Explanation of the Apocalypse. Priest Daniel Sysoev

Priest

DANIEL SYSOEV EXPLANATION OF THE

A P O C A LY P S E Translated by DEACON NATHAN WILLIAMS

Daniel Sysoev Inc New Jersey 2017

Approved for publication by the Publications Board of the Russian Orthodox Church PB 11-116-1697

Priest Daniel Sysoev Explanation of the Apocalypse. — Daniel Sysoev Inc, New Jersey, 2017. — 368 pp.

ISBN 978-5-4279-0068-5 For many people the Apocalypse signifies catastrophies and terrifying events, the coming of the antichrist, natural disasters, wars, and the end of the world. When we adopt this attitude it is natural to wish for these events to be delayed as long as possible. But the Apocalypse, the last and most enigmatic book of the Bible, tells us that the end of the world is merely a sign of the swiftly approaching great and long-awaited victory of good over evil, of deliverance from the power of the devil and death, as it is said: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away (Rev. 21:4).

Joy at the advent of eternal and gladsome life with God must overcome fear of the birth pangs of the new universe.

The author of this work, Priest Daniel Sysoev, gives an accurate interpretation of this book of the Bible, in accordance with the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church, and expounds on the meaning of what lies concealed within.

Scriptural quotes taken from the King James Version, except where otherwise indicated. Quotes from the book of Psalms taken from The Psalter According to the Seventy, published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. All rights reserved.

Protected by copyright law.

Reproduction of this book in whole or in part is prohibited.

Any violations of this law will be prosecuted.

© Daniel Sysoev Inc, 2017 © Yulia Sysoeva, 2017

Table of Contents Chapter One. The Revelation of Jesus Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Names of Jesus Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Chapter Two. The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and the Rewards of the Victors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The Tree of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Deliverance from the Second Death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Hidden Manna and a New Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Power Over the Nations and the Morning Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Chapter Three. The Symbol of the Church of the Modern Era . . . . . . 45 White Garments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The Key of David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 The Pillar in the Temple of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Chapter Four. Heavenly Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 The Four Beasts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 The Song of Victory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Chapter Five. The Book with Seven Seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Chapter Six. The Victorious Preaching of the Apostles . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 The Migration Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 The Kingdom of Satiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 The Horseman of Death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Petition of the Martyrs for Vengeance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 The End of the Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Chapter Seven. The Last Harvest of Sanctity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Those Saved From Among the Pagans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Chapter Eight. The Silence Before the Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 The Symbolism of the Seven Trumpets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 The Golden Altar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 The Prayers of the Righteous are Heard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Natural Cataclysms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 The Smiting of the Waters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Chapter Nine. The Swarm of Demonic Locusts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 The Death of a Third of Mankind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Chapter Ten. The End of Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Chapter Eleven. The Temple of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 The Two Olive Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Chapter Twelve. The Church of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

4

Table of Contents

The War in Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Persecutions of Christians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter Thirteen. The Antichrist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The False Prophet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Seal of the Antichrist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Number of the Beast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter Fourteen. The New Song of the Great Righteous Ones . . .

The Last Preaching of the Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Rest of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter Fifteen. The Harps of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Time of Vengeance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter Sixteen. The Seven Cups of the Wrath of God . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter Seventeen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Great Whore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Global Anti-Church of Evil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter Eighteen. The Hymn of Joy at the Fall of Babylon. . . . . . . .

Chapter Nineteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Exultation of the Saints. Alleluia! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Marriage of Christ and the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter Twenty. The Thousand-Year Imprisonment of the Devil . .

Living and Lifeless Souls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Last Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter Twenty-One. The Resurrection of the Whole Universe . . .

The Heavenly Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter Twenty-Two. The River of Living Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Leaves of the Tree of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Meeting with God the Father. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Truth of Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

165 170 174 184 187 189 191 195 200 206 210 215 229 229 233 243 253 253 259 270 272 276 279 295 309 312 318 320

Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Chapter One

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

A

pocolypse is a Greek word meaning “revelation.” This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God relayed through the apostle John the Theologian to all the churches. Today this book is the most enigmatic and popular of all the books of the Bible, read by few but quoted by all. The year 1996 marked an anniversary of sorts: 1,900 years since the book of the Revelation of John the Theologian was given—the book that concluded the canonical formulation of the New Testament. Today many talk about the Apocalypse as a terrible impending event, but few realize that it has been going on for nearly two thousand years.

The Apocalypse is the revelation of the last great mystery of God—the very mystery of which the Lord spoke in ancient times to the patriarchs and the prophets. The revelation of John the Theologian contains a great many parallel passages referring us to other prophecies in Holy Scripture. It is the only book that is a book of prophecy from start to finish. Predictions of the future are found quite frequently in many books of the Bible, but the Apocalypse differs from them in its comprehensive approach, standing as it were outside of time.

Prophecy differs fundamentally from divination, first and foremost in that a prophecy is not a mere recitation of facts, but a revelation of the reason for what is happening, so that one can understand the hidden meaning of events and rectify the situation.

This is how God writes revelation through history, thereby making it the vehicle through which His will is unveiled. Conversely, divination simply states the facts, and nearly always falsely.

6

Chapter One

The Apocalypse was written by the holy apostle John the Theologian during his exile on Patmos—an island in the Aegean Sea— in the reign of the emperor Domitian.

On a certain Sunday when the apostle was in his cave he had a vision in which he heard a loud voice like a trumpet, which said, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. That which you see, write in a book.” The revelation was written down by a disciple of the apostle John, Prochorus. According to a tradition preserved by the Christians of the isle of Patmos, the apostle lived in a cave where he slept on a bare stone. This stone, incidentally, may be seen there to this day. Above the cave the monastery of the Apocalypse now stands.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw (Rev. 1:1–2). This revelation is not of the apostle John, but of Jesus Christ—the Great Lord of history. From the Symbol of Faith we know that Christ possesses an equality of authority—as God and as man. He participates in the divine authority over the world, and Revelation shows precisely in what manner Jesus Christ rules world history and how the will of the Heavenly Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit is performed.

Why is it said that God gave the Revelation to Christ? Because the source of the Divinity is God the Father: He begets the Son in eternity, and in eternity brings forth from Himself the Holy Spirit. Hence, glory is likewise bestowed upon Christ by the Father: Christ in His begetting receives from the Father honor and glory, might and majesty. But here it is given to Him as man, and this glory is not merely in order that He might keep it within Him, but in order to show the Father to men and to proclaim what must shortly come to pass. The Revelation reveals the mystery of the future life, the mystery that is already being accomplished in our world.

The words which must shortly come to pass are said because for Christ everything happens “shortly.” We must remember that the Judgment is at the doors, and that it will begin shortly. In the

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

7

Gospel the Lord says, And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God (Jn. 3:19–21). Condemnation, or judgment, begins when the light—Jesus Christ, the Son of God—is manifested, i.e., with Theophany, the showing-forth of God, the greatest revelation of God in the person of Christ the Savior. Judgment is the laying bare of men and of their inner qualities.1 Hence it is improper and incorrect to say that there are people who reject Christ but who still do good deeds. If they truly did good deeds they would love Christ, would receive Him with their whole heart, would strive toward Him, and would believe that He is truly God! For the light of good deeds emanates from Christ, Who Himself is the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (Jn. 1:9).

Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw (Rev. 1:2). Christ did not merely give a revelation, but also a testimony, a knowledge of the future. The book of Revelation itself is the last book in the New Testament, and it paints a portrait of God’s Judgment of the world at the end of time. The word of God that is given to the Church is a sign that is sent to denounce the world for its sins and its unrighteousness. Hence, in it a person finds no peace, but is rather troubled, or on the contrary elated.

It is said that Christ sent the revelation by His Angel unto His servant (Rev. 1:1); i.e., God sends the revelation to His Son Christ.

Note that here it is emphasized that John is at once a servant of Christ and His friend. We see that a person must never be embarrassed of being a servant of God. A servant of God is a person who is subject to God alone, and hence free of everything else.

There is no one who is not subject to God. The devil for example is also a servant of God, but a disobedient, rebellious, foolish one.

John bore witness to the word that he received from Christ: he bore witness that the word is authentic, and that it is from God.

8

Chapter One

The apostle saw the source of the word, saw the source of the revelation, and bore witness to Jesus Christ. And Christ Himself is a witness to the secret intradivine structure of life. In ancient times a person could be saved by believing in the One God, but today this is not enough for salvation. Today one must accept the testimony of Christ, which He brought from the Father Himself.

Thus, John the Theologian, like many other martyrs and confessors, is a witness to the Witness, a witness that Jesus is the Christ—the Anointed One, the Son of God; that Christ gave us that life of God the Father which is in Him. All the saints are likewise witnesses to this: they have maintained the chain of testimony from the beginning and will maintain it to the very end. For this reason apostolic succession is very important. It is a chain of witnesses who have received and passed on power since the day of Pentecost, when the fiery river of the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles. This line of witnesses who confess that Jesus is the Christ continues to this day through the consecration of bishops.

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand (Rev. 1:3). May they have blessedness who read this prophecy in the churches, and who not only read it but also fulfill the commands of God given in this book, fulfilling the requirements that God has given through the prophets. For the time of the Judgment is at hand! This is the time when all time shall end, when at last world history will draw to a close and Judgment Day will arrive.2 The apostle John testifies that the time is at hand, and so we must live in a state of reverent delight and sobriety in the face of the coming Day of Judgment. The end of the world will be distinguishable by the birth pangs of the new universe: the onset of great wars, desolation, plague, famine, and so on. As the Lord said, Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows (Mt. 24:6–8).

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

9

John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood (Rev. 1:4–5). The seven churches which were in Asia (a Roman province of Asia Minor) were located in modern Turkey, but Tradition relates that they were a personification of the whole Ecumenical Church, which is receiving the revelation of God.3 The number seven is a symbol of the fullness of the world, and John the Theologian is addressing the seven churches, i.e., the fullness of the whole Church.

The Revelation is a manifestation of the grace of God, an undeserved gift offered to men by God, reconciling Him to them.

There is a standard according to which only those who participate in Holy Communion—the Mystery of the future life—may interpret Scripture.* The Church Typicon calls for the Revelation of John the Theologian to be read during Great Lent and on the day of the commemoration of John the Theologian.** * Since to err is human, it is essential that we check our human understanding against Church Tradition, including the patristic legacy. In general only specialists with multifaceted expertise, called exegetes, may interpret Holy Scripture. Exegesis (from the Greek ἐξηγητικος—explanatory) is a special theological discipline concerned with elucidating the meaning of Holy Scripture (its textual content and various possible interpretations).—Ed. ** In ancient times, although the Revelation of John the Theologian was read in Orthodox churches, it was not part of the regular worship, but was rather treated as edifying reading. In certain editions of the Typicon one may find a rubric specifying that the Revelation of John the Theologian be read at the all-night vigil, after the blessing of the loaves, during the period following the Sunday of All Saints (chapter 2). But in our time this reading is no longer common liturgical practice.—Ed.

10

Chapter One

The Names of Jesus Christ Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come (Rev. 1:4). This translation of these words is not entirely accurate. The Greek original reads, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him Who Is That He Is, and Who was, and Who is to come.” One of the names of Christ used in Holy Scripture is “I Am That I Am,” meaning the One Who exists of His own Self, Who has no need of anyone else. God has no need of anything, He is omnipresent, and He has the source of existence within Him. For this reason He revealed Himself to Moses at the Burning Bush with this very name: I Am That I Am: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am [Jehovah] hath sent Me unto you (Ex. 3:14). Many sectarians, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, distort this name of God, pronouncing it “ji-HOH-vuh,” but it is properly pronounced “Yaweh”—He That Is That He Is. It is important to understand this to mean also that God rules over all eras of the world: He is Lord over all the kingdoms of the world, all things are under His mighty authority, and nothing escapes His hand. God is He That Is That He Is, always and at all times, in the past, the present, and the future. The name of God— Yaweh—is translated sixteen different ways. The primary translation of this word is “He That Is That He Is.” In other words, God is saying to men, “When you grow old I will remain the same—the Lord of the world.” Other translations of the name of God, Yaweh, are “He That Gives Breath,” “He That Quickens,” “Lord of History,” “Lord of the World,” etc. And it is said that grace and peace proceed from Him, from Him Who was, and is, and is to come. The Father comes to us through His Son, and through the Son we are able to ascend to the Father.

And blessing from the seven Spirits which are before His throne (Rev. 1:4). The seven spirits are the grace given to the seven churches.

For the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are the fullness of God’s gifts, and so the grace of the world is from God and is called “the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.” These gifts are as follows: the spirit of wis-

The Names of Jesus Christ

11

dom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge and piety, and of the fear of God. Note that here we can now distinguish a direct link between the throne of God and the world, since the seven spirits go forth from the throne of God into the world and abide among us. All baptized people are sealed by the Holy Spirit at chrismation. In this sacrament every Christian is born of the Holy Spirit and receives His gift in his heart, through faith in Christ the Redeemer, the Source of grace and peace, the Witness. The Witness of what? Firstly, Jesus Christ is the Witness of the mystery of God, of the inner life of God. He appears in this world and reveals the mysteries of the Creator, testifying to us of the Father in our souls.

Secondly, Christ is the Witness of all our own deeds, as well: all our acts are known to Him, and He sees what happens to us. Thirdly, Christ is also the Witness because He became the Protomartyr, and in Him is the exultation and the glory of all the martyrs. For the word martyr in Greek (μάρτυς) means “witness.”

But His greatest testimony is the Cross. We wear it upon our breast as a testimony to greatest exceptional love. This is that good confession of which the apostle Paul speaks in his epistle to Timothy, the proof of obedience and loyalty to His Father even to death: Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession (1 Tim. 6:12–13). Thus the Cross of Christ is the testimony of the Witness that the Son remains obedient to the Father to the very end. And by being obedient to the Son we will also be obedient to the Father—to the very end.

In this way the Holy Trinity is revealed to us as God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son. John the Theologian shows that the Father is equal to the Son and the Holy Spirit. All three Personalities of the Trinity are equal to each other, since eternity cannot diminish.

The next name of Jesus Christ is Faithful (in Greek, Πιστός), i.e., He Who Alone Never Fails Anyone! As Scripture says, Bles-

12

Chapter One

sed is he of whom the God of Jacob is his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who hath made heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is therein, Who keepeth truth [remains faithful] unto eternity (Ps. 145:5–6). Thus, He Who alone is faithful and never fails anyone is Jesus Christ, and those who rely on Him will never be disappointed. Thus, grace and peace are given to us from Him Who is always faithful to the Father and faithful to those who have placed their trust in Him. At the Liturgy all Orthodox Christians are called “the faithful.” In other words, we are given the name of Jesus Christ, since we must become like Him, we must blossom for Him, and we must be fortified by His faithfulness and gradually become steadfast ourselves. For in Communion you and I drink His Blood and eat His Body, and hence at that moment the soul of Christ is literally united with our own souls.

Christ is also called the first begotten of the dead (Rev. 1:5), inasmuch as He rose first, never again to die. After Him all men must rise—unto eternal life or eternal torment. All our joy and all our hope lies in that the Resurrection that began with the Savior will continue for us as well, for Jesus is the Firstborn, and we follow after Him. Furthermore, Christ is the Lord of the kings of the earth, and He has the rule over all earthly kingdoms. He established all the kingdoms of the world according to the will of God the Father, establishing various hierarchies of power on earth so that the human race would not destroy itself through wars. Why do Christians pray for the government? So that people do not kill each other. For the government is able to limit the rise of evil. All earthly rulers are under the authority of Jesus Christ. He appoints them and deposes them, as the prophet Hosea says: I gave thee a king in Mine anger, and took him away in My wrath (Hos. 13:11). Scripture says that God appoints and deposes kings, rulers, and sovereigns in order to accomplish His holy will. If they do evil they will receive their just deserts; if good, they will receive a reward. But over them stands the royal might of Christ, Who Himself rules through them.4 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

The Names of Jesus Christ

13

(Rev. 1:6). Glory and dominion are due to God, because He loved us from the beginning. Even when we did not know of His existence, when we forgot Him, when we rebelled against Him, nevertheless He continued to love us. Christ drew us out of the mire of sin and washed us in His blood. It is in baptism that we are washed: immersed in the water we die with Christ, as it were, participating in His death, and emerging from the water we participate in the Resurrection of Christ. And He has not merely washed us, but has made us a royal priesthood: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light (1 Pet. 2:9). All Christians are priests.* In what

* In the book What Do Orthodox Christians Believe? Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) writes, “Hierarchical priesthood exists in the Church specifically due to the universal royal priesthood of all Christians.

A priest who has been ordained, but for certain reasons has separated himself or been separated from the Church, has found himself outside her body, and has fallen away from the royal priesthood of the people of God, loses his priestly authority. Within the Church hierarchical priesthood is inseparably linked to the people of God. One cannot exist without the other: as a community cannot be the Church without a priest, so also a priest cannot be a priest without the community. The priest does not perform the sacraments in isolation: he performs all the sacraments with the participation of the people, together with the people, and with the agreement of the people. The rite of the Liturgy vividly shows that the officiant performs the religious rites on behalf of the people, and that the participation of the people in this service is not passive. Every exclamation of the priest is sealed with the word “amen,” spoken by the people; every blessing of the priest is followed by an answering blessing from the people. The priest and the people are equal. “Peace be unto all,” says the priest; “And to thy spirit,” the people reply. “The grace be with you all,” says the priest; “And with thy spirit,” the people reply. In the ancient Church a priest or a bishop was ordained with the agreement of the people. Furthermore, as a rule the persons elevated to these ranks were chosen by the people: to this day the rite of ordination has preserved the exclamation of the people: “Axios” (“worthy”)—an expression of their approval of the one being ordained.”—Ed.

14

Chapter One

sense? The chief task of priests is to offer sacrifice; hence all Christians must offer themselves in sacrifice on the altar of their hearts.

We must offer our mind and our body as a pure, living sacrifice to God. This means that in God’s name a person rejects willful thinking and willful feeling, and he asks the Holy Spirit to receive this sacrifice and sanctify us all. In this lies our priesthood. We officiate as priests and pray to God the Father directly through Christ.5 Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen (Rev. 1:7). To Him are due glory and dominion; every eye beholds him, including those who pierced Him. The Lord was raised up to heaven upon a cloud, and He will come again in the same manner—upon the clouds of everlasting glory, the glory that in its day appeared on Mount Sinai, and later sanctified the Tabernacle of the Covenant, and then was in the Temple of Solomon, and subsequently manifested itself on Mount Tabor, and finally the cloud of glory took Christ up into the heavens. And this same cloud will appear in the fullness of radiant glory when the Lord comes again. Why is it said “with clouds,” plural? Because Christ will come with the angels and with all the saints, and because we too will be caught up upon the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And every eye shall see Him, both of sinners and of the righteous, and those who do not live to see that day will be resurrected in that hour and with their own eyes will see Christ coming with clouds. All men without exception will see Him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail, weeping because they did not acknowledge Him. As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God (Rom. 14:11). Before the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth (cf. Phil. 2:10–11). No one shall escape the encounter with Christ. It is inevitable. Christians will weep with happiness that at last their hopes have been realized. Many however have already given up waiting, as the Gospel says: While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept (Mt. 25:5).

The Names of Jesus Christ

15

Those who rejected God will also weep, but for a different cause: they will realize what they have lost, and they will see that they themselves took part in crucifying Christ, and that it is too late to change this. They will recognize that He Whom they hated, Whom they pierced, against Whom they warred, Whose servants they killed, will come to judge them all.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty (Rev. 1:8). Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Christ is the beginning of God’s creation, being the One Who set the process of creation in motion, and He is also the end of the world—the Judge. This is perfectly logical: only the Creator can be the judge, whereas no one who did not create the world has any right to judge it. This is why people who deny that God created the world are sent by Satan to prove that God has no right to act as judge. The reason why Satanism is so actively promoted in all schools is apparent.6 But Christ clearly says, “I am the beginning and the end of the world,” i.e., the beginning and the end of the universe. The whole universe is in His mighty hands. He set the world in motion, and He it is that will meet it at the end.

Thus, Christ is the great I Am, Who was in the beginning and Who will come into the world again to judge it. He is everywhere present and gives existence to all that is, as the prophet Isaiah says concerning this: Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.

Who hath wrought and done it? (Is. 41:1–4). The fact is, God will appoint a certain person to accomplish the righteous judgment of God. This man is called here “the righteous man.” Isaiah goes on to say that this person will be called Cyrus. This is the name

16

Chapter One

of a Persian king who would be born 150 years after this prophecy. Cyrus would go on to establish the vast state of Persia. But here the question arises: why and how was he able to do so? “Who has done this?” the Lord asks. And He replies: It is He Who calls forth the generations from the beginning (Is. 41:4), i.e., who summons all generations to life. The Lord of all generations—the Lord God! God is the Lord of the generations. The Lord rules over time.

At His word the sun was lit, by His hands the moon was molded; His hands stretched out the universe and suspended the earth, brought forth life upon it, and created man. The Lord commanded the antediluvian giants, at His word the waters thundered forth upon the earth, at His word the ark was upheld upon the waters, His word toppled Babylon, and His word saved Abraham. And even now He is the same—the Lord of all time, including the last times.

God Almighty is a great and sovereign ruler, and there is no God beside Him. A little further on the Lord says the following of Himself: Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts (Is. 44:6)—i.e., the Lord of the heavenly hosts, Whom all the hosts of heaven worship, to Whom are subject all the angelic worlds, the fiery flaming spirits, and before Whom they tremble: I am the first, and I am the last; and beside Me there is no God. And Who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even My witnesses. Is there a God beside Me? yea, there is no God; I know not any (Is. 44:6–8). He is the only steadfast point in all the universe, the only center of the world, the Great Ruler, Who by His sovereign hand draws the whole universe toward the goal that He Himself has foreordained for it. For this reason He says of Himself, “I am the first and the last,” i.e., the beginning and the end of the world. The Lord is Almighty, and holds all things in His mighty hand, since He gives existence to all things.

He gives strength to the strong, and all His strength, might, mind,

The Names of Jesus Christ

17

and power supersede all authority and even every human concept of authority and might. The Lord is the autocratic ruler of world history.7 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:9). The name John literally means “grace of God.”* Here the apostle is emphasizing that he is a brother in Christ to those whom he is addressing. This brotherhood originates in baptism, when we are begotten of God the Father.

Hence, all Christians are brethren. John the Theologian goes on to say that he is a participant or, one might say, a communicant in the sorrows, the kingdom, and the fortitude of Jesus Christ.

