first sense, eschatological, the Parousia of Christ, accompanied by the holy angels and all the saints, obviously includes in this accompaniment the return to the world of the Mother of God who never leaves him. This is for Her Herself and will not in the proper sense be Parousia as a return to the world, but only a new phenomenon in it. This phenomenon can equally be thought of as occurring together with the coming of Christ with His saints, and in a certain anticipation of it. In this case, the prayer call of the Most Rev. The Mother of God about the coming into the world of Her Son, about Parousia, merges with the invoking voice of all creation. The Mother of God calls Her Son on behalf of the Church. However, this does not exhaust the dogmatic power of this wondrous prayer of prayers: “Hey, come.” It has not only ecclesiological and Mariological, but also sophiological significance, which is revealed, of course, only in the light of sophiology. “The Spirit and the Bride,” the Logos, the Church and the Mother of God, is Sophia, the Wisdom of God, in a twofold aspect, as Divine and created Sophia, differing from each other, but also merging in the deification of the creature. Which takes place in the Church and deliberately in the Most Holy. Theotokos, Mother of the God-man. The Church as a deified creation is God-manhood, uniting two natures, however, not by the unity of the Hypostasis of the Logos, but by the action of the Holy Spirit, by spirituality. It is she who associates Her with the God-manhood of Christ as His Body. The Church - the Mother of God, therefore, is not only Divine or only created Sophia, she is divinely created in their union, in the perfect transparency of creation for its divine basis. We can say that this is a sophiological revelation of the Chalcedonian dogma about the two sophias, the dual unity of the divine and created principles, which is accomplished in Christ by the Holy Spirit. The Chalcedonian dogma about the dual unity of nature in Christ, divine and human, as applied to the Church, can be expressed in the doctrine of two images of sophia, divine and created, united in the spirituality of the Church. The union of Divine and human nature, understood sophiologically, means the mutual penetration and transparency of the eternal, Divine Wisdom and creation as bearing its image, its created revelation in Christ Himself, in the incarnation, in kenosis and in all His Theanthropic “service”, which is performed by the Holy Spirit. “Christ”, the Son of God, the Logos, on Whom the eternally resting love of the Father is revealed in hypostatic Love by the Holy Spirit, as the hypostatic God-man is also the perfect Spirit-Bearer. The life of Christ, accomplished by the Holy Spirit, Christ's humanity is the dual unity of both natures, divine and created. This duality does not turn into either duality or unity, but preserves precisely the duality of the image, the single beginning, of Sophia in her divine and creaturely existence. In the God-Man this dual unity has a hypostatic unity in the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity. Here the Divinity descends into the creature, kenotically uniting with it, adoring it. The Church with the Most Rev. The Mother of God at the head is the created Sophia, a creation which, by the Holy Spirit, not through a hypostatic union in Him, but in the fullness of its spirituality, through her receives into itself life in Christ, that is, in perfect unity with God. The Church and the Mother of God in it, as the Spirit-Bearer, makes created life also divine-human through its communion, raising it to divine-humanity first in the Most Holy. Theotokos as the Spirit-Bearer, and, as a result, the Mother of God, living one life with Her Son, the God-man, and then in all human hypostases, who are called to say about themselves, following the Apostle Paul: “It is not I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20), and also: “Do you not know that the Spirit of God lives in us”? (1 Cor. 3:16; cf. Rom. 8:9, 2 Tim. 1:14). And this is expressed in its ultimate fulfillment in the promise that “God will be all in all.” This promise refers specifically to the fullness of the sophia of creation, the union and interpenetration of the Divine and human principles, the deification of creation or, what is the same, its sophia, in the transparency of the prototype in the image of the fulfillment of its power in creation. This is the Chalcedonian dogma about the dual unity of natures in its sophiological understanding, moreover, not only as the fundamental fact of their union in Christ, the Anointed of the Holy Spirit, but also a dynamically ongoing act of deification, which is the life and power of the Church. The Church is in this sense the ongoing revelation of the Divine Sophia in the created, the sophia of creation. It cannot be understood otherwise than sophiologically. Based on what has been said, to the entire series of ecclesiological equalities corresponding to the entire Chalcedonian polysemy of “Spirit and Bride,” the following must also be added: “Spirit and Bride” is Sophia, Divine and created, in the unity of deification or sophiation of the creature, the life of the Church in Christ as the Body of Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit. But what then does the prayer “come” mean in this aspect, what is the sophiological meaning of this prayerful call, together with the reciprocal promise: “yea, I am coming soon”? Christologically, the Chalcedonian dogma means the already accomplished coming of Christ into the world through the incarnation of God. This is the first, Bethlehem Parousia, which is necessarily preceded by the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world, precisely through His descent onto the Virgin Mary, the Spirit-Bearer. In this, the original sense, the coming of Christ into the world, moreover dyadic, that is, in his inseparability with the Holy Spirit as His anointed, was accomplished forever, and it is not abolished or interrupted by the Ascension of Christ, which is neither disincarnation, nor dehumanization, nor the abolition of God-manhood in Him. In Christ, the complete transformation of creation took place in the humanity of Christ, united with the Divinity in hypostatic unity and realized by the Holy Spirit according to the will of the Father who sent them both. This asophany in the incarnation and in God-manhood, accomplished in creation in God’s eternal plan, however, does not represent something new and unexpected, which it certainly is for creation itself in its limitations and self-isolation. The latter is catastrophically torn apart by this, for a new power and divine life - God-manhood - enters the world. This eternal divine plan was expressed in the Sophia prototype and the Sophia creation of the entire world and in it man, created in the image of God. The Sixth Day is in this sense the sophiology of creation, in which the Trinity Sophia is revealed as the self-revelation of the Holy Trinity. God the Father, Creator and Almighty, creating the world with His Word, on which the Father “let it be” rests, reveals itself in the duality of the Son and the Spirit, as the Divine Sophia in the created and as the Prototype of man in the created man. The completeness of this prototype includes “heaven and earth,” that is, the “spiritual” world, angelic and human, which differ in their created nature, corporeality and incorporeality, but are united by the unity of the image of God. Thus, the world, already in its creation, is imprinted with the prototype of the Divine Sophia; in this sense, it is created Sophia. The creation of the world is, at the same time, already the beginning of its creation, which cannot remain only the beginning, but presupposes further revelation; it is the first, but by no means the last, work of the Creator in creation. In this sense, it can and should be said that the world was created on the divine-human plane according to the power of its sophia. All of it in this respect is the natural Old Testament in relation to the New Testament, which is its fulfillment. Hence, the Incarnation and Pentecost are natural and understandable as the revelation of the Wisdom of God - Divine in creation. No discontinuity or ontological catastrophe can be allowed in relation to the sophic nature of the world; it was originally destined in its sophic completeness. The sophia of the world in its depths, through man and in humanity, was manifested not only in the prelude of the Old Testament (or, even earlier than that, in the heavenly state of man), but it was realized through the union of God and man in God-manhood, i.e. in the incarnation of the Son of God and the Pentecost of the Holy Spirit. Through this divine condescension the unity of the Divine and created Sophia was accomplished in the depths the existence of the world, which has already become Sophia in its divine-worldly (theocosmic) or divine-human duality, in the deification of creation. However, being already Sophia in her God-manhood, the world in man is still going through the path to the actualization of its sophia, to the fullness of its sophia in the life of this century, in the New Testament Church. The sophia of the world, although already given in the deep depths of existence, is also given, for for itself the world also retains created inertia, which can be overcome in the general resurrection and transfiguration of it and in the life of the next century, more precisely, in centuries of centuries, on the path to universal apocatastasis, when “there will be all things God in all.” Then the transformation of the world will take place. From the side of divine fullness, revealed in God’s condescension to creation, it cannot have replenishment; from the created side, it does not know an exhaustive end, but is a life of endless ascent from strength to strength. It knows for itself ages and stages. Despite the infinity of the created ascent, there is a decisive line for it, which in the present eon has not yet been reached, but it has to be crossed in the Parousia of Christ and in the Transfiguration of the world in Glory by the Holy Spirit. This is precisely what the prayer of the “Spirit and the Bride” refers to and this is precisely what the prayer of the “Spirit and the Bride” refers to: “come” and about the transition beyond this line in the divine answer: “hey, I am coming soon,” about the Second Coming of Christ, in the manifestation of Glory in the Holy Spirit. This is the ontological line, before and after. It separates the world in a state of osophia that is still in progress from what has already happened, although this very accomplishment is revealed and in this sense continues forever and ever. Therefore, this prayer itself for the onset of the eschatological period is connected with its onset; it is temporary and, as such, will cease upon its fulfillment, being replaced, obviously, by new, corresponding prayers that will be placed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who prays within us with “groanings that cannot be uttered.” So, the prayer “come” refers to the sanctification of the world, but at the same time it is a prayer for its ecclesiasticalization, so that the whole world becomes the Church, which means: “there will be all God in all.” Nothing will remain outside the Church, worldly, non-church or anti-church. This also corresponds to the general apokatastasis, which is not only the restoration, but also the ecclesiasticalization of all creation. Opponents of apocatastasis and defenders of the eternity of hell, imperceptibly for themselves, set the limit of the osophia or ecclesiasticalization of creation, and together with the reality of the coming of Christ. For them, it is not universal, since the unenlightened region of hell remains forever, which is the kingdom of Satan, albeit defeated, chained, writhing in the torments of hell, but ontologically abiding and even self-affirming in his satanic self for eternity. This means, of course, radical Manichaeism, the recognition of the invincibility of Satan after his expulsion as the “prince of this world.” Supporters of the eternity of Satanism and the internal invincibility of Satan do not think about what place is allocated for him in God’s creation, for outside of him there is no place at all, that is, simply nothing exists. The destruction of Satan along with his angels in his very existence is not supported by supporters of the eternity of hellish torment for him (except for the uninfluential and few supporters of “conditional immortality”) (they too want to ensure the presence of “eternal torment”, the eternity of hell). And indeed, allowing the destruction of Satan and his army (i.e., the ontological death penalty) would mean blasphemy against the Creator, who allegedly admitted His mistake in the creation of Satan and corrected it by the power of His omnipotence. But then one wonders why this did not happen from the very beginning. Meanwhile, on the contrary, satanic action in the world was allowed, starting with the temptation of the first parents in paradise, in which it could simply have been prevented by Divine omniscience and omnipotence. The same applies to the further manifestation of the power of evil in human history. In order to abolish this power, the Lord Himself is crucified in the world, but even after His Resurrection and Ascension in Glory, He still comes into the world to continue His struggle with Satan, which constitutes the main content of the Apocalypse. The latter must be understood, no matter how unexpected and paradoxical it may seem, as the doctrine of apocatastasis in its revelation and fulfillment. And this is a trinitarian accomplishment, which ends with the victory of Christ: “and the beast was captured and with him the false prophet: both alive (i.e., not killed, not executed, not abolished in their being) ... thrown into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone” (19:20), also “and the devil ... cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be to be tormented forever and ever" (20:10). Further it follows: “both death and hell were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whoever was not written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (14-15). (Compare also 22:15: “and outside (the city) there are dogs and sorcerers”). However, we ask ourselves where this place of the “lake of fire” is located, in the world or outside it, that is, generally outside of any created being created by God. Is this an ontological death penalty with the destruction of being itself, or does it mean only a special state in it, which therefore cannot be considered as permanent, residing in it forever, but only temporary, subject to overcoming, at least in the perspective of “centuries of centuries” (and we must remember that for God “a thousand years are like one day”, and the time in them, so to speak, ontological is different from our earthly time with its chronology). To admit the eternity of the lake of fire in creation means to recognize the invincibility of Satan in his immutability, and thereby set a limit for God, who thereby can no longer become “all in all.” But this means (which the fanatics of the eternity of hell cannot and do not want to understand) the final victory of Satan, at least in his own place, in hell, along with the invincibility of Satanism. The result is a religious-ontological absurdity, from which only two outcomes are possible: either the destruction of the satanic principle in the world by Divine omnipotence, since it is not enough for internal overcoming, or this is the latter, i.e. apokatastasis, meaning the complete dissolution of all creation, in which “there will no longer be anything cursed” (22:3). Recognizing the eternity of hell would mean perpetuating the separation of the Divine and created Sophia, the self-affirming existence of the latter, which again represents an ontological absurdity. We must not forget that “hell and the lake of fire,” and in it even the second death, finds its foundation, like all existence, in the Divine creation, in created Sophia. For not only life and being are sophic, but also death as a state of being, a moment in the dialectic of life. The Lord himself tasted death and descended into hell. Is there a need for more indisputable and obvious proof of the sophistry of even death and hell, since they belong to being and not non-being, the essence of its state? The abolition of Satanism, hell, the lake of fire, the second death means their internal overcoming, dissolution in the general sophia of being in fulfillment of the promise: “God will be all in all.” But this is also the fulfillment of the prayer: “Come.” This is the new and final descent into hell of the Lord Jesus by the Holy Spirit: “When you descended to death, the Immortal Life, then you illuminated hell with the splendor of the Divine,” this text of the Easter hymn must be understood in an ontological sense, in application to the dogma of the descent into hell and the general resurrection. So, since the power of universal osophia extends to all creation, then the prayer come also extends to all of it. It can and should finally sound in “death and hell” and in the depths of the lake of fire by the power of the sophistry of the creature. This Sophia prayer has power wherever the region of the “Spirit and the Bride” extends, that is, everywhere. All created gates are permeable to the Spirit, and the Bride does not disdain any stench and bitterness of creation. The Most Pure One prays to the Son for mercy on sinners, and Her love warms and opens hearts and souls and spirits, even in the depths of their fall. Spiritual apokatastasis (vulgo salvation of Satan) is accomplished through the assistance of this love, according to the power of the blood of the Lamb. If Satan was cast out of heaven with his angels, defeated by the blood of the Lamb (12:11), then this same victory leads him further during this overthrow, precisely through the reverse, circular path... dissolution. The more fully the universal meaning of the prayer come, which should be the personal prayer of every Christian, is revealed, the more acute the question arises of from whom this prayer is offered as a church-wide, universal prayer, which is prayed by the “Spirit and the Bride”? This prayer is accepted and answered (“I am coming soon”) as if from person to person, from Christ to the “Spirit and Bride” personally. How should we understand this personal appeal, which also receives a personal response? We must understand this appeal in all its ambiguity, and therefore in its completeness and complexity. “The Spirit and the Bride” is the whole Church, the Bride praying in the Holy Spirit, who “lives in us” and intercedes for us with “groanings that cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:9, 26). If the Spirit prays in us, “intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:27), then this His inspiration does not mean, however, His hypostatic prayer in us. The Church is spiritual in the sense that She receives the grace of the Holy Spirit, His gifts and inspiration, but His Hypostasis is not incarnate and does not become human, like the Hypostasis of the Son. "Spirit and Bride" means "Bride", i.e. The Church in the Holy Spirit, inspired by Him. But is there also a Bride and a hypostasis who has a personal prayer appeal? Since the Church, as was said above, has a personal head and focus in the Most Holy. The Mother of God, to that extent, “her come” receives a hypostatic character as Her prayer on behalf of the Church. He prays for the coming of Christ, the Mother of God calls Him into the world, and He answers Her to this personal call. This meaning of the prayer “Spirit and Bride” is not excluded; on the contrary, it is necessarily included in it, this is the Mother of God prayer on behalf of humanity. However, can we go so far, to completely identify the Virgin Mary with the Church, in order to say that Her hypostasis, the daughter of man, born of Joachim and Anna, is precisely the Church’s own hypostasis, even if She speaks only on behalf of the latter? However, such an identification cannot be made. As a person, the Mother of God Herself is only one of the hypostases, belonging to a multi-hypostatic humanity, and therefore is not for him one, all-human. She is not the head of the Church, like Christ, but only a head, a representative, embracing everyone with Her personal love. We can say that She is in this sense his conciliar hypostasis, Her voice can speak on behalf of all humanity, its multiple hypostases sound in agreement in it, and yet all humanity in multi-unity is not hypostasized in Her, but remains in its conciliar plurality. Its spirituality as a Church recognizes in Her its unity by the Holy Spirit. From this follows the conclusion that the Bride as the Church is not a single-hypostatic person, but as a multi-hypostatic being remains personally non-hypostatic. This also corresponds to her Sophia character, since Sophia, who has her divine basis in God, is not the “fourth hypostasis” in God. Here we must, in order to understand the issue, go back to the very foundations of sophiology. Sophia is not a trinitarian God, but His Divinity, one and inseparable with Him, as His self-revelation in nature, essence and life. However, this trinitarian self-revelation of the Father in the Son and the Holy Spirit, in Wisdom and Glory, in its inseparability, also has its own existence within itself, faceless, non-hypostatic, it is the Divinity in God. And the relationship between the Divine hypostases and nature or Wisdom, Sophia is defined not only as God’s possession of His essence, but also as the life and existence of this essence in itself. On this originality of Sophia in God is based her revelation in the world, both his very creation and his ongoing creation. In the image of the Divine trinity, created hypostases, angelic and human, were also created, with their capacity for personal love and reciprocity. But the personal reciprocity of love is not exhausted in its images or possibilities. There still remains the possibility of non-hypostatic, impersonal love existing between the Divine and the Trinitarian God. It does not express the nature of the non-hypostatic love of the Church for Christ. The Church loves Him just as Sophia loves God. Between God and the deity, Christ and the church, there is a relationship of reciprocity in love, personal-impersonal, trinitarian and non-, and at the same time multi-hypostatic. The Church as a plurality of hypostases is not a “collective,” but a genuine being that is revealed in the life of a plurality of created hypostases created in the image of God. This multi-unity is not personal, but super personal, it has divine fullness, the revelation of divine life, and it loves God, although not personally. Likewise, the world with its nature loves and glorifies God with its very being. From here we conclude that the Church, as a super-created, impersonal, many-sided unity, has its own expression for itself, she says, but with all the polysemy of this definition. She speaks personally in the person of her highest representation in the Mother of God, speaks in the person of each of her members, in their prayer, and finally speaks impersonally as the Church with the sighs of the Holy Spirit. This voice of hers merges with all the voices, exceeding them, although not drowning them out. And this meaning - Sophia’s non-hypostatic love for the Church - here “speaks” as “Spirit and Bride”: “come.” And to this call, multi-personal and impersonal, which should resound in the soul of everyone individually and all together, the Lord answers: “Yes, I am coming soon.” So, the Church as the Body of Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit, calls to Christ: come! Obviously, in this case, different images of the Lord’s presence in the Church are compared, both in the coming that has already taken place and in the coming that is yet to take place. The Lord says about the first: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” about the other: “I am coming soon.” The first coming remains mysterious, but the second will become obvious. Both the first and second are different images of the union of Christ with humanity in His God-manhood, in its different degrees. This connection has already taken place in the depths of being, but it is still taking place and is about to take place in its revelation. A similar thing happens in the relationship of the Holy Spirit to creation. The Holy Spirit descended into the world at Pentecost and remains in it. And yet we still pray to Him: “come and dwell in us.” Obviously, here, too, two different images of the coming are distinguished, which, however, remain one another and are identical precisely as the general action of the Holy Spirit in the world: the immanent-historical and transcendental-eschatological blessing of the world and its glorification. Likewise, Christ’s presence in the world and His coming was and is immanent-historical, but in the future it is also expected to be transcendental-eschatological. This parallelism between the coming into the world of Christ and the Holy Spirit, the Incarnation and Pentecost can also be completed by the following consideration. We distinguish, strictly speaking, not only a twofold, but also a threefold coming of the Lord into the world. Namely, along with His first coming, we also know not one, but two images of His Second Coming: chiliastic and eschatological, and our prayer “come” refers to both of his images - to the chiliastic no less, but even more (according to the above) than to the eschatological. This same distinction can be applied to the prayer: “come and dwell in us” to the Holy Spirit. Grace and sanctification through the Holy Spirit “from strength to strength” and “without measure” know the chiliastic multi-degree and multi-stage nature to the same extent as the chiliastic meaning of the “coming” of Christ into the world, since it is dyadic inseparable from the action of the Holy Spirit. Christ, as the Anointed One of the Holy Spirit, always brings Him into the world with Him and thereby sends Him in all the diversity of this sending. Therefore, chiliasm is not only a precursor to Parousia as a preparation for the coming of Christ into the world, but also, as it were, a new coming into the world of the Holy Spirit, who had already descended into it at Pentecost. And here we should not be puzzled by the word of Revelation: “both the Spirit and the Bride say: come.” We ask ourselves: how and in what sense can the coming of the Holy Spirit with Christ be combined with the prayer of the same Spirit addressed to Christ: “come”? In the dyadic union of the Son and the Holy Spirit, as it manifests itself in Their sending down into the world from the Father, there is this twofold possibility: according to one, the action of the Spirit precedes the revelation of the Son; according to the other, it will follow him. Thus, in the incarnation, the Spirit embodies the Son through His descent onto the Ever-Virgin Mother of God - the Spirit-Bearer, and at the same time rests on Him and is given to Him. And the same relationship, a kind of dyadic synergism, continues throughout the entire ministry of the Lord, earthly and supermundane: the Holy Spirit, descending on Christ at baptism, baptizes, although the Lord, as coming to John for baptism, is baptized Himself. The Holy Spirit leads Christ to be tempted by the devil, although He Himself is coming. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, He has anointed Me,” proclaims Christ Himself in the words of the prophet. Isaiah, beginning His prophetic ministry. The Holy Spirit is the Glory that overshadowed the Lord with His light on Mount Tabor, although He Himself sought and accepted this manifestation of the Glory inherent in Him “before the foundation of the world.” He is resurrected by the Spirit from the Father, although He Himself is resurrected. The same applies to His ascension, which also takes place over Him, although together with Him, by the Holy Spirit according to the will of the Father. In a word, throughout the entire ministry of Christ, the dyadic relationship of the hypostases is “economic,” inverse to its order in the “immanent” Trinity. The third hypostasis here belongs to the accomplishment, while the Second is its fulfillment, not vice versa. The only exception is Pentecost, in which the Holy Spirit is sent by the Son from the Father, but this relationship stems from the very essence of this act, in which it is precisely the “sending” of the Holy Spirit that is performed on Him from the Son: something parallel, but at the same time opposite, to the incarnation occurs here. There the Son descends into the world, here the Holy Spirit, and it is natural, therefore, that the same Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit cannot itself appear as the one who sends and the one who sends. However, with regard to the sending into the world and the action of Christ in it, the dyadic relationship between the Second and Third Hypostases is not changed by this sending into the world of the Third Hypostasis through the Second. The Holy Spirit again takes its own, primary place as the perfecting Hypostasis. It is the new descent into the world of Christ, both preliminary, chiliastic, and final, eschatological, that is also accomplished by the action of the Holy Spirit. This general idea of ​​triadology is not separately expressed in church tradition, as well as in theology, due to the general lack of disclosure of eschatology. However, it is precisely this triadological understanding of the eschatological dogma that is forced, first of all, by the entire general context of the revelation of the Holy Trinity, as well as of the Incarnation. If the first coming of Christ into the world took place according to the will of the Father through the action of the Holy Spirit, like all the accomplishments associated with His ministry, then the same relationship should also apply to His Second Coming. It is said about Him that no one knows about His time, not even the Son, since He continues and completes His ministry even in heaven, “preparing a place” for His disciples, “begging” the Father to send the Comforter into the world, and then, according to the entire content of the Apocalypse, determining the times and accomplishments for which this Second Coming is being prepared. If the Father “knows” the date of the Second Coming, then this means that it takes place according to His will; this “knowledge” is the Father’s, pre-eternal determination. In other words, we must necessarily conclude that the Father sends the Son to His Second, as well as His First, Coming into the world. And just as the first sending was accomplished by the Holy Spirit, His action in the Incarnation, so this Second Coming takes place, of course, not in the separation of the Son from the Holy Trinity, but in Her trinity of the Father who sends, the Son who is sent and the Holy Spirit, who performs this sending. From this follows the dogmatic conclusion that the Parousia of Christ is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. However, this dogmatic truth needs to be further revealed. At the Incarnation, in the descent from heaven of the Son of God, the action of the Holy Spirit was also accompanied by His descent from heaven onto the Virgin Mary, the first Pentecost. At the Second Coming of Christ, the Holy Spirit no longer descends into the world, for it already descended into it at Pentecost and remains in it. This stay also corresponds to the inseparability of Christ from the world in the Ascension, according to the dogmatic consciousness of the Church (kontakion of the Ascension). Nevertheless, even with this inseparability of Christ from the world, about which the Lord Himself said: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” the Second Coming of Christ takes place. Likewise, the action of the Holy Spirit at the Second Coming of Christ can occur despite the fact that His hypostatic descent into the world at Pentecost has already taken place. This descent differs from the incarnation of God and is accompanied by the non-abandonment of the bowels of the Holy One. Trinity by the Holy Spirit, which therefore is active in heaven, according to its hypostatic character, and in sending down the Son from heaven for His Second Coming into the world, which is also accompanied by non-abandonment of heaven. Therefore, it is accomplished in the fullness of the action of the Holy Trinity and each of Her hypostases, according to their personal properties. But this is not enough. The Holy Spirit, abiding in the world, inspires the Church as the Body of Christ, completes Her life in Christ, reveals Christ for Her according to His promise: “I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you,” namely, “another comforter,” “who will abide with you forever” (John 19:15 with paral.). But this revelation of Christ through the Comforter necessarily includes and extends to His Second Coming, which is prepared and called by the Holy Spirit. If at the Incarnation for the first coming of Christ the Holy Spirit descends from heaven, then He prepares and accomplishes His second coming in the world as the Church and through the Church. This is not a one-sided act of God’s omnipotence over the world, but a synergistic one, in which heaven and earth, the first and the “other” Comforter, Christ and the Holy Spirit meet, to whom therefore belongs the corresponding hypostatic action in the Second Coming of Christ, both in the chiliastic, throughout the apocalyptically understood history of the Church, and in the eschatological event, His coming “like a thief in nights." This trinitarian meaning of the parousian dogma is revealed in Revelation, and only in it, and precisely in this polysemantic and exceptionally significant text: “The Spirit and the Bride say: come!” The Holy Spirit, inspiring the Church, the Bride or the Body of Christ, calls, intercedes with unspeakable groanings, and the Church, inspired by the Holy Spirit, prays for this. The meeting of Christ at His Second Coming into the world, both chiliastic and eschatological, is accomplished by the Holy Spirit, of course, in accordance with the will of the Father and the reciprocal aspiration of the Son: “yea, I am coming quickly.” This text thus contains the dogma regarding the Second Coming of the Holy Spirit and is the only one of its kind, with which the Word of God ends in its own way: “Even so, I come.” Amen" (22:20). So, Revelation teaches us to pray for a new coming of Christ into the world. This prayer was known to the primal Church, which expected the coming of the Lord “soon”, in the sense of already a short time, and not only in the sense of his maturity, which, however, is combined with the complete unknown of this period. We can say that she was inspired by this eschatological hope. The latter could even be supported by the promise of the Lord, of course, accordingly understood: “Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom” (Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27). Whatever the true meaning of the text, for the first generation of Christians it was understood in precisely this sense (and we have echoes of such a faith in various letters of the Apostle Paul, cf. an excursion about this). But as others, following the first generation, left the world without waiting for the hoped-for and promised Parousia, the eschatological hope grew pale and then faded away completely. This, one might say, is the state of all historical Christianity today. From this eschatological well-being, only the fear of death and the response that follows it at the afterlife judgment remain. This is how it is expressed in the prayer led. Litany: “Christian death of our life... and we ask for a good answer at the terrible judgment of Christ.” The prayer of Revelation “come” remains unheard to this day. However, it must be heard, and once heard, it must become not only the subject of special prayerful attention, but also a new spiritual orientation. We are talking about no more and no less than a new (and at the same time original) sense of life, which should be reborn in Christianity, and this should be a spiritual and prayerful revolution in the life of the Church, not external, but internal. We are held back from the path to it by impotence, timidity and inertia, which are mistaken for loyalty to tradition, but it is this latter that needs updating. Here, in a special sense, the Word of God is applicable to the Church and about the Church: “Behold, I create all things new.” It is not we who create, but God in us, in Christ by the Holy Spirit, but not apart from us. But this voice, once heard, cannot be forgotten, and this call, sounded in souls, should not remain unanswered. A new era is approaching in the life of the Church. What this means in the light of the present and the future, we cannot know. However, we must learn to think and feel eschatologically. Excursion. Parousia Eucharistic Of all the eschatological wealth of the Church, we have preserved only one of its pledges, namely the Eucharistic. The Divine Eucharist as a sacrament, in itself only hidden, contains this revelation of the Lord’s presence with us, and not only as an inextricable connection with the world through the incarnation, but also as an incessantly repeating coming into it, the Eucharistic parousia. In Catholic practice, this idea even receives exaggerated expression in the consecration of the Lamb deliberately for preservation and worship - Christus in pyxide, in divine services, church processions, etc. This is undoubtedly given in the Orthodox liturgy, although more chaste and restrained than in Catholicism. This is precisely the meaning of the veneration of the Holy Gifts in general after their consecration, especially when they are presented to the people, both for communion and after it, before taking them from the throne to the altar. This is, as it were, the farewell appearance of Christ before His ascension. The Sacrament of the Body and Blood is the offering of the atoning sacrifice of Christ “for the remission of sins,” and in connection with this there is a reverent feeling of repentance for sins and an awareness of unworthiness in their communion. However, such a feeling is an incomplete and insufficient perception of what takes place in the sacrament of the Transfiguration of the Holy Gifts, since here the eschatological feeling of the Parousia taking place, albeit mysteriously, is lost or at least weakened. Meanwhile, in church teaching, as it is expressed in liturgical texts, this too is included in the fullness of this sacrament. Here the special reverent joy of meeting the always new, albeit repeating, Eucharistic Parousia is preserved. This is how the entire fullness of “remembrance” is expressed liturgically, continuing through the repetition of one-time accomplishments, which the Lord commanded “to be done in remembrance of Him” (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24–25). According to the text of the liturgy of John Chrysostom: “remembering this saving commandment and everything that was for us: the cross, the tomb, the three-day resurrection, the ascension to heaven, sitting on the right hand, the second and glorious coming again,” the Eucharistic sacrifice is offered “for all and for all.” In other words, the fullness of the Eucharistic “remembrance” here includes all the individual accomplishments of the Lord’s saving ministry, equally past and future, but already about to take place, in particular the second and terrible coming. On this basis, the Eucharistic celebration should also be understood as a Parousia. At the same time, the current traditional understanding of it expresses it “as a second and terrible coming.” However, this does not correspond to the fullness of this promise, which has not only an eschatological meaning, but also a chiliastic one. This chiliastic coming of Christ into the world also refers to the Eucharistic, in all its multiplicity, continuing “until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). This thought is expressed with all force in the following “secret” prayer of the priest immediately before communion: “look, Lord Jesus Christ our God, from your holy dwelling place and from the throne of your kingdom, and come to sanctify us, who sits on the mountain with the Father and dwells here invisibly for us: and grant us with your sovereign hand to teach us the most pure Your body and venerable blood, and by us to all people.” The whole power of the mystical realism of this prayer, read “secretly,” became to a large extent a secret for those who did not hear it, and even for those who said it at the altar. In other words, the eschatological power of the Eucharist, its parousian meaning, is lost in religious experiences, while this treasure, the gift of the promise of Christ, cannot and should not be lost, and together with the restoration of the eschatological sense of life in general, inherent in early Christianity, it has to be reborn not as a thought or doctrine, but precisely as an experience, a mysterious reality. In other words, the Eucharistic invocation of the Holy Spirit, and then the transfusion of the Holy Gifts into the Body and Blood of Christ “by Thy Holy Spirit” (in the epiclesis) merges or is included in the general prayer of the “Spirit and the Bride”: “hey, come, Lord Jesus.” This does not mean, of course, that through this dissolution the latter loses its general and immediate meaning, as relating not only to the sacramental coming of Christ, realized in communion, but also to the entire concreteness of the Parousia, both in the eschatological and chiliastic sense, in the fullness of the eschatological perspective, which extends to “the ages of ages.” In a word, the Ascension of Christ does not only mean His removal from the world, according to His promise: “I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you.” This image of Christ’s presence in the world is not the only one, since the revelations of Revelation also tell us about His other coming, which we in a general sense call chiliastic. However, one is connected with the other and one is included in the other. It can be said that the Eucharistic presence, in addition to its own, direct meaning, must also be understood in the general chiliastic context. In general, chiliastic theology was guilty of lack of development, since, passing by the chiliastic revelations of the Apocalypse and even evading them in every possible way through spiritualization or reinterpretation, it knew and contrasted only two images of the Parousia: for communion, the Eucharistic, and the second and terrible coming, and without connecting them with each other into some single “memory”, which is what the Church teaches. This series of thoughts forces us to turn to the very establishment of the Divine Eucharist and see in it its parousian-eschatological character. In the Gospel account of this we distinguish two types. We have the first in the fourth Gospel, where the theological teaching on communion is contained in the 6th chapter (it is remarkable that John, as an evangelist, himself does not say anything about the parousian meaning of the Eucharist, and also “does not give a story about its establishment, parallel to the synoptic one); Chapters 13–17 contain some features related to the Last Supper with the farewell conversation of the Lord with the disciples: John, as a seer, does not establish a connection between the Eucharistic and chiliastic Parousia. The three synoptic Gospels contain a generally similar and consistent story about the Lord’s celebration of Easter with His disciples and the establishment in connection with it of the sacrament of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. This event, woven into the general frame of the Gospel narrative, in connection with others, by its very place in it, has a sacramental-proleptic, and at the same time, prophetic-eschatolotic character. In the first respect, it is necessary to establish that it contains a preview of the future, which is only about to occur, as if it had already occurred; it is the Lord, before His suffering and death on the cross, who performs the action and makes the institution, presupposes them already accomplished, and the Last Supper becomes. According to the word ap. Paul (1 Cor. 11:26), “as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes,” but this “proclamation” at the hour of its occurrence did not correspond to the actual event, but preceded it. Also, the very communion of “My Body, which is broken for you,” and “My Blood, which is shed for you and for many,” also precedes the very refraction and outpouring, that is, the Lord’s death on the cross, taking place on the eve of it, “on the night in which Jesus gave himself up.” That is why we can say that the sacrament of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ was established proleptically in relation to the event to which it is timed. This prolepsis is also revealed in another respect, namely, that the Body and Blood are taught through the sacramental sharing of bread and wine. The Lord gives communion even in His earthly life, still preserving His flesh indestructible and in it He Himself stands before the disciples. Thus, the power of the present accomplishment here refers to the future, for all its times. The boundary of time is removed in its prophesied fulfillment. But it is prophetic and in its appeal to a future event, which is also included in the establishment of the sacrament of Body and Blood, this is its eschatological power. It is the Eucharistic Translation that marks and contains the Second Coming. Here, first of all, it is necessary to compare with the establishment of the Last Supper the event preceding it in time, although closely related to it - the entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, which has a directly apocalyptic significance. It refers not only to earthly history and earthly Jerusalem, but also to the coming reign of Christ in Heavenly Jerusalem; there is one, but not two different reigns, although they appear before us so separately that they usually do not recognize this unity. The earthly event of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem is usually depicted as an episode of the Gospel story, obscure in its meaning, causing some bewildered questioning: why was this entry needed, was it really only to further arouse the Sanhedrin, already excited against Christ, and induce it to take decisive action? However, the Evangelist (Matthew 21:5) gives this event a certain biblical interpretation on the basis of prophecies of emphatically eschatological significance: “Nevertheless, these things happened, that they might be fulfilled which were spoken through the prophet, who says: “Say to the daughter of Zion: Behold, your King is coming to you, meek, sitting on a donkey, and the colt of a donkey who has been yoked” (Isaiah 62:11). ). In the full context of both the entire book of Deuteronomy and this passage in particular, this prophecy has a pronounced chiliastic and apocalyptic character, 131 but clearly refers to the coming reign of Christ, the millennium or the future age (for this case this difference does not matter), but, in any case, not only to a separate earthly event, which itself is; so to speak, apocalypse in action. It is the full text of the prophecy, and not just a separate passage taken out of context, that reads like this: “behold, the Lord declares to the end of the earth: say to the daughter of Skop: your Savior is coming: His reward is with Him and His reward is before Him. And they will be called a holy people, redeemed from the Lord, but you will be called a sought-after city, a city not forsaken.” The main theme of the prophecy of Deuteronomy Isaiah is here interwoven with the text of the book of Zechariah of a more specific nature, although related to the same topic, namely: “rejoice with joy, daughter of Zion, triumph, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and saving, sitting on a donkey and on the colt of a donkey.” It can be said that this last prophecy provides for some particular feature of the first earthly Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, namely “the donkey and the colt, the son of the one who is under the yoke.” The general theme and power of the entire event, in which the individual features of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem merge together, also include this particular feature of messianic prophecy, which the evangelists carefully, although hesitantly, preserve in their narration about it. (It is in Mark: 11:1–7 that we are talking about only one young donkey, in the absence of a reference to the texts of Isaiah and Zechariah, also in Luke 19:30–35 there is only one young donkey, the same in John 12:14, although with reference to the text of Zechariah 9:9, but already accordingly changed, namely instead of a donkey and a colt containing only the words about "young donkey") The very Entry of the Lord was accompanied by the messianic greeting of the people, who greeted “the coming King in the Name of the Lord” (Luke 19:38), “Blessed is the coming Kingdom of our father David” (Mark 11:10). The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem by the Evangelist Matthew himself is identified with the future messianic entry, since, citing the messianic prophecy as applied to it without any restrictions, he directly says: “Nevertheless these things happened, that those things which were spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled.” The general conclusion that can be drawn from here is that the event of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, although historically it took place in a certain place and time, is supertemporal or all-temporal after this occurrence. The Lord, having once entered His royal entrance into Jerusalem, continues to enter it, reigning throughout the whole world, and “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord, the King of Israel” forever already sounds in the world. 132 This thought also has a more general application in relation to all events of the Incarnation as having a permanent character; this is expressed in their church celebration as “great holidays.” However, if this commemorative nature of the saving accomplishments of God’s incarnation is associated with their abiding power and all-time significance, then there are among them those who, by their special character, are not only supra-temporal and therefore all-time, but precisely continuing in their accomplishment. This is precisely the reign of the Lord, which begins already with the Nativity of Christ, when the wise men from the East asked, of course, by the Holy Spirit: “Where is he who was born King of the Jews, for we saw His star in the east and came to worship Him” (Matthew 2:2), having as its focus the royal entrance along with the royal curse on the cross, on which was the inscription “King of the Jews” (in connection with the questioning of this Pilate and the affirmative answer of the Lord) (Isa. 18:33–37; Mark 5:2), the mockery of the soldiers: “Hail, King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:18; cf. Luke 23:27). But it continues in the earthly appearance of Christ with the name written on His clothes and on His thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords” (no matter how one understands the testimony of the Apocalypse), as “King of kings” (19:16), and His kingdom in the first resurrection (the saints “reigned with Christ for a thousand years”) and in connection with the entire content of Revelation dedicated to this reign (20:4), finally, in the second and terrible coming of the King (Matthew 25:33). This also includes the testimony of the Lord: “from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64; Mark. 14:62 ; OK. 22:69). Through the entire chain of these gospel events, “the royal ministry of Christ, His enthronement, until it is completed” is accomplished in different images, and the “kingdom is not of this world” will become a kingdom both in this world and above it. In this accession of Christ we distinguish two of its images: chiliastic and eschatological, and the deliberate meaning of the Entry of the Lord is chiliastic. As such, it is explained especially in the light of all the Old Testament prophecies that relate here. In this sense, we can say that of all the gospel events, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem is predominantly apocalyptic, it is, as it were, the head of the Apocalypse in action. But now let us return to the eschatological significance of the establishment of the Divine Eucharist. It has two sides: also chiliastic and general eschatological. In the first respect, the words of the Lord, preserved by all weather forecasters, have such a chiliastic meaning: Matt. 26:29 ; they were said after the establishment of the sacrament of Body and Blood and, therefore, after the “translation of the Holy Gifts” and communion, and here they sound somewhat unexpected: “I tell you that from now on I will not drink from the fruit of this vine until the day when I drink new (wine) with you in the Kingdom of God.” We have exactly the same thing in Mk. 14:25. With significant differences, the same story is found in Luke. 22:17, in which, unlike other evangelists, there is not one cup, which is the Eucharistic, but two, and the first, one of the Paschal ones, precedes the very establishment of the sacrament, and it is accompanied by the following words of the Lord: “And taking the cup and giving thanks, he said: take it and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes with power.” These words in connection with the cup are also preceded by the following, similar words of the Lord: “I would very much like to eat this Passover with you before My suffering. For I tell you that I will eat it no more until it is completed in the kingdom of God” (22:15-16). After these words (15–18), the establishment of the sacrament of Body and Blood follows. These words sound apocalyptic to all weather forecasters. They can equally relate to both the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth and the life of the next century, and the first meaning here is even more indisputable than the second, by its very nature, more earthly. But this meaning is further strengthened in connection with the further words of the Lord: “I command you, as My Father commanded Me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (29–30). These mysterious words of Christ equally have no interpretation through context, both chiliastic and eschatological, because neither there nor here there are parallel words about the meal of Christ in His Kingdom, as well as about the apostolic judgment of the 12 tribes of Israel. However, it seems most natural to attribute these words specifically to the earthly, thousand-year kingdom of Christ, at least in the first place, which, of course, does not exclude a further general eschatological perspective. But this duality of meaning, in any case, further strengthens the general eschatological spiritual tone that sounded during the establishment of the Eucharist, as a “memory,” that is, the mysterious fulfillment of the death of Christ, as well as His accession. In this sense, it must be said that, along with communion, the Divine Eucharist is also Parousia, in both senses: chiliastic and eschatological. And this eschatological feeling of it: maranatha 133 of the coming of the Lord, the joy of this coming, His meeting must accompany this terrible and great sacrament along with trembling repentance, the fear of the Last Judgment and one’s own unworthiness and irresponsibility. There seems to be a contradiction or mystical antinomy of awe and joy, and, however, the loss of one of these feelings impoverishes, not to say distorts, the power of the sacrament. If Easter hymns are “secretly” read over the Holy Gifts: “O great and most sacred Easter Christ,” then Christ is Risen should sound in the hearts (why not in the mouth). But this means that every performance of this sacrament, as well as participation in it, should awaken in the soul, in anticipation of this meeting, an invocative prayer: “hey, come” - a prayer for the coming of the Lord, albeit mysterious. This reveals the Eucharistic power of the apocalyptic prayer: “hey, come, Lord Jesus,” which is pronounced by the Church – “Spirit and Bride” through the Eucharistic Translation, which gives the Church the power to bring about the coming of the Lord from heaven to earth, and each Eucharist is a Parousia, albeit in its own mysterious form. Excursion. Eschatology in the Gospels (“little apocalypse”) and in Revelation Both are difficult to compare directly, they are so different in plan and nature of presentation. The Gospel apocalypse (Matthew 24:25, Mark 13, Luke 21) occupies a relatively small part of the synoptic Gospels (and in the John Gospel, unexpectedly and strangely, it is completely absent), and it is contained exclusively in the speeches of the Lord. In Revelation, almost all of its content is devoted to these topics, and it is given in a number of symbolic images, dramatic actions, prophetic revelations, but is completely devoid of the timing and sequence of historical events, which is still inherent in the synoptic chapters, with all the uncertainty and inaccuracy inherent in them. We can say that these chapters give a summary description of the entire history between the first and second coming of Christ in its individual features and from a certain angle of view in the form of broad colorful strokes, placed one next to the other. However, it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine their chronological perspective, whether it is focused on a short period of time (as suggested by texts such as “this generation will not pass away until all these things are done”) (Mark 13:30, cf. 9:1; Matt. 24:34–6; Luke 21:32–3), or whether centuries and millennia are meant here. The early, initial events are connected and seem to be deliberately mixed with the later, middle and last, however, without any immediate distinction between times, but this clearly reveals a separate specific prophecy, namely about the destruction of Jerusalem (Mark 13:14–18, Matt. 24:15–19; Luke 21:20–24). However, it is also dissolved with the general perspective of historical and eschatological sorrows and trials. And even one particular detail that attracts special attention from exegetes is precisely the words that seem to refer to the second coming (see. above: “this generation will not pass away until all these things are done”, “close at the door”), also dissolves with the general context and loses its definiteness and merges with the general eschatological perspective as a sign of the approaching end, and along with their enumeration, a direct statement suddenly sounds about the complete unknown of its day and hour, thanks to which this everyday life of human life is preserved as if indestructible. In a certain sense, we can say that apophatic eschatology is applied here. And it remains unclear what the words refer to: “this generation will not pass away until all these things are done.” Is this “all this” the whole of human history or the event of the Second Coming of Christ? However, the latter understanding is already eliminated by the fact that if we relate this prophecy to the generation that saw Christ on earth, His contemporaries, then it is no longer fulfilled: this generation has passed on, 134 and in this understanding, this entire context falls to the mercy of the religious-historical criticism of “eschatologists”, who deal with it using the method of interpolation and so on. However, if we read this verse in the general context of the “small apocalypse,” then it can be interpreted not in application specifically to the Second Coming, with its unknown day and hour, but in general to the entire human history between the first and second coming of Christ, and “this generation” means not only one generation of earthly contemporaries of Christ, but all of historical humanity in general. In general, we have to say that although the “small apocalypse” has as its subject a general depiction of the destinies of humanity in its history after Christ and until the end of the world, it does not at all have the character of a historical narrative, which sets out not only a certain sequence of events in their alternation, but also reveals their internal connection and pattern. On the contrary, he lists the individual features of this story, placing them side by side: there will be both this and that... In this sense, this character of the small apocalypse is not only