John the Theologian Interpretation of the "Apocalypse" of John the Theologian

The last book of the Holy Scriptures, or rather the New Testament, is called “The Revelation of John the Theologian.” But more often it is called “Apocalypse”. It is impossible to imagine a more mysterious book. And its second name inspires fear. The fact that the events of the coming end of the world are encrypted in “Revelation” is already clear from the title. But how can we find out what exactly John the Theologian wrote about, since the apostle spoke ambiguously about his visions?

A little about the author of “Apocalypse”

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

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

When and how was Apocalypse written?

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

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

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Discussion: 6 comments

Victor:
11/22/2019 at 10:40 pm
I had 1 dream. 2 mountains on one steep wall stands a huge living JESUS and waves his hand to me. I'm standing on another mountain. in the middle there is a deep abyss and at the bottom there are bright flashes. I jump and fly quickly, but when I flew up on the rock there was a full-length carved picture of JESUS. 2 Dream black clouds, three very large corrugated pipes fall to the ground, slightly twisted together, and a rider in black armor and a helmet descends from the clouds on a black horse, when he descended I was seized by wild horror. Then the voices of God come. The horseman disappeared. I approached the god on the head from the front to the top of the head, a bald head without a beard, a clean fish.
Rival Gulov:
11/22/2019 at 7:22 pm
For your information; Antichrist the Comforter is the messenger of Christ the Savior. The Son (of God) and the Spirit (of truth) are one: the likeness of the Beginning (2) and the likeness of the End (8).
Rival Gulov:
11/22/2019 at 7:13 pm
I have five more years at my disposal: 2022, 2022, 2022, 2023, 2024.
Sergiy:
11/21/2019 at 5:21 pm
Some people live in Russia as if in Paradise, why do they need Heavenly Paradise?
Eduard Kel:
11/21/2019 at 2:15 pm
Maybe the theologian himself did not know the date of the End of the World? And the date is indicated in modern religious literature.
Vladimir:
11/19/2019 at 5:22 pm
if the Antichrist knows that according to the prophecy he will lose, then the question arises, why should he appear? The answer options are either he serves the cause of God in order to identify apostates. Or he is not sure of his loss. And the prophecy may be wrong. Maybe John saw only one of the options for the development of events and not the fact that it is true. All conquerors were also predicted to own the world. But not all dreams come true, this is not Gazprom

"Apocalypse" of John the Theologian

The very name of the apostle’s book translated from Greek means “revelation.” The writing of the last part of the New Testament took place approximately 75-90 years after the birth of Christ.

Some Bible scholars doubt the apostle’s attitude towards the authorship of the most mysterious book, since the writing style of “The Gospel of John” and “Apocalypse” is different. But there are arguments in favor of the saint.

The author calls himself John and says that he had a revelation from Jesus Christ on the island of Patmos (it was there that the saint was in exile).
The similarity of the “Apocalypse” with the messages of the Apostle and the Gospel on his behalf in spirit, style and some expressions.
Ancient evidence admits that John the Evangelist is the author of the last book of Holy Scripture. These are the stories of the disciple of the Apostle St. Papias of Hierapolis, and St. Justin Martyr, who lived for a long time in the same city with the holy elder, and many others.

The essence of "Revelation"

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

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

Interpretation of the Revelation of John the Theologian

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

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

The main interpretation of “Revelation” is considered to be the work of the holy Archbishop of Caesarea, Andrew, dated to the 6th century. But there are books by other clergy and theologians that explain the meaning of what is written in the Apocalypse.

Book of Prophecy

Deciphering the Apocalypse of John the Theologian in Orthodoxy takes a lot of effort and time. In addition, you need to have some knowledge in order to correctly interpret all the information. It is considered quite difficult to understand and interpret. The images in it and the mystery of the description sometimes play a cruel joke on those who try to interpret it:

some try to correlate incidents with recent events;
others say that these are only historical values of the 1st century;
but still others are inclined to think that these predictions relate to events of a later time.