The sufferings that we endure as Christians are sufferings that we endure together with Christ. They are an inevitability of Christianity, since Christ suffered and told His disciples, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you (Jn. 15:20). And in another place it is said that the righteous follow after the Lamb, wherever He might go. The Lamb goes to offer Himself in sacrifice, going to death, and only then does He take the path of the Resurrection. So Christians also must endure until death itself. Thus, sorrows for Christians are an inevitability, and then comes the Resurrection.

Moreover, it is an honor for us to endure sorrows that are not our own but those of Christ the Savior. We abide in God’s sorrows in this fallen world, and so John is proud of being a communicant in the sorrow of Jesus Christ. When Christians live according to the commandments of God their sorrows increase, but at the same time the strength and power of Christ increase in them. We literally participate in the Kingdom of the Savior, communing of the Body and Blood of Christ, and we sense His royal authority * The name John is a variation of the Hebrew name Johanan. This name is comprised of two roots: one from an abbreviation of a name of the Most High, and the word for “has had mercy” (or “has given”).—Ed.

18

Chapter One

within us. And as the apostle Paul says, the more sorrows increase, the more the grace of Christ increases. The apostle even sought out sorrows so as to increase the strength of Christ within him.

We likewise sense the authority of Christ in that He royally absolves us of all guilt. In repentance a person is washed of his guilt, and this is an objective fact; no feeling of guilt remains in us.

Wherever the opportunity for forgiveness presents itself, there the Kingdom of Christ also is present—the kingdom of simple, undeserved forgiveness.

This is only the first stage. Thereafter kingship is manifested in that a person begins to receive new strength: he acquires spiritual wisdom, and new strata of intellect are discovered. A person becomes more sincere, he begins to be aware of other people, and he learns to see God’s providence in this world. Saint Peter of Damascus said that a person begins to see God’s providence by seeing Him first in the inanimate things of the world, and only then does he gain insight into God’s plan throughout history. A person acquires spiritual powers, including the greatest of these, which is called love. Often it happens that over time people begin to sense the royal power of prayers. They boldly pray to God and receive what they ask.8 Then a person enters into communion with the world of the angels. At first the demons are vexed at him for this, but then gradually they begin to have a horror of this kind of person, since for the demons a loving person becomes God.

By God’s providence John the Theologian was sent to the isle of Patmos for his witness to Jesus Christ. This is a small, rocky, completely barren island, on which nothing grows but grass. The island was almost entirely uninhabited. Only a small number of people lived there, deluded by sorcerers. Many of the inhabitants worshipped idols, particularly Apollo. When the apostle John arrived on the island he did something decidedly politically incorrect: he destroyed the idols and drove all the demons into the sea. On the island there was a large quarry, to which the apostle John had been exiled. There he worked along with the rest, cutting stone (though he was 90 years old), living in an ordinary cave, and

The Names of Jesus Christ

19

sleeping directly on the stone floor. And then, one day, he received a revelation from God. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea (Rev. 1:10–11).

John the Theologian was in the communion of the Holy Spirit on Sunday, the Lord’s Day. Heavenly realities are accessible only to heavenly sight, just as our earthly realities are accessible to earthly sight. In order to see God one must be in the Holy Spirit, Who is the tongue of preachers, the mind of wise men, and the sight of prophets. The fire of the Holy Spirit reveals the hidden sight with which a person is endowed in a special sacred rite: the rite of chrismation.9 For the hidden sight with which men were originally endowed at their creation was lost by Adam and Eve after the fall into sin. It must be awakened by the Holy Spirit, Who Himself endowed the person with it. When beginning to act in a person the Holy Spirit “awakens” in him his sight, hearing, taste, smell, heart, hands, and feet. All this occurs gradually. And lo and behold, this hidden vision is awakened in John.

And [I] heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet (Rev. 1:10). The voice of God is like the voice of a trumpet. At the sound of this voice the very cliff split where the apostle John was.

And the trumpet is a sign that God gathers all men, as it is said in the book of Numbers: Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps (Num. 10:2). God declares a great war for the destruction of all evil in the universe, and so His voice sounds as the voice of a trumpet.

It is the voice of a great battle, the voice of the greatest revelation of God. And He says, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia (Rev. 1:10–11). Christ, having ap-

20

Chapter One

peared to John the Theologian, declares Himself to be the first and the last, He Who rules and commands all the worlds of the universe together with His Father. The seven churches are a symbol of the whole Ecumenical Church at the seven stages of its existence. These churches—churches of cities—are then listed: Ephesus (today an outdoor museum), located in the Selçuk district of the Izmir Province, 18 km from the city of Kusadasi. Smyrna—the modern city of Izmir. Pergamos—modern Bergama. The ruins of Thyatira, where the Turkish city of Akhizar now stands. Sardis— modern Salihli. Philadelphia (modern Alaşehir) and Laodicea (situated near the modern Turkish village of Eskihisar, 6 km east of the Denizli district), located not far from the modern resort of Pamukkale. All seven churches were located in modern Turkey.

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks One like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle (Rev. 1:12–13). How can one see a voice? The fact is that a vision is not broken down into the reception of information via various sensory organs. In God there is no distinction between the functions of hearing, sight, smell, etc. Rather, the five sensory organs (the organ of sight, the organ of hearing, the organ of taste, the organ of smell, and the organ of touch) are united as one.

Thus, a person who beholds a heavenly reality has at once both seen and heard it. This is a new kind of reality, and the evangelist John describes it with great accuracy.

And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks One like unto the Son of Man (Rev. 1:12–13). A little while later John the Theologian learns that these seven candlesticks are the seven churches, “gilded” by the Holy Spirit. Our own Russian Orthodox Church is also a golden candlestick. And Orthodox temples are tongues of fire in a single candlestick that burns for the sake of the Son of Man. Clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle (Rev. 1:13). The garment [ποδήρη] is the

The Names of Jesus Christ

21

ankle-length raiment of the high priests. This type of garment was worn by the high priests and kings of the Jews. Christ also stands in an ankle-length garment, vested in grace and permeated with the glory of God, because to this day He is the High Priest and continues His priestly ministry as our Intercessor before the Father. He is the eternal Mediator, through Whom we have access to God the Father.

Why was the Lord girded about the breast with a golden girdle? In the ancient world the girdle was a sign of authority, similar to military epaulettes. Christ, being a truly perfect man, is the first to be without vice. His body was wholly subject to His spirit, and for this reason He is girded with a golden girdle, as a sign of the mastery of His spirit over His body. Christ has a girdle about the breast, thereby showing that His wrath is restrained by the girdle of truth. As it is said, Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth (Eph. 6:14); i.e., His wrath is limited by His justice. God is never angered beyond the demands of justice.

God’s truth is of the greatest value: it is more valuable even than man, and for this reason Scripture says that the judgements of the Lord are true, altogether justified, more to be desired than gold and much precious stone, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb (Ps. 18:10–11).

Saint Andrew of Caesaria explains the words “girt about the paps with a golden girdle” as follows: “He was girt with a golden girdle not about the waist, as people gird themselves to tame their lusts (for the divine flesh is free of these), but about the paps, that is the breast, thereby showing that even the extremities of divine wrath are restrained by love for mankind, and that the commandments, these paps of the Master by which the faithful are nourished, are girt about by truth. The girdle is called ‘golden’ to signify the greatest superiority, purity, and undefilement.” Saint Andrew gives an interesting explanation: the girdle of Christ girds His two breasts—the Old and the New Testaments. Christ is both the God of the Old Testament (being He Who sent the prophets) and the God of the New Testament.

22

Chapter One

His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters (Rev. 1:14–15). People often ask: why does Christ have white hair? Could this be God the Father? In actuality Christ is the Ancient of Days, and as a symbol of His antiquity His hair is depicted as white. When did Jesus Christ appear? He is begotten before all ages, i.e., before time began. All of time passed before His face, but He remained and always will remain the same.

This is why Christ is called the Ancient of Days, for He is the Lord of all days.

In addition, grey hair is a sign of wisdom.10 And Christ possesses the fullness of wisdom. He is that same Wisdom that is mentioned in the Proverbs of Solomon—the Wisdom of God the Father.

When John was recording these words in Revelation he had something else in mind as well: the whiteness of Christ is that same whiteness that is given to them that are forgiven. Remember how it is said in the book of the prophet Isaiah: Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Is. 1:16–18). “Though your sins should be like clothing besmeared with blood, like scarlet cloth, I will cleanse you,” says the Lord God. “I will make you to be whiter than snow.” And the book of Psalms says, I shall be made whiter than snow (Ps. 50:9).

The whitening of our sins proceeds from the hair of Christ, that is, from His mind, and hence His hair also is white, dazzling, and shining as the driven snow, bestowing forgiveness and absolution of sins.

And His eyes were as a flame of fire (Rev. 1:14), for He sees everything that is done in darkness. As it is said in the book of the Wisdom of Joshua the son of Sirach, people sometimes forget that

The Names of Jesus Christ

23

the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun, beholding all the ways of men, and considering the most secret parts (Sir. 23:27–28). The eyes of the Lord see all, and hence they are called flaming and fiery. Terrible for sinners, they will burn up all those who resist the Lord. That is to say, if the eyes of God look upon a righteous man they illumine him, but if they look upon a sinner they flare up and consume him.

And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters (Rev. 1:15). The term “fine brass” may be translated as “the fragrant brass of Lebanon.” Christ has two natures. Incense is an image of His divine nature, and brass is an image of His human nature. For this reason it is said that His feet are like fine brass.

And His voice as the sound of many waters (Rev. 1:15). The many waters are an image of the Holy Spirit. His voice is the mighty voice of a great noise, washing a multitude of people. During the sacrament of baptism the voice of God washes those who are baptized.

And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength (Rev. 1:16). The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, which are in the hands of God. The term “angels of the churches” refers both to the guardian angels of the churches themselves and to the angels of the bishops. As the heart of the king is in the hand of God, so also the heart of the bishop is in the hand of God. Hence, episcopal authority is a manifestation of the authority of Christ.

And out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword (Rev. 1:16).

The twoedged sword is the word of God that separates people from each other. As the Lord said, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he

24

Chapter One

that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me (Mt. 10:34–38). The word of God slashes through, separating righteousness from sin, and for this reason it is called a “twoedged sword,” one that cannot possibly be restrained. The word of God can either be accepted or rejected; there is no third option.

And His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength (Rev. 1:16). As in the Gospel it is written, Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Mt. 13:43). In the book of the prophet Malachi it is said that unto them who love God and do His commandments shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings (Mal. 4:2). There is an interesting means of communing with Christ: face to face. The Old Testament describes the following episode: the Hebrews who had been bitten by poisonous serpents were immediately healed when they looked upon the serpent that hung upon the tree. Hence, Christians can also be healed by looking upon the face of Christ.11 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death (Rev. 1:17–18). The apostle John, the most intimate disciple of Christ, falls down as one dead upon seeing the Lord, beholding His glory and His might. Christ lays a hand upon him, infusing him with strength. His own hands formed the first man, and these same hands bestow the strength to stand before the face of God. Thus, only those upon whom the hand of God is laid are able to stand before the face of God. Christ first delivers a person from fear and pointless panic, for the Lord requires that a person have a clear mind, a clear will, and clear feelings.

I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen (Rev. 1:17–18). The Lord existed at the beginning of the world, He will exist at its end, and He exists today. And these words of Jesus are addressed to those who think that the Lord has forgotten them. Christ reminds

The Names of Jesus Christ

25

us that He is the source of life for all. The words of the Lord I was dead mean that He was subjected to bodily death, as signified by the traces of His passion (or sufferings) upon His hands and feet.

The words And, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen mean that the Lord rose, never again to die, and in this same way we too will rise again. I ... have the keys of hell and of death (Rev. 1:18).

Christ holds two keys: the key of hell and the key of death. First He opened the gates of hell, into which one could only enter but never leave, and freed the souls of the righteous who had died before He came into the world. Then the Lord overcame death itself

by His Resurrection.

Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches (Rev. 1:19–20). Christ does not hold in His hands the keys to paradise, for He entrusted them to the apostles in the person of Peter. Why did the Lord give the keys to Peter? So that thereby the oneness of the whole Church might be made manifest.

The apostle Peter is merely a symbol of the oneness of the Church.

In authority and honor the apostle Peter does not exceed the other apostles. Saint Ambrose of Milan writes, “What was said to Peter was said to the other apostles as well: ‘I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.’” But the keys of hell and death He kept, so that none might imprison a man there against His will. Unless Christ wills it no man enters hell, and no one will perish forever.

He is the master of hell and death, and as Saint John Chrysostom said, “Let no man fear death, for we are set free by the Savior’s death.”

Chapter Two

The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and the Rewards of the Victors

U

nto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, Who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (Rev. 2:1).

The seven candlesticks, or the seven churches, are the Christian communities that existed in various cities of Asia Minor. The community in Ephesus was founded by the apostle Paul. This was the foremost city in the whole province. This city exists to this day as a museum city, in the Selçuk district of İzmir Province, not far from the resort of Kushadasi. The foremost church in all Asia was located in Ephesus. There the Third Ecumenical Council was held.

The city is also known for the miracle of the seven youths in the cave at Ephesus, which exists to this day. In this city the Most Pure Mother of God lived for a time. There the apostle Timothy was executed, and there also the apostles and evangelists Luke and John died. In Ephesus John the Theologian wrote the Holy Gospel.

Beside all this, however, there is an ancient tradition according to which the seven churches mentioned in Revelation represent seven stages in the life of the Church. Various hypotheses exist regarding the periodization of the life of the Church. The Church of Ephesus itself was considered the Church of apostolic times. Its existence continued until the execution of the last apostle, and to it the voice of Christ is addressed in this passage of the Apocalypse. Why does the Lord address not the Church of Ephesus, but its angel? The reason is that when a temple is consecrated the Lord gives it its own guardian angel until the end of the world. The con-

The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and the Rewards of the Victors

27

dition of the temple is unimportant: even if it has been destroyed or ceased to exist its guardian angel never departs.

The guardian angels of local churches particularly watch over the rulers of these churches, i.e., the bishops. Hence, there is another interpretation of this text, according to which the angels of the churches are understood to mean not so much their guardian angels as their ruling bishops. The bishop is the guardian angel of a given church. This would explain why the angel is rebuked for his sins: this refers to the bishop.

But why is the angel (the bishop) rebuked for the sins of the whole Church? This is because the sin of one person harms others as well. When a person sins he not only sins against himself, but also causes pain to those around him. This is particularly frightful when sins occur in local churches. For these sins God rebukes the whole church and metes out punishment to all its Christians.

In the same way the fruits of virtue do not belong to one person alone: we know that the whole world is upheld by the prayers of the saints who live in accordance with the will of God. Addressing the Church of Ephesus, the Lord holds in His right hand seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars symbolize the seven angels of the churches, and the seven candlesticks symbolize the seven churches. By this Christ is saying that He holds in His hands all the bishops of the world and all the guardian angels.

In the Bible we read, The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord (Prov. 21:1), and the same may be said of the heart of the bishop.12 All the churches are in the hands of God, and He looks to see whether people are burning with love for Him or whether they have already been extinguished. The Lord is able to “extinguish� the churches represented by the candlesticks. He can move them from one place to another, and He can light them once again. God is almighty, the Sovereign of all the churches of the world. It must not be thought that their flames can go out on their own: they are ruled by Christ.

I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them

28

Chapter Two

which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars (Rev. 2:2). The Lord says to the Church: “I know all your good works, and that you have pleased Me, laboring in the preaching of the gospel.� Never again would the world see preaching such as the preaching of that time.13 These were truly extraordinary efforts, and many were the persecutions that the apostles had to endure for the name of Christ. The Lord praises the first of the churches for being unable to bear evil men who consider evil the norm: it cast evil deeds away from itself, sweeping evil out from among its ranks. It tried those who called themselves apostles and found that they were no such thing, but were liars. The apostolic church rejected the unprincipled imposters posing as apostles, who attempted to combine Judaism with Christianity, imposing on all Christians the Old Testament standards, which had already been annulled by the blood of Christ the Savior.14 Thou ... hast borne, and hast patience, and for My name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted (Rev. 2:3). The Lord says to the Church that it has not only labored, but has also endured a great deal for the sake of the name of Christ, and yet has not grown faint. The name of the Lord drew it ever onward, the love of Christ filled the Church to overflowing, and its strength was not exhausted. One who labors for the name of Christ senses within him a power that only increases with time. At that time the Church abounded in spiritual works. The apostle Paul testifies that in any Christian community there were invariably to be found prophets possessing various gifts of the Holy Spirit. Today these gifts remain with us in the Church, but their numbers have significantly diminished because love has decreased.

The Lord however says that He takes issue with the first Church, as well: Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love (Rev. 2:4). In what lay this first love? The apostolic community in Jerusalem had no personal possessions: people voluntarily sold their belongings and laid the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, so that there were neither rich nor poor among them, but all had what they required. Each showed

The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and the Rewards of the Victors

29

his love by serving others. Never was this seen again in the later years of the Church. Only in monastic life where the monks have no private possessions does this lifestyle and this principle of the first community in Jerusalem still exist. Love lies in people not separating themselves from others, but abiding together in ardent mutual love.15 The community in Jerusalem faded from existence, and the other churches were unable or unwilling to continue its way of life. It is this that the Lord deems a departure from the period of love—the love that Christians originally possessed. It is a cooling of love, which later led to a whole epoch of persecutions that came crashing down upon the Church. Persecutions do not come about by accident: when there is ardent love tribulations are unnecessary, but when love is lacking the Lord calls us to attain salvation through tribulations.

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent (Rev. 2:5). The Lord is addressing the Church with a call to repentance. Otherwise He promises to remove the candlestick—that is, He promises the destruction of that church, persecutions and tribulations. As we know from the works of Andrew of Caesaria, this prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. The Church of Ephesus did not repent—it is known that in the fifth century the sin of simony flourished there. Bishop Antoninus of Ephesus organized the sale of clerical appointments, and even had fixed rates for episcopal and priestly appointments. Upon learning of this John Chrysostom had him replaced. Because of this sin the chief see of Asia Minor was moved from Ephesus to Constantinople, a decision that was soon made at the Fourth Ecumenical Council. Here a direct manifestation of the Lord’s will may also be observed: love waned in the Church of Ephesus, and this candlestick was removed from its place. Today this church no longer exists.

But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate (Rev. 2:6). The Nicolaitanes were a sect connected with a man named Nicholas, one of the seven first deacons.

30

Chapter Two

The ancient church historians wrote that Nicholas was extremely hot-tempered and terribly jealous of his beautiful wife, which led to dreadful quarrels within the family. When the apostles condemned him for his behavior the deacon led his wife out into the midst of the assembly and said, “Let anyone wishes take her and use her.” The apostles did not approve of this outrage, and in the end the deacon Nicholas renounced the Church and founded a sect, where he taught that the time of the New Testament had ended and, consequently, any Christian could fornicate and commit depravity as he pleased. He made fornication the norm and held that one could serve God through depravity. The Church rejected this heresy and excommunicated all the Nicolaitanes.

The Tree of Life He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7). Thus, the Lord says that He is addressing not only the Church of Ephesus, but all those who have ears. Whoever has departed from love, let him return to it. The Holy Spirit says to the churches, “He that overcomes will eat of the Tree of Life that is in the midst of the paradise of God.” He that overcomes will enter into eternal paradise, there to eat the fruits of the Tree of Life from which the first man, Adam, could not eat. To eat the fruits of this tree and achieve immortality is a reward promised to the righteous, to those who have endured tribulations, borne labors, and not renounced their cross.

And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive (Rev. 2:8). The voice of God addresses the second church—the Church of Smyrna. Of all the churches in the Apocolypse this is the only one that remains to this day. The city of Smyrna is present-day Izmir, a city in Turkey with a population of several million. The Church of Smyrna is the church of the martyrs: its angel

The Tree of Life

31

was Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, who was executed in 167. It symbolizes the persecutions of the whole Church,16 and not one word of rebuke is directed against it. This church of the martyrs proved blameless in the eyes of the Lord, “which was dead, and behold, is alive.” By these words God gives us to understand that He was the first and the last, the beginning and the end of the world, Who was dead and returned to life. Why does He say this specifically to the Church of Smyrna? It is because each time in addressing each church the Lord emphasizes one of His own qualities, one that particularly relates to the given church. We see that here the Lord emphasizes that He “was alive and was dead and returned to life,” i.e., He died and rose from the dead. This is important for the church of the martyrs because they confess the death and Resurrection of Christ: they suffer with Christ in order to be glorified together with Him. The Church is the body of Christ, and when the martyrs suffer Christ suffers in them. He suffers in the martyrs, prophesies in the prophets, overcomes sin in the venerable ones, and manifests His righteousness in the righteous ones.

I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan (Rev. 2:9). The Lord says to the Church that He knows its oppression, knows that it is being persecuted and afflicted, its property confiscated. And for Christ this is an epoch of His mercy, an epoch of true spiritual richness. In this period a great number of ascetics appear: Saint George the Trophy-bearer, the great martyr Panteleimon, the great martyr Barbara, the great martyr Catherine, the martyrs Faith, Hope, and Love and their mother Sophia, and numerous other saints. They are precious gifts for the Church, gifts of courage, for the Church is rich in courage and inner strength. And it is persecuted primarily by those who were formerly the people of God: the Jews. All the ancient Christians said that the persecutions usually began with the Jews, who would report Christians to the authorities. The persecutions in the year 64 began when Poppaea, a concubine of the emperor Nero, reported the apostles

32

Chapter Two

Peter and Paul. When in 167 Saint Polycarp of Smyrna was sentenced to death by burning, the first to run to gather faggots were, as usual, the Jews, who at the time were the initiators of all oppression against the Christians. The hatred of the Jews is grounded in their union with Satan, since by departing from their union with God and not acknowledging the Messiah promised them by the prophets they chose the fallen angel to be their god. By not acknowledging Jesus Christ as God they became a synagogue or assembly of Satan.17 And indeed, Satan came to dwell in their hearts and in their assemblies, and they became and to this day remain enemies of the Lord. This will continue until they repent. It is said that “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” By falling away from the revelation and the covenant that they had received the Jews became worse than the pagans, since an apostate is worse than one who lacks knowledge.

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life (Rev. 2:10). The Lord is saying that we need fear nothing, because He is with us: He died and rose again, and hence we too shall rise. The Lord warns: “You will be cast into prison for My name’s sake.” This is instigated by the devil, who arms himself against the Church in attempts to destroy it. The hatred that the pagans and the Jews had for the Church of God cannot be explained by mere human plots and efforts. These are the efforts of Satan, who strives to physically wipe out the Church.