different, but also directly opposed to the Revelation of John, which is precisely the history of the world after Christ, ripening towards its end. Both the synoptic and John's Apocalypse have the same general theme, namely the “last times” and the end of the world, but they present it differently to the point of oppositeness, although this does not contain any contradiction. In a certain sense, we can say that both of them present the general content differently in different images and in different languages. Therefore, these images, symbols, pictures, on the one hand, cannot be directly compared and, so to speak, translated from one language to another, and at the same time they speak about the same thing in different ways. The Revelation of John contains a number of symbols and pictures that express the struggle between light and darkness, Christ and Antichrist, in a number of historical and cosmic upheavals and catastrophes, it reveals the whole tragedy of history in all the inexorability of its destinies. But a similar tragic character of history is revealed in the small apocalypse, so that we can talk about the same content of general guiding ideas, although without any repetition, on the contrary, in the presence of the greatest differences in style and presentation. It is enough that the prophecies about the last times are put into the mouth of Christ Himself, the essence of His own words, as they were imprinted in all three synoptic evangelists (comparatively with minor variants), but in Revelation this is stated as the content of the visions of the seer and the revelations given to him after Christ’s Ascension. If the “small apocalypse” represents a page of Gospel history, then Revelation is a completely independent, later addition to it. Therefore, there is no need to look for direct parallelism here in any sense other than the general unity of the theme and the identity of the main guiding ideas. Due to such a difference in their very origin, it is in vain to strive for their direct parallelism, but, of course, it is necessary to harmonize both of them with each other in a general sense, but without diminishing the difference in content that exists between them. This difference relates primarily to the completeness of the content of the “lesser apocalypse” and the Revelation of John. Such differences, as we have already seen, are revealed when comparing synoptic eschatology with other works of New Testament writing, in particular with the epistles of St. Pavel. Here, too, although there is no contradiction, there are differences, in particular, for example, in the first there is no theme of the “man of lawlessness” along with the “restrainer” and some other features. However, these differences are not as important as those that exist between the Synoptics and Revelation. There is one very significant difference between them. It generally relates to the main theme of the Apocalypse, which is the accession of Christ in “His royal ministry,” which is consistently revealed in a number of its successive chapters; but it is special and unique in the entire New Testament, and therefore even for him it has a new revelation in the revelation of the first resurrection and thousand-year reign of Christ on earth with His saints, as well as eschatological prophecies about the New Jerusalem and life in it. It can and should be said that if we did not have the Revelation of John in the New Testament books, then we would not know and would not contain this new revelation as an object of our faith. Of course, here too this difference is not a contradiction; on the contrary, in the general content of the Gospel one can find a place for it, and only in its light do some features of the Gospel narrative become fully understandable (see above). Nevertheless, it is necessary to firmly affirm the fact that in the entire New Testament there is no direct prophecy about the thousand-year kingdom and the Heavenly City on earth, which was given through John, as if in addition to it, after the Lord’s departure from the world. This partly explains the confusion, as it were, a certain theological confusion and even fearfulness that is revealed in the attitude of exegesis to the corresponding teachings, a certain blindness and deafness in relation to them, which seeks an outcome in the exegetical weakening of the new prophecy. One way or another, but with theological consideration of the sacred texts, the full magnitude of the difficulty and responsibility arises in relation to the new prophecy, as well as the entire general content of the Apocalypse. And finally, that fear and suppression of the actual content of the Apocalypse as a revelation of the future, or the reduction of its content to “apocalyptic” horrors, must be abandoned and overcome, which is why in the prevailing usage the very expression “apocalyptic” is a synonym: terrible, terrible, final horror. Meanwhile, human cowardice does not notice the entire uniqueness of Revelation precisely as an apocalyptic joy, which crowns the entire terrible path of human history with its ever-deepening darkness. Such an impoverished and incorrect perception of the Apocalypse is similar to if St. The Gospel was perceived only as a story about the Passion of Christ, His earthly procession to Golgotha, which it actually sets out, but in isolation from the story about the resurrection and its joy of joys. The Revelation of John, given by Christ to His beloved disciple, contains joy similar to that of joy. And if in St. In the Gospel we worship Christ, risen and ascended into heaven in glory, then in Revelation we again worship Him who comes into the world in glory, Whom we cry and call: “Hey, come, Lord Jesus.” Summing up the final result of all the differences that exist between the Gospel “little apocalypse” together with the apostolic epistles and the Revelation of John, we must state as their most basic thing that the former do not know chiliasm, which constitutes the main distinguishing feature of the latter. And this absence of chiliasm in the New Testament puts its stamp on its entire eschatology, and further, one might say, on the entire church worldview, for which, in this sense, Revelation is something new, subject to assimilation, of course, in the light of the entire New Testament revelation, or overcoming and dissolution in it. Apart from a few writers of early Christianity (Justin the Philosopher, St. Irenaeus of Lyons and some others), together with the general mood of the early Christian Church, for which, due to the hope for the quick, in the near future, the coming of Christ, the chiliastic coming of the Lord and His Parousia merged in one common eschatological perspective, then the dominant current of church theology strives to weaken, abolish and through this it seems to him, render harmless the prophecy about the thousand-year kingdom and in general about the recognition of not one, but two or even more precisely than several plans of eschatology, declaring the chiliastic understanding of John's Revelation to be some kind of misunderstanding. Until time, such rape of prophecy could have been tolerable despite the strange indifference to this prophecy, its lack of hearing. But times and deadlines come when this becomes simply impossible, insincere, and unacceptable. And then the theological, dogmatic problem of Revelation arises in all its magnitude, it requires a revision of the verification of the entire Christian worldview, and it seems to us that we are now faced with the need for such a dogmatic verification. This revision also puts on the agenda a check of our religious-practical worldview, our “spiritual life,” along with the complication of its, so to speak, foundations. Of course, along with the synoptic, Johannine Christianity, namely the Johannine spiritual Gospel, is deeply accepted into the general church worldview. However, this “Johnn” Christianity was not accepted in its entirety. Despite all the differences between the Gospel and the Apocalypse, not only in style, but also in character, one might even say, in the theme of both, the Church, despite this external evidence of differences that seem insurmountable for exegetical criticism, recognizes both of them as belonging to the same beloved apostle, evangelist-theologian: both of them are, as it were, two parts of a single whole, which must not be isolated, but united and combined. This is the silent testimony of the Church, which, having ears, let him hear. And if the Eastern Church recognizes itself as primarily Johannine, attributing this primarily to the Gospel, then it will have to perceive it in connection with the Apocalypse. Spiritual Johannine Christianity is still predominantly ascetic-eschatological. It is affirmed, on the one hand, on the revelation of spiritual life through ascetic effort aimed at the salvation of the soul, and, on the other, in connection with this, on preparation for death and the future life, the “kingdom of heaven.” It is oriented, one might say, transcendentally, on super-mundane, transcendental values. It has a special expression for itself in monasticism. But this feeling of life and this worldview can hardly accommodate another feeling and another worldview, dogmatically, of course, rooted in the fullness of Christian revelation, namely the historical-chiliastic one, which, one might say, is transcendental-immanent or chiliastic-eschatological. Such a task, of course, seems to combine two different aspirations, antinomic in its simultaneous recognition and non-recognition of the world and its history. In the time of this century it seeks accomplishments for the century to come; it knows not only the general resurrection, but also the first, not only Christ coming with glory to torment the living and the dead, but before that also Christ coming to earth to reign with the saints. Antinomy can easily be understood and then rejected as a contradiction, as either – or, but Johannine Christianity is affirmed as “both – and”. But religion in general is antinomic, just like all Christianity. Antinomy turns from contradiction into an internal driving force, by which it is overcome with grace, and the impossible becomes the highest reality. However, we must be aware and theologically take into account all the presence of antinomian elements. There is a difference between chiliasm and Parousia, primarily in the fact that Parousia is unknown regarding time and timing, “like a thief in the night” or “a bridegroom at midnight,” and in this sense one must always expect it. The thousand-year Kingdom of Christ on earth comes in time. Although no terms or dates are given regarding it, it is still included in a certain context of events or eras, which are symbolically depicted in Revelation. In this way, a double expectation or double spiritual orientation is established: the end of the world and Parousia, on the one hand, and its transformation through the thousand-year Kingdom of Christ still within its own borders. Are both of these expectations mutually exclusive or are they compatible with each other? Logically speaking, no, because they are contradictory; antinomically, yes, because in a developed eschatological feeling the possibility can be found for both, especially since they relate to two different planes of existence, to different zones. This relationship can also be likened to another duality of feelings that is characteristic of man; it is in it that the foreknowledge of one’s own death is combined as the end of everyone’s world, as a personal eschatology, as well as the universal end or the Parousia of Christ. 135 Both of these orientations, if one can express them this way, seem to contradict, mutually exclude each other, absorb one another, and yet both are vitally compatible and must be compatible in spiritual life. The thought of the hour of death in itself should not absorb or obscure the always unexpected and therefore always expected hour of the Second Coming of the Lord in glory, and for us it remains essentially hidden what awaits us ahead in our own lives: our death or the death of the world with the end of our age: we will not all die before it comes, but we will all “change” in the last trumpet, and this change is tantamount to our own death, but not coming before Parousia, but after it or simultaneously with it, as far as one can talk about time in application to an accomplishment that goes beyond the boundaries of our temporality. The consciousness of the inevitability of our own death, despite all the uncertainty of time, as well as the thought and expectation of the Second Coming of Christ, His Parousia, not only do not contradict each other, but should even be compatible. At the very least, the displacement by the former of the latter, when the fear of personal death obscures in the soul the feeling of the impending universal end of the world and Parousia, cannot be considered healthy and consistent with the fullness of the Christian attitude towards life; on the contrary, this is an ugly one-sidedness in him, although it is widespread and even dominant in certain ascetic deviations. But also the opposite: ascetic eschatologism, which abolishes “mortal memory,” also contains in itself an undue mystical fussiness, the very one that the apostle warned against. Pavel of Thessalonians: “Do not be in a hurry to be shaken in your mind and be troubled either by the spirit, or by the word, or by the message, as if the day of the Lord is already coming” (2 Thess. 2:2). True, in the very first times of Christianity, this was the prevailing mood in historical untestedness regarding the duration of human history, and at the same time in the immediate freshness of the memory of the first coming of Christ. However, to prolong this feeling would mean naive and sentimental affectation, which the ap does not want. Paul see in Thessalonians. Later, and very soon, it gave way to reverse one-sidedness, a certain oblivion about the coming end, and, starting with the prayer de mora finis, which appeared according to Tertullian, already from the middle of the 2nd century, they moved on to insensibility of the coming end. But the fullness of the Christian experience of the end can and should combine these two feelings, and at the present time care should be taken precisely to restore the eschatological sense of the world, namely its coming end. However, if this dual contemplation of the future is possible and necessary, standing in the face of personal death, but at the same time the end of the world, then the possibility of the mysterious also remains: it is the inevitability of the end that can and is actually combined with a sense of the reality of history and our life and work in it. From here a special historical-apocalyptic and chiliastic sense of life is generated, which forms another third possibility. It complicates and concretizes the sense of personal and universal eschatology and establishes a positive relationship, a living bridge between both. Some clarification is required here. No matter how alive “mortal memory” is in us, it cannot and should not (in a false and exaggerated renunciation of the world) break our connection with the life of the world, its needs, goals and objectives. Such indifferentism, in addition to its impracticability, is also a false task, which, by the way, contradicts the entire worldview of Revelation, which least of all corresponds to it in relation not only to our earthly life, but also to the afterlife. The prayerful connection with the world of the most renounced desert dwellers, as well as departed saints, sufficiently testifies to this, and in order to satisfy the maximalism of renunciation, it would be necessary to exclude a large number of church prayers and sequences from use. Thus, if not ideologically, then at least in fact, the sense of history and earthly affairs and goals is reflected to one degree or another, and is somehow compatible with the sense of personal and universal end, death and Parousia, with that ellipsis with which our earthly time is interrupted and ends. That is why we can say that the spiritual orientation of our life is not only dual, but also triple. Between the personal end and the end of the world is placed earthly life with its history, which is the apocalypse, and it is placed spiritually between these two ends, personal and universal, the death of man, as well as the whole world. However, history, perceived as an apocalypse, was still weakly and dogmatically irresponsible in the religious consciousness, which corresponds to the fact that the Apocalypse remained a half-sealed book, understood one-sidedly, eschatologically, but not historically. Accordingly, history itself was impoverished in its understanding only to the level of a fact, devoid of religious content. But the Revelation of John contains a religious interpretation of the content of history, moreover, not only as the struggle of anti-Christianity and Christianity, darkness and light, but also as historical achievements, namely chiliasm, which is thereby included in the general eschatological prophecy as its part, precisely containing the precondition of the end, but which has to take place on earth. History receives in it a metahistorical meaning, an eschatological goal, but still on this side of the end. This is a potentially positive religious interpretation of history. Its individual goals and values ​​are no longer determined by the force of fact, but by internal religious accomplishment, receive divine-human significance, and are included in the cause of Christ’s accession on earth. This accession is not final, which will come only at the end of the century and will spread throughout the ages of ages, but it is a necessary accomplishment of the earthly process. Chiliasm is the guiding immanent-transcendent goal of history, its justification, and at the same time its symbol. Chiliasm itself is not a goal as one of the historical goals; it is the super goal of all goals. In addition, its onset is not a matter of human will and energy, but of the divine and human, of Christ. However, Christ comes to His humanity, whose life is the preceding precondition for this thousand-year reign of His on earth. The idea of ​​chiliasm opens up for humanity the possibility of historical piety and overcoming ahistorical nihilism under the pretext of asceticism. So, just as the general acceptance of earthly life, as a gift of God in its independent value, personal and general historical, is combined with the personal eschatological acceptance of personal death, the “memory of death,” so in chiliastic revelation it is elevated to religious comprehension. If not logically, then a dialectically antinomic sense of life is not afraid of combining the breadth of historical perspective with the ellipsis that interrupts it, the sense of human history and the personal end of the individual lives from which it is intertwined. Chiliasm does not introduce anything new in this regard in terms of the force of fact, but it contains within itself a religious revelation in history. However, turned in the other direction, to eschatology, chiliasm is as inextricable with it as with this-worldly history. Since the end of the world with its history is associated with the Parousia of Christ, the new thing that chiliasm introduces here is the teaching that it takes place not only transcendentally eschatologically, but also immanently historically. The Apocalypse contains the revelation of the accession of Christ not only behind history, but also through history, and this precedes His Second Coming into the world. No matter how we dogmatically understand this coming, or rather, the coming of Christ in history in relation to Parousia, it is indisputable that they are included in His Parousia as the path to it, its precondition. And therefore, longing for this coming and its joyful meeting, we specifically include in this general feeling not only Parousia, but also chiliasm, not dividing them into two different comings, but only into two images of the common presence of Christ in the world in their inseparability. This prayer applies to all his images, all of them are encompassed in itself: “Hey, come, Lord Jesus.” This is not only a prayer for Parousia, which may seem overwhelming even to us and inconceivable in its boldness, but also about chiliastic comings or approaches to peace in human history on the paths to Parousia before it. Thus understood, the prayer: “hey, come” ceases to be a terrible and overwhelming task for us, from which we instinctively seek refuge in pious fear through oblivion or reinterpretation, but receives internal conviction and interpretation, by analogy with the prayer to the Holy Spirit, to whom, under the inspiration of the Church, we boldly pray: “come and dwell in us.” What confirms us in this prayer is that the Holy Spirit at Pentecost descended into the world as “another Comforter.” But the Apocalypse confirms to us in a new way that Christ also did not completely leave the world in His Ascension, but remains and acts in it, coming into it, although in a different way than in Parousia, which is the complete and final return of the Lord in the flesh in His glory. This is the significance of the Apocalypse with its teaching on chiliasm in the general economy of our prayer life. He addresses himself equally, although differently, to earthly history and to Parousia, to the finite human life ending in personal death, and to the transcendental end of the world in Parousia. An expanded concrete and prayerful and dogmatic feeling accommodates all these aspects, just as the prayerful aspiration for the Coming of the Lord into the world also becomes comprehensive. We dare to prayerfully call: “Hey, come, Lord Jesus” and heed His answering promise: “Hey, I’m coming quickly,” at every time when His heart hears and calls upon Him in the hour of history. And if in order to pray to the Holy Spirit for His coming, neither the time, nor the place, nor the image of His coming or its measure is limited, then in the prayer to Christ everything is contained and united in us, which our love, thirsting and waiting for the meeting of the Bridegroom, can contain. In this sense, the decadent prayer must be forever and finally overcome: de mora finis; it is forbidden to us by Revelation. In this sense, Christianity, predominantly ascetic-eschatological, must also accommodate apocalyptic-chiliastic Christianity, and become Johannine in its entirety. Another final question arises regarding the eschatological perception of history. In the Lord’s speeches of the “little apocalypse”, with the greatest insistence, on the one hand, the unknown time of the Lord’s coming is indicated: “Be prepared, for at an hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 24:44; 25:13), as “The Bridegroom at midnight” and “like a thief in the night.” This can equally mean that one should always expect the Second Coming, and that it cannot and should not be expected at all as an event of “day and hour” (just like the day and hour of one’s own death). “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but only My Father alone” (36). And further this unexpectedness is confirmed by the example of the flood: “for just as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and did not think until the flood came, so will also be the coming of the Son of Man” (38-39). However, this complete uncertainty is combined with the presence of some signs of the approaching end: after listing a number of events preceding the Parousia, the Lord adds: “Take a likeness from a fig tree: when its branches become soft and put out leaves, then you know that summer is near. So, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the door” (24:33-34). And the entire Apocalypse is essentially dedicated to this “knowledge.” Here is antinomy upon antinomy; ignorance and always readiness, complete uncertainty of time and observation of signs of approach. And here there is not only a theoretical antinomy, this is a practical religious perception of the end simultaneously with its uncertainty and, as it were, absence in the constant possibility of its occurrence, in the complete indistinguishability of its approach (“as in the days of Noah”) and at the same time its obvious signs, by which one can know that “it is already close, at the door.” This accomplishment is shrouded in such a mystery of antinomy. But that's not all. Contemplation of spiritual history toward the end is marked by a number of external, factual events: wars and social, political and cosmic upheavals, the falling away from the faith, the appearance of the Antichrist, but also as the “resurrection from the dead,” the conversion of Israel, the first resurrection and the thousand-year Kingdom of Christ on earth. Again, here we have an eschatological antinomy: the uncertainty of the end is combined with the indication of events that must take place before it, so that their occurrence or non-occurrence is a positive or negative sign of the approach of the end. In one case, eschatological prophecy looks beyond historical events, rushes directly to the edge of the horizon, in the other it turns to specific history. Here the antinomy seems to become a contradiction that is incompatible with human consciousness, logically tearing it apart. However, this historical certainty (as well as the contradiction arising from here) is only imaginary, since the very nature of apocalyptic images, symbols, prophecies is also indefinite and in this deliberateness elusive. Here we invariably talk not so much about events as about accomplishments, so that there is always the possibility of asking oneself: has the event that precedes the Second Coming already happened or not yet happened? In particular, although we have experienced and are experiencing wars and revolutions, as well as a widespread falling away from the faith, has the measure, the fullness that is prophesied about them, been fulfilled? And to this question of human wisdom there cannot even be a definite answer, or rather, both affirmative and negative can be given with good reason. The same must be repeated regarding more specific events, primarily about the coming of the Antichrist. How many times in history has his concrete appearance been seen in the form of one or another historical figure, starting with the Old Testament image of Antiochus Epiphanes, continuing with the New Testament Nero and other Christ-fighting emperors, then Napoleon, perhaps, smaller figures of our days, but all this turned out and turns out to be only historical speculation, products of fear and imagination. Most importantly, it remains unknown whether the Antichrist means a specific person (with whom the image of the prophecy of the Apostle Paul about the “man of lawlessness” is most similar, cf. above), or the many-sided anti-Christianity from the time of St. John the Theologian (which he hinted about in his epistles), for whom his own measure could either have already come or not yet come. In the question of the conversion of Israel, we seem to be faced with a more definite fact of its not yet accomplished, which until now we can only rely on on the basis of prophecy. However, even here there remains the possibility of its accomplishment in modern times, in quantitative inconspicuousness, together with qualitative strength and completeness, or, in any case, its onset after its maturation at such a rapid pace that will correspond to the completeness of its accomplishment. In any case, in the eschatological speeches of the Lord (in the small apocalypse) there is characteristically no mention of this, except for His words at the Entry into Jerusalem: “until then you will exclaim: blessed is the King of Israel who comes in the Name of the Lord” (these words, however, refer not so much to Parousia as to the thousand-year kingdom). In any case, it must be said that the conversion of Israel is literally one of the not yet arrived signs of the approaching end of the world, which is thus delayed by its stiffness. There remains the last and main sign of the approach of Parousia, this is the sequence of time indicated in Revelation. His very idea - revelations about history, revealing itself in the order of successive accomplishments towards completeness, seems to contradict the extra- and even ahistorical nature of the small apocalypse with its assertion of the complete obscurity of the time of Parousia, thereby, as it were, removing it from the historical context, placing it outside of time. This same feature is also strengthened by the fact that history, according to Revelation, takes place on earth and in heaven, in the here and hereafter, angelic and human, and this in itself already places it outside of certainty, according to earthly time, but also affirms it in its, so to speak, historicity, as a process that has its own times and terms, its completeness. However, we must not forget that Revelation, written nineteen centuries ago and having before it a still contemporary history, and at the same time intended for all times of history, finding themselves in it as if in their historical mirror, is thereby always elastic and polysemantic in its symbolism. In this case, the antinomic definition of both historicism with its inherent temporal sequence of events, and supertemporality or all-temporality, and therefore their transtemporality, is also applicable to it in this case. Revelation refers to what happens always and everywhere, but also does not fit into a limited place and time. To this extent, the Apocalypse does not interfere with or contradict the eschatological perception of history. The apocalyptic and eschatological perception of the world are logically contradictory, but antinomically vitally compatible. However, there remains the last and most difficult question about the order of discussion of the relationship between eschatology and the apocalypse, this is the question of the last apocalyptic accomplishments, set forth in chapters 19 - 22: about the war of the Lord, the King of kings, with the beast and the false prophet and their army, the binding of Satan and the thousand-year kingdom, the first resurrection, the descent from heaven of heavenly Jerusalem, the last judgment and accomplishments. Here several different plans regarding time and events are combined, but in such a way that the apocalypse of history is combined here with metahistorical achievements. And what is most difficult is that in the Gospels and in the entire New Testament, except for the Apocalypse, this comparison and differentiation is completely absent. This in itself is extremely difficult. Here we have a general antinomianism, sharpening, as it were, to the point of contradiction, so that it seems especially necessary and difficult to clarify and eliminate this inconsistency. The radical eschatologism of the small apocalypse seems to deny all historical fruitfulness and maturity; for it, historical time is known for now and as the interval from the first to the second coming of the Lord, which must be endured and waited, but in itself has no significance (this is exactly how it was perceived in historical, ascetic Christianity, which actually did not know and did not have the apocalypse, having not accepted it in life). On the contrary, the Apocalypse contains a positive revelation about history as an accomplishment and, most importantly, about the path to it, which must be traversed with internal regularity from beginning to end and cannot be interrupted at any moment by an ellipsis, as is assumed in the eschatological perception of history. However, here we must immediately state that this “ellipsis” in both the eschatological and historical (and chiliastic) perception of the world is equally present and irremovable, since here we have a certain hiatus, transcendence, the end of one time or zone and the beginning of another. One is not a continuation of the other, contained in the edge of the same immanence, but an ontological leap, and the whole difference can be seen here only in how it is accomplished and understood: as a perfect image and an abyss, or as a transition, a continuation, although already in a new century and in a new way. In the first sense we have, so to speak, apophatic, in the second, cataphatic theology as applied to eschatological theology, the doctrine of the end of the world. And just as in general theology, in the teaching about God, there is a difference, but there is no contradiction, so it is here. Synoptic eschatology breaks off where there is still the possibility of its cataphatic continuation, which is the Apocalypse of John. Therefore, it is necessary to understand both apocalypses, the Synoptic and St. John’s, as two parts of one whole, as a dual revelation of the end. Otherwise, they are incompatible, and in fact their dogmatic exegesis amounted to silence and evasiveness in relation to the content of the apocalypse, that is, to opposition and denial of the word of God, to belittling it out of timidity before it. We must seek a positive combination of both revelations, and not a helpless flight from their duality. Perhaps it is also explained by the fact that the time has not yet come for its understanding, but now it is already coming, and one cannot simply evade the eschatological problem of the Apocalypse as a philosophy of history, definitely chiliastic, but at the same time eschatological, by keeping silent. Both of them need to be combined and mutually transparent. In that historical chaos and confusion, which, according to weather forecasters, constitutes the essential content of history, determines its character, it is necessary to discern the special content that the Apocalypse gives, in the synoptic how to contain it. So, first of all, the feeling of earthly time with its history, with aspiration, “readiness” to meet the end of this time, with its unknown duration, is completely compatible with concrete human psychology. Living an earthly life, even under the greatest eschatological tension, a person cannot free himself from the feeling of earthly time and its accomplishments, and every day has its own today, yesterday and tomorrow with their specific fullness. Even the most radical eschatologism and the most intense feeling, which is associated with the orientation of the small apocalypse of the weather forecasters, contains this historical concreteness of life: here various events of life are described and the proper attitude towards them is indicated, and even in the face of the upcoming Parousia it does not remove a person from time with its events, but, standing in the face of them, orients him in his own way. In this regard, there is no difference between the weather forecasters and the Apocalypse; eschatologism is combined with historicism. And it must be added that in this particular psychology a similar relationship exists between the expectation of personal death, “mortal memory,” and life in this world. Until death comes, a person lives today, between yesterday and tomorrow, actually navigating them. Therefore, there is neither contradiction nor incompatibility between the expectation of the end - in the personal death of each person or Parousia - and the transformation of the world. On the contrary, they are given in their unity and are not only given, but, one might say, given: one should not displace the other, but be combined with it in some balance. The latter can be equally violated in both directions. Supporters of earthly progress in the evil infinity of history, in helpless confusion, stop before the end, which they encounter in death, personal and universal. They are trying to overcome it all in the same evil infinity of progress in which death is conquered scientifically. We have a similar one-sidedness in ascetic nihilism in relation to history with its creative tasks, which is actually expressed, of course, not in overcoming history, but in failure to fulfill one’s duty to it. 136 In a word, time and the end, historicism and eschatologism are compatible with each other. But eschatologism and apocalypse with its chiliasm are equally compatible with each other. The chiliastic worldview is only a special case of historicism (in a certain sense, parallel to the world theory of progress in its various variations). It also contains, along with the historical yesterday, a chiliastic tomorrow according to the prophetic promise, and in this sense it should be repeated once again that apocalyptic promises are compatible with eschatological ones, they will intervene in their scheme, not tearing it apart, but revealing it in their own way and complementing it. At the same time, as already mentioned above, the relationship between historical and chiliastic achievements, on the one hand, and the end of the world and Parousia, on the other, remains in all the uncertainty and imprecision that is inherent in their very definition. Chiliasm does not contain precisely defined dates, and the very occurrence or non-occurrence of its events remains fluctuating and unclear. In this sense, there always remains a future for history, which cannot be exhausted in time, but it is interrupted by an ellipsis. Summarizing all the above considerations, we draw their final and general conclusion about the entire power, volume and content of the prayer: “Hey, come, Lord Jesus,” which is given to us at the very end of the Bible and, in particular, the New Testament as their general conclusion. At the same time, it must be emphasized with particular force that its not only general, but also generalizing power is expressed in the external fact that it is given at the very end of the Apocalypse with its promises about the Heavenly Jerusalem and the thousand-year Kingdom of Christ. Thus, its significance is evidenced not only as eschatological, but also chiliastic. And this last meaning is especially emphasized by the promise of the Called One Himself: “Yes, I am coming quickly. Amen". What does this “coming” and this “soon” contain, what does it refer to? Contemporaries of the writing of the Apocalypse, perhaps, it was still possible and characteristic to understand this “coming soon” in relation to the Parousia of the Lord, which they did not stop (although they had already begun to stop) expecting in the “soon” time (in the sense of the calendar date). But now, after almost two thousand years from Christ, we cannot and, to be sincere, should not even understand this speed in the sense of calendar time. This “speed,” as we have said more than once, is ontological, not chronological. But not only this is self-evident and obvious, and the time of the Second Coming of the Lord generally and forever remains unknown. But the promise: “I am coming soon” may also contain a broader meaning, and not just a parousian meaning. It refers not only to the Second Coming of the Lord in the flesh, His return to earth, but also to His coming or comings into the world, not yet in the flesh, but in the spirit, in His apocalyptic comings (of which below). They are told about them in Revelation, of course, not to satisfy idle curiosity, but for the edification and inspiration of believers, who are thereby called to prayerfully perceive what is revealed to them. Therefore, the appeal witnessed on behalf of the Church: “both the Spirit and the Bride say: come. And let the one who hears say, “Come” (22:17), which is also accompanied by the following words: “let the one who thirsts come, and the one who desires, let him take the water of life freely” (17), refer to the entire content of Revelation and to all the appearances of Christ recounted in it. This is precisely how it must be understood in accordance with its entire volume. Here we speak not only about Parousia, but also about all its anticipatory apocalyptic phenomena, which are, as it were, private, repeated, anticipating Parousia. Understood in this sense, the prayer for the coming of Christ, answered by the promise of fulfillment, once again eliminates the misunderstandings and difficulties arising from the combination of eschatology and apocalypse, Parousia and chiliasm. One may be perplexed: how is the invocation of the Second Coming of the Lord, at the end of history and the world itself, combined in this parousia prayer with the aspiration of those apocalyptic accomplishments in which He approaches the world, comes into it, but not yet in the flesh, not in Parousia, not in His Second and Glorious Coming? But this misunderstanding is eliminated by the fact that the Parousia of Christ, according to the entire revelation of the Synoptics, the New Testament writings and Revelation, takes place not in a single act of the Second Coming in the flesh, but in a whole series of repeated, but only spiritual, and therefore mysterious Parousias. One can even say that Christ does not completely leave the world, leaving it in the Ascension, but remains in it “all the days until the end of the age,” that is, until Parousia in Glory. And this abiding is realized in the fact that He not only abides in the world through the “Other” Comforter, in the Holy Spirit, but also in Him constantly comes into the world, continuing His “ministry” in the world and after? Ascension. And this prayer also applies to all these spiritual appearances and comings of Christ into the world: “Hey, come.” As mentioned above, there is a correspondence between the prayer addressed to both Comforters: “hey, come, Lord Jesus” and “Heavenly King, come and dwell in us,” although the “Other” Comforter at Pentecost has already come into the world and remains in it. Through these repeated spiritual Parousias of Christ, His approach to the world takes place, which is fully realized at His Second Coming. Parousia, therefore, is not a one-time event, but a multiple one, taking place over the course of times, although not historical, but apocalyptic. To this we must add that these Parousias refer to the world in its entirety, that is, heaven and earth, angelic and human, here and beyond, since the division between them still remains until the very resurrection of the dead. On the basis of this ongoing division and duality of the world, one should understand the first resurrection of souls (but not bodies), which is accompanied, of course, by a new approach to the world of the Resurreator, His preliminary Parousia. In the life of the world, in its history, cognizable apocalyptically, the worlds of this world and the other world, earthly and beyond the grave are not separated, but united. And therefore the prayer: “hey, come” applies to both of them; it sounds not only here, but also beyond the grave. In general, the revelations of the Apocalypse significantly change our entire spiritual orientation in relation to both worlds in the sense that they are united in a single apocalyptic path to meet the Coming Lord. But they are also united in one common matter of history, as is clear from various features of Revelation, especially ch. 12th and 20th, war in heaven and the first resurrection. Moreover, heaven and earth interpenetrate through the descent of the Heavenly Jerusalem to earth and the life of the heavenly city on earth. Thus, in the triumphant invocation hymn “hey come,” the whole Church, heavenly and earthly, here and hereafter, is united. So, the prayer: “hey, come” is universal and all-encompassing: it does not single out Parousia and only Parousia as the Second Coming, but includes every new approach of Christ to the world, no matter how it is carried out, therefore, the entire Apocalypse along with all the appearances of Christ to His saints, although, of course, they are all connected in His one and last coming to the world, Parousia. Here we have the broadest and highest spiritual perspective of Christ’s general approach to the world, his return to it, and this perspective, depending on the direction of our prayerful attention, can be addressed to the immediate and not yet last manifestations of His coming into the world, as well as to the last, which includes everything. Therefore, this prayer does not contain boldly persistent prayer specifically for Parousia, but it is accepted in all the diversity and consistency of its accomplishment. However, outside of such specification, it directs our gaze, directs our thoughts and turns our love to Christ, Coming into the world, with an unceasing memory of His coming, which should not know for itself any interruption, any delay due to its supposed untimeliness or prematureness. It is always timely and for all times given by Christ Himself, Who “at every time and for every hour” responds to this prayer with the answer: “Hey, I am coming soon,” and there can be no time to which it would be said: it is too early, no prayer “de mora, finis,” but the everlasting and unceasing: “Hey, come. Lord Jesus." Excursion. Appearances of Christ according to the Apocalypse The God-man Christ during the days of His earthly ministry lived among people as the Son of Man, clothed in human flesh, accessible to human senses: seeing His pupil, hearing His voice, touching His body. The Lord Himself speaks about this to the people: “Blessed are your eyes that see and your ears that hear. For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear” (Matthew 13:16–17). “And turning to the disciples, he said to them specifically: Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear” (Luke 10:23–24). And this human vision and hearing of the Lord was available to everyone around Him, without any exception. In this human appearance, the Lord did not differ from men, but even “was made lower than the sons of men.” This His accessibility to human perception continues from Christmas until death and burial, when the Lord moves away from the land of the living and becomes no longer accessible to human perception. Like every son of man who comes into the world and leaves it in due time, the Lord was on earth, but with death He was gone. However, this is followed by His new life on earth in the resurrection body, which continues for forty days until the Ascension, when He finally leaves the world and becomes inaccessible to human perception. But in this forty days, the Lord already leaves His public availability for him, as well as the general continuity of His stay on earth, according to all the conditions of life in this world. Now He becomes accessible only to the elect, namely to those especially close to Him on earth, the apostles and myrrh-bearers, and a certain number more are joining this. 137 This image of Christ’s presence on earth with chosen people in the Gospel text is defined by a special expression: “to appear, appear” (Mark 16:9, 12, 14; Luke 14:34; John 11:1–14; Acts 1:3), in all its ambiguity. It is used in many different cases of theophany and manifestations of Christ, and, in addition to the appearances on the forty-day period, after the resurrection. The deliberate meaning that this latter assimilates refers to the fact that here the Lord, no longer living on earth, but, as it were, comes into the world in the flesh of the resurrection. This is the glorified flesh (about which Mary Magdalene is told: “touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father...”, but “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God”: John 20:17). Nevertheless, this flesh can be touched (Mary, Thomas), it is even capable of eating food (Luke 24:43). And it is this flesh that is taken up to heaven by Christ, in the Ascension. After this, Christ no longer appears into the world in the flesh, except mysteriously, in the Holy Gifts, for the Eucharistic consumption. But this, of course, is not the presence of the Lord, which is similar to His stay on earth, as well as His appearances after the resurrection, and the distinguishing feature here is precisely the absence of His human flesh in these appearances. However, the New Testament also knows other appearances of the Lord, which He Himself in His promise defines as not physical, but spiritual, returns to the world through the medium of “Another Comforter.” 138 To eliminate preliminary misunderstandings, it is necessary to introduce such an exegetical distinction. Acts Ap. as well as the messages of St. Paul (1 Cor.) they know and talk about the appearances of Christ already after the Ascension, such as the first martyr Stephen and the apostle himself. Paul (Saul on the road to Damascus). Ap himself. Paul puts this phenomenon on a par with other phenomena of the Risen One and, as it were, identifies them with them. However, looking more closely at the sacred text, we come to the conclusion that although in these phenomena there is a certain identity in the subject of their content, namely, that in them the special closeness of the Lord is spiritually tangible, the difference between the appearances to Paul and Stephen from the appearances to the apostles retains all its force, although Paul himself says about himself that he “saw” the Lord. 139 “Saw” is here a theologically as ambiguous expression as “appearances, appearing,” and between the latter phenomena and the former there is all the difference that exists between bodily and spiritual phenomena. In the flesh, Saul did not see the Lord (and even if he could see it, it was not imprinted on his soul, and no trace of it has been preserved for us). The same is not known about the first martyr Stephen, i.e. whether his faith, first martyrdom and equal apostleship are connected with a personal meeting with Christ before His death on the cross, but, in any case, he is not named among those who beheld the Risen Lord who appeared in the flesh. The same can be said about Ananias, the disciple who received a vision of the Lord, who sent him to baptize Saul (9:10-17), but he is not named among the people who saw the Lord during his lifetime. However, even in such cases one speaks of “vision”, as well as of “appearance”. In general, we have to say that although the Gospels actually speak specifically about the appearances of the risen Lord to the disciples, in contrast to His earthly stay with them, which is not spoken of in this way, this expression in itself does not have a specific meaning, as if terminus technicus, used only in a given, specific sense. On the contrary, it is used in a different sense when applied to theophanies and doxophanies in the Old Testament as in the New Testament, and to that extent it is devoid of an exclusively Christological character. “Visions” and epiphanies, reminiscent of Paul, Stephen and Anania, we have in V. 3. This is what the God-fighting Israel says about himself, who “wrestled with God all night” (Gen. 32:28): “I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven stood by Him” (1 Kings 22:19). The same with Isaiah: “I saw the Lord sitting on the throne (Is. 61), “my eyes saw the King, the Lord of Hosts” (5). Further it is said about the Lord that He spoke to Abraham in a “vision” (Gen. 15:1) or “in a vision of the night” (46:2), such were the appearances to Moses of the burning bush (Exod. 3) and the glory of God (Exod. 33:18–23; 34:5–35), visions of the glory of God prophet. Ezekiel (1). This also includes the appearance of God to Abraham in the form of three Angels (Gen. 18–19), in which the Church sees a revelation of the Holy Trinity. The Lord “appeared to Abraham” (Gen. 12:7; 17:1; 18:1; 27:2, 24:48, 3). “He appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Ex. 6:3); (cf. Lev. 9:4; 16:3; Deut. 6:22; 1 Kings 11:9; 2 Chron. 1:7) Solomon; This also includes the epiphanies of the prophet. Isaiah (1 Kings 19:11–13); Prophet Daniel (7: 9–14), etc. So, the same expressions: saw, visions, appeared, phenomena embrace many different meanings and are used in different cases of theophany already in the Old Testament. 140 These different meanings of the same expressions are clarified only from the general context, which must be addressed every time when different things are said. In a number of cases, we have theophanies in the form of angelophanies (see “Jacob’s Ladder,” chapter 6) or physical symbols: fire (in the burning bush), the breath of the quiet wind (Elijah), complex images of the Glory of God in the visions of Ezekiel and Isaiah. But this does not exclude such cases when it is said directly that the Seer of God saw God, even with a specific indication of the place and time, such as: “in the year of the death of King Uzziah I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, and the edges of His robe filled the whole church,” Isaiah testifies to himself. How should we understand this evidence? Of course, in it there remains, in the very transcendence of its content, something inexpressible and inaccessible to the imagination (although this does not interfere with iconographic symbols and their transfer; such, for example, is the image of the burning bush, the vision of Ezekiel, Isaiah). But beyond this there is a general theological question about the Old Testament vision of God, in contrast to the New Testament. This distinction is expressed in the prologue of the fourth Gospel: “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has revealed” (1:18). This establishes a fundamental difference between the Old Testament and New Testament theophany, due to which the Old Testament “vision” of God, about which the Word of God speaks, in comparison with the New Testament, is not even a vision, but something different, although expressed by the same word (cf. Ex. 33:20; 1 John 4:12; 1 Tim. 6: 18). Until His descent from heaven in the Second Hypostasis, before the Incarnation of God, God remains transcendental for man and in this sense invisible and indescribable, which is where all the Old Testament intransigence towards any kind of iconization of the Divine comes from, not only as idolatry, but also idolatry in general - the second commandment of Moses: every icon is an idol, no matter what it relates to and no matter what. it was not expressed in symbols. The transcendental ugliness of the Divine establishes in the prohibition of apophatic theology its indepicability; it says an absolute “no” to any attempt to depict it (only the theophoric name is a verbal icon of the Divine, in derogation from all the inexorability of the prohibitions of apophaticism, which without this exception would threaten to turn into either the apophatic mysticism of Neoplatonism, or Buddhism, or simply religious nihilism). However, even in the face of the apophatic second commandment, which is also bound by the testimony of God that man cannot see the face of God and not die, that is, in general he is not called and is not capable of seeing God, the entire Old Testament abounds in precisely theophanic revelations. What could these epiphanies mean, and in what sense are they possible? There is one general condition for their possibility, according to the power of which the Old Testament is a precondition and anticipation of the New, “in the law of the shadow and the Scripture we see the image of the faithful.” This type refers to the incarnation of God: the entire Old Testament is his promise and anticipation, preparation and prophecy. Christ, Who appears in the fullness of time in the New Testament, earlier than His incarnation and incarnation, but already anticipating it, is present and revealed in the Old Testament, which insofar is also the Old Testament Gospel about God-manhood in man as the image and likeness of God, as already created and prepared for God-manhood, he speaks entirely about human conformity to God. Without this, the Old Testament ceases to be the Old Testament, but remains the only one, loses its justification and comprehension (it is actually lost by the Jews who did not accept Christ along with the entire New Testament revelation). So, not in spite of, but along with the Old Testament apophatics, we have in the Old Testament theophanies the presence of anthropological anthropomorphism as a revelation of God-manhood. This is expressed both directly and indirectly with the greatest clarity in the visions of the prophet. Daniel 7:9, 13, where the “Ancient of Days” is the image of the Father, and the “Son of Man brought to Him” is the image of the Son, and both are one human image, although with certain differences corresponding to different hypostases. However, it remains unshakable that the Son is the image and revelation of the Father, and to that extent the human image remains inherent in both of them. This is the Old Testament revelation about God-manhood, about the conformity of God and man. This is also included in the vision of the glory of the prophet Ezekiel (“the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of the throne there was as it were the likeness of a man above on it” (Ezek. 26), and this forms the very center of the vision). The human image, together with human speech, are common features of the Old Testament theophany (except for its other features belonging to cosmology and angelology). However, a general dogmatic question remains: what does it mean for Old Testament man to “see” God, on what is this theophany based before the incarnation? Obviously, there is a fundamental difference here between the Old Testament and New Testament vision. The latter has as its foundation the personal theophany of Christ the Savior, while the former does not have such a foundation for itself; it remains with the general transcendental ugliness of the Divinity, as well as His inimaginability. Where does this verbal icon come from, which is still a description of theophany, a story about them, even a specific one? Regarding this image itself in its concreteness, we already have an answer in that general conformity of God and man, which is the very basis of the creation of the latter in the image of God. However, this refers to the theophanic how, but does not yet answer its what. Man cannot imagine God except humanly, in his own image, 141 such is his cataphasis. But still, how is it possible not as an apophatically forbidden fruit of human imagination, having no objective content, but as a genuine theophanic revelation in the Old Testament? There can be only one answer: being a truly “Old Testament anticipation of the appearance of the Lord in the flesh before His incarnation,” in terms of the power of its reality it remains spiritual - the influence of the Holy Spirit on man, which is quite possible, both repeatedly and diversely, both in the Old Testament (and in a certain broad sense even outside it, in the natural revelation of pious paganism: cf. Acts 17:27-28). God, who “spoke the prophets” already in the Old Testament, is revealed in words, images and night visions, in general in all the forms in which divine revelation is clothed in him. Absolutely similar, and in its power and identical, the word of God: “and God said,” and “the word of God was,” etc., as well as “I saw God,” said about himself by the prophet, as well as the hierarchical order of worship established by God, the church with its structure, the Old Testament hierarchy, etc. Man is not closed to the all-pervading Spirit of God, and “the Spirit breathes where it wants” and as it wants. But the Old Testament revelation of God and the epiphanies associated with it are characterized by a different and even opposite relationship between the revealing Hypostases than the New Testament. In the latter, the hypostasis of God's revelation is the Son, His incarnation overcomes the apophatic transcendence of the Divine: “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed” (John 1:18), however, the Son, even in His earthly ministry, is revealed by the Holy Spirit, about which He Himself says: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” (Luke 4:20). ; Isa. 61:18 ). On the contrary, in the Old Testament, every revelation of God is accomplished by the Holy Spirit; through Him there is “prophetic” inspiration, the content of which is the Son: all Old Testament revelation refers to the Son, who reveals Himself to the world of the Father, but is not yet hypostatically revealed in it. And in this light, it should be said that the Old Testament revelation about the Son is spiritual. This is where the following conclusion comes from: such evidence as “the appearance, the vision of God,” which we have in the Old Testament, with all the reality and concreteness of their content, in a certain sense have a different meaning than in the New, about which could be said in the words of the Evangelist-Theologian: “about what was from the beginning, what we heard, what we saw with our eyes, what we looked at and what we touched with our hands, about the Word of life, for life appeared, and we saw and We proclaim to you this eternal life, which was and has appeared to us” (1 John 1:1-2), and once again solemnly confirms St. Apostle: “What we have seen and heard we declare to you” (3). And in the prologue of his Gospel he again proclaims: “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have