But we know that he will never succeed in this. It would not really be all that complicated: kill all the bishops and there will be no Church. But Christ warns: Ye shall have tribulation ten days. Ten days mean the ten epochs of persecution. For ten years, from 303 to 313, the bloody massacre continued, with tens of thousands of people being executed each day. The Lord goes on to say, Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life (Rev. 2:10).

That is, if you are faithful to Christ even unto death you will receive a reward: the crown of life that is given to the righteous.18

Deliverance from the Second Death

33

As the 14th-century saint Nicholas Cabasilos said, the Holy Spirit is a crown of life for those who have achieved salvation and are faithful to the end.

Deliverance from the Second Death He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death (Rev. 2:11). He who overcomes is in no danger of a second death. If you overcome, no death holds any fear for you. The first death is separation of the soul from the body, while the second is eternal separation from God. And it is this that inflicts the greatest harm on a person, since he remains in his body for eternity, but far from God, and he abides in eternal destruction, in a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness (Job 10:22). If a man is faithful to Christ death will pass him by, and he will be delivered from the second death. Thus, the Lord twice says that we must by no means worry, for in paradise there are no losers. Either you are with God or you are against Him. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth (Rev. 2:12– 13). The third church that the Lord addresses is the Church of Pergamos. The city of Pergamos remains to this day. It is famous for being the site of one of the chief altars to Zeus19 and the pagan temple of Asclepius, who was worshipped in the form of a serpent.20 The city of Pergamos was a city of savage idolatry, where people worshipped evil spirits and the powers of evil.21 Addressing the Church of Pergamos, the Lord said, These things saith He

34

Chapter Two

which hath the sharp sword with two edges (Rev. 2:12). The sword is the word of God that divides people. That is, the Church of Pergamos of the time of the Ecumenical Councils divides people: the rightly-believing from the unbelievers. And indeed, at that time a great division occurred in the Church, in which whole nations split off from it: the Armenians, the Ethiopians, the Copts, the Malabar Indians, the Assyrians, and the Nestorians. In this way the Church separated itself from those who reasoned falsely. The word of God divides all mankind, even those who have accepted Christianity. For this was a time of mass conversion to Christianity, since it had become the state religion of the empire and many converted mindlessly.

The period from 313 to 787 in the Church is known as the epoch of the Ecumenical Councils. And thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith (Rev. 2:13). That is, the chief merit of the Christians of this epoch is that the Church preserved the faith in absolute purity. At that time numerous heresies arose, beginning with the heresy of Arius, which held that Christ is not God. This was followed by the heresy of Apollinaris, according to which when Christ became incarnate He received only a human soul and body, while His mind was divine. The Nestorian heresy portrayed Christ as a man in whom God lived as in a temple.* The heresy of Monophysitism acknowledged Christ to be truly God, but did not acknowledge Him to be truly man.** All these heresies were disproved and condemned during the epoch of the Ecumenical Councils: the Orthodox Faith was preserved unharmed, and the Church of Pergamos upheld it. * Bishop Nestorius of Constantinople taught that the Virgin Mary gave birth not to God, but to the man Jesus, in Whom humanity was united with the Divinity through grace during His earthly life. For this reason he called the Mother of God “Christotokos,” not “Theotokos.”—Ed. ** The monophysites held that the human nature of the Savior was swallowed up by His divine nature, and so they recognized only one nature in Christ.—Ed.

Deliverance from the Second Death

35

In those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth (Rev. 2:13). The Saint Antipas here mentioned was a late first-century Christian martyr. He was killed in Pergamos for departing from the traditional religion (paganism). Saint Antipas was the bishop of the Church of Pergamos. He was arrested and brought before a judge, who demanded that he cease his propaganda of this non-traditional religion (Christianity) that was allegedly eroding the greatness of Rome and undermining state authority and the national traditions of the Roman people.22 Bishop Antipas replied that the only faith worthy of veneration is that which proceeds from God the Creator. In other words, that faith which is true—and not that which is traditional—is worthy of veneration. For refusing to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods he was burned in a brass bull. For this reason the Lord says in the Apocolypse that “Satan dwells where you are”—Satan in the literal sense of the word, killing the witnesses of God. Antipus was the first of a number of saints who suffered in the time of the Church of Pergamos. The Lord begins by praising this church for withstanding the attacks of the devil, who had attempted to destroy the Church through certain people within it. Whereas in the epoch of the ten persecutions the devil attacked the Church from without, through its pagan and Jewish persecutors, in the time of the Church of Pergamos he attacked it from within, through false teachers and heretics, who are also the servants of Satan. The truth is, according to Christian teaching a heretic is not merely a person in error, but a person possessed by an impure spirit, inhabited by the prince of darkness—Satan himself. This is why the Lord praises the Church of Pergamos, which withstood the onslaughts of the heretics.

But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight

36

Chapter Two

against them with the sword of My mouth (Rev. 2:14–16). Here the Lord reminds us how the first ancient people of God was led astray

by Balaam, who taught King Balac how to destroy Israel: prostitutes were brought to the Israelites, who seduced the Hebrews not only with their bodies, but also by their pagan gods.23 This is described in detail in the Old Testament, in the book of Numbers.

In punishment the Lord sent a plague upon the Hebrews, from which 24,000 people perished. This same temptation infiltrated the Church of Pergamos, where in the time of the Ecumenical Councils a clandestine Nicolaitanism arose, leading the Church astray from within. Among the Nicolaitanes depravity was considered normal, and they practiced partaking of food sacrificed to idols and communing with evil spirits.24 The Lord rebukes the angel of the Church of Pergamos for suffering such people in his community and not casting them out.

The Lord says, Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth (Rev. 2:16).

At that time many emperors were avoiding the issue of the difference between heretics and Christians, and attempted rather to reconcile the Christian Church with heretical offshoots, to prevent the latter from separating from the Church and thereby preserve the unity of the empire. The emperors entered into various negotiations with the monophysite heretics, the Arians and others, fearing one thing only: division of the empire. And punishment was not long in coming: the Lord came as He had promised.

He sent the Muslims against the Byzantine Empire for the Christians’ apostasy from God: the Muslims, now the scourge of God, swarmed down upon Syria and Egypt and conquered the lands of those countries. As God had said long ago to Abraham, the forebear of all Muslims, and to his handmaid Hagar, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren (Gen. 16:11–12). The Muslims understand this passage to mean that

Hidden Manna and a New Name

37

the Hagarenes will be bandits. Christians however understand it otherwise: the Hagarenes (Muslims) are the scourge of God for negligent Christians. The moment Christians depart from God, the Muslims immediately rear their heads.25 So we see that just as the Lord promised He came and waged war with the apostates— the Nicolaitanes.26

Hidden Manna and a New Name He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it (Rev. 2:17). What is the hidden, secret manna? It is the mystery of the heavenly food that is given to us even now in Holy Communion, but which will be given openly only in the Kingdom of Heaven. In Old Testament times, when the Hebrews were wandering in the desert, the Lord sent them manna that fell from heaven. In this same way Christians will be nourished with heavenly food, the food of the angels—i.e., the hidden, secret power of God, which is able to nourish a man. The manna is called hidden because God, in the might of His nature, is infinitely far removed from all that He has created. Hidden means unknowable, secret, something that cannot be understood, but which is food unto us all. This manna will nourish a man—in other words, man will be nourished by God. Today we are nourished by earthly food, through which God gives us strength, but in the Heavenly Kingdom He will satisfy us with His own Self alone. It is likewise interesting to note that the manna from heaven had whatever particular flavor a person required: for one who needed bread it took on the taste of bread, and for one who needed porridge it became porridge. The manna was universal, changing based on the needs of the given person. So also the divine hidden manna—divine

38

Chapter Two

strength—fills a person in this way or that depending on his way of life. He who overcomes will receive from God all that he requires, at the moment when he requires it.

Moreover, further on it is said: I ... will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it (Rev. 2:17). Man will be given a special, unique task and a special, inimitable relationship with God. In hell people may all be lumped together, but in the Kingdom of Heaven on the contrary every man is a personality, and each has a name which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it, and the white stone of a special gift, a special contact with God. Such is the promise to those who overcome. If you want to become a personality, overcome! For only he who overcomes receives this reward.

And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, Who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass (Rev. 2:18). The fourth angel is the guardian angel of the Church of Thyatira, which was located not far from Pergamos, in Asia Minor. It symbolizes the Church after the epoch of the Ecumenical Councils. It still existed at the time of the baptism of Russia; historians now term this period the Middle Ages. The Church had reached a certain degree of development, and at this time the established Christian sacred way of life took shape.27 In the ancient Church this did not yet exist; pious customs had only just begun to actively take shape. In the time of the Ecumenical Councils, however, particularly the latter ones, the life of Christians had become fully “churched,” i.e., connected with the life of the Church. The whole history of mankind becomes fully encompassed by Holy Scripture—the Word of God. Man begins to live a way of life that is wholly godly, as far as external ritual is concerned. This does not however mean that all men were saints. For example, in Muscovite Rus’ in the 15th and 16th centuries all without exception attended church, but there was also a period when the heresy of the Judaizers became widespread.

Thus, though this Christian lifestyle helps a man considerably to move toward God, it is no substitute for the path itself. In the

Hidden Manna and a New Name

39

Middle Ages it was believed that religion cannot be the private affair of the individual: religion is what encompasses all aspects of man’s life. The modern idea that faith is a private matter is in fact a diabolical trap. For if this were true no one would have the right to question the faith of another, and consequently each would have to keep his religious convictions to himself, concealing them inside him.28 This produces an interesting situation: religion is a private matter, yet attempts are currently being made to abolish private life by implementing a global surveillance system.29 Thus, the Lord addresses the guardian angel of the Church of Thyatira: These things saith the Son of God, Who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass (Rev. 2:18).

Christ is showing that He is omniscient. His eyes see all that is done in darkness; He sees the hidden good and the hidden secrets that existed within the Church at that time. The eyes of Christ are like fire, in that they illuminate everything in this world, but they also scorch sinners. Conversely, the Lord has legs like fine brass— the fragrant brass of Lebanon. Fragrant incense and shining brass respectively symbolize the divine and human natures of Christ.

The Savior is at once both God and man. Incidentally, it is for this reason that He is able to help those who are tempted, He Himself having been tempted. It is not by chance that this is mentioned here. In each address to the angels of the churches the Lord shows a particular trait of His that relates to that specific church. Christ is the God-man, and as such humanity is not foreign to Him. He even raises it up to a higher level than it previously occupied. If we examine the period of the Middle Ages we will see that it was a time of the greatest respect for man that the planet has ever known. Never has man enjoyed such respect, never has he been taken so seriously, as in the Middle Ages. Even the fact that heretics were being executed in Western Europe is indicative of the fact that the Europeans took their errors very seriously. If it had been perceived as mere foolishness no one would have been punished. The fact that they were executed means that religion was considered the world’s greatest asset.30 In the East a precise system

40

Chapter Two

of theology arises, and we see the conceptualization of the whole body of revelation. In the West advanced scholasticism appears— an attempt to “cool” the whole inner world of man through the intellect. This was a global project, the like of which had never been seen and never will be again. This was a time of ultimate respect for man.

I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first (Rev. 2:19). The Lord says, “I know that you love Me, that you serve Me, that you patiently bear the trials that I send you, and that your latter works are greater than the former.” And this Church brought forth fruits of sanctity continually, and its latter works were greater than the former. This was indeed the case: during the existence of this Church Christianity became a worldwide religion, reaching all the way to America and encompassing Asia and Africa.

Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols (Rev. 2:20). The word Jezebel here is not a proper name but a common noun. The Bible tells of one of the greatest sinners among women, a woman named Jezebel—the daughter of the king of Sidon, who was married to Ahab, king of Israel. To please his pagan wife Ahab built a temple and an altar to Baal, and at Jezebel’s instigation he ordered the extermination of all the prophets of God. The immorality of the Israelites bewildered even the pagan nations living alongside them. Jezebel established cult brothels where one could commune with the demons through prostitutes, and built numerous altars in honor of the gods. Ahab for his part destroyed his soul by permitting this lawlessness. Jezebel behaved with savage animosity toward all the prophets of God. It was she who wished to kill the prophet Elijah, who lived at that time. But she was punished by God. During a coup the queen was thrown from a window, then eaten alive by dogs. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.

Hidden Manna and a New Name

41

And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.

And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which He spake by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel (2 Kings 9:33–37). Thus God showed that because of her extreme sinfulness and hardheartedness she was unworthy to be received by the earth.

How does this story relate to the New Testament? Why is it addressed to the Church? The reason for this is that in the Church of Thyatira, in the time of John the Theologian, a certain false prophetess from the sect of the Nicolaitanes had appeared, who taught that all the commandments of the Old and New Testaments were outdated, including those concerning morality (love for God and neighbor). She prophesied falsely, saying that depravity and eating food sacrificed to idols were permissible. Thus, the term Jezebel is interpreted as a symbol, and in the Apocalypse this name is used to rebuke one of the churches of the Middle Ages, which had normalized fornication and begun serving man in place of God. At this time a terrible schism occurs in the Christian world: Rome apostatizes from the Ecumenical Church. The heresy of Rome was in fact sparked by fornication. The 9th and 10th centuries were an extremely repugnant period in the history of the Catholic Church. The Western Church was beset by the most horrendous debauchery: the Roman popes practically lived openly with their mistresses, in addition to many other foul practices. And all this very logically ended in Rome’s apostasy from the Ecumenical Christian Church, since when a person considers sin to be normal, making no attempt to repent and mend his ways, the Holy Spirit departs from him. When a person considers sin to be normal, repentance becomes impossible. And this is what happened to Rome. The Roman Church was the first to fall. This is

42

Chapter Two

a terrible tragedy that befell our Ecumenical Church, and for this reason an Orthodox Christian must not treat Rome as a sworn enemy. It is important to remember that originally this church rightly glorified God, and only later fell away. At all the Ecumenical Councils it was an energetic opponent of heresy. For example, so energetic was its defense of the veneration of icons that it eradicated Arianism in Alexandria. In Rome alone 135 apostles and saints were glorified. The Orthodox Church venerates 59 sainted popes of Rome. But in the 10th century the Roman Church apostatized from God by distorting the Symbol of Faith.

And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works (Rev. 2:21–23). The Lord says that He will punish the apostate church and all those who follow after her. And if they do not repent they will be given over to eternal death. He goes on to say that it is He Who gives unto each according to his deeds.

But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

But that which ye have already hold fast till I come (Rev. 2:24–25).

In these verses the Lord promises deliverance from another burden to all those who do not follow the teachings of heretics. Thus, the chief task of the Middle Ages was the preservation of Tradition. This was the task specifically of the Church in the Middle Ages: to preserve what the Lord had given in its fullness, without knowing the depths of Satan. These words are said because at that time attempts were being made by certain Christians to study these depths of Satan, and in place of God they began worshipping Lucifer. It was in the Middle Ages that the most insidious secret societies were formed, which later stirred up rebellion against the Church (the Templars, later reorganized as the Masons; the

Power Over the Nations and the Morning Star

43

Albigenses; and the Cathari). Formerly secret societies functioned outside the Christian world, but over time they penetrated deep into Christianity. The members of these societies attempted to study the depths of Satan. After the West renounced the established Symbol of Faith in 1014, satanic ideology gradually insinuated itself into the Catholic Church.

Power Over the Nations and the Morning Star And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father (Rev. 2:26–27). In the Middle Ages Christians indeed received the rule over the whole planet. Note the speed with which the Russians spread to the Pacific Ocean. How much time passed from Yermak’s conquest of the Siberian khanate of Kuchum to Russia’s expansion to the Pacific coast? In 45 years the people covered a distance of several thousand kilometers! Do you suppose they accomplished this by their own efforts? The traveler Ivan Dezhnev has some interesting memoirs in which he relates how they sailed the Arctic Ocean in flat-bottomed boats, successfully evading the icebergs and claiming vast territories. Clearly it was the power of God that drove the explorers onward. The same is true of the Spaniards in America. The Lord gave vast territories into the hands of the Christians, who energetically destroyed the pagan culture and introduced Christianity. The whole colonial system appeared because God gave Christians power over pagans.

And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches (Rev. 2:28– 29). The morning star is a most interesting symbol, one that has several meanings. The first is Lucifer. To put it another way, the Lord is warning all those who rely on Lucifer that they will fail.

44

Chapter Two

At the same time the morning star is a dual symbol that signifies the contrast between Christ and Lucifer. Christ will rout the fallen angel and grant entry to the Kingdom of Heaven. And the logic of Christian life lies not in building an ideal civilization on earth, but in preparing ourselves to take up our abode in the City of God, and as a reward for this the Lord gives Christians the kingdom of earth. Conversely, when people think too much of earthly things the Lord takes this kingdom away from them.

Chapter Three

The Symbol of the Church of the Modern Era

A

nd unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead (Rev. 3:1). The fifth angel is the angel of the Church of Sardis. Sardis is an ancient city, the capital of the kingdom of Lydia. The name of the last king of Lydia, the legendary Croesus, who possessed untold riches, became a household name. To this day we use the expression “as rich as Croesus.” Sardis also is considered a symbol of wealth. The Church of Sardis is usually perceived as a symbol of the Church of the modern era.

At the end of the Middle Ages the Church has only an outward appearance of life, being more dead than alive within. However many churches there may be on the planet, all are in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He continues to walk invisibly among the seven golden candlesticks, the seven churches: some He extinguishes and others He lights. God has never revealed which church He will “light” and which He will “extinguish.”

The first of the churches to go out was the Church of Rome, which became the heresy of Roman Catholicism. The Church of Thyatira, which in its day numbered about 500 bishops, was completely destroyed by the Muslims and disappeared: Christ had extinguished this candlestick as well.

I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead (Rev. 3:1). That is, you pretend to be alive, and you

46

Chapter Three

are tremendously active, but in God’s eyes you are a corpse. The Gospel commandments require that we not only do outward good works, but also grow inwardly. Our outward growth must be the direct result of growth within. Conversely, outward good works must produce the gradual inner development of love, meekness, chastity, purity, humility, continence, and the other virtues of the Gospel. The Christians of the Church of Sardis, however, focused on the externals and forgot what mattered most: that which is within.

Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God (Rev. 3:2). The Lord is saying to the Church of Sardis that its works are unfinished, imperfect. It has much that is external and little that is internal—many outward works, but no noticeable inward growth. The Church has fallen asleep, but it must awake, for death is at hand.

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee (Rev. 3:3). The Lord is saying that Christians must remember the revelation that the Church has received, and change their whole life by means of life in the Church.

God is testing all the churches, for He looks first and foremost at Christians, since it is these, His children, who matter most to Him. For their sakes He keeps watch and looks to see that Christians do not drift off to sleep. But if we do not keep watch the Lord promises to come suddenly, like a thief. As Christ said, so it came to pass: the history of Christian monarchies ended in a monstrous, bloody spasm of great wars and revolutions that embroiled the whole world. This warning pertains not only to the Church of the modern era, however, but to us as well: if we do not repent the Lord will come suddenly to us also in a day when we look not for Him, and in an hour that we are not aware of (cf. Mt. 24:50).

47

White Garments

White Garments Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy (Rev. 3:4). It is wrong to say that all the churches are deteriorating and there are no righteous men in their midst. Some have preserved themselves in their original purity, since they have been faithful to the Lord, though as a group these number far fewer than in the preceding epoch. It would however be incorrect to claim that spirituality is in decline. The Lord sometimes extinguishes certain candlesticks while lighting others, but He did not say that the 21st century will be less pious than the 19th. This is dependent on Him who walks among the golden candlesticks, not on the plans of men. In this matter the historical period is of no importance. What matters is the faithfulness of Christians and the love of Christ. The interrelations of the loving Lord and loving Christians alter the fate of the universe, since it is for their sake that the heavens and the stars exist.

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches (Rev. 3:5–6). The white raiment is a symbol of the absolute purity, the great reward, the future glory that the Lord bestows.

It is made not of cloth, but of light. The Lord says that He will not erase the names of those that overcome from the Book of Life.

There is a special rite for being written into the Book of Life: the sacrament of baptism.31 But the Lord is able to blot out the name of one who has been baptized from the Book if that person does evil and walks in the way of the ungodly. But the name of him who overcomes will never be blotted out.

The beautiful thing about the Kingdom of God is that there it will be impossible to fall, impossible to fall away from God, impossible to sin. One who overcomes will be clothed there in raiment of light, his name will be written in the Book of Life, and

48

Chapter Three

Christ will pronounce that name before the Heavenly Father and before His holy angels. He will say, Behold I and the children which God hath given Me (Heb. 2:13). The angels of God will sing the praises of the Holy Trinity because that man has been found worthy. This is the great triumph of the Kingdom of God, when on the Day of Judgment the Lord will acknowledge His own, and will speak their names aloud, and for this reason in the Gospel it is said, Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven (Mt. 10:32). But if anyone is ashamed of the Lord before men, of Him also will the Lord be ashamed before His Father and before His holy angels.

The Key of David And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth (Rev. 3:7). The time commences of the sixth church, the Church of Philadelphia. It was located at a distance of 80 kilometers from the modern-day city of Sardis. The Lord calls Himself Holy, True, He that has the key of David, because He is the absolute source of the holiness of all men. The measure of all things is not man, but the God-man. The world must be measured against Christ, not against man. And the whole world is not for man, but for the God-man. As the apostle Paul says, For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him (Col. 1:16).

The Lord is He Who alone is absolutely dependable, He Who may be relied upon, Who never lies and Who has the key of David. Why the key of David? David was the greatest king of Israel, and to him it was promised that one of his descendants would sit upon his throne for all eternity. The key to this eternal kingdom is held by a true descendant (according to the flesh) of King David:

The Key of David

49

Jesus Christ. For this reason Christ says, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth (Rev. 3:7). He has full authority over all the laity, and as absolute Ruler He also governs His churches.

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee (Rev. 3:8–9). Addressing the angel of the Church of Philadelphia, the Lord says that all roads are open to it, and no one can hinder its final triumph, promised by the prophet Isaiah and foretold by the apostle Paul. In this Church the greatest miracle of God will be performed: the conversion of the Jewish people. The Lord promises that at the end of time He will perform a great miracle: the Jews will convert to Christ, just as it is said here: Thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name (Rev. 3:8). The Lord promises that He will give the Church a reward, transforming the Jews from a synagogue, a satanic assembly, into Orthodox Christian Jews.