seen His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14), about whom in the same Gospel of John Christ says to Philip: “he who has seen Me has seen the Father, how can you say: show us the Father” (14:9). In Christ the God-Man there was given a perfect personal theophany and (on the Mount of Transfiguration) the manifestation of His Glory, in all its concreteness, sensual and spiritual; one could say about it with the Apostle that in Christ people saw and heard God. Now the question is: were these the Old Testament theophanies? Obviously no, they couldn't be. Meanwhile, due to the poverty of human speech and the impossibility of expressing all the special shades of its meaning in the testimony of theophany, it is said here in the same way: saw, as about the visions of the prophet. Isaiah and others, as well as the vision and hearing of Christ in the flesh, the Old and New Testaments, which, being identical in their spiritual and mystical meaning, however, represent a significant difference in the very nature of the theophany. Seeing God therefore does not mean the same thing or the same in the Old and New Testaments. But how then can we define the Old Testament “vision”? It is spiritual and only remains so despite all the concreteness of this experience. It is given by a certain inspiration from the Holy Spirit, which in this concreteness is clothed in images in human experience, as if translated into words and images, artistically and mystically clothed in them not according to arbitrary human imagination, but in its entire connection with the entire revelation of the Old Testament Church. This is a human story in human language about divine things that are revealed to man through human inspiration. It does not remain only human, closed in its humanity, which is permeated by the Spirit of God and to the extent - but only to the extent - in the Old Testament foreshadowing it is also divine-human, which is what all genuine divine inspiration is in general. Here it is necessary, first of all, to highlight one feature that remains to a certain extent common to the Old Testament and the New. These are precisely those visions and revelations of God that relate to the Father's hypostasis. She herself is completely transcendental. It is revealed in the Son (“he who has seen Me has seen the Father”), and the revealer is the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile, already in the Old Testament we have verbal revelations and hypostatic images also of the First Hypostasis: the first refers to the entire story of the creation of the world (Gen. 1-2), about the judgment of God in paradise (3), about the flood and pandemonium (6-9, 11), then even in the appearance of God to Abraham in the form of three Angels, of which the First refers to the hypostasis of the Father, the Third to hypostases of the Holy Spirit, which do not have hypostatic theophanies even in the New Testament. The second refers to the vision of Isaiah (6), Ezekiel (1), Daniel (7). These visions are spiritual revelations, experiences that are clothed in images and words by the prophet himself, and to that extent contain an element of this human transmission. The same can be said even about the New Testament images of heavenly theophany, in which the viewer sees and depicts the Father Sitting on the Throne (in Revelation). Obviously, this is also a human translation of spiritual experience and revelation, which as such, in all its accuracy and completeness, while remaining transcendental in its subject matter, is not accessible to human vision, but it inspires a person to narrate it. This narrative, as divine inspiration, like all Holy Scripture, contains a guarantee of its infallibility, but only in the above-explained sense of the correctness and accuracy of this, so to speak, translation of the things of the transcendental world into the immanent language. To that extent, the specificity of these visions, no matter how great it may be, is qualitatively different than the Holy Gospel about the Incarnate Son. And in general, the words of St. Apostle can be applied to revelations of this nature. Paul: “I know a man in Christ, who fourteen years ago (the exact chronological date is indicated) whether in the body, I don’t know, or outside the body, I don’t know: God knows (i.e. the vision was devoid of a bodily-sensory character), was caught up to the third heaven (here we have an allegorical indication in the language of Talmudic images to denote the revelation of the divine, transcendental world). And I know about such a person, but I don’t know whether in the body or outside the body: God knows (again repeating the special insensible nature of this revelation) that he was caught up into paradise (this expression, of course, does not allow for a literal understanding and generally means a supernatural, transcendental region), and heard ineffable words that cannot be uttered by man” (2 Cor. 12:2-4). Nevertheless, the apostle calls this experience “visions and revelations of the Lord” (1) (ὀπτασίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψσις κυρίου). From this it follows that in a state of ecstatic admiration (άρπαγέντα) there can be “visions and revelations” that cannot be told by a person (οὐκ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπω λαλῆσαι), obviously by their very nature and content, its transcendence. However, along with this, we also have revelations and visions of transcendental content (both in the Old and New Testaments), which can be told in the human language of images and visions. The supersensible can be translated into the language of the sensory without losing its basic character and content. In such and similar cases, we have evidence that there may be divine revelations that are somehow in an unknown way capable of entering human consciousness and contemplation, so as to even be translated into human language, clothed in human images, and in this sense become the subject of some kind of allegory. The image of such perception does not fit within the boundaries of human epistemology, which does not block the path for their entry, and becomes transparent to them. However, the literal, i.e., only sensory acceptance of these images is inappropriate, and in part, simply impossible. Here we have a mysterious touch of the Divine world, its direct intuition, which, however, in its own way inspires a person so much that he narrates about it in images accessible to the human imagination, unless he directly testifies with St. Paul about their ineffability. Such a revelation, communicated to man by the will of God, in the absence of another, more appropriate word, remains to be called spiritual in contrast to the sensual, immanent, earthly (“was in the spirit” of the Apocalypse: 4: 2–3). Therefore, it should be recognized that all Old Testament theophany, described in images, individual features of which are still borrowed from the created - natural or human - world, are spiritual and cannot be taken literally. To that extent, those visions of the New Testament Apocalypse that relate to divine things, in particular to the vision of the Father Sitting on the Throne, are also spiritual. Here, secret vision penetrates even above the “third heaven,” but generally into the heaven of heaven, accessible to man only spiritually, since he himself has within himself a divine-spiritual principle, a “soul” breathed into him by God at creation, and is the created God-man. With the transition to the New Testament, we enter the area of ​​direct theophany in Christ, and in this sense, the entire Gospel narrative containing it can and should be understood literally: “God appeared in the flesh,” and “he who has seen Me has seen the Father.” Of course, this vision must be understood in all its fullness and depth. It is not limited to external and sensory perception alone, but presupposes seeing eyes and hearing ears. Of course, neither His enemies, nor the indifferent, nor the soldiers, nor Pilate, saw or knew the theophany in Christ, seeing His bodily image, but those of the disciples who confessed: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and fell at His feet crying out: “My Lord and my God,” clearly saw it. They saw God come down from heaven and come into the world. And this vision of God was told in the Gospels (see above). But how did this ratio change after the Lord’s descent from the world? We cannot say anything here about the theophany that took place in the descent into hell, in the afterlife, except that it happened there too (and is happening due to its super-temporality). We are not told whether those spiritual manifestations that were possible in our world before the coming of Christ took place in the afterlife. It is possible to admit this, since those mystic seers themselves, the Old Testament prophets, were present in it, who foresaw the coming of the Lord and prophesied about Him while still on earth, and after their departure from the world were awarded the vision of the transfigured Lord on Tabor. And didn’t the Lord Himself say about this: “Abraham your father rejoiced to see My day, and he saw and rejoiced” (John 8:56). And further: “to this the Jews said to him: “You are not yet fifty years old - and you have seen Abraham. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (5-6). Does not this vision of Abraham, which so amazes the Jews, refer to that spiritual manifestation of theophany from beyond the grave, similar, for example, to the vision of the prophet? Daniel? How to understand that communication of Christ in the forty days, after His Resurrection until the Ascension, which is defined in the Gospels by the expression “appeared, appearance”? How does it differ from His earthly stay with the disciples? On the one hand, it differs from the latter, since it is no longer connected with the earthly limitations of place and time and is obedient only to spiritual commands. The Lord no longer lives with the disciples anywhere in a certain place, staying as if above the earth, appearing and hiding according to His will. And yet Christ still remains in this world, and this presupposes even the very possibility of His ascension, so indisputably attested by the evangelists. His glorified resurrection body still retains its earthly corporeality, evidenced through the possibility of touching, eating food, seeing, hearing His word, etc. It can be said about these phenomena that the difference between the Lord’s presence in the world before the Resurrection and after it (before the Ascension) is primarily quantitative, it relates to its continuity and, in general, its duration. The qualitative difference between these two images of being, as related to the state of His body before and after glorification, still does not negate the basic fact of His being in the world. Even if we understand this forty-day stay of His as an ascension to the Father, it is still not completed before its expiration. This applies both to His physical presence in the world and to His hypostatic one, and before the Ascension His word about Himself remains unfulfilled: “I came from the Father and came into the world, and again I leave the world and go to the Father” (John 16:29). And for that matter. The Ascension is truly the limit for Christ’s presence in the world and means removal from it. This is where the theological problem of the Christology of the Apocalypse arises, which is entirely devoted to the action of Christ in the world and connection with him after the Ascension, but even before the Parousia. It also contains visions of Christ's appearances in the world. In this respect, they also come close to the appearances of His apostle. Paul, First Martyr Stephen, St. Ananias. What can be said about all these phenomena? 142 First of all, it is necessary to draw a line of ontological difference between the appearances of Christ to the disciples after the Resurrection before the Ascension, as well as after it (in this sense, it must be said that the same Apostle John saw Christ differently as an apostle and as a seer). Dogmatically, the Ascension means the bodily removal of the incarnate Christ from the world and, in this sense, his abandonment, which continues until His Parousia. We have no indication that this bodily removal was interrupted, and this must always be remembered when understanding all the evidence of the Apocalypse about His presence and action in the world. The Lord definitely promises to send “Another Comforter” in His place, and in Him and through His medium to come and abide in peace: “I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you” (John 14:18). And this promise is fulfilled in Pentecost, which is the Parousia not only of the Holy Spirit, but in Him and through Him and Christ Himself, the Parousia of Christ in the Holy Spirit. Christ, leaving the world physically, is present in it spiritually; this is the basic truth from which one should proceed when understanding the apocalyptic phenomena of Christ. (Apocalyptic, in contrast to the Gospel, we call all the appearances of Christ, which are not only described in the Revelation of John, but also generally take place in the Church, in the lives of the saints, and the past, present and future, including the appearances of the Apostles Paul, Stephen, Ananias). But what does the spiritual appearance of Christ mean here? And first of all, is there a difference between the Old Testament vision of the “Son of Man” by the prophet. Daniel (chapter 7), as well as other theophanies (Abraham) and the New Testament, although also spiritual? Here it should be established that spirituality is a general concept that allows for different modes. And, in particular, in relation to the Second Hypostasis in its appearance in the Old Testament and in the New, there is all the difference that exists between the future and like a mirror in the fortune-telling contemplated vision of the Old Testament and the appearance of Christ in the flesh in the New. And this fundamental difference is not abolished by the fact that after the Ascension, Christ no longer remains in the world physically, but spiritually. The full power of His appearance in the flesh remains, which took place for all times. And these spiritual phenomena retain all the concreteness of His divine-human image; the bodily ascension of Christ from the world does not mean His disincarnation or the cessation of all the power and reality of His incarnation. In the New Testament, Christ appears and reveals himself as the God-man, and these appearances are the continuing revelation of His incarnation in its power. This is irrevocably in the same force as regarding the Holy Spirit descending at Pentecost: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). So, the “spirituality” of Christ’s presence in the world, as well as His appearances, does not in itself cancel the power of God’s incarnation and incarnation. His “memory” ontologically remains in the world. In him and through him, the world preserves its connection with Christ as a memory (again, ontological) of His incarnation, just as this memory and remembrance is realized in the sacrament of the Eucharist, as well as in the Holy Grail, in which the earth preserves the bodily memory of His incarnation - the blood and water that spilled from His side. According to the strength of this real memory of the world about the coming of Christ and the remembrance of him, there are also His New Testament and apocalyptic appearances, to the analysis of which we will move on. So, the appearance of Christ after the Ascension does not mean His new coming into the world earlier than Parousia and is not at all His bodily return to the world, but only a special revelation, a feeling of His connection with the world, His unceasing proximity to it. This revelation is accomplished, and this feeling is generated by the special action of the Holy Spirit, who is in dyadic unity with Christ: through the Holy Spirit the Son is revealed, His closeness is given (whereas before the Ascension it was the other way around: the Holy Spirit was given through the Son: “receive the Holy Spirit,” and this was finally accomplished through the sending of the Holy Spirit through the Son from the Father at Pentecost). However, any such appearance of Christ through the action of the Holy Spirit, in accordance with its special character and purpose, receives imagery through an internal creative act, which, not being a sensory-bodily perception, is nevertheless clothed in concrete vision or hearing. In itself, this reproduction remains in its own way as mysterious as the Old Testament spiritual vision or hearing of God. It is at the same time different from your sensory, auditory and visual perception, and at the same time it is similar in content, if not directly identical, which is why it is even identified with it in verbal expression, which needs verbal images and seeks them, in each case in its own way, subject to the law of God-manhood. So, the spiritual appearances of Christ after the Ascension are, first of all, naturally divided into two groups: New Testament and apocalyptic. The first includes the appearance of Christ to St. Stephen, which is especially clearly described as spiritual. It is said about him this way: “Stephen, 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 he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55–56). Here the source of the inspiration that was expressed in the vision of St. Stephen: "being filled with the Holy Spirit." At the same time, although it is expressed by him himself: “I see”, “I saw”, but, without any doubt, in its content it cannot be an object of sensory perception: one cannot see with bodily eyes the glory of God, the heavens are open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (of course, the Father). What is described here is a characteristically spiritual vision, but with features of complete concreteness. Here we have an obvious translation of spiritual experience into images of bodily perception. And, looking ahead, we can say in advance that the spiritual theophany to Stephen, with all the individuality of its character, is, so to speak, the key to understanding the theophany and appearances of Christ and after him, not only throughout the entire New Testament, but also after it at all times until the Second Coming itself, in different images. In particular, this includes those appearances of Christ to the saints that church history knows: such is the appearance of fire in the Eucharistic chalice of St. Sergius, the appearance of Christ during the small entrance to the liturgy of St. Seraphim (as well as the transforming action of the Holy Spirit shown by him to Motovilov), the appearance of Christ to Western saints, etc. But this same first appearance of Christ can serve as the key to understanding His further appearances described in Acts. Ap., exactly ap. Ananias and St. Pavel. The main appearance of Christ to Paul on the way to Damascus was only the illumination of light from heaven, which even blinded him, and the hearing of the voice of Jesus speaking to him (“the people who walked with him stood in a daze, hearing the voice, but not seeing the light”) (9:7), although the apostle himself. Paul later speaks about this experience of his, that Christ “appeared” to him after all, as to a certain monster (1 Cor. 15:8). In another version, it’s the other way around: “those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice that spoke to me” (Acts 22:9). This distinction testifies to the vagueness of this phenomenon for those accompanying Paul and the absence of its sensory tactility. The third version tells in the words of Paul himself that he “saw a light surpassing the sun’s radiance, shining around me and those who were with me”: “I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language. He said: I am Jesus, whom you persecute. This is why I appeared to you” (26:13-16). This “phenomenon” was not visual. This phenomenon was not unique to the ap. Paul (cf. Acts 18:9-10): “The Lord said to Paul in a vision at night: Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent”; Acts 22:17: “When I returned to Jerusalem and prayed in the church, I went into a trance and saw Him, and He spoke to me.” Here, as in the appearance of St. Stephen, the vision of Christ is accomplished in a state of frenzy, that is, by the Holy Spirit. The third appearance of the Lord (23:2) is described as follows: “The next night the Lord appeared to him and said: Be of good cheer, Paul.” So, in the entire series of these “appearances” of Christ, we do not meet one that would be, in its entire setting, truly similar to those who appeared after the Resurrection of Christ and before the Ascension. About them up. Peter said this to Cornelius: “God raised him up on the third day, and gave him to appear not to all the people, but to us, who were chosen before by God, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead” (Acts 10:40–41). In this sense, revelations were received by St. Paul from Christ, as he himself testifies: “I received it (the Gospel) and learned it not from man, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ,” but this was not His appearance to him in the same sense as to the other apostles, but there were spiritual revelations, although it is expressed in the same polysemantic words: see, saw: “The God of our fathers has chosen you, that you might know His will, by seeing the Just One and hearing the voice from His mouth” ( Acts 22:14). A similar case of spiritual revelation is the “vision” of Ananias: “The Lord spoke to him in a vision (Acts 9:10). “The Lord said to him in a vision: Go, for they are My chosen vessel” (15). Here again we have the appearance of Christ as a voice and vision, and Ananias, for his part, also determines the experience of St. Paul: “The Lord appeared to you on the way” (17). Now, let's move on to the Apocalypse, this “revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him” (1:1). It is presented as a series of visions, verbal revelations and prophecies. However, it must be said in advance that all these Christophanies do not relate to the earthly world, they do not occur on earth, but in the spiritual world, they do not relate to Christ’s stay among the disciples before death on the cross, nor to His appearances after the resurrection and before the ascension. The viewer accepts them, being “in the spirit”, under its direct influence and inspiration. If the earthly stay of Christ, like His appearance after the Resurrection, inspires and imparts the grace of the Holy Spirit, then here, on the contrary, inspiration reveals and gives rise to phenomena. Being contemplative in content, having the character of visions, in essence, the Apocalypse is a book of prophetic phenomena and revelations. If in terms of its subject it can be called (as we have already said) the fifth Gospel, it differs significantly from the Gospel narrative about the life of Christ on earth as a revelation about Him after His removal from this world to the “right hand of the Father.” What it contains comes between the Ascension and the Parousia, which in the very introduction is spoken of as something future, still to come: “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the families of the earth will mourn because of Him” (1:7). Therefore, all the appearances of Christ in the Apocalypse, although related to His incarnation, however, are not appearances in the flesh, but spiritual, no matter how we understand this spiritual contemplation of Him. Among these appearances of Christ, first of all, one must distinguish between those that are heavenly and those related to the life of this world, included in its events, although not earthly. The first category includes the visions of chapters 1, 4 and 5, the second - in different senses (see below) - all the rest. The appearance of the 1st chapter “in the spirit on the resurrection day” combines the self-testimony of the Lord Almighty, which is not more clearly defined (simply “The Lord speaks”) with a heavenly vision in which “a loud voice, as if of a trumpet,” speaks the words of Christ (characteristic already here is “as if”, which accompanies images of spiritual revelations throughout the entire Apocalypse), speaks in the name of Christ His commands (1:10–11), and then follows a vision Christ, described by features close to the epiphany to the prophet Daniel (7:9, 13–14). Of course, it is impossible to think here about the connection with all the images of this theophany about the earthly appearance of Christ, similar to those who were, both before and after the resurrection, in the human body and earthly form. This vision is, one might say, Christology in images reproduced by the prophetic imagination in a state of spiritual ecstasy and later described, obviously, from the memory of the experience. This inspiration contains not only visual images, but also prophetic hearing of the commands of God set forth in the letters to the seven churches (chap. 2–3), in which the heavenly wing touches the earthly with its wing, enters human history. Here, of course, it is even more natural to think about the subsequent recording from memory of everything that came to mind in heavenly inspiration. Of course, it is unnatural to think here as if about writing under the dictation of the Holy Spirit, but one should also recognize the human reproduction of what has been deposited in consciousness, a kind of prophetic syncretism. In the vision of the Son of Man in the 1st chapter, one might say, there is nothing Gospel related to the earthly Life of Christ; everything, its content refers to His heavenly, glorified image, which earthly humanity does not know, and yet it presupposes and includes the Gospel of the Incarnation, the incarnation of the Son of God as the Son of Man. In this respect, it is similar to the Old Testament vision of Daniel in content, but not in power, since the latter was only a prophecy about the coming God-manhood, and the first about what has already happened and exists in its power not only for earth, but in heaven. The visions of chapters 4 and 5, which, like Daniel’s, refer both to the Father Sitting on the Throne, and then to the Son, are especially characteristic of determining the nature of the visionary’s contemplations. It goes without saying that John had it, also being “in the spirit,” experiencing the direct influx of the Holy Spirit, putting into him His revelations about God, the Father and the Son, and also hears “the first voice like a trumpet” (4:1), as in the previous vision. This vision refers to the transcendental, divine world, takes place in heaven (“the door is open to heaven,” and what is seen inside it is described). In earthly, sensual images (stones, a rainbow, a throne with lightning, thunder, voices emanating from it, a glass sea) we see Him sitting on the throne. It goes without saying that this, already entirely spiritual, revelation is clothed in sensory images in human language, and all their insufficiency and approximateness are obvious; here the reproductive ability of man is exhausted. And when he writes down and describes what has been revealed to him, he grabs onto familiar images and looks for means of transmission. They are inadequate and inaccurate, but they convey the very essence of what was seen and heard, and the guarantee is the inspiration of what is described. In any case, it is obvious that it is not given to man to see God the Father sitting on the throne with human eyes, and everything said must be understood as a human story about spiritual things, about the Divine world. But a special, additional question arises when comparing chapters 4 and 5, since they combine in one common vision the image of the Father sitting on the throne and the God-man, “a lion from the tribe of Judah, the root of David” (5:5), “a Lamb as if slain.” This very union of God the Father and the God-Man in the Old Testament foreshadowing was already given in the vision of the prophet. Daniel. However, the whole difference remains between this anticipation and the vision of the Seer, since here the Heavenly Father and the already incarnate Son are combined. Since all this is a spiritual phenomenon, it can combine such content, which is further translated by the reproductive imagination, which, however, already includes the accomplished incarnation, the ontological memory or “memory” of it, which is dogmatically contained in the “new song” of the saints, dedicated to the redemptive work of Christ (5:9-10). And in the doxology the glorification of “He who sits on the throne and of the Lamb” is combined (13). It is characteristic that the “Son of Man” appears here as “a Lamb as if slain.” 143 Of course, this is not a visual image (which is why “as if” is added to it), it is a theological emblem, a dogmatic symbol with which the Seer expresses his spiritual revelation about Him. In this capacity, it generally took its usual place in dogmatic symbolism, but as a visual one it is obviously impossible. This once again confirms the truth that the images of the Apocalypse, for their true understanding, need some dogmatic translation, since they themselves arise in the creative imagination of the seer also in such a creative translation, they are a translation from a translation, a story about spiritual things, an allegory, a sacred hieroglyph. Its sensually literal perception with the transformation of the Lamb of God into a lamb contains a completely obvious incongruity and discrepancy with the inner meaning. This also includes other features characteristic of this symbolic image: the Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes. These are the same details of the vision of the book in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne, written from within and without, sealed with seven seals, which the Lamb takes from His hands, etc. All of these are symbolic allegories. In general, about the entire heavenly picture of the 4th and 5th chapters, it can be said that, of course, the seer could not see and did not see what was described here in earthly sensual images with earthly eyes, but it was a kind of spiritual evidence for him as a revelation, which he creatively puts into images in his narration, which therefore should be understood not literally sensually, but according to the spiritual content. This also includes other features of what the seer “saw” in the sky when he opened it: these are images of the angelic world, namely: the 24 elders (no matter how we understand them in the most immediate way) and especially the four animals with their characteristic features. These images belong to the heavenly, but at the same time also to the created world, the sky, about which it is said that “in the beginning God created heaven and earth,” and they are creations, albeit of the incorporeal and in this sense of the spiritual world. But even in this capacity they are not amenable to either sensory perception or visual description by the features of the animal and partly human world. This is also a translation from the language of spiritual perception of the incorporeal world into the language of human flesh. In this case, this translation has themes that are not as distant from each other as the divine and created, human worlds; here we are talking about the transfer of images of the created world, although in its different parts: earth and sky. However, here too, translation is inevitable, the language of symbols and allegories, a story in human language about the angelic world, with its inevitable humanization (which, of course, is not incarnation). Such a translation may have a certain justification and accuracy, it may be correct in this sense (and its divine inspiration guarantees this), but it cannot and should not be understood literally. Otherwise, we would become a victim of pagan myth-making, for which spiritual images turned into the reality of zoolatry. However, at the same time, we must accept that in the spiritual sense, with spiritual clairvoyance, the seer saw both animals and elders, and their actions and movements. (Here the language of occultism temptingly suggests itself with its experience of “spiritual knowledge”, but also with its limitations, due to which creaturely-spiritual soulfulness is identified with Divine spirituality). According to the “opening of the door to heaven” (also symbolic), heaven and earth become mutually permeable: in the sky the song of all creation, the voices of creation, is heard, as well as vice versa: the voices of heaven are heard by created ears. In the vision of God and the hearing of God, God Himself reveals itself to man, and man accepts the revelation of God: humanum capax divini, this is the general premise of Revelation. After these heavenly visions there follows a series of ones that can be defined as heavenly-earthly. Their distinctive feature is that in them Christ appears active in the life of the world, but not on earth, but as if (according to the favorite expression of Revelation: ὡς) above the earth, and yet in the world, and the very image of the appearance of Christ, although as the God-man, does not have the features of His appearance on earth either before or after the resurrection. He is also not the image of the appearance of the glorified Christ coming into the world in His glory, in the same way as His disciples saw Him ascending into heaven (Acts 1:11). He has His image, which was characteristic of Him on earth and even at the resurrection, but does not have flesh, although it is not disembodied. This image, corresponding to His presence in heaven at the right hand of the Father, is both different and not different from His earthly image. It expresses the coming of Christ into the world and even His continuous presence in it, but this is not Parousia in the sense of His Second Coming in the flesh. This can be expressed paradoxically in such a way that in the flesh Christ dwells in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father (of course, in that special sense that is characteristic of the dogma of the ascension of Christ in the flesh in heaven), 144 but comes to earth in a spiritual form. However, this image is significantly connected with His descent from heaven and His first coming into the world. This is one and the same image, as is one coming into the world that continues forever, that is, the incarnation of man, which is not interrupted by either the Ascension or the Second Coming. However, it has different images for itself, corresponding to the ministry of the Lord in His different states: on earth - in both states, before the Resurrection and after it - in the descent into hell, into the right hand seat of the Father, and it is both His own glorification by the glory that He had with the Father before the creation of the world, and His continuing ministry, which consists in “preparing the place” or in general is the path to the Second Coming. This state after the Ascension and before the Parousia, this Christological between, μεταξύ is revealed in Revelation as the special life and ministry of Christ, continuing in the world, and this continuation does not contradict or interfere with the state of Christ after the Ascension. On the contrary, Revelation reveals to us about this life of Christ together with the world and in the world, continuing after the Ascension, which is not the absence of Christ in the world, His separation from it, but a special presence only in it. The images of this presence, as well as its successive events, are revealed in Revelation. Therefore, it also has its own image of the appearance of Christ to the world and to man, apocalyptic, different from the Gospel, as it is given to us regarding Christ’s stay on earth, His appearances in the ascension and after it, outside the earthly world, in the afterlife, and, finally, in heaven. This image is characteristic only of the Apocalypse, it is its own, special revelation. We now turn to a consideration of these heavenly and earthly Christophanies. Their common property, as mentioned above, is such that here we have the spiritual manifestation of Christ incarnate, inaccessible to sensory, bodily perception and, however, accessible to special spiritual perception, by the power of which His contemplative, visual image is nevertheless given. In general, Revelation forces us to recognize the possibility of special spiritual feelings, which differ from carnal sensuality, but are parallel to it, corresponding, as it were, to spiritual organs. In other words, we are forced here to postulate a certain spiritual corporeality, which is parallel and correlative to the corporeal corporeality. In other words, we have to admit that each of our sensory perceptions has a correlate in the spirit (through the medium of the soul); we see, hear, smell, taste not only physically, but also spiritually. In the ordinary state of a person, both of these images of perception are connected and, as it were, identified, but they can also exist in their separateness (as well as in equal measure of connection and interpenetration). From here we conclude that spiritual perception does not mean the need for disembodiment; on the contrary, it can be accompanied by being in the flesh, but in its particularity it is not manifested, not protruding, and therefore, in fact, as if incorporeal. Thus, perhaps, we understand the nature of the apocalyptic appearances of Christ as spiritual, but also not devoid of a bodily image and affecting the spiritual organs of perception, that special ability of the spirit, which can be called spiritual corporeality or spiritual sensuality. Such appearances of Christ, ascended from the world, but not separated from the world, which are told to us in Revelation, we call, of course, conditionally, heavenly-earthly, since they relate to the heavenly presence of Christ. Of course, we can also think about such appearances of Christ existing in the world after His Parousia, which can be called and vice versa: earthly-heavenly, earthly and together heavenly, since the Lord, having again come into the world and abiding in it, does not leave heaven in His right hand seat of the Father, but this His presence in heaven and on earth remains transcendental for us and cannot in the present century be the subject of our comprehension except in the form of a general dogmatic postulate, just one possibility for this. According to this dual, heavenly-earthly nature of the appearances of Christ in Revelation, they differ in content, some as predominantly heavenly, corresponding to Christ’s stay in heaven, His action there and revelations, while others are associated with His spiritual appearances on earth. We have already considered the first ones (in chapters 1 and 5). Now let's turn to the second. Here, first of all, our attention is drawn to the appearance of the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty thousand elect. As we have indicated, here we have the spiritual appearance of Christ (as the Lamb) standing on Mount Zion, that is, in the world and on earth. No matter how spiritually we understand “Mount Zion,” that is, in a historical or transfigured image relating to Jerusalem descending from heaven, it is still an earthly place belonging to the created world, and the standing of the Lamb on Mount Zion means His coming into the world, which is not Parousia (yes, this, among other things, is determined by this definition of His coming as a Lamb, i.e. not as The King Coming in Glory in Parousia). Those 144,000 who stand with the Lamb obviously belong to the ranks of the saints who are in the afterlife and, however, accompany Him to Mount Zion. In this appearance of the Lamb, the boundaries of both worlds, the earthly and the afterlife, are removed, both of them are united in one common cause and accomplishment. These chosen ones in their afterlife, obviously in connection with the appearance of the Lamb, learn a new heavenly song, which no one else could learn. A further description of their integrity describes them as “following the Lamb wherever He goes” (14:4). This following of the Lamb presupposes His further actions, which are not spoken of here. However, even in these short words, His actions in the world are mysteriously outlined, accompanied by the participation of the elect from that world. The next appearance of Christ in the world, no longer as a Lamb, having a written name, which no one knew except Him, and at the same time the name: “The Word of God,” and finally, another name written on the thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords” (19:12, 16), is described by the special features of the one coming to war on a white horse, clothed in clothes stained with blood, with a sharp sword coming from his mouth. Thus, we have here a vivid image, moreover, a completely special one, completely absent in the Gospel, but also in Revelation. This is a spiritual-visual image of the deliberate coming of Christ to battle, accompanied by heavenly armies, to defeat the nations, the beast and the false prophet. At the same time, His coming is described as taking place from “the open heaven” (11) into the world to fight with the nations and defeat them, slaying them “with the sword of Him who sat on the horse, which proceeded from His mouth” (21). And then the battle itself is described with a multitude of all kinds of corpses (18) and, in particular, with the defeat of the beast and the false prophet, who were captured and thrown into the lake of fire. This whole picture raises a number of questions for dogmatic exegesis. First of all, it is obvious that it cannot be understood as a description of a historical event that took place in this form in this world. Even if we see here an allegory about some event that happened in history, this description is so allegorical that it does not allow for literal understanding. But at the same time it is described as an event, a special coming of Christ from heaven and a series of His actions in the world. The battle that is described here can, of course, refer to an earthly, historical event, but taken from the spiritual side, depicted allegorically, and the full extent of this allegory remains unknown, although it is attributed, in any case, decisive significance. The personal participation of Christ in this battle, in any case, remains part of spiritual symbolism, the main idea of ​​which is clear. It can be expressed this way: Christ acts, coming from heaven, on earth, directs earthly events and the course of history, takes part in the world struggle not only transcendentally, from heaven, but also immanently, in the world, although, of course, only spiritually. Thus, in the 19th chapter we have a completely clear and indisputable expression of the idea that Christ does not remain in heaven inactively awaiting His own Parousia, but also prepares times and seasons for it in history, and this preparation is of decisive importance. We cannot say anything more here, because everything is hidden in allegory, but there is also no way to evade this dogmatic truth. Here is evidence of a spiritual-historical, transcendental-immanent event, which equally allows for the understanding of both a single accomplishment and a series of accomplishments, of course, of a homogeneous or unambiguous nature, a certain crisis in the history of the world, which occurs not only due to internal, immanent development, historically matures, but is also accomplished with the active participation of the spiritual world, even Christ Himself, “coming into the world” in a special, corresponding way. At the same time, we have to admit that the images of the spiritual-historical war depicted here are among the most mysterious, difficult to understand in all of Revelation, and, one might say, in all of New Testament writing. The further, final chapters of Revelation are distinguished by even greater mystical richness and complexity of content. This is, first of all, its 20th chapter. Without stopping for now on the chaining and imprisonment of Satan in the abyss, our attention is drawn to the story in its entire complex of preceding and subsequent events, presented, moreover, with lapidary brevity. First of all, to what world do the visions relating to the first resurrection refer? We have to say that they do not relate to our earthly world, but remain beyond it, taking place in the afterlife, moreover, before the general resurrection of the dead. “And I saw thrones and them sitting on them, to whom judgment had been given, and the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God” (20:4). “They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” What kind of judgment and the participation in it of those in the afterlife are being talked about here? If in general our ideas about the life of the deceased in the afterlife are complicated on the basis of the evidence of Revelation, then here this complication is enriched with even new features, namely the idea of ​​some kind of afterlife and some kind of obviously preliminary judgment with their participation, although, of course, the judgment itself is pronounced in final force only by Christ. Of course, this begs comparison with the apostolic word that “the saints will judge the world” (1 Cor. 6:2) and even the angels (3), in all its uncertainty. Here it receives an additional, expansive explanation, according to which this judgment is completed and begins already beyond the grave. No further explanation, however, is given about this. In the afterlife, not only judgment begins and takes place, but also resurrection - not of all (because “the rest did not live”, being in a state of deathly powerlessness), but of the elect, who, on the contrary, lived to reign with Christ for a thousand years” (20:4). If we do not weaken or actually abolish this revelation, which is what the efforts of some exegetes are directed towards, then here we are talking about a certain return of the power of life, the “revival” of souls that took part in the “first resurrection”, but not accompanied by the revival of bodies, i.e. their resurrection and their new possession. This describes a special state of life, unknown to us on earth. We know only two states: life and death, the latter awaits us beyond the grave, although we have no experimental knowledge about it here. The state of the soul in separation from the body, according to the entire teaching of Revelation, is not just a fainting of life, but a continuing life, but this continuation of it is still accompanied by such separation. It is as if no exceptions are made even for those holy souls who have prayerful boldness before God and participate in their own way in heavenly praises with the angels. We can say that in their disembodiment they are likened to disembodied heavenly forces, which are characterized by certain spiritual bodies or souls. For that general participation in the life of the world, which is characteristic of the deceased, such a state is sufficient. Therefore, this word of the seer receives all the more special meaning: “they came to life and reigned with Christ,” moreover, in a double sense. First of all, this defines their own state, which differs from the afterlife in its special fullness of vital forces, and this state is brought about by the direct influence of the power of Christ on them. But this also determines their new participation in the life of the world and with the world, no longer from the outside, but from within it - since this is the resurrection from the dead, albeit the first. This participation in the life of the world is defined as “reigning in it with Christ for a thousand years,” that is, a special, unknown to us, mysterious image of direct participation in history, relating to a certain historical period of it, a millennium (no matter how we generally define this period). Next, a number of new, although hitherto unanswered questions arise regarding this participation: does it remain as unknown and transcendental in the life of the world as the participation of the dead, or does it become immanent and accessible, at least for some chosen ones, or generally for the Church of Christ on earth? But, in any case, here a new, special image of the connection between the earthly and the afterlife is revealed, which is especially significant in its consequences and its significance for world history, which it internally seems to end (although there is still room for the last historical ellipsis before the cliff - the end of the world, the uprising of Gog and Magog). But in relation to the Christophany on earth, the first resurrection and the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth with the saints reveals another new image of the coming of Christ in the world before Parousia, different from those revealed above. The deceased “came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years,” this means not only a mysterious appearance, but also the coming and presence of Christ in the world, but through the afterlife, in the first resurrection. Thus, there is still a special action of Christ in the world, although only from the side of the afterlife. This suggests a comparison between the descent of Christ into hell and the preaching “in hell” as a definite action of His, or, rather, a series of actions that continue in the first resurrection, and “hell”, of course, does not mean here the hellish state of sinners, but in general the state of death as the separation of the soul from the body, which generally applies to all the dead. As part of the 20th chapter, another question arises about the vision of the seer (“I saw”) regarding the judgment of the “dead”, which is carried out by “He who sits on the great white throne.” This contains a unique picture of the judgment, which differs in certain features from that in the Synoptic Gospels. We have already discussed this chapter in our place. This vision has a heavenly-earthly character, it is similar to the visions of Daniel, as well as the first (1, 4 and 5) chapters of Revelation. It combines the symbolic reproduction of spiritual revelations in the creative imagination of the seer, who, in the language of human images, is called upon to tell the transcendental, on the one hand, relating to the divine world, and on the other to the world, although created-human, but in such a state that is created-transcendent in relation to the present. The same can be said about the content of chapters 21 and 22, where, also in the symbols of creative imagination, the sacred writer tells spiritual revelations as contemplations of what he saw: “I saw,” and, however, when listing what he saw, the entire transcendence of these visions becomes obvious, if we take these images literally. For what do they mean and how can one “see” the new heaven and the new earth? Obviously, we are talking about prophetic inspirations of a certain content, evoking certain images, similar to similar cases with other prophecies, such as Ezekiel’s visions of the Jerusalem temple, etc. But in these last chapters, although they speak about the actions of Christ and His words, there are no direct visions of Christ and about Christ, as in the previous cases. Concluding this review of the latter, we must once again express a general dogmatic judgment about them. It is in them that they do not talk about Parousia as the second coming of Christ in the flesh, but they also do not talk about the “appearances” of Christ on earth, similar or similar to those that took place after His resurrection and before the ascension, according to the Gospels. In the ascension, Christ in the flesh is removed from the world until the Parousia, which remains unique in its kind and is not repeated. The apocalyptic visions of Christ differ from these phenomena, as well as from the Parousia, and yet the essence of His coming into the world and actions in it of a special, spiritual nature. They are events in history, of historical and world significance. To that extent, in prophetic foresight, they are spiritually contemplated by the prophet, experienced by him, and clothed in appropriate images in verbal transmission. But, in any case, these are not only images of prophetic imaginative inspiration, nor spiritual events that are experienced in a prophetic vision before their occurrence in time, just as it was with some of the most important Old Testament insights into a future event. The area of ​​what is contemplated and experienced by the viewer here expands beyond the boundaries of this world, into what is transcendental for him. In connection with the apocalyptic visions of Christ, the question also arises about the appearances of the Mother of God: are they in Revelation? A direct answer to this question is difficult, and it can even be given in both senses, positive and negative. In the latter sense, we can say that in Revelation the Ever-Virgin Mary is not directly spoken of, there is no mention of Her name. But although without this direct naming, Her image appears here and there, as a kind of sacred transparent shadow, in which one can, however, see Her. This includes, first of all, although strongly, so to speak, veiled by complicating features of even a mythological nature, the image of the Woman clothed with the sun in chapter 12. In a completely different image, Her appearance is not so much seen as felt in chapter 19:7, which speaks of the marriage of the Lamb and His Wife, who prepared Herself, and even more so in chapter 21:9, where the angel wants to show the seer “the Woman, Bride of the Lamb." At the same time, he shows him the Heavenly Jerusalem, connecting these two, although different, images, but ecclesiologically connected with each other. And finally, the last and, so to speak, only verbal appearance of the Mother of God is contained in the words: “both the Spirit and the Bride say: come” (22:17), where the Unbrided Bride is united in the inseparability of a certain and, which has a certain Mariological meaning when applied to the Spirit-Bearer. All this gives sufficient grounds to conclude that the presence of the Mother of God, if not Her direct appearance, is given and felt in Revelation. And this gives reason to pose the same general question about the nature of the phenomenon from there, from the world of the divine, spiritual, beyond the grave, in relation to our transcendental empiricism. And, in particular, first of all, this question must be posed regarding the Mother of God and Her appearance in the world. The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, together with Her resurrection and ascension, dogmatically means Her heavenly glorification, however, this Her ascension into heaven is not an descent from the created world, similar to the Ascension of the Lord and His sitting at the right hand of the Father, but a stay on the brink of the world: “In the Dormition you did not leave the world, O Theotokos.” In a certain sense, this “place” of the presence of the Most Holy Theotokos in Her honorable Dormition can be likened to a stay in the afterlife in the sense of separation from our world, although it differs in the presence of the Most Holy Theotokos and Her glorified body. How should the appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos in the world be dogmatically understood by Her chosen saints? In a certain sense, She remains closer to the world “not left by Her in Dormition” than the Lord who ascended into heaven (although, by the power of His incarnation, He “abides with us all the days until the end of the age”). But at the same time, She is higher and in this sense further from us than the entire afterlife and even the angelic world, as “the most honest cherub and the most glorious seraphim without comparison.” Therefore, the appearance of the Mother of God in the world and Her presence in it and with it must be understood by analogy with the appearances of the Lord in the spiritual world in the sense explained above. Although the Most Holy Theotokos does not disincarnate in Her Dormition, Her glorified corporeality cannot be equated with our mortal corporeality, and Her visions in this sense are perceived not by carnal, but by spiritual (or, more precisely, spiritual-bodily) eyes. Rev. The Mother of God, according to the teachings of the Church, without separating from the world, deigns to come into it and remain in it in places chosen by Her will (as well as in places of Her special presence - in “miraculous” icons). She is closer to us than Christ, who has ascended and is seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father (with which Her more repeated appearances are connected). But these comings of Her into the world until the general resurrection remain only phenomena accessible not to bodily, but to spiritual or spiritual-bodily perception. Therefore, in the afterlife, after liberation from the body of death, the region of the spiritual world of angels and the departed becomes more accessible and natural to this spiritual perception, with the Most Holy. The Mother of God at its head. Based on what has been said, one should also understand the spiritual presence of the Mother of God in the visions of the Apocalypse in all the obscurity, so to speak, of its outlines, as a Woman clothed in the sun, the Wife and Bride of the Lamb. These are not so much visions and images as spiritual phenomena, revelations, approximations, in this sense more elusive than the spiritual manifestations of Christ. In connection with the above, one should also understand the appearances from the afterlife as individual, individual saints, and accompanied by them of Christ and the Mother of God, as is captured in church tradition, as well as in icons. These phenomena of the departed, existing not in the body, but in the souls, of course, also belong to the number of spiritual ones, in the sense that here this communication, by the special permission of God, takes place through the spiritual-spiritual receptivity of a person, his ability to perceive impressions not only with the bodily senses, but also spiritually, and these perceptions can also be clothed in images related to the contemplation of this world. The artistic creativity of the icon painter can also be nourished by these same contemplations, since in his images he does not just follow the established canon or stencil, but inspiredly penetrates into the personal character of the person depicted. From here we once again conclude that the world accessible to our knowledge or “experience” is wider than the empiricism to which it is limited in the ideas of many. In this sense, we can say that all life in the Church, both general and personal, with its constant breakthroughs into the beyond, is an ongoing apocalypse as a meeting, contact and interpenetration of two worlds or different worlds. In connection with this feature of Revelation, it is natural to touch upon other similar features of its content and its other contemplations, related, if not directly to the divine, but in any case to transcendental existence. This, strictly speaking, is the essence of most of the visions and images of Revelation. They either directly relate to the spiritual world in the broadest sense, or they are the spiritual content of the overthrows in the history of this world, their ontology. The first category includes all the vast and diverse content of Revelation, related to angelology. Here, as we already know, the broadest and most effective participation of St. is revealed. angels in the life of the world and human history, which is thereby angelic and human. The angelic world is contemplated by the seer in his prophetic visions in heaven, on earth, in the natural world and even in the underworld. One can ask whether such a vision of the incorporeal and, in this sense, spiritual world is possible for a person. But this is not an independent question that arises only in connection with Revelation. The holy books are full of examples of this kind, and even on the basis of the experience of the life of the Church this, so to speak, ontological contiguity of the two worlds is evidenced. This generally indicates that “experience” is not limited only to the empirical world, but expands, including the region of the spiritual world. This is, so to speak, an intermediate step between contemplation of the divine and natural worlds. On the one hand, the very possibility of perceiving the angelic, incorporeal world for a person clothed with flesh is something miraculous epistemologically, and at the same time it testifies to the transparency of the boundaries of Kant’s empiricism, if we understand it not only as the actual state of a cognizing person and his state of being clothed in flesh. However, this is not the only possibility of knowledge, for the human spirit, in connection with the soul, can also be in a state of disembodiment after death. True, in this life, such a state remains experimentally unknown to us, since our entire life, and in particular knowledge, remains connected with the flesh. However, only a crudely materialistic worldview, which completely denies the presence of a spiritual principle in man and an afterlife beyond the grave, is capable of stopping at this with the denial of all other possibilities beyond this life. If we do not believe what our faith teaches us, that is, the afterlife with all the possibilities of new knowledge included in it, a special spiritual, more precisely, spiritual-soul “experience”, afterlife knowledge, then we must epistemologically postulate the presence of its possibility, so to speak, spiritual epistemology, although it remains inaccessible to us in this life. However, this inaccessibility is not complete and exhaustive, since a person is given the ability to experience a state of gracious inspiration, to have a spiritual experience. The entire grace-filled life of the Church (in particular the sacramental life) is based on this possibility. But in addition to this spiritual life, a person also has a spiritual-soul side, the same one that after death, after the separation of the soul from the body, comes into full force. However, in order for such a separation to occur in death, there must be something to separate from: in death, the ability that is overshadowed by the body and is inactive in it is only liberated and begins to live an independent life. However, it exists and in certain exceptional states of a person it becomes accessible to his “experience” even in earthly life. This corresponds to what is defined in the prophetic books as being “in the spirit.” But even in addition to such directly prophetic insights, a person in certain states of the soul has access to the experience of the spiritual world in certain visual, auditory, and even tactile images. To that extent, for a person in his spiritual-soul side, as if corresponding to his disembodiment in the afterlife, the vision and knowledge of the angelic world becomes available, with which the Apocalypse can be said to be filled. The viewer, being “in the spirit,” is, as it were, freed from bodily limitations, likened to disembodied spirits, who, although they do not have a body, have a soulfulness that brings them closer to this side and to the human world. Since a person can see angels, however, not with bodily, but with spiritual-soul eyes, figuratively (cf. Rev. chapters 10, 14, 15, 16, etc.), and hear their voices also not with bodily, but with spiritual hearing. But this also includes revelations of the afterlife, which also abound in the Apocalypse. The souls of the dead, as if disembodied in their separation from the body through death, become similar until their resurrection, that is, a new incarnation, to the world of disembodied spirits, although spiritual-soul. To the extent that they are open to direct communication with the angelic world (of course, according to the state and character of each individual soul). “Gnosiologically” they belong to the same plane, they belong to a common ethereal world, which is evidenced in the images of the Apocalypse (cf. chapters 6:9-11; 7:9-10; 13-17; 15: 2-4; 19:1-6, etc.). This also includes the experience of the fallen spiritual world, contact or communication with dark power. Prologues, lives of saints, and spiritual writing in general are filled with evidence of this kind: they speak of the appearances of angels, and even more often of demons, as something taken for granted. 