Why does God label the Jews so severely and then go on to say that they are not even Jews at all? The true Jews are the Orthodox Christians. Jew means “praiser of God,”* but the Jews do not praise God: they have renounced His Son, and through the Son they have renounced the Father. What is more, the Jews are not even Hebrews: they have not passed through water. Hebrew means “he who has passed through water,”** but they have not * The word Jew comes from the Ancient Hebrew name Yehudah (Judah), which means “praiser of God.”—Ed. ** Etymologically, Hebrew means “he who came,” “foreigner,” though there is also another interpretation: “dweller on the other side of the river” (which also presumes the meaning “he who came”). In both cases it refers to the biblical Abraham, who came to Palestine from beyond the river Euphrates.—Ed.

50

Chapter Three

passed through the water of baptism. Nor are they descendants of Abraham, because they do not keep the faith of Abraham. Being apostates, as the Lord Himself says, the Jews have become a synagogue of Satan. And we know that since ancient times the most savage foes of Christianity have always been the Jews. Beginning with Stephen the first martyr and with James the Lord’s brother, who were killed by the Jews, with the apostles Peter and Paul, executed at the Jews’ instigation, and on throughout the whole epoch of the martyrs, throughout the whole epoch of the Ecumenical Councils and the modern era, the Jews have opposed the Church of Christ. And so the Lord says, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee (Rev. 3:8–9). This is the prediction of the great conversion of which the apostle Paul speaks in the epistle to the Romans: For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in (Rom. 11:25). As it is said, then the holy one will go out and turn Israel away from its delusion, converting it to Christ the Savior.

This will happen at the end of time.

Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Rev. 3:10).

The Lord says that since the Church has kept the word of His patience—for He was patient, enduring according to the will of the Father, and the Church itself has likewise endured according to the will of the Father and the will of Christ—it will be preserved from all the tribulations and trials of the Apocalypse. We know that Christians will not suffer during the final collapse of the universe. Of this the apostle John the Theologian subsequently writes; we will see that punishment will befall all but the Christians. And this is not some whim on God’s part, but His reward for their patience. The impatient will not wait long enough to see this: one who is not patient, who is indignant, quick to anger, and quarrelsome, will experience all the horror of the end

The Pillar in the Temple of God

51

of time in its fullness. “But as for you,” the Lord says, “I will free you from this for having been patient according to My will and for My sake. I will preserve you from all the trials that are to beset the universe, to try those that dwell upon the earth and test their steadfastness.”

The Pillar in the Temple of God Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches (Rev. 3:11–13). The Lord praises the Church, but at the same time He says, “Do not forget that any person can fall.

Therefore, hold fast to what you have so that no one steals your crown, and so that no one receives your reward in your place, because soon I will come.”

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out (Rev. 3:12). That is, man will live eternally in the temple of the Lord, and, as John the Theologian goes on to say, this temple is not in Jerusalem, but rather the Lord is the temple. Hence, man will live inside of God. As the book of the psalms of King David says, Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; unto ages of ages shall they praise Thee (Ps. 83:5). Here it is said that the righteous man will dwell eternally in the temple of God and will never leave it.

And I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name (Rev. 3:12). The Savior promises that He will write the

52

Chapter Three

name of God the Father in the heart of him that overcomes, and will write the name of the new Jerusalem, so that that person will have the right to enter into it and live there. The name the person receives is made identical with the name of God. And Christ will have a new name, one that reflects His essence no longer as Savior, but as Master of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14). We now come to the last church of the Apocolypse: the Church of Laodicea. This is the sole church of which nothing good is said. This is the Church at the very end of the world. Speaking to it the Lord calls Himself by special, unprecedented names, such as “Amen”—He Who will speak the last word at the end of the world regarding all of creation. Christ seals the Book of the fates of the world, and His word will be final, and will not be subject to appeal. You cannot appeal God. The Lord calls Himself the “Witness”—in Greek, martis (μάρτυς), which may be also be translated as “martyr.” He is the One Who bears witness to the words of God, Who Himself affirms the revelation of the Lord. “Faithful and True”—this means He Who cannot be bribed, cannot be deceived, Who is the measure of all testimony and Who knows to the minutest detail all that exists in the universe.

What does the beginning of the creation of God mean? The book of Genesis begins thus: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Gen. 1:1). In whom did God create them? In Jesus Christ. Christ is He in Whom the world was created, Who set the world in motion and who at its end will say, “Amen.” He says, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending (Rev. 1:8). In other words, “I hold all things in My hands, and hence the beginning of creation is in Me.” I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need

The Pillar in the Temple of God

53

of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (Rev. 3:15–17). In other words, you are supposedly a Christian, but one would not think it judging by your life. You do not love Me, you do not even fight with Me, as the apostle Paul warred against me in the beginning. Even a cold person, one who hates Christ, can turn back to Him and repent. But those who are indifferent to Christ are unable to repent. The Greek text renders the expression I will spue thee out of my mouth in a most interesting way, which literally translates as “I am preparing to vomit you out of My mouth.” This is mirrored in the Church Slavonic translation. How revolting! You are so accustomed to this world that you have decided to establish yourselves here permanently, and for this reason you have become revolting to the Lord. The Christian of this Church says, together with the Church of the last times, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. In other words, I do not need God; I have already taken care of everything myself and done everything on my own. But the Lord says, “You do not know how wretched, miserable, blind, and naked you truly are.”

I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent (Rev. 3:18– 19). The Lord however says that He loves even one who is repulsive to Him, and advises him to buy gold tried in the fire, that he might become rich. The gold of the Lord, His wealth, is zeal for good works. For this reason it is a terrible thing not to have this zeal. This gold is also faith, first and foremost, which to this day the whole world considers scandalous news. People need to acquaint themselves with God’s revelation and not act based on their own suppositions. One must know objective reality. Further on the Lord recommends that a person buy from Him white rayment, that thou mayest be clothed, i.e., a pure life. He also says, To anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see (Rev. 3:18).

54

Chapter Three

Christ summons men to restore their sight and learn to see His will. And His most important summons to the Church is this: “Be zealous and repent.”32 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Rev. 3:20). The Lord stands at the door of our heart and knocks, and the first thing we must do is hear His knock. The Church requires, as God says, that we rest from earthly matters so that we might be able to hear the sound of His knocking. It is said that He knocks quietly, for the Lord respects a man’s personhood. He does not break in, but stands there hopefully, knocking at the human heart, and says, “If you open the door I will come in to you and will sup with you, and you with Me.” To sup means to be present at the great supper of the world, which is soon to begin. The world is racing headlong towards its end, and this means we must accept the invitation to the royal banquet, so as to celebrate together with Christ the beginning of a new world—the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. But if a person does not allow Christ into his heart, the Lord will not break in. That person will simply miss the knock of opportunity, and he himself will drive life away from his door. God is in fact remarkably respectful: He never violates a person’s free will, but rather desires that the person himself open the door and let Him in.

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches (Rev. 3:21–22). The Lord gives the greatest of promises to man: that he will become His co-ruler, reigning over the new universe, sitting upon the throne of Christ, presiding with God the Father “in His throne.” This is the chief and most important goal, for which we must strive. This is the final word of the Lord. And though He speaks of various periods in the life of the Church, all that is said concerns each one of us as well.

Chapter Four

Heavenly Reality

A

fter this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne (Rev. 4:1–2). The description of the seven churches of the Apocolypse has ended, and the time has come to describe what is most terrible of all: the glory of God that lies beyond the bounds of the world. Further on we will hear an account of the Fatherland that we must enter.

On earth we have a prefiguration of the Heavenly Kingdom, and not even a prefiguration, but rather its earthly incarnation: the Divine Liturgy. The door in heaven is a prototype of the royal doors, an image of the heavenly temple that is copied in the temples on earth. Thus, an image of heaven is constructed on earth, one that is directly linked to heaven. Behind the holy table in any Orthodox church stands a special throne (the cathedra or seat) for the bishop, which symbolizes the throne upon which God sits.* To either side we see the synthronos—the place where the priests sit. The priests are also called presbyters. The word presbyter (πρεσβύτερος) in Greek means “senior,” “elder.” The presbyter or priest fulfills the ministry of one of the twenty-four elders who stand about the Lord. The word bishop (επίσκοπος) * Today episcopal cathedras are found only in major cathedral churches, hence their title.—Ed.

56

Chapter Four

in Greek means “supervisor,” “overseer”—i.e., one who watches over, one who preserves people in Orthodoxy. The deacons (in Greek, διάκονος—minister) perform the angelic ministry on earth.

The revelation begins with John the Theologian seeing open doors leading to heaven. These doors first opened when Christ was baptized in the Jordan. Then John the Baptist of the Lord saw the heavens opened: The heavens were opened unto Him, and [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him (Mt. 3:16). Since that time the doors to heaven are open and ready to receive the righteous. What John the Baptist beheld was the opening of the path to the world above, and this path was opened by Christ the Savior. In the Orthodox Church the iconostasis is the barrier between the visible world and the invisible world, between the world above and the world below. The iconostasis reveals the spiritual essence of what is taking place in the altar.

Holy Scripture mentions these doors on several occasions. The time of the future Ascension and the opening of the doors are described in Psalm 23: Lift up your gates, O ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in! Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in war (Ps. 23:7–8). Translated literally, this meaning of this text is as follows: “Lift up the gates, O princes, and open the eternal gates, and the King of Glory will enter.”* The princes who stand at the gates of heaven ask, “Who is this King of Glory? We have never seen a Person of flesh and blood ascend higher than the heavenly reality, especially with His body transfixed by nails, pierced by a spear, and dyed crimson with blood.” Then the angels who accom* In ancient cities the gates were built low, with a raisable top. When the Levites were carrying the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders, the gates of Zion proved too low for the Lord the King of Glory sitting upon the Cherubim to pass through them. For this reason the psalmist exclaims, “Lift up the gates.”—Ed.

Heavenly Reality

57

pany Christ answer them, “Lift the gates up higher, O princes, and open the eternal gates, and the King of Glory will enter in.” Once again they ask, “Who is this King of Glory?” Again the angels reply, “The Lord of Hosts”—i.e., the Lord of Sabaoth, the Lord of the forces of heaven, the Commander of the universe—”He is the King of Glory.” The crucified Lord, the crucified Jesus, is the Lord of Hosts, Who will ascend above the heavens to intercede for us before His Heavenly Father. And these doors that opened before Christ, the doors of the Kingdom of God, the portal into another dimension, John the Theologian sees standing open. For Christ has already passed through them.

And the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither (Rev. 4:1). Why was the voice like a trumpet? In Old Testament times the Hebrews used trumpets to announce times of battle and of sacrificial offerings. The sound of the trumpet likewise accompanied the greatest revelation of God, when He appeared on Mount Sinai.33 First a cloud descended, and fire leaped from the mountain up to heaven; the sound of the trumpet grew increasingly louder, and soon became so loud that the mountains began to dance and to melt. The voice is like the sound of a trumpet because this sound heralds the coming of God, Who reveals His mysteries. Saint Andrew of Caesaria writes, “The opening of the door signifies the revelation of the hidden mysteries of the Spirit, and the trumpet signifies the mighty voice of Him Who opens it.” When God appears He is accompanied by a multitude of angels, proclaiming the great news. On the day of the Resurrection, when Jesus will come again to earth to judge the world, He will likewise be accompanied by angels. And the sound of the trumpets will grow ever stronger, and then the last trumpet will ring out. Its sound will pour out over the fields of graves, and Christ will raise all the dead.34 Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter (Rev. 4:1). By what means can a person go up into the other world? In that hour John was in the Holy Spirit, and his spiritu-

58

Chapter Four

al eyes were open. For to see God one must be in the Holy Spirit, Who gives revelation to the apostles and the prophets. The Holy Spirit teaches people, revealing the mysteries to them. Thus, John saw a throne standing in the heavens: the throne of God. This throne is a living throne: there is a special, superior kind of angels that are called thrones.35 These are the highest of the angels: God sits upon them as upon rational thrones, and they govern all the thrones of earth, all the governments of earth, being the sources of all earthly power—all governments, all rulers, all bishops, all the thrones of the world.

One sat upon the throne (Rev. 4:1–2). Someone was sitting upon the throne, but it is impossible to depict Him. He sparkles like a precious stone, this being a reflection of God the Father, and only in this way can He be seen and described: And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald (Rev. 4:3). Jasper is an opaque, hard stone that is golden-reddish, yellow, greenish, or even multicolored. Sardine is a red-hued gem.

Since the rainbow was “in sight like unto an emerald,” this means the rainbow was emerald-colored. What does the rainbow mean?

The book of Genesis relates how after God sent the great flood upon the earth He said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth (Gen. 9:12–16). Hence, the rainbow is a sign of the eternal mercy of God that surrounds His greatness.

God is brimming with life, and so the Lord appears before John as a Something that sparkles and shimmers, brimming with life and

Heavenly Reality

59

strength, possessed of great compassion, the promise of eternal mercy toward men.

At the same time we must remember that John saw not God Himself, Whom it is impossible to see, but the astounding reality of the appearance of God’s glory, which the ancient prophets also beheld. For example, Ezekiel: And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about (Ez. 1:26–28). For this reason John does not describe the face of God the Father. One may see only an image of it, but God Himself cannot be seen face to face due to His surpassing glory. And so he sees only the powerful brightness, the brilliance of the divine essence.

The prophet Isaiah had yet another, similar vision, when God summoned Him to his ministry: In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged (Is. 6:1–7). From this description

60

Chapter Four

we see that our own churches contain a reflection of that reality.

The altar before the face of God is our holy table, upon which the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ is offered, and upon which lies the scroll of the New Testament—the Gospel. In the altar you can see the Ark of the New Covenant—the Tabernacle, which holds the Body and Blood of Christ. The sign of the redeeming love of God, like the rod of Aaron that blossomed, is the Cross, which is covered with multicolored shining coverings. All Orthodox churches must have the most luxurious vestments possible, for they reflect the supreme glory of God. People often ask why Orthodox clergy have such expensive vestments while many people go hungry. The proper answer is this: people need to see a reflection of the incorrupt world in this corruptible one, a gleam of the uncreated Kingdom, so that they might not live like swine, seeking only to satisfy their bellies, but might understand where the source of life lies and what their goal must be. Imagine what it would be like to behold a vision like this! Do you wish to stand before a throne like this, with One sitting upon it Who sparkles?

Do you wish to see the rainbow of His compassion? Come to an Orthodox church!

And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold (Rev. 4:4). Why exactly twenty-four? In the Old Testament there were the twelve tribes of Jacob, but in the New Testament they have doubled in number: these are the chosen ones of the Old and the New Testaments. The usual interpretation of this passage is this: twelve men—the twelve apostles—will sit on one side of the throne, and twelve—the twelve Old Testament patriarchs— will sit on the other side. Thus, twenty-four elders will surround the throne of God. Why were they sitting round about God? The reason is that these elders participate in the royal majesty of Jesus Christ, in His might, in His glory. A person can sit upon the throne together with God the Father. The twenty-four elders are clothed in white garments; they officiate, performing their sac-

Heavenly Reality

61

red ministry before the face of God, serving Him, submitting to Christ, in the Divine Heavenly Liturgy, of which the earthly Liturgy is a reflection. This is why it is served outside of time, not being tied to any time.

They were clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crows of gold (Rev. 4:4). The white garments are a sign of the purity of those who have been redeemed. In the Old Testament the priest would put on special robes in order to serve God. This is the origin of our own priestly vestments. Moses also said, And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty (Ex. 28:2). These garments are signs of the glory of God that covers the elders and the priests—these elders who sit round about God. A Christian puts on these white garments in the sacrament of baptism. And every priest must without fail vest in the sticharon—his white apparel—to serve the Liturgy.

On their heads the elders wore golden crowns, as a sign of their reward for their victory over the devil. The Lord desires that we do battle and emerge victorious, and for this He wishes to reward us. For the saved the Holy Spirit will be a golden crown, a white raiment, food, and most excellent wine that gladdens their souls.

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God (Rev. 4:5). In the book of the prophet Ezekiel it is written that the appearance of God began with a violent wind that came from the north, a smoking flame, the midst of which was like four beings that moved like lightning, and about them lighting was flashing. In other words, lightning and fire proceed from God, filling all the world with life. The word of God pierces the whole world like lightning, and it shakes before the might of God. Those who believe that the Masons control the world are mistaken. God sits above the world and rules it in His might. From His throne proceeds not only lightning but also thunder. The thundering of the fearful words of God crashes down upon those who fall away from Him. The Lord is a terrible punisher

62

Chapter Four

of all evildoers. He manifests the might of His throne, from which also proceed voices of consolation and support of those faithful to Him. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God (Rev. 4:5). The seven spirits of God are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that have been sent to earth: the spirits of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge, piety, and the fear of the Lord. We spoke of this in our discussion of the vision of John himself, who beheld Christ standing amid seven golden candlesticks.

The book of the prophet Zechariah also mentions them, but by different names: Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then thou shalt also judge My house, and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth My servant the Branch (Zech. 3:7–8). Joshua is the high priest whom the Lord is addressing, saying that He will bring forth His great servant, Whose name is the Branch.36 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes (Zech. 3:9). The stone is Christ, and on Him there are seven eyes, i.e., the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, sent down upon the earth through the redeeming sacrifice of Christ.

The prophet Zechariah goes on to say, And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. And said unto me, What seest thou?

And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof (Zech. 4:1–2). These are the same seven candlesticks beheld by John the Theologian and by Moses on the mountain. Incidentally, our own seven-branched candlestick is modeled after the image that Moses beheld. Today in the altar of any Orthodox church one may find this same seven-branched candlestick, symbolizing the

Heavenly Reality

63

seven spirits that look down upon the earth with the seven eyes of God which penetrate the whole universe. These seven spirits enliven Christians and keep watch over the world. And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof (Zech. 4:3). Of these two olive trees we will speak in detail a little later. These are the two great prophets, Elijah and Enoch, who ever stand before God. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zech. 4:4–6). The prophet Zechariah himself explains the meaning of these seven eyes as follows: the Lord does not manifest His power through military forces, but rather will address people by His Spirit, and will transfigure the world not through physical force, not through slaughter and bloodshed, but by His Spirit.

Zerubbabel is an ancestor of Christ, and hence these words are addressed to him: Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it (Zech. 4:7). The great mountain is the one who became very proud, declaring himself the ruler of the world—Lucifer. But in the face of Zerubbabel, in the face of Him Who was to come forth from him (i.e., Christ), the devil is as a flat plane.

The headstone is Christ. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent Me unto you (Zech. 4:8–9). The house of Saint Zerubbabel is the temple into which Jesus Christ was to come. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth (Zech. 4:10). These are the seven eyes that

64

Chapter Four

see everything, and they rejoice at seeing the carpenter’s plumbline as the temple of God is erected before His eyes. And it is these seven spirits that burn before the throne of God the Father.

The Four Beasts And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind (Rev. 4:6). In the temple in Jerusalem there stood a sea for washing, modeled after this sea of glass—a special enormous vessel that held several tons of water, which was used for washing before offering sacrifices.

The priests would wash their hands and themselves so as to be pure before the throne of God. Christianity has the full equivalent of this sea of glass on earth. This is the font, in which we undergo the great washing. In addition, in the ancient Church it was the custom to wash one’s hands upon entering the church, so as not to make the sign of the cross with dirty hands. To this day there is an excellent tradition: before beginning your morning prayers, always wash your hands and face. This should be an ablution—a ritual washing. When beginning your evening prayers, again wash your hands and face. One may of course pray with physically dirty hands, if washing them is not possible, but naturally not with hands stained with blood. Ablutions should always be a reflection of purity. This sea of glass itself that stands before the face of God is not a physical sea, not water; or perhaps it is indeed water, but an other, heavenly water. Hence, the sea likewise symbolizes the fullness of the heavenly hosts, who are transparent as glass for the Lord. The apostle John attempts to describe this other reality that appeared before him, and he admits, as it were, that this is beyond his abilities.

And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle (Rev. 4:7). These living creatures are held to

65

The Song of Victory

be the four images of Christ as depicted by the four evangelists.

For the evangelists are privy to the mysteries of God the Father.

The first beast was like a lion. The lion is an image of Christ as depicted by the evangelist Mark: the image of royal majesty, the symbol of the royal might of God. Mark primarily emphasizes the royal might of Jesus, manifested through His miracles. The Gospel of Mark describes all the miracles of Christ.

The second beast [was] like a calf. The evangelist Luke describes Christ in the image of a calf. The ox or calf is a symbol of sacrifice offered for the people. It is a symbol of the sacrificial love of God for men, for God offered His own Son in sacrifice for us.

The third beast had a face as a man. This is the symbol of the evangelist Matthew, who proclaimed the true humanity of Jesus Christ. Through this seraph* God’s love for man is poured out into us, as it were, as a sign that God is not some distant, indifferent being, but rather He Who loves us to the point of even human jealousy.

The fourth beast was like a flying eagle. For before the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, knowledge of God was transmitted to the world by angels, beginning with the seraphim and ending with the lowest ranks of angels.

The Song of Victory And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come (Rev. 4:8). Why do the beasts have six wings? With two they cover their faces, so as not to be consumed by looking upon the face of God; with two they cover their feet, since they * Seraph—an angel who is especially close to the throne of God and who glorifies Him, having a human appearance (face, arms, and legs) and six wings.—Ed.

66

Chapter Four

always subject their movements to God; and with two more wings they fly. Inside they are full of eyes, since their gaze is directed inward: they see God through themselves, and this path is of great importance. Many people think God can be found by going from one place to another, but the path to Him lies through our heart. The angels too see God using a special instrument, and that instrument is called the spiritual heart. From the depths of the spirit they see the Lord, and hence they are full of eyes within.

Why is the hymn sung to God thrice? Because holy is the Father, holy is the Son, and holy is the Holy Spirit, but One is Lord, One is God, One is Almighty, glorified in Trinity, Who existed in eternity, exists, and is to come. He existed from the beginning, He is the I Am, and to this day He eternally exists. He exists and is to come to judge the whole universe in truth and to transfigure the whole world. This doxology proclaiming the holiness of God is a song of victory. You may perhaps have noticed that before the singing of this hymn the priest exclaims, “We give thanks unto Thee also for this service which Thou hast been pleased to accept from our hands, though there stand before Thee thousands of archangels and ten thousands of angels, the cherubim and seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, borne aloft on their wings, singing the triumphal hymn, shouting, crying aloud, and saying.”

The eagle sings, the calf shouts, the lion cries aloud, and the man speaks. Why is this a song of victory? Because the holiness of God is a victory. The ultimate might and eternal righteousness of God is victory itself. The manifestation of the righteousness of God is already victorious.