145 And shouldn’t this also include “hallucinations,” which, if not in all, then at least in many cases, are not subjective creations of a diseased imagination and nerves (if such a definition says anything essentially), but also correspond to spiritual reality. This, at least, is the Gospel description of these phenomena as an expansion of spiritual experience through communication with demons in demon possession, in conversation with demons and even Satan of the Lord Himself, in general from the openness of the spiritual world. The same is the general teaching about this of the Church, which knows special prayers for the expulsion of demons, the power of which, together with the commandment: “cast out demons,” was given to the apostles by Christ Himself. If it is possible to pose the question of lack of content epistemologically, then this precisely confirms that, even while still in the flesh, a person already has within himself the possibility of, so to speak, an out-of-body experience, analogous to the afterlife. All these considerations are an answer to the general question of how to understand “epistemologically” those numerous and varied revelations of the demonic world that are contained in the Apocalypse. Is this a product of the creative imagination of the sacred writer, or is it evidence of some reality contemplated by him, which should not be defined as demonic possession, for demons do not have power over the soul of the seer and do not seduce him, they do not “enter” him (just as Satan “entered” the unfortunate soul of another apostle, Judas), but they come into contact with him through his prophetic contemplation. The answer can be in both senses: both are true. It is indisputable that the very expression in human language of impressions that are beyond the human world and transcendental to the human world, the story about them presupposes a certain act of effort of creative, even artistic imagination and the corresponding language. But at the same time - and this is the most important thing, of course - the prophet-seer contemplated, experienced these realities, had this contemplative communication with the demonic world, as it was revealed to him, not only in the present, but also in the future. The objectivity of this revelation is completely similar both in relation to all angels as performers and proclaimers of the will of God (including here the heavenly visions of 24 elders and 4 animals), and in relation to all demonic images. Of course, here we have to make a difference in the very nature of individual images: sometimes these are direct personal meetings or visions, such as the dragon and his armies. Sometimes these are mystical generalizations and personifications that correspond to mystical forces and realities, but without a face or personality. Are these not the images of the beast (and beasts) and the false prophet, the Whore of Babylon (the same question arises in a different way regarding the Antichrist and antichrists in apostolic writing as a person or a collective personification)? The exact distinction between these different images remains beyond human capacity, and all that remains is to indicate this general possibility of such a distinction, which is of no importance for the essence of the matter. But this also includes images and visions of mystical content, reaching great complexity. These, first of all, are the images of chapter 12, which combines the vision of a woman clothed in the sun with a dragon pursuing her, then the war in the sky of the Archangel Michael and his armies with the dragon and his army, ending with his overthrow from heaven and his further actions in the heavenly realms. Here, spiritual revelations about forces and events are imprinted in the creative imagination of the seer, like such spiritual events as two witnesses, their ministries and further destinies. This also includes the images of the beast, the false prophet, the harlot and their fate (chapters 13, 17). Finally, in a certain sense, the images of Heavenly Jerusalem also belong here (chap. 21–22). It is natural, however, that in such complex combinations of images that are needed to express mystical events, the reproductive and artistic creativity of the sacred writer himself manifests itself more palpably, with his own style, as well as the style of the era and literary type (apocalyptic). This makes understanding the images more difficult, especially when a political code is also mixed in. And in general, the translation from the language of spiritual and mental-physical phenomena into the language of earthly images, just as the narration about them is inevitably accompanied by great difficulties and inaccuracies, puts the stamp of a certain mystery and mystery, and even some fantasticness, sometimes almost delirium (in trumpets and bowls) on the entire content of the Apocalypse as a narration about another world and also from another world. This special character of the content of Revelation, unique in its kind, poses for dogmatic as well as textual exegesis the following general question, so to speak, the apology of the Apocalypse, the justification of its very existence and the right to it. Of course, such a question cannot exist formally and dogmatically, since it is answered by the force of the very fact of its existence. Its presence in the sacred canon is already its justification and the Church’s confirmation of its divine inspiration and, therefore, the highest and indisputable expediency, usefulness, necessity and, so to speak, the very possibility of such a revelation. However, bowing before the power of a dogmatic fact, we cannot help but strive to understand and comprehend it with human understanding, not only to justify it apologetically, but also to accept and comprehend its highest value. The question of the apology of the Apocalypse is this: firstly, how is the Apocalypse possible as a special type of revelation, and is it even possible, and, secondly, is it necessary and is it not an unnecessary burden for exegetes, although an entertaining toy for historical criticism? Regarding the first question, about the very possibility of the Apocalypse, we should once again note its special character in subject and style, making it unique in its kind, although even tedious in terms of the congestion of images and the mystical condensation of content. However, this particular difficulty of his, which is more than redeemed by all the sublimity and intensity of his inspirations, does not deprive him of the “epistemological” right to existence that we tried to establish above. It is true that most of its events, as its general content, being transcendental in relation to this world, are thereby only a translation into the language of our immanent experience, insufficient and inaccurate even with all the stunning power of its images. A concern may arise whether such a translation is not some kind of schematic abstraction, which, moreover, is connected with well-known mythology. We can say that the Apocalypse remained like that to a certain extent for centuries, a kind of alien, unnecessary thing that seemed to be imposed on the Church by the history of the canon. However, this blasphemous idea of ​​imposition is subverted by the fact that the Apocalypse was given to the Church by the Holy Spirit precisely as the last and, as it were, forced revelation, which it must accommodate without diminishing it and without hiding from it. The main content of the Apocalypse—the reign of Christ in the world—is so essential and irreducible within Christology and ecclesiology that this theme itself sufficiently justifies it. In the entire New Testament, in the entire Bible, this topic is not revealed from such angles and with such a degree of specificity, and therefore visual persuasiveness, as in the Apocalypse. In general, there are such transcendental, and therefore abstract and at the same time mythological-sounding themes in the Bible, mainly related to the beginning and end of the world, the doctrine of its origin and eschatology, as well as to other most mysterious teachings (at least, for example, the Song of Songs). If here they are inevitable, then all the more so must this be said about Revelation as the most New Testament book of the entire New Testament... Therefore, the dogmatic teaching of the Church, like theology, does not have the power to close its eyes to the revelation of Revelation due only to its secrecy, in which the will of God should be seen: the “future” is so open here, no more, but no less. The negative or indifferent attitude towards the Apocalypse can be likened to the attitude towards the fourth Gospel, with its spiritual depths and in its originality, of many theologians who limit the Gospel to weather forecasters for the sake of simplification; A similar simplification and, as it were, unloading of the Bible is the attitude towards the Apocalypse, which exists not only in circles that honestly deny it in their limitations, but also in words that do not deny it, but actually abolish its special content and themes. This general consideration is joined by another. As the word of God, the Apocalypse is given not only for its own age, but for all centuries, for all eras of history, and each perceives it in the apperception of its own historical perception. At the same time, different historical eras may differ in their different character and degree of their apocalyptic susceptibility to its special content and timbre. And here it is impossible not to say that our era, with its stunning events, opens this heavenly book for us in a new way, forces us to look at this mystical mirror of human destinies, to look in it for clues to the historical riddle of our own destinies. We have been so shaken and shaken by history that we have an apocalyptic sense of life and history, so that many things that did not exist before now confront us in all their urgency. However, even now much in the symbolism of Revelation still remains undisclosed and incomprehensible to us. But it was written and given not only for one time, in particular for ours, but for all times of history, which has not yet ended, but continues. This is an indirect justification for our limitations in its understanding and in its relativity. Revelation is revealed and has yet to be revealed in history, which is a historical commentary on it, an actual revelation about Revelation, which in fact becomes more and more complete and convincing. History, as it is depicted in the Apocalypse, is a divine-human accomplishment in which human destinies are united with the deeds and appearances of Christ in the world, and the latter relate not only to the past and present, but also to the future, which has not yet come, for who would dare to say that all the deeds of Christ in His accession in the world have already been completed and ended? History continues as the ongoing and accomplished reign of Christ in the world. Finally, to all this and the apology of the Apocalypse, we must also add the fact that it, of course, like the whole word of God, and especially the Four Gospels, is “eternal,” but in a special sense it is given not only for us, humans, but also for all worlds, i.e., both for the spiritual and the afterlife. Naturally for us it is hidden, as it is comprehended in them, as Revelation is revealed here, however, from its content it is obvious that it also applies to them, in the general connectedness of their life and ours. And if this side of the justification of the Apocalypse remains inaccessible to us, it is not insignificant for us. The measure and manner of perception of the Apocalypse, in addition to the general scientific and exegetical methods of theological science, are also determined by the personal state of the person approaching it, his personal revelation, special anointing and calling to it. A prophetic book requires a prophetic attitude and perception towards itself, and at the same time, it gives rise to it. The main and only theme of the Apocalypse, like its prophetic preaching, is to endure history courageously and to the end, for it is also the accession of Christ the King, the path to the Kingdom of Christ in the world, accomplished on the cross and taking place in the ways of the cross in the world. “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age. Amen" (Matthew 28:20). I must make a similar confession about myself, in connection with my own dogmatic writings and questionings. Only at the very end of my exposition of dogmatics, in its final part, in the Bride of the Lamb, the theme of which, like the title, in a certain sense are given by Revelation, did I feel the need to rethink “Revelation”, namely, as the last word of dogmatics and in particular ecclesiology and eschatology. This is what I am doing now as its afterword - as an afterword specifically to the Bride of the Lamb, since only short and insufficient pages are devoted to it here. In this sense, the topic of this essay is not exegetical, but dogmatic, although in this case, of course, purely exegetical excursions are inevitable, in which, however, I openly rely not on my own, but on other people’s research. Hello. Saint Jean. L'Apocalypse, Introduction, p. CXXXIX. Paris. 1921. Wed. R. Bonnetain. Grace (Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplement, t. III, p. 1146.). Paris 1938. The very expression “revelation”, “to open up”, of course, is found in certain texts, for example. 1 Cor. 14:26 ; Prem. Iis. With. Sire. 2:27; 22:22; 52:1. (Compare the title of 2 Baruch, “The Book of the Revelation of Baruch the son of Neriah...”). Further makarisms are as follows: 14:13; 16:15; 19:9a; 20:6; 22:7, 14. The last two confirm in general form the promise of Christ: “Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Hello, 1. p. CXVI-CXX gives a number of convincing considerations, on the basis of which it should be concluded that the ap. Paul did not hope to wait for the second coming of Christ and even to be a contemporary of the events that preceded it, such as the conversion of Israel, the pagans, etc. Despite the fact that grammatical agreement with the preposition requires the genitive case, the nominative is used here as evidence of the grammatical indeclinability of the Divine name, as evidence of its inherent eternity. Wed. comparison of similar texts in Charles,” I, 10. The most important here is Deut. 32:39: “It is I, I who am and who was and who will be.” Wed. similar texts among the Greeks: Pausanias, 12.5; Plutarch, de Iside, Orphic verse corresponding to the content. The same Hebraistic feature in the use of case as in Art. 4: nominative instead of genitive. The visions of other prophets (like Zechariah and some others) are less significant. Chalcolivan is an unidentifiable metal that expresses strength and durability. What determines this choice of seven churches? All of them are located in the west and in the center of the proconsular province of Asia, in b. kingdom of Pergamum. Acts 18:19–21 talk about the sermon of the apostle. Paul in Ephesus. From here the Gospel spread in the Meander and Lycus valleys, and important Christian communities were founded in Colossae, Giorapolis and Laodicea (Col. 2:1; 4:13–16, cf. Acts 19:10). Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira and Philadelphia were enlightened at the same time. The choice of these particular churches is not entirely clear. It is clear that such important centers as Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum were included here, as well as Sardis and Laodicea as administrative centers. But Thyatira and Philadelphia were only secondary cities of both conventus. The geographical choice of these cities is also not entirely clear: the south, north and east of Asia remain outside it, and even not all cities are named from its western part. But it should be noted that all these seven cities are located on the large ring road, which connected the richest, most influential and populated parts of the province. They are arranged in the order in which a messenger from Fr. Patmos, leaving for the continent. He set out, naturally, from the large port of Ephesus north through Smyrna to Pergamum along the road built by the Romans. From there, turning to the southeast by the road of the imperial mail, it would pass successively through Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, from where, returning by the great central imperial road along the valleys of Meander and Caistrus, it could return to Ephesus, thus leaving in each of the churches the epistles of John and distributing them along the way. Wed. “Jacob’s Ladder”, a chapter about Guardian Angels, given not only to each individual, but also to human societies, peoples, and in particular their religious associations. We draw attention to this promise of the deliberate coming of Christ, of course, different from the Parousia, or the Second Coming in glory. About the multiple comings of Christ into the world before Parousia, see below, in different places and in a special excursion. The expression: “a satanic synagogue of those who say about themselves that they are Jews, but are not such, but lie” will be repeated twice with only a small variation in appeals to the churches: (2:9~and 3:9). What does this false self-name, as if imposture, mean? Obviously, this does not apply to those true Jews “who keep a sacred “remnant” of themselves, destined for salvation, according to the prophecy of St. Paul (Rom. 11), even if at this time in their immediate state they remain far from Christ or are directly hostile to Him (like the same Paul when he was still Saul). And they are contrasted with the Jews by blood, who in their spiritual emptiness during the times of the Old Testament deserved all the forgiveness of the prophets, and in our days are the bearers of godlessness and materialism, but at the same time and because of this, persecutors of Christianity (for example, in Bolshevism). Nevertheless, as follows from what follows (3:9), the time will come for them to recognize and worship true “Philadelphia” Christianity. Jasper has three shades: 1) matte dark stone; 2) green stone; 3) red stone. Smaragd is a mountain crystal. For the epiphanies in Revelation, see the special excursion. In this sense, it is also incomprehensible that the seer addresses one of the elders as inferior to superior: χύριε (7:13), if he himself belongs to the number of the apostles and, therefore, is included in the New Testament twelve. The images of the four animals supporting the throne are syncretistic (cf. Charles I, 119–123). Let us note here that in the religious-historical order we have to constantly reckon with this syncretism, in other words, with the fact that many images of the apocrypha, apocalypse, and including ours, bear traces of all the complexity and antiquity of their origin, and therefore their polysemy, both in their individual elements and in their whole. How should one treat this fact religiously? Does this devalue them, reducing them to simple borrowing or influence of literary tradition, a kind of mutual copying from common sources, as “critical” research generally understands it now, or does it not detract from their divine revelation even in the presence of this fact? This question should be answered like this. Spiritual contemplations and mystical experiences in all their divinely revealed power and authenticity are not in the least diminished, but they are characterized by a certain indescribability and inexpressibility, which requires means to tell about itself, to be told and written down according to some sacred memory. At the same time, some of these memories retain the character of ineffability (such, for example, the vision of the Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 12: 4), while others can and should be told according to the direct command of God, such are the prophetic visions (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and other prophets) and for this they need verbal images. And this retelling, which requires the means of literary symbolism, is in itself a kind of artistic creativity, but at the same time it also needs a solid, measured plan, to a certain extent rational. Such is our Apocalypse. But these images that the viewer is looking for come to him from all the riches of symbolism that the era has at its disposal, we would say, from its literary influences, which open the doors wide for literary syncretism. At the same time, it should also be noted that these images, borrowed by him, are not mystically and even religiously empty, they contain contemplation and “natural” revelation. But at the same time they need verification and correction, which is given by the inspiration of the sacred writer. At St. Irenaeus corresponds to the Evangelist Matthew with the image of a man, Mark with an eagle, Luke with a calf, and John with a lion. In Evangelist Victorinus, Matthew corresponds to the image of a man, Mark to a lion, Luke to a calf, and John to an eagle. The same identification was characteristic of the early Church (as in modern iconography). Books could be written in two ways: either as a scroll consisting of a number of separate sheets or pages (cf. Luke 4:17), or from papyri written on both sides, “within and without,” as in this case (this is called “opisphograph” - ὀπισθὸγραφον, cf. Ezek. 2:10, in addition to being sealed). Obviously, such a scroll can be read only after all seven seals placed on it have been removed. However, according to the presentation of Revelation, the contents of what is written sequentially become available upon the opening of each of the seven seals. Obviously, the symbolic image of the sealing of the entire book is not fully maintained here, since the opening of each of the seals is already accompanied by a corresponding revelation. Worthy “to open this book and open its seven seals” (5:2, 5) is the Lamb Himself, who does this (chap. 6:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12; 8:1). Similarly, Daniel, after one of his visions and revelations, “was faint and sick for several days” (Dan. 8:27). Another time, after a revelation and vision - “in these days I, Daniel, was in mourning for three weeks of days. I didn’t eat tasty bread; meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with ointment until the completion of three weeks of days” (10:2). The word ἀρνίον occurs 29 times in the 22 chapters of the Apocalypse (in other texts of the New Testament – ​​ἀμνός). Wed. Number 23:22 ; Deut. 33:17 ; 1 Sam. 2:1; 1 Kings 22:11; Zach. 1:18 ; Dan. 7:7, 20; 8:3 ~v. Comparing the two doxologies in verses 12 and 13, we find such a difference in them that the first of them is sevenfold: “power and riches, and wisdom and strength, and honor and glory and blessing” (also in 7:12), while the second is fourfold: “blessing, and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever” (in 4:9, 11 - threefold: “glory, and honor, and thanksgiving" (12) and "glory, and honor, and strength" (11) Without exaggerating the significance of these differences, which may, to a certain extent, have liturgical origin and significance, nevertheless, we note them as not accidental, each in its own place. Hinix - the daily wage of a laborer (1.079 liters), a denarius less than a franc, during a famine. In other times, its purchasing power was 8, 12, 16 times greater (according to Cicero). The text speaks of great need, but not absolute hunger. Cards. Noteworthy is the comparison of Rev. 5 with the “small Gospel Apocalypse,” perhaps having a common source. We find it in Charles III, 158: This idea is partly associated with the comparison of him with “a serpent on the road, an adder on the way, biting the horse’s leg, so that its rider falls back” (Gen. 49:17). It has already been noted above that this sevenfold doxology occurs in 5:12. The only difference is that in the latter text it is directly addressed to the Lamb, in the first to “your God,” although it is preceded by: “our God who sits on the throne, and the Lamb” (10). In Revelation, the altar in heaven is mentioned 7 times: 6:9; 8:3~and 5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7. The question arises whether the two altars, incense and burnt offerings, are distinguished here in chapter 8 or not (Charles I, 226-229). The trumpets of both men and angels in biblical usage correspond to accomplishments of exceptional power and significance. This includes in V.Z. : the proclamation of the law at Sinai (Ex. 19:16, 19; the fall of the walls of Jericho (Josh. 6:13–20; Joel (the day of the Lord); in the New Testament: Matt. 24:31; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 6:10 ~ (the trumpets of the archangels at the second coming of the Lord). It is not without reason that the angel who prophetically announces the future (that “there will be no more time”), swears by “the One who lives forever and ever” (i.e., God in His eternity and transcendence), who created the sky and everything that is in it, the earth and everything that is in it, and the sea and everything that is in it” (6), i.e., the Creator. Here the antinomy of the eternal transcendental God and the Creator is taken in all its strength and nakedness precisely in the face of the mystery of prophecy. Wed. Allo, 1. p., excursion XXII, 139–142. Allo, 1. p., excursion XXIII, 142–146. “And thou shalt come” of the Russian and Slavic texts is absent in most Greek manuscripts, but, of course, is implied in the general sense of expressing the eternity of God, as it is in other parallel texts of the same meaning: 1:4; 1:8; 4:8. Revelation knows in this part of it seven times the use of this word: cf. another 12:3; 15:1; 13:13–14; 16:14, 26. Rahab, in Is. 51:9–10; Ps. 88:11; Job. 26:12–13; Leviathan - Ps. 73:14; Ps. 25:13 ; Behemoth - Job. 40:10. The text of Zechariah has a detailed, although less indisputable, meaning. 