And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, Who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying (Rev. 4:9–10). The elders offer Him glory and say, “From You we have received crowns: You are the King of Kings, and You live forever and ever.” What does Who liveth forever and ever mean? He lives throughout all ages,

The Song of Victory

67

He lives eternally, He alone it is Who rules all time, Who lives above the passage of all time. And to Him all the glorified elders and angels bow down, offering the honor and glory that are due Him. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created (Rev. 4:11). The first reason for which God is glorified is that glory, honor, and power are due Him by right.

We do not separate God from His power or His glory; we know that He is the Most Mighty One, and to Him are due honor and praise because all is created and exists by His will. For God is the sole Creator of the universe. He spoke and in an instant called all creation into being. When the Lord approached the man who was born blind, that man received his sight. Christ commanded Lazarus who had died, and the dead man arose. There is no one who could ever exist contrary to the will of the Lord, and there is nothing that could resist His will. God alone is the Creator of the universe, and for this we glorify Him.

Chapter Five

The Book with Seven Seals

A

nd I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals (Rev. 5:1). In the right hand of God the Father there is a book that has been written and sealed with seven seals. Books as such were first used for religious reading in New Testament times; in the days of the Old Testament all books were written on scrolls.

The book has seven seals. Each time a seal is removed the content of a certain text is revealed.* This is a book that describes the future (though for God there is neither past nor future, only present), the book of the fates of God, the book of the plan for the whole universe. For God does not merely observe the world: He rules world history with authority, doing as He wishes. This book holds God’s plan for the future of the whole universe, beginning with the time of Christ. It contains numerous records, since the plan of the Creator is extremely expansive, being so great that the mind of no man can encompass it.

This book is sealed because the mystery of God is hidden in His own mind, and at no time and to no one does He ever fully reveal His will. In every historical epoch unexpected things occur * In ancient times books were made of pieces of parchment, rolled into a tube or around a round stick. A cord passed through the inside of the scroll was tied outside it and fastened with a seal. Sometimes the parchment was folded accordion-style. Then a book of this sort would be bound with a cord, and on each fold a seal would be placed. Breaking one seal would only allow one to open and read one part of the book.—Ed.

The Book with Seven Seals

69

that can in no way be explained by the preceding course of world history. History is motivated by the will of the Heavenly Father, leading the universe toward His goal. As the Lord says of the Hebrew nation in the book of the prophet Jeremiah, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (Jer. 29:11). In the Old Testament the Lord speaks to the Jews through two prophets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, delivering the same message: the results of men’s sins will come crashing down upon them, but not the sin itself.37 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge (Jer. 31:29–30). What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?

(Ez. 18:2).

In the right hand of the One Who was sitting John saw a book written within and on the backside—i.e., a book filled with knowledge and sealed with seven seals. Why seven? The book describes the fates of the world, which was created in a seven-day cycle and continues to exist in cycles of seven days; consequently there are seven seals.

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

(Rev. 5:2). Who can discover the things that God knows? Who is worthy to reveal to men the inexhaustible treasuries of the Lord’s knowledge? All beings capable of receiving the revelation of God are called to this. Saint Gregory the Theologian has a small treatise titled “Five Homilies on Theology,” in which he describes in detail which people are able to theologize. Do you suppose he writes that a theologian must have a high IQ? No. Or perhaps he writes that these people must be well versed in ancient philosophy? No. Could it be that they need to be outstanding mathematicians? No. He writes that a theologian must have a pure heart and a mind inclined toward God. In order to learn the mysteries of God one

70

Chapter Five

must be worthy, and in order to become worthy one must purify oneself.

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon (Rev. 5:3). But no one could even begin to crack the pages of the great mystery of God: it turned out that no one was capable of this. The mind of God is closed to all living beings, for all are imperfect. The Lord even charges His angels with folly (cf. Job 4:18). The angels are imperfect: even the best of them, Lucifer, fell away and drew a third of the angels with him. In all the universe there are no omniscient and omnipotent beings. The Lord reigns over the whole universe.

In all the universe all beings, both men and angels, are limited.

All are by nature unworthy of the mercy of God. Neither in heaven among the angels, nor on earth among men, nor beneath the earth among the demons were there any beings found who could be vouchsafed to receive the mercy of God and to learn His mysteries. Salvation also we receive by mercy, not by merit. It is this that the angel emphasizes in Revelation: no one was found who was worthy of even a glimpse into the book of the fates of God. Of this the prophet Isaiah also spoke: Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counsellor hath taught Him? (Is. 40:13). With whom does God take counsel when He performs His will? There is no such counselor.

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon (Rev. 5:4). John says that men are in need of revelation, of learning the mysteries of God, since otherwise they will live as animals, not knowing where they came from or where they are going. The knowledge of the mysteries of God is essential for the salvation of men. It is important that we study the revelation of God, so as to understand where we ought to go. But no worthy person was found to read the book, and John wept much over this.

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof (Rev. 5:5).

The Book with Seven Seals

71

The Lion of the tribe of Judah prevailed. Why is Christ called thus here? John the Theologian is a Jew by nationality, and was naturally well acquainted with the Old Testament, and had certainly read the book of Genesis, which foretells the prophecy of Jacob that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ: Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before (Gen. 49:8).

And in the book of the prophet Hosea the Lord says, For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him (Hos. 5:14). God can in fact be predatory, and He is described as carrying off His terrible prey. The Lord couched, He lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir Him up?

(Num. 24:9). Christ lies down in the grave, and no one is able to raise Him up but He Himself. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be (Gen. 49:10).

That is, all the rulers shall continually proceed from the descendants of Judah until the time when Shiloh—the Reconciler— comes, i.e., Christ. And so it came to pass: rulers from the tribe of Judah were born until the time of Christ. When Judah began to be ruled by foreigners (Herod), and when the emperor Augustus even stripped the Jewish Sanhedrin of its official powers, then Christ came.

Binding His foal unto the vine, and His ass’s colt unto the choice vine; He washed His garments in wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes (Gen. 49:11). This too came to pass: when Christ entered Jerusalem on an ass’s colt He hitched it to an enormous golden figure of a grape vine that hung over the entrance of the temple in Jerusalem. And He indeed washed in blood, but He rose again in joy. Christ is the root of David. Why is He the root and not the branch? Because He is at once both God and a blood relative of David: He is a direct descendant of King David on His Mother’s side, and hence according to the flesh He is of one blood with David.

72

Chapter Five

Christ hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof (Rev. 5:5). Christ overcomes great foes—death and the devil—in order to open the book of the revelations of God for men. This is one of the aspects of redemption. Christ has redeemed us from sin and the curse of death, but another redemptive task remains: to grant us to know the mysteries of God. The Lord wished to reveal Himself, His mysteries, His plan for the universe.

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6). At the Divine Heavenly Liturgy a new Person appears: John sees not only God, but a certain lamb—the Lamb Who was as it had been slain.

This is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, Who takes upon Himself the sins of the world. Thus John the Baptist said of Him, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29).

And He stands between the throne and as it were among the elders, in the place where God is, and He is equal to the Father, as it is said in the Gospel of Mark: He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God (Mk. 16:19).

Thus, John the Theologian sees Christ sitting in the glory of God the Father, and sees upon Him the victorious signs of the passion (His sufferings): the mark of the slaughter and the marks of the blood that was shed for us. Christ has seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6). The horns are power and strength, and the eyes are most perfect wisdom—i.e., the Lord possesses the fullness of strength and knowledge. The seven spirits sent to earth are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, as this was also described in the book of the prophet Zechariah: Those seven ... are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth (Zech. 4:10).

Christ knows all things by His Spirit, which proceeds from the Father and rests in Him. Why are the seven spirits said to be sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6)? Because after the Crucifixion and

The Book with Seven Seals

73

Resurrection of Christ the Holy Spirit descended upon men. And if Christ had not been crucified, if the Lamb had not been slain for us, we would have remained in our sins. As the 4th-century saint Victorinus of Pettau said, “The Messiah, the Lion that prevails, willingly became the Lamb that suffers.” Christ goes to His sufferings like a lion to contend with the devil, and He suffers so as to invade the depths of death and redeem us from our sins by His blood. The expression as it were slain shows that He died and rose again. Christ rises from the dead with a pierced side* and with the wounds of the nails, but He is alive; hence the expression as it were. The wounds and His body are real, yet He is alive. This is a remarkable paradox. And the apostle Thomas did not believe that He was alive until he had placed his fingers into the wounds of Christ. As it were slain because the death of Christ is real, but He is no longer subject to it. The sacrificial offering of the unblemished Lamb was foretold by the Old Testament prophets: He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth (Is. 53:7). The image of the Lamb of God dates back to the prophet Isaiah, but this image appears in Scripture even earlier: at the time of the Hebrew Passover the people of God were saved by the blood of a lamb, with which their door frames were marked. This is why the cross is placed in Christian churches and homes: as a symbol of Christ’s victory over death.

And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne (Rev. 5:7). Now Christ rules the world together with God the Father. He has all power over the universe * The New Testament does not mention on which side Jesus Christ was pierced by the Roman soldier. The details of the Savior’s sufferings and death on the Cross have been preserved by Church Tradition. On icons of the crucified Lord He is depicted with His right side pierced.

Researchers of the Holy Shroud have confirmed the accuracy of Tradition.—Ed.

74

Chapter Five

and the power to reveal the mysteries of God to men. From the right hand of God He takes the book, and this means that the Lord will accomplish all the works of God, and the coming Judgment over men is also in His power.

And when He had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints (Rev. 5:8). They fall down before Christ, and in their hands are ten-stringed zythars, since the righteous ones strictly observed the Ten Commandments, which together comprise a certain harmony. For example, King David delighted in the commandments, deriving an aesthetic pleasure from them: for him they comprised a certain harmony or melody. And Blessed Augustine, in explaining why we do not play musical instruments in our churches, says that the finest musical instrument we have is the heart: it must be strung with ten strings, and the Holy Spirit must pluck them.

Thus, they hold in their hands golden vials from which billows the smoke of fragrant incense. In this same way in Christian churches the fragrant smoke of incense billows as a symbol of our prayers that support us. The censing is not a substitute for prayers, but rather a symbol thereof. The four beasts and the twenty-four elders fall face down, having upon their lips these prayers addressed to the Lamb of God—no longer to God the Father alone, but also to Christ the Lamb, since we pray specifically to all three Hypostases. The three Personalities are One God— one essence, one Divinity, one might, one power. Why is it said that the harps and the golden vials are the prayers of the saints?

Because by their prayers the saints continually intercede before the Creator for the whole world, and the world is upheld by their prayers. They do not pray in our stead; rather, they pray together with us. The prayer of a saint whom a person asks for help lifts up the weak prayers of men, as though on wings, to the throne of God. It is for this reason that the Orthodox Church invokes the saints to pray for us.

The Book with Seven Seals

75

Why are the vials golden? Because in the prayers of the saints there is nothing corruptible. From their hearts as from golden vials the fragrance of prayers is offered up to God. Our prayer may be like a silver vial or a clay saucer, or in some cases even like a broken clay pot. But the prayer of the saints is golden, wholly directed toward God. Their heart has become a vial from which billows the fragrant smoke of incense. And our prayers must also billow before the face of God. When coming to pray, the vessel from which the incense will be offered must first be prepared—i.e., it must be cleansed of all filth, abandoning all earthly attachments and setting aside all earthly affairs. As it is sung in the Cherubic Hymn in Orthodox churches, “Let us now lay aside all earthly care.” We must first set apart a special time for prayer, and then test our condition (whether we are in the grip of any passion at the moment) and ask God for cleansing. Then we must place the incense (the mind) upon the hot coal (the heart)—i.e., we must delve into the words of the prayers. Our disposition must be as though we were bringing a censer to God. We must ask Him that our prayer may ascend to the heavens like the smoke of incense, and not merely hang low over the earth, like the sacrifice of Cain that God did not accept.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation (Rev. 5:9). They worshipped God the Father without harps, but Christ they worship with harps and incense, since the time of the Incarnation marks the beginning of a more exalted doxology. Through the sacrifice of the Savior men and angels have ascended to a new level. In the book of Psalms there is a prophecy concerning this new song: O sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless His name; proclaim from day to day the good tidings of His salvation. Declare among the nations His glory, and among all peoples His wonders. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods

76

Chapter Five

of the nations are demons, but the Lord made the heavens. Praise and beauty are before Him, holiness and majesty are in His sanctuary. Bring to the Lord, ye kindreds of the nations, bring to the Lord glory and honour; bring to the Lord the glory due unto His name.

Bring sacrifices, and go into His courts; worship the Lord in His holy court (Ps. 95:1–8). Previously only one nation on earth sang to the Lord—the Hebrew nation—while all other nations sang to false gods, to idols and graven images. But after the Resurrection of Christ begins the great song that, in the words of David the Psalmist, encompasses all the nations of the earth, and for this reason it is called new.

This is the song of the redeemed, the song of the saved, as the prophet Isaiah says: For the day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and the year of My redeemed is come (Is. 63:4). In the book of Psalms it is said, The heavens shall confess Thy wonders, O Lord, and Thy truth in the congregation of saints (Ps. 88:6); and, Sing unto the Lord a new song; His praise is in the church of the saints (Ps. 149:1). At that time man would sing unto God and ask His help, but David foretold that a time would come when men and angels together would sing unto God a new song. After God, those who are holy (i.e., the saints) are the angels and men who gather into a single choir.

We see that this has come to pass. The saints say to God, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation (Rev. 5:9). People of all tribes and nations are redeemed by God, thereby forming an assembly of the redeemed—a completely new people of God. They praise the Lamb Who has redeemed them from sin by His blood and paid for their iniquity by His sufferings and death. We have been redeemed by innocent blood, and the Father has freed us from slavery to the devil, from the punishment that lay upon all men.

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth (Rev. 5:10). The great promise—that Christians would be made kings and priests unto God—has come to

The Book with Seven Seals

77

pass. Christ in Greek means “Anointed One,” and all Christians participate in His anointing. We are kings, called to reign over the new universe, and we have already received the anointing to kingship, but we have not yet entered into our birthright. For David too was anointed to kingship by Samuel long before he actually began to rule as king. For the present we must learn first and foremost to rule over ourselves. We must so arrange things that our mind rules the will of the feelings, the soul rules the body, and the body rules the world—not through the laws of suppression, but through the laws of love. Christians have become royal priests. And the chief task of priests is to offer sacrifices. What sacrifice must we offer? To offer our whole life in sacrifice to God on the altar of our mind—this is our calling. As the apostle Paul says, Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Rom. 12:1). This is a sacrifice of the mind, the will, and the feelings. In place of our own thinking, God’s thinking; in place of self will, God’s will; in place of our own feelings, God’s feelings. In place of our own life, life in God. And it has been said that we shall reign on the earth (Rev. 5:10); i.e., our kingdom will be on the transfigured earth, in which we will live eternally.

And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing (Rev. 5:11–12). This is a hymn that begins at the highest heights, where four thousand elders worship Christ and offer to Him prayers, thanksgiving, and the music of citharas within their hearts. Gradually the hymn swells, and a multitude of celestial beings join in—the angels and men who live in the heavens. The Lamb is worthy to receive power because it belongs to Him by right as the Victor, and not only to Him but to man also. He is worthy to receive riches, since all the riches

78

Chapter Five

of the world belong to the Lord Jesus Christ by right of redemption. Wisdom, might, and strength are united in Him, and for this reason Christ is called “Holy Mighty.” All the might that upholds the universe is in the pierced hands of Christ.

And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen.

And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever (Rev. 5:13–14). The hymn to the Lamb now encompasses all creation; all the creatures of the world worshipped God and acknowledged that to Him by right belong all that is and all blessing, honor, glory, and lordship. He rules the world unto the ages of ages, and the power of the Father and His Son Who died for us extends throughout all generations. Even the spirits of the netherworld acknowledge His authority, quaking in spite of themselves with terror. All the beings of the world participate in this hymn, for the Lord gives us life, ruling our bodies and souls, and this glory of the Redeemer touches all. On earth this hymn resounds at the Liturgy: first we glorify God the Father for creation, then for sending us His Only-begotten Son, that he who believes in Him might not perish but might have everlasting life.

On the night when He was betrayed Christ took bread, blessed it, and broke it, giving it to the apostles with the words, Take, eat: this is My Body (Mk. 14:22). Likewise He took the cup, saying, This is My Blood of the new testament, which is shed for many (Mk. 14:24).

At the Liturgy this Lamb of God actually appears, not in figure but in reality. In Orthodox temples there is a copy of the Book of Life, lying on the holy table: this is the Gospel, which describes the laws of the approaching fate of the world. An Orthodox temple is truly a three-dimensional model of the portal of heaven, and not even a model but a three-dimensional gate leading us into the heavenly reality. Hence, there is but one Temple in the world, and

The Book with Seven Seals

79

all the Orthodox temples on earth are but open doors into the one heavenly Temple. The heart of man must become this same kind of door. This is the secret counsel that was taken in the bosom of the Holy Trinity, which molds the fates of the world and by which the world exists. The Liturgy molds the world. As the righteous Saint John of Kronstadt wrote, “For the sake of the Divine Liturgy— the Mystery—the sun shines in the sky in the daytime, and the moon at night, and the stars of heaven, thousands of them, give off their light; and the earth brings forth fruit, and thus we are able to nourish ourselves with bread. I repeat: the earth brings forth its fruits of grain and grapes solely because bread and wine are offered each day upon the holy table when the Liturgy is served.

Not to us and not for us, who are covered with sores, does the earth give its fruits; we are not worth this. The earth gives them for the Bloodless Sacrifice, and will continue to do so for as long as the Divine Liturgy is served upon earth. When there is no Liturgy the sun will go black, and the earth will cease to bring forth its fruit.”

Chapter Six

The Victorious Preaching of the Apostles

A

nd I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer (Rev. 6:1–2). The history of the Church begins with the Lamb of God—Jesus Christ—becoming a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Christ opens the first of the seven seals, and the first epoch of the Church begins. We see that all of world history exists on the basis of the great hierarchy that was established by God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Holy Trinity rules the universe. The order of God, the command of Jesus Christ, is carried out by the first of the living beings, the first of the seraphim that stands at the throne of God, and he tells John the Theologian who is to come forth: And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer (Rev. 6:2). The first whom Christ releases into this world is a great white horseman, holding a quiver full of arrows and crowned with a white crown. This is the holy apostles, the victorious preaching of the apostles, intended to crush the power of Satan.38 The apostles are crowned with a crown even before the battle begins, since they go forth to conquer, and they could not but do otherwise. For the chief victory has already been won, and they merely continue the offensive. The main battle took place

The Victorious Preaching of the Apostles

81

on the day of the Lord’s Crucifixion on Golgotha, and ended in the complete and utter victory of God. The crown with which the apostles are crowned is the crown of the Holy Spirit, which came to rest upon their heads on the day of Pentecost.

In his hands the horseman holds a bow and arrows. The arrows are the word of God. In the Psalter it is said, Thine arrows are sharp, O Mighty One, (under Thee shall peoples fall) sharp in the heart of the enemies of the King (Ps. 44:6). And in another place, in other words, the prophet Habakkuk prophesies this great attack

by God: O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy (Hab. 3:2). The prophet Habakkuk asks that the Lord accomplish His great work not at the end of time, but midstream in the course of time. The prophet goes on to say, God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the light; He had horns coming out of His hand: and there was the hiding of His power. Before Him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at His feet. He stood, and measured the earth: He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: His ways are everlasting (Hab. 3:3–6).

Why do the mountains fall down before His eyes? These are the mountains upon which sacrifices were offered to the demons. The mountains of pridefulness, hatred, and malice—God looks upon them and they crumble. When the Lord Himself goes forth, evil instantly ceases.

Habbakuk continues: I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was Thine anger against the rivers? was Thy wrath against the sea, that Thou didst ride upon Thine horses and Thy chariots of salvation? Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even Thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. The mountains saw Thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep ut-

82

Chapter Six

tered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of Thine arrows they went, and at the shining of Thy glittering spear. Thou didst march through the land in indignation, Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, even for salvation with Thine anointed; Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck.

Selah (Hab. 3:7–13). The Lord acts with overwhelming might and lays the devil bare, piercing his head and his captains with spears, when they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. Thou didst walk through the sea with Thine horses, through the heap of great waters (Hab. 3:14–15).

As Habakkuk had foretold, so it came to pass; as God promised the prophet in ancient times, so it came to be. God goes forth and conducts a great “military operation,” laying siege to the great sea of the world, the sea of humanity. The sea of the nations goes forth to conquer. The apostles sally forth—those same horsemen in shining raiment, crowned with the crown of the Holy Spirit, with the red-hot flaming arrows of the word of the gospel, vanquishing nations. They went forth to conquer, and conquer they did: they established the Church.

This was the first seal and the first horsemen to go forth according to the will of the Lord. The prophet Zechariah saw him many years before Revelation was written: I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white. Then said I, O my lord, what are these?

And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth (Zech. 18–10). The great campaign has not yet ended; the first epoch began, but it has not been completed.

For when the path of the first horseman is complete the history of the world likewise will reach its end. There are still coun-

83

The Migration Period

tries that await the coming of the great white horsemen, who is to conquer death in them as well. These are China, Indochina, and many island states, which await the coming of the messengers of God. But this is not the extent of the Lord’s plan: it is only the beginning.

The Migration Period And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword (Rev. 6:3–4). The second seraph sitting at the throne of God commands John to look and see what will happen next. And he sees a second horse, but it is not red, as the Russian translation reads, but fiery-red—pirros (πυρρος) in the original Greek. Thus begins what we know as the Migration Period. With His mighty right hand God altered all of world civilization. He caused a great upheaval of the universe, and made it so that people on earth could not create an ideal society on earth. A sudden mass migration ensues, one with no motive. Never before had history seen the like. In accordance with God’s plan sinners received their recompense from sinners like themselves. This is the principle of which the Lord spoke to the prophet Habakkuk. The evildoer will be punished by an evildoer like himself, and the thief will be robbed by a thief. It is for this reason that God ignited the fires of world wars and the Great Migration, so that the dread empires that opposed the preaching of Christ were wiped off the face of the earth or scattered. The global “mixing-up” of the nations ended with the establishment of Christian governments. But the moment those Christian governments collapsed, the red horseman returned.39 His mission is to crush all that rises up against God. He arms himself against mighty empires and rulers that revolt against the Creator.

84

Chapter Six

The Kingdom of Satiety And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine (Rev. 6:5–6). A third, black horseman comes to earth, holding a pair of scales and a small measure of flour, less than a kilogram. This horseman destroys all the systems of “global satiety.” When people attempt to create an ideal economic system he sends famine. But the horseman does not harm the oil or the wine, so that men might be able to serve the Liturgy (we know that one may commune solely of the Blood of Christ, and so we can manage without bread, but not without wine). The third horseman, in accordance with God’s will, prevents people from establishing themselves on earth, but they are always given the opportunity to take part in the sacrifice of Christ.

A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine (Rev. 6:6).

A penny was the daily salary of a hired laborer. In other words, a person must limit his eating considerably so as not to establish for himself a “kingdom of satiety.” For such kingdoms arose quite frequently. For example, Rome was a true, classic example of a kingdom of satiety, in which a person could live at his ease and not have to work. Each day every Roman citizen received a fairly large ration of food free of charge, which included grape wine, wheat, and oil. And the black horseman gallops to those places where this occurs and puts an end to such doings, so that on the earth there might be no ideal kingdom.

There is yet another explanation of this third, black horseman.

As God said through the prophet Amos, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of

85

The Horseman of Death

the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it (Am. 8:11–12). In punishment for man’s rejection of God a still more terrible famine ensues.

The Horseman of Death And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth (Rev. 6:7–8). The fourth horse is pale. This however is not a precise translation from the Greek, which translated literally means that the horseman was greenish. This is the color of a decaying corpse. This is a living decaying horse, ridden by a fitting rider, named “death.” The fourth horseman whom God releases is death and hades, and he is sent against those who have apostatized.

Note that all this occurs gradually: first comes the preaching of Christ, then the Great Migration, then a shortage of foodstuffs, destruction of the economic system, and at the same time the word of God falls silent. People begin to be terribly in want, though the Sacraments are nevertheless performed. And finally death arrives.40 A pale green horse went forth, the color of a decaying corpse, upon which death sat, and hell followed with him. Why did this horseman go forth? He was given power over a quarter of the earth, to slay it with the sword, with famine, with calamities, and with the beasts of the earth. For example, if we analyze the end result of the religious wars in Europe we will see that they were simply horrific: in Germany only every third German was left alive, and when the Protestants came to Ireland only every fourth Catholic survived. And how many people Russia lost in the course of the 20th century!

86

Chapter Six

Petition of the Martyrs for Vengeance And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

(Rev. 6:9–10). Even the martyrs decided that so great was the evil worked by this the hellish assault on the earth that it was time for the end to come, and for the great vengeance of God to be accomplished. But the Lord calms them and says that it is still too early. Thus, just as the martyrs are beneath the altar in the heavens, so they are in our Orthodox temples: every holy table must have upon it a piece of the relics of a martyr. The very word martyr (which in Greek means “witness”) means one who witnesses by his life and death to the authenticity of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why are the martyrs called thus? Because their death for Christ is a confession of the fact that death is not to be feared. For the Living God will raise us as He raised Christ.

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled (Rev. 6:10–11). The martyrs see everything that takes place on earth, and they are outraged at the current onslaught of evil. The marytrs ask that their unjustly shed blood and the evil deeds of those who militantly appose God be avenged. Man may not work vengeance, because vengeance is the privilege of God alone. He is the ultimate avenger, Who will recompense His enemies on the day of the Last Judgment, the Second Coming.

And white robes were given unto every one of them. The martyrs are already in white: the preliminaries of their feast have

87

The End of the Universe

already begun, and the Lord rewards them immediately with white robes of joy, purity, and innocence. For this reason the martyrs are frequently depicted on the icons in beautiful robes. The white robes are because the saints made their lives white with the Blood of the Lamb, being baptized by their martyrdom. The priests also have a white vesture: the sticharion.

The End of the Universe And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood (Rev. 6:12). The time of the end of the universe arrived when the sixth seal was opened, but it is not the last: a seventh still remains. For God’s plan does not stop at the end of the world, but goes even further. The sixth seal has not yet been opened, but when it is the world will instantly change, according to the word of God, and a great earthquake will occur. As the apostle Paul says in his epistle to the Hebrews, Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain (Heb. 12:26–27). The whole world will be transformed from a corruptible world into an incorruptible one, from a mortal world into one immortal. In place of a world of evil a world of good will be established, and a world of love in place of a world of hatred. The whole world must be remade: when the sixth seal is opened and its “birth pangs” begin it will be reborn.

The sun will turn black like sackcloth.41 And the moon will become like red blood, because it will reflect not the sun (for the sun will be extinguished), but the earth, which will burn with the flames of a great fire.

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

88

Chapter Six

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Rev. 6:13–17). The stars fell from the heavens, and the sky disappeared, rolled up like a scroll; and every mountain and island was moved from its place. When a scroll is rolled up what lies beyond it is revealed. In the same way when the heavens are rolled up the celestial reality will be revealed, and the world of the angels will be revealed to the eyes of all mankind. These verses need no particular commentary; everything is quite clearly revealed.

Chapter Seven

The Last Harvest of Sanctity

A

nd after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree (Rev. 7:1). Similar visions were revealed to other prophets as well, such as Jeremiah: And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come (Jer. 49:36). The prophet Daniel beheld a battle of the winds in a vision during the night: And, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea (Dan. 7:2). This refers to the fact that the angels of God are appointed to command the winds of the world as God wills: they command all the winds, plants, and animals, the sun, the moon, and the stars. If the prophets Daniel and Jeremiah saw the winds blowing and causing chaos, here the punishment is still worse: an absence of wind. For the angels stand on the four corners of the earth and withhold the wind that it should not blow on the earth, or upon the sea, or on any tree, that in all places there might be a complete absence of wind, and that man might suffocate in this world. People who do not wish to receive the breath of God and who reject the Holy Spirit are doomed to the musty air of this world. For the soul of a man who lives without the Holy Spirit becomes musty and suffocates.

Thus the Lord shows that the whole world is an image of things invisible. The state of the planet Earth in particular is directly dependant on the state of the souls of the people who inhabit it. Since people have rejected the Holy Spirit and do not wish

90

Chapter Seven

to live according to the commandments of God, to receive grace from the Spirit of God, the Lord dooms them to live in a world that chokes them physically. He says, “You already live in a world that chokes you spiritually, by not accepting My words. That you might understand your error and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven through repentance, let the angels punish you according to My will: you will choke here on earth, living without wind.”

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea (Rev. 7:2). Thus, just before the end of the world an angel says that the punishments must be suspended, since God has an entirely new task. He has decided to place His seal upon the last servants, the last harvest of holiness. This is the seal of the sacrament of the Holy Spirit, the sacrament of chrismation, which lays bare the hidden treasures of a person. At the moment of chrismation the Holy Spirit descends upon a person, giving him the strength to do good works. This is why a person is sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit, and it is for this reason that the punishments are suspended: to give man a last chance for correction. Something similar had occurred before—for example, when the Hebrews succeeded in escaping Babylonian captivity by repenting of their sins.42 This is described in detail by the prophet Ezekiel: And He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east (Ezek. 8:16). God leads the prophet through the Holy Land and shows him the iniquities that the Hebrews were committing: beneath the temple, in secret subterranean caves, at the very threshold of the temple there stood idols, statues of pagan gods. And in the temple itself, instead of worshipping God, the elders, representatives of the people, were standing with their backs to Him and worshipping the sun. The prophet Ezekiel continues: Then He said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man?

The Last Harvest of Sanctity

91

Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke Me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them (Ezek. 8:17–18).

The branches that they “put to their nose” are various narcotics: they were being used right in the temple, in the house of God. And the Lord says that for this He will not pardon them.

He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar (Ez. 9:1–2). These seven spirits, which later pour out the seven cups of the wrath of God upon the earth, are the seven greatest angels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel, and Barachiel. In accordance with the will of God they mete out His vengeance upon earth: And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof (Ezek. 9:3–4). Literally the Hebrew text reads not merely mark, but “place the mark tav”—the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is very simple in appearance, resembling a cross.* The Lord orders this firstly because the Cross is a prefiguration of the salvation to come, and secondly because it signifies the end, the last letter being a sign of the last choice. *

Certain Old Testament books are written using the Phoenician script, where the letter tav resembles a Saint Andrew’s Cross.—Ed.

92

Chapter Seven

The prophet Ezekiel goes on to say, And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house (Ezek. 9:5–6).

As the apostle Peter also says, the judgment must begin with the house of God, and so more oppressive afflictions will smite the Orthodox than the non-Orthodox. Those who know God and nonetheless do not hear Him are more responsible than those who do not know God. He who knows and disobeys does worse that he who does not know.

And He said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt Thou destroy all the residue of Israel in Thy pouring out of Thy fury upon Jerusalem? Then said He unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not. And as for Me also, Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head. And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as Thou hast commanded me (Ezek. 9:7–11). This description is saying that the afflictions come from the north: these seven spirits come from the north. This is the direction from which came King Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the city, and from the north the great foe will come to Jerusalem. According to some suppositions, the last and greatest enemy of God, the antichrist, will be born in Iraq, since the ancient capital of evil—Babylon43—is located within the borders of this country.

Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads (Rev. 7:3). This refers specifically to the fact that at the end of time the last people

The Last Harvest of Sanctity

93

will be marked with a seal. All of mankind consists of three nations: the Jews, the Gentiles or pagans,44 and the Christians. Today, due to the dark influence of Lucifer, everything has become mixed together: other nations are emerging that actually have nothing to do with this original triadic division. Christians include both former Jews and former Gentiles, but among themselves they are all equal: all are children of God, having no tribal divisions. The devil however attempts to divide people into various tribes, that by this means he may destroy the Ecumenical Church. In the last two and a half centuries all the most terrible schisms in the Orthodox Church have been caused by nationalism: the Bulgarian schism, the Greek schism, and the most terrible schism of our time—the Ukrainian schism. But we must be firmly aware that by nationality we are Orthodox Christians, and our homeland is in heaven—the New Jerusalem.

And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand (Rev. 7:4–8). Those saved from out of Israel, throughout the whole history of its existence, will total precisely 144 thousand persons, although throughout the whole history of the Church far more Hebrews have entered the Kingdom of God. No one noticed differences in nationality: these Hebrews may be said to be Christians from among the Jews, since in the Church there are no Jews or other nations; rather, in the Church all are Christians. But this passage is referring to those saved spe-

94

Chapter Seven

cifically at the end of time, at the very time of which the apostle was prophesying. It may also be said that the number 144 thousand is a symbolic number, being 12 thousand squared. Twelve times twelve times one thousand. One thousand means fullness, and twelve means the fullness of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

This is that very remnant of which the prophets spoke.

In fact, this text is, in a sense, the culmination of a long line of prophecies, beginning with the book of Deuteronomy—i.e., with the prophet Moses the God-seer—and ending with the prophet Malachi. Because without exception all the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostle Paul in the New Testament mention the fact that at the end of human history God will not accept the entire nation of Israel, but only a remnant. As the prophet Isaiah wrote concerning this, The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness (Is. 10:21–22).

In the time of the prophet Elijah there were several million people living in Israel—according to some estimates about seven million Israelites. How many of them were saved? We know the exact number: seven thousand persons. These were they who did not bow down before the idol Baal. Thus, the whole history of Israel is one of tremendous division.

The book of the Acts of the Apostles gives the number of Jews who were originally part of the Church of Jerusalem—about several thousand persons. There have been hundreds of instances recorded when Jews who believed in Jesus as the Son of God were baptized secretly, because their hearts responded to the preaching of the Gospel and they saw that what was foretold by the prophets had come to pass. For according to God’s original plan it should have been easier for the Jews to convert to Christianity than for the Gentiles, since they had seen the predictions of the prophets of old coming to fulfillment. Furthermore, almost none of the converted Jews survived—they were killed by their fellow countrymen. And so it continued until the abolition of the qahals at the

The Last Harvest of Sanctity

95

end of the 19th century. Incidentally, the same thing occurs in Islam: a Muslim who leaves Islam is killed, and the law is cited in justification of this.

Thus, these people are indeed those who are part of the remnant. These are true martyrs, who truly remained faithful to Christ the Savior even unto death. Our Lord Himself said that Jerusalem would be trampled by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles— those unfaithful to God—comes to an end.45 What is the end of the time of the Gentiles? This is the time when the preaching to the Gentile nations will come to an end. Then the Jews will be forcibly driven into the Holy Land, as the books of the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah state. Furthermore, the majority of the Jews will come there from the northern countries—God says explicitly that He will bring them from the lands of the North. What is more, God will drive the Jews there against their will. The prophets foretell that when the Jews return to the Holy Land they will abide there as in a crucible—a smelting furnace—because of the ceaseless war. And indeed, war has not ceased since 1947. Regarding this the prophet Ezekiel says, For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do

96

Chapter Seven

I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel (Ezek. 36:24–32).

“I will again be your God, and you will become My people,” says the Lord. The clean water is the font of baptism. God will break their stubbornness by force, and a precise sign is given to indicate the time when this prediction will be accomplished: when the Jews have been completely decimated and they no longer have any hope, then the Lord will pardon them.

The apostle Paul likewise speaks of this final seal of which we read in the Apocalypse: Hath God cast away His people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew.

Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, and digged down Thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace (Rom. 11:1–5). This is that very remnant which over many centuries came into the Church of God. All the blessings of Israel of old passed over to the new Israel, but so did its curses. If a Christian violates the New Testament, all the curses described in the book of Deuteronomy will overtake him.

Whoever wishes to study the history of the Russian revolution of 1917 can open the book of Deuteronomy, chapters 28–32—everything is written there. Since the very beginning Israel has not presupposed mere blood kinship. It is not a people in the sense of a nation, but a religious community—the community that adheres to the faith of Abraham. Was Christ of Jewish blood alone according to the flesh? No! Ruth was a Moabite, and Rahab the harlot was a Canaanite. Thus, even the genealogy of Christ is not comprised of Hebrews alone, to say nothing of Israel, which included many people who were a part of the community by law and not by blood. Anyone who wished could receive circumcision and become one of God’s faithful. The same is true today: any person,

The Last Harvest of Sanctity

97

regardless of nationality, may receive holy baptism and become a Christian. Everything is just as it was; nothing has changed.

The apostle goes on to say, And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (according as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.46 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is

98

Chapter Seven

wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in (Rom. 11:6–25). This is God’s plan: first the full number of the Gentiles from all the nations of the earth must enter the Church. Until that time Israel is the greatest foe of God. After the Jews the most savage foes of God are the Muslims.

Thereafter we read, And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all (Rom. 11:26–32). In divine providence even the apostasy of the Hebrews served for the glory of the Lord, since the Gentiles converted. But when the Gentiles refuse irrevocably to receive the gospel the Lord will again restore Israel to Himself. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen (Rom. 11:33–36). Thus, the apostle directly foretells the very event of which Saint John speaks in Revelation. The final conversion of the Jews will occur during the reign of the last foe—the antichrist. This conversion will begin somewhat earlier, but it will be completed in its fullness when the antichrist comes, whom the Jews themselves will enthrone.

Those Saved From Among the Pagans

99

The Lord said, I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive (Jn. 5:43). Under the influence of the preaching of Elijah and Enoch, who were taken up into heaven, the Hebrew nation will repent, and 144 thousand people from all the tribes of Israel but one—that of Dan—will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. From the tribe of Dan, according to Holy Scripture, will come the antichrist.47 Concerning this, Jacob, the progenitor of the nation of Israel, says the following: Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward (Gen. 49:17). The great serpent will sting the horse—mankind—and only the intervention of God will save the world and the nation of Israel itself from the destruction wrought by the tribe of Dan. And the book of the prophet Jeremiah says that the snorting of horses is heard from Dan (Jer. 8:16). In Deuteronomy we read, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan (Deut. 33:22). The lion from the tribe of Judah is Jesus Christ, and the lion from the tribe of Dan is the antichrist.

Those Saved From Among the Pagans After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb (Rev. 7:9–10). Why is this great multitude of people mentioned at this precise moment? This is the number of those converted from among the Gentiles— the fullness of the saints assembled from all the Gentile nations before the throne of God. No one can count them, so great is the number of the saved from every tribe, people, and nation. The book of Genesis recounts the history of the building of the Tower of Babel, when men rebelled against God. There was a time when

100

Chapter Seven

the earth had a single language, spoken by all mankind. But men decided to contend with God—to build themselves a city and a tower reaching up to heaven itself. Then the Lord put an end to this evil: He confounded the languages, so that people could not understand each other and were unable to continue their mindless undertaking. Thus different nations appeared. Conversely, when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of tongues of fire the apostles were given the gift of preaching the Word of God in all the languages of the world, so that the gospel teaching might spread to all the ends of the earth. This is precisely what is sung in the canon of Venerable John of Damascus: “When the Most High descended and confounded the tongues the nations were divided, but when He distributed the tongues of fire He called all men into unity. Therefore with one accord we glorify the All-holy Spirit.”

This is a wondrous “anti-Babel” phenomenon, when men glorify God together in all languages—a great unity, in which all the cultures of the earth give way to the culture of heaven.

What is modern globalization? It is a parody of what John the Theologian beheld. What do people want to do today? They want to combine all peoples, nations, and tribes in service to the enemy, the devil, the vile spirit. This is a parody of the Universal Church which John beholds—a parody of the very gift that we have been given by God. The globalization of the antichrist must be countered by the globalization of Jesus Christ—the great and glorious globalization of the Orthodox Church. This is the great plan of God, which will be accomplished whether the enemy wishes or not. When people say that we need to respect other cultures, this is incorrect. We cannot, for example, respect the culture of a tribe of cannibals, or cultures with unnatural proclivities, or the culture of idol-worshippers. It is better to destroy these cultures, to smash the idols, to shatter the delusions, conducting an “Orthodox globalization” of these peoples.

[They] stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands (Rev. 7:9). Here they are—these long, shining garments in which we are clothed at

Those Saved From Among the Pagans

101

baptism as a token of absolute purity, a token of our justification.

These garments are sewn of the virtues. The palm branches in their hands signify this: if you wish to find salvation, seek it from God the Father Who sits upon the throne, and from the Lamb. The Jews met Christ as the Victor over death holding date branches in their hands. But this is not the only reason. The event depicted in Revelation calls to mind the rite of the Feast of Tabernacles, established in commemoration of the forty-year sojourn of the Hebrews in the wilderness, when they were living in tabernacles (huts, tents). On this feast the Hebrews had to hold branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook (Lev. 23:40), waving them and making merry before the Lord God for seven days. The feast of Tabernacles is a prophecy of the great day of the Resurrection, when we will come to dwell in our tents— our own bodies. Why have we retained the feasts of Pentecost and Pascha (Passover), but not the Feast of Tabernacles? Because it is merely a prefiguration, and this event has not yet occurred.

Christians will certainly celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles when they are resurrected in the flesh.

And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen (Rev. 7:11–12). The angels beheld a plan beyond their imagination. They saw that out of savage tribes—idol-worshippers, Muslims, atheists, enemies of God—the Lord had assembled for Himself this great multitude of the saved, who had been justified and cleansed and had overcome the devil, and who bore in their hands the sign of this victory.

They had found salvation from God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And the angels of God were terrified and fell upon their faces, together with the four beasts, the seraphim and the cherubim, and together with the twenty-four elders, saying that the Lord is truly worthy of the thanksgiving, honor, and might that are truly His for all ages.

102

Chapter Seven

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:13–14). These are the multitude of the saved, those who have come from the great tribulation of this world. Why have they come from great tribulation? Because, as one wise proverb states, “In paradise there are none who have not been crucified.” Paradise is entered by those who have endured tribulations. Without patience there is no salvation. People have suffered and endured patiently on earth, and without this patience no one has yet been saved. Great tribulations are the lot of all Christians, because the Lord saved us by His sufferings and by His Cross, without which salvation is impossible. The symbol of suffering is even erected upon our churches. This is why it is said that the saved come to the Heavenly Father through the great tribulation they have endured, and they have washed their garments in baptism and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them (Rev. 7:15). The saints have made their garments white and they stand before the throne of God, serving Him in the heavenly sanctuary day and night. They pray unceasingly for us, since they abide in the love of God, and in loving God they also love His children in Him. But their chief delight is to glorify God, to pray to Him, to give thanks to Him, and to offer Him doxology and magnification day and night. And they do not tire of serving in the temple of heaven, after which all the temples of earth are modeled. And He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them—in the Greek this text literally reads, “He that sitteth on the throne will pitch His tent upon them.” God the Father will pitch His tent over all the saved; He will shield the people from the heat and give them cool shade. When the Hebrews were traversing the wilderness they were personally led by Jesus Christ in a pillar of

Those Saved From Among the Pagans

103

fire. And God had His tent among them—the tabernacle, in which He dwelt among men. The same is true today: the Lord has placed His tent among men, and today the Tabernacle of God is the Body of Christ, and thus He lives among us. And God the Father says that He will place His tent over us likewise, will overshadow us with His overshadowing, and will protect us from the heat. As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah, And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain (Is. 4:6).

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat (Rev. 7:16). The Lord is saying: Observe, these people are conquerors. Never again will they hunger or thirst. As the Lord Himself promised, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled (Mt. 5:6). What is meant by “they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness”? Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are hungry until they have “eaten their fill” of righteousness: they desire righteousness in the same way that a thirsty person longs to drink his fill of water. These will be filled, and they will never again hunger or thirst. Further on we read, Neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. No longer will the heat of the sun scorch them, nor will the heat of the day be over them. The sun shall not burn thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall keep thee from all evil, the Lord shall guard thy soul. The Lord shall keep thy coming in and thy going out, from henceforth and for evermore (Ps. 120:6–8). God will protect them and see to it that each saved person never experiences discomfort again. Here the word heat is used not only in the physical sense, but also the spiritual: the heat of temptations is the desire to drink, the desire to fornicate, the desire to become irritable. It is the fire of Gehenna, which Christ extinguishes, washing over it with the living waters of the Holy Spirit.

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes (Rev. 7:17). The Lamb

104

Chapter Seven

will lead them to green, lush places, to a heavenly pasture, as the Heavenly Shepherd Who leads His sheep to green meadows. He will feed men with succulent food and will lead them to living streams of water. The first meaning of “living water” is a bubbling spring; here this naturally refers to no ordinary water, but rather to the very water of which the Lord said, But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (Jn. 4:14). It is the living water of the Holy Spirit, which is already accessible to men; it calms irritation and tames anger. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes (Rev. 7:17). All the tribulations of the world will be forgotten when God the Father Himself will comfort us and wipe away the tears from the faces of those who weep over their sins. As it is said, Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted (Mt. 5:4).

Job the Long-suffering said, For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another (Job 19:25–27). It is this hope that God Himself will console men that is proclaimed in the Apocalypse. The consolation of Christians will come from the Holy Trinity.