3:1–2: “And he showed me Jesus the great priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan: The Lord rebuke you, Satan; the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you.” (Cf. Jude 1:9: “Michael the Archangel, when he spoke with the devil, arguing about the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce a reproachful judgment, but said: “The Lord rebuke you”). This “may the Lord rebuke you,” as well as the argument with Satan, in any case, comes closer to the prologue of the book of Job than to the Apocalypse - it rather refers to the position of Satan in heaven before the overthrow rather than after it. The supposed names of the emperors (“kings”) here are: Nero-Galba or Otton, Otton or Vitellus, Vespasianus, Titus; the one that exists is a contemporary of the Apocalypse Domitianus, the latter is encrypted. Σεβαδτός. During his lifetime, churches were dedicated to Augustus with the inscription: “to the goddess of Rome and to the divine Caesar.” Similar dedications were applied to other emperors in Asia. “Worship” of the beast (προσεκύνησαν) obviously has a parallel in Matt. 4:9–10, where Satan says to Christ: “I will give all this to you if you fall and worship me,” to which he hears the answer: “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only” (Deut. 6:13). Here two worships are contrasted: the Lord and Satan, who wants to delight himself with deification and divine worship (cf. Luke 4:7–8). In contrast, Revelation describes divine worship being rendered in heaven to God by the elders (4:10~and 11:16), angels (7:11), and infernal worship of the dragon 13:4~and the image of the beast 13:15; 16:2. Double punctuation is equally possible here. According to one reading: “they were not written in the book of life before the foundation of the world by the Lamb who was slain”) (cf. Eph. 1:4; Matt. 25:34); in another way: “in the book of life of the Lamb, who was slain before the foundation of the world” (cf. 1 Peter 1:19–20). This image could have arisen on the basis of the Jewish custom of wearing phylacteries (cf. Matt. 23:5), special bandages on the head and on the left hand, and they also had the meaning of amulets that protect against evil spirits (Charles, I, 362). For an example of such divination, see Charles, I, 366–7. Wed. the corresponding excursion from Allo, op. cit. Wed. Joel. 2:32: “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of God will be saved, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be salvation, as the Lord has said.” Wed. Ezra. 13:35-6: “And he (the Messiah) will stand on the top of Mount Zion, and Zion will come and appear to everyone, prepared and built.” Ch. 11:42: “I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude that I could not number, and they all glorified the Lord with songs.” (Written around 200–250 BC). It is typical how and as if. Earthly sounds, and voices, and songs are only similar, reminiscent of this song of heaven, but they are powerless to express it completely. This ἀπαρχἠ arouses controversy among exegetes, who, of course, also resort to “interpolation” (Charles, II, 11). In the texts of Rom. 16:5, 1 Cor. 16:15 ~ and even 2 Thess. 2:13 ~ “firstborn” is used more in the chronological sense of the first to enter the Church, rather than in the axiological sense. What does this “other” refer to? Is this the angel of 10:1~(it also says “another angel”)? Or should this be read separately: ἄλλον, ἄγγελον - i.e. another, namely an angel? By the way, it is quite obvious that the general context of Revelation, if it still leaves room for the episcopal hierarchy of the “angels” of the churches, then completely does not know it for the Roman primate with its attributes of the Vatican. Rome for him is synonymous with the harlot and the beast, and not at all the holy city into which Catholic dogmatists turned it. In these two identical addresses of the angels to the one sitting on the cloud, there is such a gradation: the first “with a loud voice” exclaims to “the one sitting on the cloud”: “Let down your sickle,” and the same thing is said in a crescendo, “with a great cry”: “Let down your sharp sickle.” The last assumption is expressed by supporters of the rapprochement of the 14th chapter of Revelation with the 20, thousand-year kingdom (Charles, II, 25). We also have a similar raising to the second power (square) in the number 144000 = 12x12x1000. All the horrors of modern war, like all its spiritual abomination (in racism), remain for us only in their earthly form, but they undoubtedly have correspondences for themselves in the spiritual world. Church of the “Tabernacle of Testimony” in the heavenly church ch. 15:5~is similar to a similar image and thought in ch. 11:19, where the onset of the wrath of God and the approach of retribution is also accompanied by “the appearance of the ark of the covenant of God in His church” (which does not represent a significant difference). Recapitulation by some exegetes is completely denied both in relation to those to whom it applies and to their logical and chronological sequence. See, for example, Charles, II, 40. Verse 15: "blessed is he who watches" and further represents one of the seven beatitudes of Revelation: 1:3; 14:13; 19:9; 20:6; 22:14, 7. The first beatitude applies (1:3) to those who read this prophecy; second (3:3–5; 16:15) to those who keep; third (14:12–13) to those who die in the Lord in the last persecution; fourth (19:9) to those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb; fifth (20:6) to those who participate in the new resurrection; sixth (22:14) to those who keep the commandments of God and have the right to the tree of life; seventh (22:7) to those who keep the words of this prophecy. Seneca Controvers. I, 2: stetisti puella In lupanato..... nomen tuum pependit in fronte. These are 1. Nero, 2. Galba, 3. Othon-Oten or Vittelius, 4. Vespatianus, 5. Titus, 6. Domitianus, but the seventh has not yet come. (Is this the Antichrist?). Wed. Hello, exc. XXXIII, Charles II, Additional note on XVII. On the contrary, Prof. Zahn, 1. p. II, 566, sees in these “five kingdoms” that “fell” [οἱ πέντε ἔπεσαν] the following five successive monarchies in history: 1) Egypt, 2) Assyria, 3) the New Babylonian kingdom, 4) Medo-Persian, 5) Greco-Macedonian. The sixth kingdom, according to this interpretation, is the Roman Empire with its emperor contemporary to the Apocalypse; the seventh is, obviously, the Antichrist. It cannot be said that each of these conjectural interpretations is without its basis, but it equally does not have any indisputability for itself. Exhortation to the coming out and separation of the people of God from sinners N.Z. we have in 2 Cor. 6:14–17 (here is also a reference to Isa. 52:11). In V.Z. cf. Jer. 51:45. These laments are an analogy to some Old Testament prophecies about the destruction of Type: Isa. 23; Ezek. 26:15–21. Prof. Zahn (1. p. II, 574) sees in the image of a millstone thrown into the sea by an angel an indication of a stunning natural phenomenon, which is seen in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79. However, this phenomenon did not at all have the world-historical significance that is attributed to it here. Therefore, even if it could make its impression on contemporaries, nevertheless, here it remains only a symbol. Similar to a verbal image. This alternation gives exegetes the opportunity to affirm the rearrangement of texts and restore the order of their sequence. We leave this issue out of consideration as unimportant. There is no reason to attribute it to the “millennial kingdom,” as Charles does, II, 120. The opposite meaning to this is “forever and ever” in the sense of good infinity, of course, in 22:5. Quite unexpectedly, we find this idea in the Catholic commentator Allo, 1. p. 276, which also refers to Eph. 2:10; “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to walk in.” But this text is much more applicable to human freedom, for which it is given, that is, assigned, to do good deeds, and not from a predetermined state. There is some parallel to the naming of the Word of God only in the non-canonical book of the Wisdom of Solomon, in chapter 18, 4–25, and especially verse 15: “Thy almighty word came down from heaven from the royal thrones into the midst of the perilous earth, like a terrible warrior.” In Heb. 4:2 ~this expression has no personal meaning. Here, of course, the images of Isa beg for comparison. 63:1-3: “Why is Your robe red... I trampled them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath, and their blood splashed on My vestments, and I stained all My clothing.” The images of corpses and birds devouring them are obviously inspired by Ezek. 39:4, 17. “A lake burning with sulfur” does not add a new meaning to this image, but only strengthens it, since it also adds an olfactory impression (of sulfur) to the visual one. Exegetes who are opposed to the full acceptance of the contents of the chapter, in particular the doctrine of the millennial kingdom, pay attention to the initial: “and I saw,” also 4:11, 12; 21:1, in contrast to the previous chapters with their “after that I saw” (also 18:1~or 19:1). From this they conclude that here we are not talking about a sequence of events, but about their simultaneity. But can’t the sequence of presentation, the place in the context, sufficiently indicate it? (This is especially clear from further comparisons: 11:12; 21:1). The presence of such a spiritual event as the liberation of the world from Satan, although temporary, must be understood in the general context of the problem of theodicy. If we previously asked ourselves the question of why and how Satan was allowed into creation as a corrupting tempter: first into Eden to the first parents, and then into the world to fallen humanity, then here the same question arises in a different form, namely: if Satan has to be bound and weakened for 1000 years by the action of the power of God through an Angel who has the key to the abyss and a large chain, then such a possibility is possible at all exists, and once again general religious bewilderment arises: why was such an action not manifested earlier, and indeed in the world in general, if God has such power over Satan? Without claiming to reveal the inscrutable ways of God, we can still point out here that the temporary connection of Satan occurs only in connection with a number of previous and subsequent accomplishments. Thus, it is placed in the general historical context of world history, which proceeds on the basis of the synergistic interaction of God and the world. Therefore, here it receives the meaning of one of the providential means on its paths. And at the same time, turning to the future, it also speaks of the final expulsion of the prince of this world and the de-Satanization of Satan himself. Wed. my dialogue “At Night”, 1919 (manuscript). Allo (op. cit.) cites the following considerations as proof of the spiritual nature of the millennium: it does not apply to all people, since beyond it remains the possibility of a new uprising of Gog and Magog. Outside of it there is evil and strife, so that 20:8–10 is only a recapitulation of the previous one, referring to the general revolt of the kings against the Church. Therefore, according to the conclusion, the kingdom of saints begins already from the apostolic age. This argument would be convincing if the sacred text asserted that the thousand-year reign of the saints is already the final and universal victory of good in the world, which in fact it is not at all. It is the pinnacle of history as the highest manifestation of good that can be achieved on earth, and is a preliminary, as well as a precondition, for the general resurrection. The general conclusion of Allo (I. p. 297) is this: “Quoique le chiliasme n'ait pas été d'hérésie, le sentiment commun des théologiens de tout école y volt une doctrine “erronée” ou “certaines conditions des âges primitifs ont pu entralner quelques anciens Pèresj". To remain consistent, the accusation of spreading “erroneous teaching” must be applied to the sacred writer himself, which, of course, is where Catholic dogmatics stops. Allo's own conclusion about the millennium, typical of modern Catholic theology, is: La prophetie du Millenlum, qui fait parfaitement corp avec les autres prophetles du livre, est simpliment la figure, de la domination spirituelle de l'Eglise militante, unie à «l'Eglise triomphante, dépuis la glorification de Jesus juaqúà, la fin di monde.” For the opposite understanding of the millennial kingdom, see Charles, II, 185 ff. Wed. also Zahn, op. cit. II. It is interesting to understand how those exegetes who equate the millennium with the entire existence of the New Testament Church from the time of the apostles can get out of the difficulty. Does this mean to them that it ends or is interrupted, which is obviously unacceptable. We do not find an answer to this question in the Allo comment. The name Magog appears for the first time in Gen. 10:2 ~among the sons of Japheth (cf. 1 Chronicles 1:5). In Ezek. 38:2 ~we read: “Gog from the land of Magog”; in 39:6~Magog seems to mean the name of the people: “and I will send fire upon the land of Magog and upon the inhabitants of the islands.” Wed. 33:18: “And it shall come to pass in the day that Gog comes upon the land of Israel, saith the Lord, that my wrath and wrath shall be kindled.” Wed. in an excursion about Old Testament chiliasm. Wed. Zahn, I. p. II, 607–8. This expression is especially common in Revelation, on the one hand, when applied to the heavenly, divine world (1:6, 18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 15:7; 22:5; cf. Gal. 1:5; Phil. 4:20; Heb. 13:31: 1 Pet. 4: 11; 1 Tim. 1:17; 2 Tim. 4:18; On the other hand, it is also applied in relation to the evil inclination: 14:2: the smoke of the torment of those who worship the beast; 19:3~(about the smoke from Babylon); 10:10. In relation to God and Christ, “forever and ever,” of course, is synonymous with eternity in the sense of supertemporality and immutability. The second use of “forever and ever,” of course, is not at all equivalent to the first, because, firstly, there is no evil, satanic, created eternity at all, which would be similar to the beginninglessness and infinity characteristic of divine eternity; secondly, something that can not only burn, but also burn out, therefore, in time, is given over to the fire, and “eternity of ages” is only a figurative expression of duration, as well as a certain internal cyclical end of a given state. One can compare with this expressions such as 1 Sam. 1:22, that Samuel “will appear before the Lord, and remain before Him forever,” (i.e. until his death) or in Isa. 58:12; 61:4, (“the deserts of centuries will be built up” as applied to the 70 years of the Babylonian exile): Ps. 71:17 ~“thy name (king) shall be forever.” Whoever opens the Hebrew lexicon will be convinced that the words εἱς τοὺς αἰώνας τῶν αἰώνων do not at all correspond to the idea of ​​timeless eternity” (Zahn, ib. 608). Charles (II 192) asserts - without sufficient evidence (based on the texts: Rev. 14:18-20; 17:14; 19:11-12; 20:7-10 - that judgment over the dead belongs to the Father, and over the living to the Son. Neither of these texts directly refers to judgment. This corresponds to the images of chapter 5, in which the Lamb comes and takes the book from Him who sits on the throne (5:7) and further (8-14). However, in contrast, although not in contradiction with ἀναστήσω 6:39–40, we read in 5:21: “how the Father awakens ἐγείρει (in the Slavic and Russian translation, this word is inaccurately translated: resurrects) the dead and revives ξροποιεῖ, So the Son gives life to whomever He wants.” Those sitting on the thrones here, obviously, are those to whom this was promised by Christ (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30), that is, the apostles who have to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, and according to the apostle. To Paul, the saints will judge even the angels (1 Cor. 6:2–3). In connection with the doctrine of the first resurrection, the mysterious words of the conclusion of John’s Gospel could also be understood: “When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus: Lord, what is he? Jesus says to him: if I want him to remain until I come, what do you... And this word spread among the brethren that that disciple will not die. But Jesus did not tell him that he would not die, but “if I want him to remain until I come, what do you need” (John 21:20-23). Isn't this talking about John's first resurrection? Charles II, 196 suggests, therefore, rather arbitrarily, to read instead of “sea”, ταμεῖα – treasury of souls as a more general concept. See Bride of the Lamb, eschatology. It is strange to see among them such a serious and thoughtful exegete as Prof. Zahn (II, 106–8), who understands the second death as combustion and destruction in the lake of fire “Und welchen Zweck Könnte Gott dabei verfolgen, dass er dem Teufel und seinen. Gesinnunggenossen zu einer so entzetz lichen Unsterblichkeit verhülfe. Das Bewusstein der ewigen Selikeit der einer Hölle voll gepeinigten Geister würde die ewige Seligkeit der Kinder Gottes aufs äusserste gefärden” (608). Such a consideration about the spiritual comfort of the children of God only confirms the blasphemous nature of the idea of ​​the death penalty through burning, to which God’s creations are supposedly subjected by the will of the Creator and Provider Himself. Charles (II, 144–153) showed the greatest acuity and observation here, although with his exegetical fantasies he only testified to the hopelessness of the situation. This is also expressed in popular usage, which reflects this one-sidedness in the understanding of Revelation, the word “apocalyptic” is usually used equivalently as “eschatological”. Meanwhile, in fact, such equivalence is not at all characteristic of him: all human history is apoclytic in the literal and precise sense, at least starting with early Christianity. “And he said to me: Son of man! This is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the children of Israel forever, and the house of Israel will no longer profane My holy Name... and I will dwell among them forever” (43:7, 9). All this is explained in "The Bride of the Lamb." Of course, Christ’s humanity in His God-manhood is in its fullness precisely angelic humanity, created “heaven and earth.” The angelic world belongs to the created, human Sophia and cannot be separated from it. In this sense, he is human, for angels serve the human world. For a detailed explanation of it, see “The Bride of the Lamb.” Allo (I. p. 311) notes that “this may be the first time in the Apocalypse that God himself speaks.” They are convincingly indicated in Charles, II, 145–164 (even if one does not accept fantastic assumptions about the reconstruction of the text). The words of the text 22:14–15 about “those who have the right on the tree of life and to enter into the city by the gate, and about the dogs and sorcerers who remain outside ... and about all those who do injustice” may not be relevant to this context. If they are also attributed to him, then they further strengthen the general idea about the limitations of the power of St. cities in the world. On the contrary, the text of 19:7, which leans towards the end in general, in one general perspective merging into a single profile, says simply: “The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” Therefore, it is a violation of the concreteness of the text to interpret the “lamp” [φωστήρ] of the holy city, like a crystalline jasper, as “son temoignage, son enselgnement, ses sacrements les vertus de ses saints” (Allo, 318). This method of interpretation is rather a way of fighting the Apocalypse. It is characteristic that the “salvation of all Israel,” with all the significance of this event, is completely absent from liturgical writing. On the contrary, in the synaxarion of the Week of Meat, among the features that depict the coming of the Antichrist, immediately preceding the Parousia, there is this: “and the Jewish race will love many, and will reach Jerusalem, and will build their church.” This is all that can be found here both about the final fate of Israel and about Jerusalem. Here the promises of St. John are not heard at all. Paul about the salvation of Israel, nor the images of the Apocalypse relating to Jerusalem coming down from heaven, nor the Old Testament prophecies about that. This is analogous to the absence of the Apocalypse in liturgical usage, which has already been discussed. In general, we are not talking here about the “new Israel”, but only about the crucifiers of Christ. On this basis, I placed this text 21:17 as the basis of the dogmatic teaching about angels in the Ladder of Jacob. This can be compared, of course, in the sense of opposition, in Ezek. 28:13 ~ stones on the clothes of the king of Tire as an image of a fallen angel, the “anointed cherub”, who was first in the garden of God, in Eden. “Saved” is read only in the Slavic and Russian texts; the reading of the original is simple: περιπατήσουσιν τὰ ἔθνη. This is also contained in many texts of the apocalyptic apocrypha: cf. Charles, II, 172. Also consonant with the prophecy of Ezekiel is the generally chiliastic vision of the day of the Lord in 3 Achariah 14:8–9: “And it shall come to pass in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea: summer and winter it will be so. And the Lord will be King over all the earth.” “Cursed” – κατάθεμα, this is equivalent to ἀνάθεμα in Rom. 9:3, Gal. 1:8; 1 Cor. 16:22. The question may arise whether the idea of ​​apokatastasis is applied here to Satanology, that is, whether the final fate of Satan is included in the general thought: “nothing will be cursed anymore.” There is no reason to exclude such a thought, as it is also contained in the general promise of apokatastasis: “God will be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28), which is revealed in its own way in Revelation 21: 3–4. However, here, although apokatastasis, so to speak, is implied in meaning (how else can we understand this “there will be nothing damned”), it itself, in all the complexity and difficulty of the teaching about it, is not the direct subject of prophecy here, which is why there is no satanalogy proper. See our essay about her in The Path. No. 52, 53. This contrast is clear from a comparison of similar texts in Dan. and Rev. In the first, the prophet was told (8:26): “Hide this vision, for it belongs to distant times.” The same thing is repeated in 12:4, 9: “And you, Daniel, hide these words and seal this book until the time of the end: many will read it and knowledge will increase... Go, Daniel, for these words are hidden and sealed until the time of the end.” The general nature of Daniel’s visions, even if they contain data regarding his own era, is eschatological, consonant with the general content of Revelation. For the Old Testament, this prophecy remains hidden for genuine comprehension (which did not prevent it from being included in the canon). On the contrary, New Testament prophecy should not be sealed, since it already refers to the “nearby time.” It should be noted that the makarisms in Revelation do not in all cases come from the mouth of Christ Himself, namely in four cases: 1:3 ~ (from the person of John); 14:13~(voice from heaven); 19:9~(angel); 20:6~(on behalf of the seer). In other cases (16:15; 22:7) happiness comes from the mouth of Christ. Finally, 22:14 allows for two interpretations. οὶ πλύνοντες τάς στολὰς αὐτῶν. There is a discrepancy in the Russian and Slavic texts, changing the meaning or, in any case, introducing a special connotation into it: “who keep His commandments.” We have a similar case in Exegesis 21:7-8, where vv. 7 clearly comes from the mouth of God (the Father?), but verse 8 may also belong to the prophet himself. This duality of hypostases, together with the unity and identity of life, is thus testified in Rom. 8:9–11: “But you do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Holy Spirit.” True, this interpretation of 22:17 by the Mother of God does not seem to correspond to 21:2 and 9, where Jerusalem descending from heaven in both its aspects is called the bride of the Lamb. However, there is no contradiction or inconsistency in this, but only a difference in the shades of the general ecclesiological idea. The Bride, as the Ever-Virgin, heads the Church, which at the same time is a “society of believers,” a hierarchical organization, a sacramental organism, and, finally, the fruit of human creativity, historically borne in the throes of birth, recreated by the grace of God, the holy city of this century and the future. In this sense, this symbolism combines the city and the Bride - the Virgin (cf. the vignette of the “Bride of the Lamb”). Consideration of Orthodox liturgical texts in relation to Revelation could be the subject of an independent and interesting study. In some cases, this lack of use is quite striking. Here is one such example. For the paroemic readings of the service of the arch. Michael and other disembodied forces are not chosen in the 11th chapter of Revelation (7–11), where the main and comprehensive work of arch. Michael and his angels, namely the war in heaven with the dragon and his angels, ending with his victory and the overthrow of the latter from heaven, and not even the apocalyptic chapter of Dan. 10:13; 12:1, but a comparatively minor dogmatic account of the Old Testament appearances of angels: to Joshua (5:13–15) and Gideon (Judges 6:27, 11–24), as well as Isa. 14:7–20 (the latter about the overthrow of the king of Babylon is similar to Revelation 11, but depicts it only in the images of a historical allegory). See about this in “The Bride of the Lamb,” Eschatology Section. To that extent, according to Mark. 13:32 ~ignorance of the Son of Man, relating to the kenosis of His earthly ministry, is included in the general ignorance of all creation, both angels and men (“keep watch,” the apostles were also told, “for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man will come” Matthew 25:13). The expression “not a day, not an hour,” of course, does not mean that the Second Coming will take place on one of the days and hours of earthly time (and not exceeding it, in the transcendence of time). Here the explicit images have an anthropomorphism of the expression, which is equivalent to simply “never” in this time. To this extent, there is a semblance of personal death here, which occurs in time, on a certain calendar day and hour for all those who remain alive, but not for the dying person: for him, along with time, the day and hour, yesterday and tomorrow, fade away, our time generally ceases (although a new, afterlife, transcendental one begins). There is a special discussion about this in the excursion about Old Testament eschatology and apocalypticism. Isn’t this also evidenced in the words of the Lord himself, addressed in the person of the scribes and Pharisees to Jerusalem: “Behold, our house is left empty. For I tell you, you will not see Me from now on until you exclaim: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39). The only exception here, which, however, emphasizes the general statement, remains the mysterious fate of the ap. John, about whom the Lord said to Peter: “If I want him to remain, what do you need?”, however, Jesus did not exactly tell him that he would not die, but: “If I want him to remain” (John 21:22-3). Both feelings are expressed in one litany of petition: “We ask for the Christian death of your life... and a good answer at the terrible judgment of Christ”; both petitions are connected without contradiction. Even the most world-denying desert life does not leave history; in its own way it remains connected with it: thus, Rev. Mary of Egypt, in her 47-year retreat from the world, does not leave prayerful care for him, but asks Fr. Zosima about “kings” and the life of the world in general. Ap. Paul (1 Cor. 15:5) enumerates those worthy to see the Lord: “he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time... then he appeared to James, also to all the apostles, and after all he appeared to me as a certain monster.” Paul, in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia, says this: “God raised Him from the dead. For many days He appeared to those who came with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem and who are now witnesses before the people” (Acts 13:30–31). In all these enumerations, however, due to the humility of the Servant of the Lord, the sweetest Name of the One to whom He appeared first, the Mother of God, is hidden. In relation to this, we have to distinguish here two kinds of phenomena: so to speak, intravital, after the Resurrection of Christ, but before Her Dormition, together with the apostles and others who were worthy of it, and in Her Dormition, in which, according to the belief of the Church, the Lord Himself appeared to receive Her holy soul upon Her departure from this world. This also corresponds to Her resurrection from the dead, in which She, of course, remains in constant contemplation of Her Risen Son. O. Kassian (Bezobrazov) deserves to pay attention to this special theological problem of the “appearance” of the Lord. He connected it with his own theologum on “John’s Pentecost,” and therefore all of its consideration is confined to this setting and is limited to it. However, this problem itself, especially as the Problem of the Apocalypse, is much broader and more significant than its formulation, which can even be rejected while maintaining the full significance of the problem. See Archimandrit. Casslen. La Pentecôte Johanique, 1939. Wed. my analysis of this work: “John’s Pentecost” (handwritten). See my essay on John's Pentecost for a discussion of the relevant texts, pp. 9–10. Here we already have an antinomian formulation of the question about the possibility for man to see God: God says to Moses: “You cannot see My face, because man cannot see Me and live. And the Lord said: This is my place: stand on this rock. When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I pass through. And when I remove My hand, you will see. Behind me is behind me, and my face will not be visible.” This mythological language expresses the antithesis of “apophatic and cataphatic theology,” which combines the complete inaccessibility of the Divine to human knowledge, combined with some of its cognition, which is expressed in the images of the “face” and the “back” (compare the same in Judges 13:22–23: with John 1:18; 1 John 4:12). Even pagan idols, representing animals and various nightmarish creations of fantasy, are ultimately human or inhumane, since man, like all animals, by this side includes the entire animal world. In any case, it is obvious that the appearances of Christ before the Ascension and after the Ascension cannot be equated with each other on the sole basis that St. Paul in his list does not distinguish himself from the other apostles who “saw the Lord” (cf. Pentecôte Johannique). The image of the Lamb as applied to Christ is one of the favorite images of St. John, which represents one of the few features of direct rapprochement between the Gospel and the Apocalypse. See “Lamb of God” about this. The “science of spiritual and secret knowledge,” both theo- and anthroposophical, speaks about the same thing in its own language.