Chapter Eight

The Silence Before the Judgment

A

nd when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour (Rev. 8:1). Thus we see that the seals are gradually removed, and the time for the seventh and final seal arrives, when the ways of God become clearly visible. And when this seal is removed a great silence falls. As it is said in the book of the prophet Zephaniah, Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, He hath bid His guests (Zeph. 1:7).

Before the face of God, before the end of the world, a certain silence will fall: all creation will fall silent in reverence, gathering its courage and awaiting the manifestation of the glory of the great God, Who is to pass judgment on all the world.

And thus, as it is said in Scripture, There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour (Rev. 8:1). Holy Hierarch Andrew of Caesarea writes, “Saint John frequently employs the number of seven angels, since it corresponds to this age, the keeping of the Sabbath, and the rest of the saints. Hence, the loosing of this seventh seal indicates the passage from earthly life, in which the seven angels assist by smiting men who are in need of chastisement and instruction. Silence means orderly behavior, reverence, and the angels’ ignorance of the time of the Second Coming. Half an hour is a brief time, when after punishments and the end of the world the Kingdom of Christ will ensue.�

Silence falls before the judgment of God is passed. Why is this silence needed? Because only in silence can one hear the

106

Chapter Eight

revelation of God.48 Why is it sometimes a good thing to remain in church after the service, when everyone else has left? In order to learn to hear the silence of God. This paradoxical expression is based on something very real. A person who has been privy to the mystery of the Lord knows that in silence the will of the Creator is revealed. And it is in this silence that the judgment of the Lord is prepared.

Many say that the most important, final revelation refers to the rebirth of monarchy in Russia, but if the elders are correct this will not be for long—“a half hour of silence.” Immediately after this period of silence will come the time of the seven trumpets, the time of the great and final visitations of God. One must prepare one’s heart to be able to hear and see the manifestation of the glory of Mighty God that underlies global events.

And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets (Rev. 8:2). These are the very seven spirits of whom Lucifer was once the eighth—the seven greatest angels whom we commemorate on the feast of the archangel Michael, the commander of the bodiless hosts. The seven men clothed in linen garments whom the prophet Ezekiel beheld now come to mete out the visitation of God. One of them will place a mark on the foreheads of the faithful, and six others will follow him with the visitation of God. The angels ceaselessly stand guard before the face of the God of all the earth. To them first and foremost is shown the revelation concerning the Lord’s judgment of the whole world. For even in heaven not everyone knows all things regarding the fate of the universe. The Lamb opens one of the seals, and even the angels do not know what will happen next.

Silence falls, and in that silence God Himself reveals His will. He shows that His will proceeds from no source—neither the counsel of angels nor the plans of men. Still less does the will of God proceed from the pitiful attempts of the prince of darkness or his earthly henchmen. It proceeds solely from God Himself: the Lord does only as He Himself desires.

The Symbolism of the Seven Trumpets

107

The Symbolism of the Seven Trumpets And to them were given seven trumpets (Rev. 8:2). The symbolism of the seven trumpets is remarkable and strange, and is revealed to us in Holy Scripture. In the Old Testament we read that at the command of God Moses was commanded to make three trumpets. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee. When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward. When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations. And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.

Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God (Num. 10:1–10). None but the priests—the anointed ones of God—were permitted to sound these trumpets, because these were trumpets that reminded us of God, of His trumpeting voices that ceaselessly go forth from the throne of God. The seven voices are the seven decrees of God, which are proclaimed to the angels and declare the beginning of a great war. Incidentally, one

108

Chapter Eight

of the names of God is the great Giant, Who goes out to do battle with the dark beings who have rebelled against His power. He is the King Who goes forth to subdue the rebels. And the great God gives seven trumpets to His angels.

The voices of trumpets, sounding louder and louder, accompanied the appearance of God on Mount Sinai during the Hebrews’ exodus from Egypt. In the same way the voices of trumpets accompany God as He ascends into the heavens, which is why frequently in icons of the Ascension the angels are depicted holding trumpets. King David says the following: God is gone up in jubilation, the Lord with the voice of the trumpet. O chant unto our God, chant ye; chant unto our King, chant ye. For God is king of all the earth, O chant ye with understanding (Ps. 46:6–8).

The voices of the trumpets are a reminder of God, a sign that He has remembered what the martyrs beneath the altar asked of Him. They asked that the blood of those killed innocently, the blood spilt upon the earth, be avenged, and God has remembered this. For this reason the greatest of the angels are charged with sounding the trumpets, in order to proclaim the will of Almighty God to all the earth. All this occurs outside the bounds of heaven.

It is interesting to note that there is an actual melody of chaos, a melody of the visitation of God, one that thunders with terrible destruction. The world is destroyed when the angels of God sound the trumpets, fulfilling the will of the Lord.

The Golden Altar And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne (Rev. 8:3). What is this golden altar? In Old Testament times first the Tabernacle was built, followed later by the Temple of Solomon. And these were erected not according to their own blueprints, but after the model shown

The Golden Altar

109

to the prophet Moses upon the mountain—the model of the temple of heaven. In this heavenly temple there were two altars: one of brass and one of gold. Upon the brass altar blood sacrifices were offered (bulls and sheep, wheat was burned, etc.). Directly in front of the Holy of Holies stood a golden altar, modeled after the one in the temple of heaven, upon which were the martyrs who had offered themselves in sacrifice to God. Upon this altar was the greatest of all sacrifices: Christ the Savior Himself. In addition, the golden altar is an altar of the prayers offered before the throne of God. This is what the book of Exodus says concerning it: And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it: A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same (Ex. 30:1– 2). A square is a symbol of the equality of the virtues. A square is a symbol of the fact that man is perfect in the virtues. The height of two cubits is because man’s love must be twofold—love for God and love for neighbor. These two precise measurements are given that we might learn the heavenly realities. The tabernacle must have horns at its four corners, which comprise its most sacred part. They symbolize the power that God manifests in honor of the sacrifice that is offered.

And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your

110

Chapter Eight

generations.49 Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the Lord (Ex. 30:3–10). This is an altar furnished solely with the sacrifice of Christ the Savior— a single solitary gift is offered upon it. The altar of incense is a symbol of the prayers of the whole Church. For incense and the scent of its burning symbolize the prayer of the saints, offered up before the face of God. Concerning this King David of old said, Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice (Ps. 140:2). Hence, the heavenly altar comprises the prayer that Christ offers to His Father on behalf of the whole Church. When the prayer is not received by God the smoke of the incense sinks down. Remember how the sacrifice of Cain was rejected, and the smoke of the altar sank down. But here the prayer rises up to heaven. With good reason we ask that the Lord, in receiving our prayers upon His heavenly altar, will send down upon us in exchange the grace of the Holy Spirit. The prayers are offered upon this altar by the hands of an angel, that they might rise up together with the prayers of all the saints. For this reason a guardian angel is placed before the altar of every consecrated Orthodox temple.* The Lord saves the people in the Church. He desires that men abide in unity with each other and in unity with the saints, and this unity is manifested in common prayer. And the angels participate together with us in offering the sacrifice at the Liturgy and in all our prayers. Incidentally, an an* According to Church Tradition, the altar of every temple has its own guardian angel, who sanctifies that place even when the temple has long since disappeared. The angel will not depart from it until the Last Judgment of God. If no new temple is built on the site of a church that is dilapidated or in ruins, a monument is placed over what was once the altar, to mark the ground consecrated by the temple.—Ed.

The Prayers of the Righteous are Heard

111

gel offers up the prayer of all the martyrs, and we see the fruit of their intercessions: the end of the world draws near through the prayers of the saints. We are accustomed to ask that the end of the world be postponed, but in the heavens the martyrs pray for the opposite—that it come to pass at last, that justice may triumph upon earth and that the blood of the righteous who were innocently slain may be avenged.

The Prayers of the Righteous are Heard And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake (Rev. 8:4–5). The prayers of the martyrs have been heard and received by God. He sees that the number of the righteous is nearly complete, and hence the time of judgment is approaching, and the time of God is drawing near. It is God, and God alone, Who has the sovereign right to vengeance, which is called just retribution.

The things that the apostle John sees and describes here are paralleled in the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah saw Him Who sits upon the throne of God, the seraphim standing before Him, and the “smoke” of the prayers that filled the whole temple.

Here however terrible smoke filled the whole temple, and God received this prayer. And as He issued a command to His angels at the destruction of Jerusalem, so also it will be at the destruction of the whole world. The prophet Ezekiel describes the destruction of Jerusalem thus: Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

And He spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with

112

Chapter Eight

coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight (Ezek. 10:1–2).

Then, just as at the end of the world, the six angels punished the people, but one placed the mark tav upon the foreheads of those who opposed evil. God commands the angels to burn a city, and a cherub enters in, take burning coals from the altar— the coals of the wrath of God—and gives them to a “man clothed with linen.” As it is said, He will rain down snares upon sinners; fire and brimstone (Ps. 10:6). Brimstone and the coals of the wrath of God rain down upon the world. The prophet Ezekiel goes on to describe this process: Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house50 when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.51 Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory.

And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when He speaketh. And it came to pass, that when He had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels. And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out (Ezek. 10:3–7). Next is described the most terrible of the visitations: God departs from Jerusalem. The temple is left without grace and loses its connection with God. The Lord departs and goes up to the Mount of Olives, from which He will later return again. For in the Apocalypse it is not the fate of a single city that is decided, but of the whole world. The wrath of God is poured out upon the world at the prayers of the righteous.

Next there occur voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake (Rev. 8:4–5). The earth begins to shake: it senses the approach of the wrath of God, and terrible cataclysms sweep through the whole world, foretelling the approach of new waves of the wrath of God.

113

Natural Cataclysms

Natural Cataclysms And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up (Rev. 8:6–7). The visitation of God is reminiscent of one of the plagues of Egypt that occurred in times of old, in Egypt which opposed God. Now they smite a third part of the earth: a third of the trees and all the grass is burned up. This visitation of God is selective: the Lord mingles it with compassion and does not burn up everything. He gives time for repentance—two thirds of the trees remain.

The book of Exodus contains a very similar account: Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel. And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land. And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth

114

Chapter Eight

with blains upon man, and upon beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken unto Moses. And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For I will at this time send all My plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like Me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out My hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth. As yet exaltest thou thyself against My people, that thou wilt not let them go? Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt (Ex. 9:1–23).

The hail and fire fell together, but the hail did not melt and the fire could not be extinguished. The same will occur at the end of the world: hail will fall from the heavens, from beyond the bounds of the world, from the very storehouses of hail and snow that were set apart on the second day of creation and are in the third heaven

The Smiting of the Waters

115

with God. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. Intreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer (Is. 9:24–28). Bloody hail will fall—hail drenched with blood—in punishment for blood: you have shed blood, and now it will rain down upon your heads. The blood shed upon the earth is the blood of the righteous, the saints, the new martyrs of Russia, and all the martyrs killed since the beginning of time. It rains down upon the murderers—those who approved the murders or committed them personally. As it has been said, if a person does not change when benefactions are shown him, in punishment hot coals will be strewn upon his head.

The Smiting of the Waters And the second angel sounded, and as it were 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 creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed (Rev. 8:8–9). This passage may be understood literally: the mountain burning with fire is an asteroid that falls into the sea. But there is also a figurative interpretation: the visitation of God comes upon those who live in the sea of life, living the life of the world: their passage over dry land ceases, and the sea turns to blood. Here we again remember the events of the book of Exodus, when the Lord commanded Moses to turn the waters of the river into blood (the first plague of Egypt): And the

116

Chapter Eight

Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand. And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. Thus saith the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in Mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river. And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.

And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and [Aaron] lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt (Ex. 7:14–21). At the end of time the Lord sends visitations that gradually intensify: first He strikes not the rivers from which people drink, but the seas from which they merely obtain fish. God also strikes the interrelations between the various societies that created the godless, demonic Babylonian Empire.

For this reason it is said, And the third part of the sea became blood (Rev. 8:8).

And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because

The Smiting of the Waters

117

they were made bitter (Rev. 8:10–11). The star called Wormwood falls upon a third part of the waters and changes the properties of the water, making it bitter. Those who drink it perish. There is a theory that this is radiation contamination—a second Chernobyl.

For chernobyl in Ukrainian means “wormwood.” Water in general is a sign of life, a symbol of a certain current of life.

And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise (Rev. 8:12:12).

This is analogous to the second-to-last plague of Egypt, the ninth plague: that of darkness. In the book of Exodus it is said, And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings (Ex. 10:21–23). People who have darkened their understanding through dark deeds, who do not wish to know the light of the truth, who do not wish to know God and to see the Creator of the universe, deserve darkness. For this reason a third of the sun, the moon, and the stars are darkened, both day and night becoming still more gloomy. Such is the visitation: the world is shrouded in darkness in the literal sense of the word.

And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Rev. 8:13). There remain three shouts of the trumpet and three voices; these loom over this world. What will happen to people at the voices of the trumpets of the other three angels may be described in a single word: horror.

Sufferings await those who inhabit the earth and live according to earthly laws. Woe also to those who have attached themselves to the earth and have placed their hope on this world. Great, three-

118

Chapter Eight

fold woe awaits men from the three voices of the angels, who are soon to sound their trumpets. Christians will live until the very end of the world, and all the visitations will pass many of them by.

We know that the Christians who live to see the end of the world will not die: they will be changed, transfigured in a single moment at the sound of the final trumpet, and in transfigured bodies will enter the Kingdom of God. The whole world will change, and if you do not live according to what is earthly and terrestrial you have nothing to fear. The Church will be preserved as the place where the Liturgy is performed, the place where the great sacrifice is offered to God.

Chapter Nine

The Swarm of Demonic Locusts

A

nd the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit (Rev. 9:1). This wondrous, terrible vision begins with a star falling from heaven after the angel sounds his trumpet. The star represents the morning star. Remember what is written in the Gospel of Luke: I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven (Lk. 10:18). And indeed we see here that this star is not an ordinary one: whereas the former star was like a meteor shower, here one of the princes of darkness falls to earth, carrying the key to the great abyss. Remember that following the crucifixion of Christ the Savior and His Resurrection from the dead the devil is fettered, his power weakened. Holy Hierarch Andrew of Caesarea said that the preaching of Christians and their martyric blood fetters and restrains the power of the devil. For this reason the devil has some very unpleasant memories associated with the Tree of the Cross. Incidentally, this explains why the greatest temptations occur during the week of the Veneration of the Cross and Passion Week: the devil is in a rage, since the Cross burns him horribly.

But at the end of time the prince of darkness gradually gains his freedom, then frees the swarm of evil spirits that are subject to him. This terrible demonic locust swarm of savage spirits instantly surges toward the earth. This is the eighth plague of Egypt—the invasion of the diabolical locust swarm.

And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit (Rev. 9:2).

120

Chapter Nine

The great furnace itself is a symbol of hell, which is why it is said that sinners are cast into a fiery furnace (cf. Mt. 13:42). The fiery furnace is a symbol of the torments of hell, the beginning of which is experienced here on earth. A time of darkness descends upon the kingdom of those apostates who have trifled with the spirits of darkness: those whom they summoned have arrived. People who trifle with the spirits of the aerial realm are bound to meet them face to face. And to these dark spirits God gives the power to torment people. This is the age-old principle of God’s justice: you wanted to be in darkness, you lived in darkness, you did not wish to know Me, and now you will serve My enemies. As it is said in the book of Deuteronomy, Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and He shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until He have destroyed thee (Deut. 28:47–48).

And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power (Rev. 9: 3). The smoke rising from the abyss reminds us of what Abraham saw the day after the Holy Trinity appeared to him in Mamre. That very night Sodom and Gomorrah perished, and smoke rose as from an enormous furnace over the resulting valley of the Dead Sea. This same kind of smoke will rise over the earth at the end of time. A road appears leading into the abyss, which disgorges the forces of evil, the swarm of locusts, as a reminder of the plagues of Egypt. In the book of Exodus we read, And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these My signs before him: And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the Lord. And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before Me? let My people go, that

The Swarm of Demonic Locusts

121

they may serve Me. Else, if thou refuse to let My people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And [Moses] turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh. And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. And [Pharaoh] said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you* (Ex. 10:1–10).

In our times the devil tells people, “Go to church, but do not take your children. When they grow up they can decide for themselves whether to go or not.” For three and a half millennia this kind of logic has been struggling to prevail on earth, and to this day nothing has changed. The message is subtle and simple: “Do not allow children to come to Christ; keep them from doing so.” In our own time we often hear, for example, that the Church should not be allowed into schools. Even the basics of Orthodox education should not be taught, to say nothing of the Law of God. This is contrary to the words of the Lord. But God does not engage in dialogue with the devil, nor with Pharaoh: Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were * Translator’s note: The Russian translation reads, “... but why take your children? You see, you intend evil.”

122

Chapter Nine

driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only. And [Moses] went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord. And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come

The Swarm of Demonic Locusts

123

thither. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go (Ex. 10:11–27).

And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them (Rev. 9:4–6). The swarm of locusts described in the Apocalypse is monstrous: it does not touch the plants, but only harms people who do not have the seal of God. As the plagues of Egypt only affected the Egyptians and passed over the Hebrews, so also here the visitation of God strikes those who are not sealed by the Holy Spirit, not baptized. All people who have not been sealed by God are vulnerable to the actions of the powers of darkness.52 And if a Christian rejects spiritual life he becomes an apostate, and this visitation has power over him as well. The swarming locusts are not permitted to kill the apostates, however, but only to torment them for five months, and the torments it causes will be like the torments from the sting of a scorpion.

This prediction concerning the swarm of locusts has a parallel in the book of the prophet Joel: Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.

He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made

124

Chapter Nine

it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord’s ministers, mourn. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord, Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness (Joel 1:2-20).

The prophet makes the same prediction that is made in the Apocalypse: he describes the same monstrous spirits who cause great desolation on the earth. This passage has two meanings.

First and foremost, here spirits refers to evil spirits, who will attack people and torment them at the end of time. But the ancient fathers of the Church also gave this prophecy the following interpretation. The locust is a very ancient insect, and is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament. The locust was even one of the

The Swarm of Demonic Locusts

125

plagues of Egypt. Since ancient times mankind has suffered from these insects. When in the Arabian Desert in the 7th century the great dragon of Islam emerged, its progress was like an invasion of locusts, inflicting terrible destruction upon everything and everyone in the world.53 This was the first manifestation of these evil spirits. Furthermore, these spirits will torment people to the point that they will seek death, but death will flee from them. This is a terrible state, when a person longs for the end but cannot find it.

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions (Rev. 9:7–8). Certain of the holy fathers have said that this may be compared to an invasion by enemies intent on destroying all of Christian civilization. In appearance they are like horses prepared for war, and they are wearing crowns of golden appearance upon their heads. These crowns are the reward of pleasure that the demons use to entice them. For fallen spirits the chief means of manipulating people is material wealth, particularly money. The demons begin by clouding the minds of men with money.

Their faces were as the faces of men. Humanism says that we must all live a solely human way of life—that man is the only being in all the universe and that he must be the measure of all things. Everything else is not all that important. They had hair as the hair of women. This is referring to wild debauchery, fornication, including sins against nature, which are gradually becoming the norm. Man’s state will be such that he will think of fornication and money, measuring everything by human standards. Their teeth were as the teeth of lions. This means that people who are overcome by the locusts will become cruel and will begin to devour each other.

And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt

126

Chapter Nine

men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon (Rev. 9:9–11). The locusts will cause a massacre. Tremendous bloodshed will ensue, but it will not cause men to perish: the weapon is such that it will torment, but not kill. Only the devil could inspire men to invent such insidious, villainous weapons.

They had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails (Rev. 9:10). The locusts will be monstrous in appearance.

Some surmise that they will resemble airplanes. Their tails, as the prophet Isaiah testifies, are rulers who will begin to sting people, to sting their own subjects, and it is the locusts that will teach them this insidiousness. For five months the slaughter will continue.

And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, i.e., a demon whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon. In his novel The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov describes the angel of the abyss Abaddon—the demon of war and death from Voland’s retinue. The name Abaddon comes from the Ancient Hebrew word meaning destruction or ruin. Abaddon in Greek is Apollyon or Apollo—the spirit of destruction and the master of locusts.

The Death of a Third of Mankind One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them (Rev. 9:12–16). The an-

The Death of a Third of Mankind

127

gel of God is saying that the visitations of God continue. The angels themselves are in fear of the visitations that God continues to send against the world. A voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God (Rev. 9:13). An altar stands before God, upon which the prayers of all the saints are offered. The altar has four horns on the sides—a sign of power and of the goodness that encompasses the whole world. And from one of these horns come the voices of the martyrs, addressing the angel: they demand that men be punished for their sins. Simply put, all these visitations at the end of time are the result of the abuse inflicted on Christians throughout all of world history and the fruit of the prayers of the martyrs, who constantly ask that vengeance be meted out to the apostates, blasphemers, and murderers who have drenched the whole earth with innocent blood.

The voice of the martyrs was heard by God, and He sends the sixth angel to free the spirits that stand in the river Euphrates— the very spirits whom the winds had bound. Why does the river Euphrates have this significance? The Euphrates is a river in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. In ancient times the city of Babylon was located in Iraq, where the attempt was made to build the Tower of Babel. In the eyes of God this land is the very heart of universal evil. The universal crisis will begin in Iraq. Holy Scripture states this explicitly, indicating the Mediterranean region. The Iraqi rivers Tigris and Euphrates have their sources in Israel.54 For this reason it is said that in the great river Euphrates there are four bound evil spirits who will rouse the rebels that come from the East. John sees how the four angels are loosed to slay a third part of the earth.

In a specific year, a specific month, and at a specific hour a third of the planet, a third of the inhabitants of the earth, will be obliterated. A terrible, tremendous attack is described, carried out by cavalry numbering two hundred thousand thousands, i.e., a vast, countless number of troops.

The next visitation will pour out the cup of the wrath of God upon the Tigris and the Euphrates, and they will dry up. All the kings of the east, not only Muslims55 but also the inhabitants of

128

Chapter Nine

India, Indochina, and China, will unleash the full might of their terrible power upon those Christians who have apostatized, just as during the Great Migration. These are the nations of Gog and Magog.

And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts (Rev. 9:17–21). The horses and riders wore armor of fire, jacinth, and brimstone. The heads of the horses, like the heads of lions, devour everything, and out of their mouths come fire, smoke, and brimstone. These three things— fire, smoke, and brimstone—caused a third of all people to die.

This may be compared to smoking, which quite literally slays a tremendous number of people. But naturally this also has an allegorical meaning, for it is said that that the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. Obviously, these are not our ordinary horses, but extraordinary, apocalyptic horses.

Further on we read that God inflicted this terrible visitation, but it proved in vain: the remaining two thirds of the population continued to worship demons and evil spirits. It is said that at the end of the world people will practice outright idol worship, though it will be concealed under different names. For example, “channeling” energy from the cosmos, contact with djinns, communing with spirits, worshipping the cosmic mind, technical progress, computers, and ships, but not God Who gives us our power. It is

The Death of a Third of Mankind

129

this colossal stubbornness that will bring down the punishment of God upon men’s heads.

Thus, the people continue to worship the works of their hands, to offer gifts to idols, and observe the order in which they do so: idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood. The idols of gold and silver refer to money. But the people worship stone and wood as well. For example, it is complete insanity for people to worship the black stone (as do the Muslims), or to spoon-feed idols (as do the Hindus). How many so-called Christians do we see who keep various amulets in their homes, or leave food for the domovoi—the house demon?56 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries. The Greek text uses the word φαρμάκων (medicine, herb, potion, poison, venom), which is translated into Russian as “sorceries” or “charms.”

The word pharmakon may also be translated as “drug addiction,” i.e., communing with evil spirits by chemical, narcotic means.

Quite frequently sorcery has involved narcotics. The shamans in Chukotka and in Latin America have used hallucinogenic mushrooms for trances. It is no accident that the Church categorically forbids narcotics, because by this means a person makes contact with the powers of darkness.

Chapter Ten

The End of Time

A

nd I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire (Rev. 10:1). A short while before the last, seventh voice of the trumpet sounds, John the Theologian witnesses one of the greatest revelations. An angel resembling Christ Himself appears to him.

Certain commentators say that this is Christ Himself, appearing in the form of the herald of the end of the world, clothed with a cloud, with a rainbow upon His head. That is, this angel is in the glory of God, and the glory of God proceeds from Him. This indicates that the glory of God will reign upon earth at the end of the world, when the Savior comes upon the clouds of heaven that continually surround Him. After all, we know that the glory of God appeared in the form of a cloud when the people of Israel were wandering in the wilderness, and also at the consecration of the Temple of Solomon, and on Mount Tabor. Everywhere the Lord was surrounded by a sort of cloud, representing the indiscernible divine mysteries, His light-bearing power that surpasses all human understanding. When we look through this cloud we see something radiant and beautiful: the appearance of the glory of God, which results when God makes contact with the material world. For when what is divine encounters what is material and earthly, that which is earthly begins to seethe from the abundance of the glory and power of God. In addition it is a sign of the indiscernibility of the essence of God. Man will never learn and un-

The End of Time

131

derstand either the mysteries of God or the mysteries of the future age by his own abilities.

Besides this, upon the clouds of heaven the Christians of all ages will come flying together to meet Christ. This will literally be the last Ecumenical Council—an assembly of all Christians, whom the angels will carry to their meeting with the Creator.

And his face was as it were the sun (Rev. 10:1). Christ reveals the glory that will be revealed to all men at the end of time. As the Lord said, Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Mt. 13:43). The apostle John is already seeing the beginning of the end of time, and when the seventh trumpet sounds the great mystery of God will be accomplished, of which He told His servants, the prophets. This is the mystery of the glorification of men, the mystery of people who are radiant, permeated with light from within, and who therefore shine as the sun. What is the difference between Moses and Christ?

Moses shone, and Christ gave forth light. But with Moses only the skin of his face shone, since God had spoken with him and the light of God was reflected, leaving its mark on the skin of the prophet. Christ however shone from within. After the end of the world all the saints and the righteous will shine as the sun, with the light that makes men holy, which for now is hidden from us.

It becomes accessible for those who have undergone a mystical initiation, i.e., baptism and chrismation, when the mystical life of God enters into a person. Thus, even today there are people who are able to receive God within them: the Christians, who in Communion receive the true Flesh and Blood of Christ, thereby becoming gods, and who gradually begin to shine within. At the moment of the Lord’s coming what was hidden within men will shine forth and be made manifest. Furthermore, after the Second Coming the bodies of men will become filled with power.

Remember how the apostle Paul says that the infirm body will arise in power: So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is

132

Chapter Ten

sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:42–44). Thus, the resurrection is the manifestation of ultimate divine power, which is poured out into men.

And his feet as pillars of fire (Rev. 10:1). His feet are like pillars of fire, i.e., the whole man is permeated with light or fire. And his two feet, one set upon the sea, the other upon the earth, bespeak the impending transfiguration of the whole world: sea and land alike will be engulfed in divine fire. This is why the angel appears in this form. Incidentally, in ancient times at the entrance to the Temple of Solomon there stood two pillars symbolizing the future transfiguration of the universe on the one hand, and the Old and New Testaments given by God on the other.

And he had in his hand a little book open: And he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices (Rev. 10:2–3). The open book is the revelation proceeding from God that is given to John. The roaring of the lion is a sign of kingliness, for Christ is called a lion from the tribe of Judah. And now the terrible voice of His roaring is heard—terrible for all those who cling to impure deeds and foul thoughts. As the prophet Amos said, The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy? (Am. 3:8). The word of God rocks and transfigures a man. It does not allow him to remain as before, but changes everything.

The seven thunders that uttered their voices are the Seven Ecumenical Councils, which revealed the mystery of the one God Who came in the flesh. At the ecumenical councils the mysteries of the triunity of God were discussed. The second council stated that Christ took on a human mind and possessed a rational soul.

The third stated that Christ is at once both God and man. The fourth council declared that Christ is both God and man, and that His human nature was not destroyed in the divine incarnation. The fifth said that the incarnation of Christ is unique, that the divinity in the Savior subjected humanity to itself, but did

The End of Time

133

not destroy it: Christ became a man at a given moment, not at some point in the distant past, and no transmigration of souls ever took place. The sixth ecumenical council said that Christ has two wills—the divine and the human. Finally, the seventh council declared that Christ became true man, and hence He may be depicted. All the ecumenical councils had a single goal: to comprehend the mysteries of Christ. This is the great mystery of the lion’s roar, which the angel proclaimed according to the will of the Heavenly Father.

And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not (Rev. 10:4). Why “seal up”? Because the ecumenical councils were to unfold over time. The Lord did not wish for the Church to exist in a bubble: He led it forth like a military regiment or an army. With good reason one of the ancient hymns states that Christ is the great Emperor of Heaven, who leads His victorious forces forth to rout the powers of darkness.

King Solomon likewise, in the book of the Song of Solomon, said that the Church, the Bride of Christ, is beautiful as the moon, and terrible as pikes with standards: Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners? (Song of Sol. 6:10). Thus, the Church comprises the great army of God, which overcomes Satan. It was fitting that she should do battle. Seven times she went forth to battle, and she emerged victorious. She conquered all heresies, assembling the powers of the Holy Spirit at the councils, and in the course of the disputes the revelation of God was revealed. It is for this reason that John was commanded to seal up this revelation which he heard and understood, until it should be unfolded over time.

And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, Who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and

134

Chapter Ten

the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets (Rev. 10:5–7). The original Greek reads not “lifted up his hand to heaven,” but “plunged his right hand into the height of the heavens.”

Moses said, Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth (Deut. 32:1). That is, “Pay attention, O heaven; I will speak.” And when God says through the prophet Isaiah, Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger (Is. 13:13), we see clearly that all the elements are being summoned to reveal the greatest mystery of God. But whereas Moses and Isaiah rebuked the people, the angels proclaim that mediation has come to an end. And sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer (Rev. 10:6). He Who lives throughout all generations, throughout the millennia, Who holds all things in His mighty hands, since all things came from His hands—He will make time to cease and eternity to begin. After the end of the world the course of time will dry up, and the beings created by God will live in divine eternity.

How can there be any activity or development outside of time?

This is beyond our comprehension. Nevertheless, this development exists. Such is the revelation of God, though here we run up against the wall of our own lack of understanding. On the other hand, to a certain degree we are party to this mystery, since if our soul did not sense eternity we would be unable to realize the existence of time and to rise above it. That is, our soul is given a pledge of eternity—a subconscious sense of eternity. There are certain times of particular importance when time seems to contract, flying by in an instant, and at other times the opposite occurs, and time seems to stand still altogether.57 This is a reminder

The End of Time

135

that we will indeed enter into eternity, as the angel promised, and we will enter into the life of God that is outside of time. Many Christians are aware that at certain times of attentive prayer God calls us to Himself and we lose all sense of time. This happens particularly often when a person communes of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Upon receiving forgiveness of sins we seem to leave this time behind, and we experience the touch of eternity. This is a remarkable state, one incomparably more beautiful than anything else on earth. But this is a mere brush with true eternity, which will ensue after the end of the world, as we are promised by Him Who lives forever and ever, Who created heaven and the things that are therein, the sea and the things that are therein, the earth and all that dwell upon it.58 The great angel has promised that, in the days when the voice of the seventh trumpet will be uttered, the mystery of God will be accomplished, as the Lord said to His servants, the prophets. The mystery of God will be accomplished, i.e., revealed. That wondrous process which is already in progress, that great plan that the Holy Trinity is implementing on the planet, will burst through the bonds of matter. And then the mystery of God which had hitherto been secretly unfolding in this world will be revealed in all its blinding brilliance. And Communion is directly related to this mystery, being the very heart thereof. The appearance of the Lord in the flesh upon the earth is the very heart of the mystery of God—a mystery conceived at the time of creation. This was the goal of the prophets and righteous ones of old, the goal of the whole history of the world from the beginning, the history of the people of Israel and of other peoples—this great mystery of the divine incarnation. And today it continues to encompass more and more generations, more and more peoples, uniting all the peoples of the earth into a single whole—the Church, which is the Body of Christ. Thus, the mystery of God continues to unfold, but for now it still remains concealed. When the time comes, however, the seventh angel will sound the trumpet, and this mystery will spring to life. The essence of the Gospel is this discovery, this

136

Chapter Ten

revelation, and for this reason the Lord said, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel (Mk. 1:15).

The kingdom of God that is present on earth gradually spreads, encompassing more and more countries and territories. Why exactly is the earth starting to abound with disturbances? Because the prince of this world does not wish the Kingdom of Heaven to spread. These are the “birth pangs” of the new universe, and this is why at the end of time so many catastrophes will occur. And the Holy Spirit reveals Himself on earth to the degree that people are able to receive Him. He is omnipotent and is able to stop time at any moment. But the Holy Spirit does not manifest Himself openly. The work that He does is secret, planned beyond the borders of time and implemented now in world events. Do you often hear in the news about how the mystery of God is unfolding? No. And this is no accident, since this is truly a mystery. Just as satanic mysteries—Masonic conspiracies—are not usually discussed on television, so also the mystery of God is not discussed, but is still more concealed from men. God uses even a satanic conspiracy as one of the tools for accomplishing His will, since He makes even evil to have good consequences.

And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter (Rev. 10:8–10). The little book is a special revelation of God. The prophet Ezekiel once had a similar revelation, in which the same angel that conversed with John the Theologian appeared to Him: This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of One that spake. And He said unto me,

The End of Time

137

Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.59 And the spirit entered into me when He spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard Him that spake unto me.60 And He said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against Me: they and their fathers have transgressed against Me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak My words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;61 and He spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll. And He said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. And He said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them (Ezek. 1:28, 2:1–10, 3:1–4).

In Revelation we are not seeing a retelling of an ancient prophecy. Rather, one and the same God gives an identical revelation to two persons: the prophet Ezekiel and the apostle John. To John the Theologian He gives the revelation on a new level—a new level of knowledge that man could never reach on his own. Furthermore, this revelation, this word of God, is con-

138

Chapter Ten

sumed, so to speak—i.e., it is a kind of food for the soul. Only when reading the word of God or during prayer does one experience a sense of satiety: the soul is sated, and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit produce an unearthly sweetness in a person.

Thus John receives a new level of revelation—the word of God, acting from within, bubbling forth from his heart. This is why it is written that the little book enters him through his mouth.

The fact is, the word for “little book” in Greek is biblios—i.e., the book that the apostle consumes will manifest itself through Holy Scripture. Note that John and Ezekiel experience the same sensation: first a sweetness in their mouths, since contact with the word of God is wonderful; but then a bitterness inside them.

Why bitterness? Because God is giving them to understand the afflictions He is preparing for the world. It is a bitter and sorrowful thing for John that a terrible misfortune is looming over the whole world. He saw what will later be prophesied: the appearance of the antichrist in the world. And this left a bitterness in his belly.

And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings (Rev. 10:11). There are two ways of interpreting these words, which may actually be mutually complementary. The first is this: John will be given to learn new revelations regarding the fates of all nations and tribes; i.e., this is a prediction that subsequent revelations will follow. The second interpretation is that the apostle John is alive to this day in the flesh, that he has not died, and that the Lord took him from this world in the body. Thus, this passage in the Apocalypse is frequently understood as follows: the apostle John is to appear on earth again and prophecy, as Scripture says, before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings (Rev. 10:11). In other words, as the herald of the final revelation he is to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom at the end of the world. What will happen to him thereafter the Holy Spirit alone knows, but there are two theories regarding this. The first is that John the Theologian will die at the hands of the antichrist, thereby drinking the last cup of the twelve

The End of Time

139

apostles, of whom all but John became martyrs. The second theory is this: he will not die at all and will be transfigured, renewed in the day when Jesus Christ appears in the flesh. This however is a mystery that we cannot know; we can only theorize. One thing is absolutely certain: we may well meet the evangelist John in the near future.

Chapter Eleven

The Temple of God

A

nd there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein (Rev. 11:1). John is told of a certain great task that he must perform: to set out once again upon the path of prophecy. We do not know who gave the rod to John, but most probably this refers to the Lord. John the Theologian is as though transported to the time in which he is to live, at the very end of time. And he was commanded to measure with his staff the temple of God, the altar, and the people who worship in the temple. Apparently this indicates the mystical action that the evangelist is to perform as the era of the antichrist approaches. In order to understand what this means we must recall how the temple of God was constructed in the times of the Old and New Testaments, as well as its prototype in heaven.

The temple of God consists of three parts: the holy of holies, the sanctuary, and the courtyard. The holy of holies is the holy table, the sanctuary is the main body of the temple, and the courtyard is the narthex occupied by the catechumens—the unbaptized—and penitents who have been barred from Communion. Today all Christians pray in the sanctuary, but in Old Testament times the priests alone had the right to pray there, while all the rest could only enter into the courtyard (the narthex). The holy of holies was entered by the high priest alone, and that but once a year. Thus, John the Theologian is commanded to measure the people who enter the sanctuary, and the

DANIEL SYSOEV INC. was founded as a USA-based subsidiary of the Rev. Daniel Sysoev Missionary Center Benevolent Fund. The corporation’s primary goals are: — Creating high-quality translations of Orthodox texts from Russian into English and preparing these texts for print — Distributing books, CDs, and DVDs in English and in Russian, as well as other church supplies, in the US and Canada — Promoting projects to further the mission of Orthodoxy in the world.

The company’s primary area of activity centers on the works of Priest Daniel Sysoev, who was killed November 19, 2009, in Moscow, leaving behind numerous recordings of his lectures, sermons, and literary works. Fr. Daniel’s books touch with grace the minds of those who read them. Father Daniel had a profound understanding of the texts of Holy Scripture, in keeping with the explanations of the holy fathers of the Church. His God-given ability to interpret and explain the Bible, to preach and speak to a person’s heart, and most importantly to love God and neighbor have enlightened and continue to enlighten many. Upon reading his works many decide to change their path, find answers to difficult questions, and are strengthened in their faith and desire to inherit eternal life with God. It is our goal to bring back the laudable tradition of reading Orthodox books.

If you share our goals and feel able and inclined to assist in achieving this common goal, write to us at mission379@gmail.com. It may be that our joint efforts will bear much fruit.

If you would like to contribute to this work, you may use one of the following methods: 1. Check: Make checks payable to Daniel Sysoev Inc, and mail them to Daniel Sysoev Inc, 41 Las Brisas Blvd, Voorhees, NJ 08043.

2. Wire transfer: ABA/Routing Number 021000089 CITIBANK, N.A. 2201 86th street, Brooklyn, NY, 11214 Daniel Sysoev Inc, account number: 4989398433 3. PayPal: ssv379@gmail.com

OTHER BOOKS

BY PRIEST DANIEL SYSOEV WHY GO TO CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY?

I

n this day and age people in the Orthodox Church have forgotten in Whose name they received the sacrament of baptism, and before Whom they will be called to account.

The Lord’s obligatory command to consecrate one day each week to Him Who created us, Who continues to nourish and preserve us, is no great sacrifice, especially considering that it exists for the benefit of man, not God. Without God the soul suffocates, while by participating in the divine services and drawing nourishment from His grace it again flourishes and is transformed, breaking free of oppressive mundane affairs that lead to nowhere. These affairs insist that there is work to be done, that weekends should be spent with the children, doing work around the house, or relaxing with friends. This pamphlet will help us find answers to the list of objections raised to fulfilling the fourth commandment, to explain why the fullness of prayer to God is not possible outside the Church, and to understand the importance of the Sacraments and the very heart of Christianity: the sacrament of Holy Communion.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE IMMORTAL, OR WHAT TO DO IF YOU STILL DIE

I

n the few months since it appeared, this unusually-titled book by the famous priest and missionary Fr. Daniel Sysoev has quickly become a bestseller. What should you do if you end up dying after all? Unfortunately, many people try to avoid the question of death; yet death, like it or not, is unavoidable. Following divine revelation and the experience of the Church, Fr. Daniel paints a perfectly logical picture of the human soul transitioning from mortality to eternity.

The author gives us advice on how to behave correctly at this most important of events for every person, how not to be afraid, how to pass through the aerial toll-houses, and what will await us after death. The author likewise describes the church doctrines regarding heaven and hell. This edition includes a new section on the soul in the afterlife, and may be of interest for all who are reluctant to consider the topic of life after death.

MARRIAGE TO A NONBELIEVER?

H

ow often young men and women, when choosing their companion for life, think his or her faith to be of no importance! “We love each other, and he (or she) doesn’t mind that I go to church.” And yet this stance conceals multitudinous dangers for a Christian. At first all is well — the young couple is even married in church (at the insistence of the believer), and it seems a compromise has been reached. But then everyday life begins, and ever more frequently one hears, “You don’t care about anything but your church” ... and finally reality leaves no alternative but to choose between the person and God. This brochure is the advice of a missionary priest to Christians wishing to marry.

It will also be of interest to all those who wish to understand the importance of faith in the life of every person.

CATECHETICAL TALKS

T

his book is compiled from catechetical talks given by the missionary priest Daniel Sysoyev in Moscow. The printed texts of the talks preserve the spoken conversational style, drawing the reader in with numerous straightforward examples and clear answers to the catechumens’ “tricky” questions. The majority of those who attended Father Daniel’s talks became regular parishioners at Orthodox churches following their baptism. This book will benefit catechizers, clergy, theological students, and all who wish to be always ready to give an answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear regarding the principles of the faith. Being actual dialogs on questions of faith and the Church, these talks will likewise be of interest to the catechumens themselves.

QUESTIONS TO PRIEST DANIEL SYSOEV

O

n our spiritual journey, how often do we find ourselves in need of a timely answer to this or that question that is troubling our soul. We believe that if we pray to God before asking advice from a priest, the Lord will give us the right answer by way of His servant. This book is comprised of answers to questions posed to Father Daniel during talks devoted to the explanation of the Bible. Father Daniel gives clear, logical answers to questions of a most interesting and vital nature.

HOMILIES

T

he gift of eloquence is not given to everyone, and there are very few who have mastered the art of producing a homily that nourishes the mind of the listener and fi lls him with divine truth. This book is composed of the homilies given by Priest Daniel Sysoev in the church of the apostle Thomas. In reading these homilies filled with the spirit of joy, the reader will feel himself in the presence of a pastor who with all his strength preached to people the word of God, eternal and vital for all times.

THE LAW OF GOD

T

his new edition of The Law of God will serve for the enrichment of catechists and professors of various schools. Many textbooks, including the venerable work by Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy, have become dated primarily in terms of the language used. The old phraseology needs to be expanded and explained in contemporary language—a need that has been met in this work by Father Daniel Sysoev. To choose the proper wording is to fi nd the key to the heart of the reader. Such was the goal of the late author of this book. Father Daniel spent ten years laboring at its creation, working on it until the final year of his life, constantly redoing and rewriting individual passages.

And yet The Law of God is not the fruit of the labors and efforts of one man, for in the field of catechesis it is impossible not to draw on the expertise of the holy fathers and, above all, Holy Scripture. Upon opening this book the believer will find himself in the catechetical school of Father Daniel, will hear his living voice, and will delve into the profound inner world of this talented priest, Christian author, exegete, and missionary. Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev.

TALKS ON THE PASSIONS

W

now your enemy, it is said. The passions and those who help them take root are the seed of the devil. The fight against this seed lasts one’s whole life, and only he who turns to God will emerge victorious. But where are we to learn the tactics for this fight? Drawing on the experience of the Church and the works of the Holy Fathers, Priest Daniel Sysoev explains how sin works in a persons soul, and how to combat it. This book will provide the reader with food for thought regarding the need for concentrated effort to cleanse one’s heart for God.

A PROTESTANT’S WALK THROUGH AN ORTHODOX CHURCH

T

ruth can endure no falsehood, and herself finds those who seek her. But there is one condition: one must reject one’s own opinion and prefer the Lord’s, and seek not oneself, but God. It is no easy thing to leave off your former way of life and the things of which you were convinced, thinking you were on the right path. But it is those who are willing to do this that God calls His chosen. This book is an actual conversation with a young Protestant, who himself approached an Orthodox passer-by in the Taganka region one spring morning. Was he seeking the truth? What answers did the Orthodox Christian give him and how did he behave? Did anything change in their hearts after their dialogue, and who was proven right? The reader will witness their conversation and will hear numerous arguments grounded in Holy Scripture.

TALKS ON THE FIRST AND SECOND EPISTLES OF THE APOSTLE PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS

T

his work comprises an explanation of the first and second epistles of the holy apostle Paul to the Corinthians. For convenient study the text has been divided into twelve parts, with appropriate headings for key theological topics.

The author endeavors to explain the texts of Holy Scripture in understandable language for the modern reader.

Priest Daniel Sysoev

Explanation of the Apocolypse

Translator and Editor-in-chief Deacon Nathan Williams Cover Igor Yermolaev Layout Olga Bochkova

mission-center.com mission-shop.com mission379@gmail.com +1(267)237-3768 Printed sheet size 140 × 200 mm. Off set printing.

Off set paper. Print run 3000 copies. Order № Printed at