But there is also a lot of information that a large amount of what was written has already happened. But you shouldn’t be very picky about all this and abuse such facts. The main reason for the misunderstanding is considered to be the departure of many from the faith. Correct understanding is based only on deep spiritual appreciation.

The best article for you, go to: The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians

A lot of contradictions and discrepancies are attributed to the 13th chapter of the Apocalypse of John the Theologian. Studying it helps to penetrate deeper into the upcoming changes of recent times. Initially it was said that the world would gradually become better and better. But this was not confirmed by the Bible. We can see that everything is exactly the opposite. World religion is becoming blasphemous and satanic. Many signs indicate that our world is moving towards destruction. And therefore there is an opinion that the second coming of Christ will happen very soon.

May the Lord protect you!

Contents of the beginning of the “Apocalypse”

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

At the very beginning, “Revelation” talks about why the “Apocalypse” was written, where and how the Apostle John the Theologian received it. The importance of predictions of the future, given to people in order to have time to prepare for the Last Judgment, is emphasized.

The following is a message to the seven churches. The interpretation of John the Theologian shows that many of the warnings the apostle gave through revelation subsequently came true. Thus, the collapse of the Ephesian Church occurred.

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

7 Sacraments;
7 Ecumenical Councils in the Church;
7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit (main);
7 His manifestations;
7 Virtues (core);
7 passions (sins that need to be fought);
7 words in the Jesus Prayer;
7 petitions of the Lord's Prayer.

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

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

Article two

A vision in which I saw the Clothed One in the midst of seven golden lamps

I was in the spirit on Sunday and heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet, which said: I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last; write what you see in a book and send it to the churches that are in Asia: to Ephesus and Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.

Embraced by the Holy Spirit and receiving spiritual hearing, I heard on the most revered Sunday day the voice of the Lord, like a trumpet in its sonority, for their message went out into all the earth (Ps. 18:5). Pointing with the words Alpha and Omega to God’s beginninglessness and infinity, He commanded me to tell the seven churches about what I had seen, denoting the number seven, ending on Saturday, the Sabbath, that is, the rest of the century of the future. Therefore, writes the great Irenaeus, God created seven heavens and seven angels who rule over others.

About the features of "Apocalypse"

The Church of St. John the Evangelist, whose rector is the author of the popular Commentary, Father Oleg Molenko, attracts many parishioners eager to understand the “Apocalypse.” It should be remembered that this book is prophetic. That is, everything she talks about will happen, perhaps in the near future.

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

Fulfilled prophecies of the Apocalypse: why the end of the world is closer than we think

From the life of Andrei Yurodivy:

At that time the Lord God will open the gates of Indolia... and the kings 70 and two will come out with their people, called unclean pagans, and will disperse throughout all the lands, eating human flesh, and drinking blood, and dogs and flies and toads, eating all the filth of the world this... Then the days will darken... And then Satan the Antichrist will arise from the tribe of Dan...

“I live by eating human flesh” - this cannot be more precisely said about the Chinese; medieval Chinese prose brings to us many cases of eating people, and in our time there are reports of eating human embryos.

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) (19th century) writes this: “To explain this to yourself, think about China, then look at yourself, see what the relationship of your mind and heart is to this country... You will see that your heart is to this country - also dead, as if to a country that does not exist at all or exists only in fables.”

Hieroschemamonk Aristoklius of Athos (1918): “...The end will be through China.”

K.N. Leontyev, Russian Orthodox philosopher (letter from Optina 05/3/1890): “Peoples, incl. the Slavs, “blooming” in the “hated European bourgeoisie,” will be “devoured by the Chinese invasion.”

Note that the religion of Confucius is almost pure practical morality and does not know a Personal God, and Buddhism in China, which is also so strong, is downright religious atheism - why not Gogi and Magog.” Saint Andrew, Archbishop of Caesarea (V century): “...What is said about Gog, as if he is being prepared from ancient times and will come in the last times, and finally, because in this Revelation, predicting the future, it is said that Gog and Magog will appear at the end of the world."

Schema-Archimandrite Seraphim (Tyapochkin) (04/06/1982) from Rakitny (1977): “During the memorable conversation, a young woman from a Siberian city was present. The elder told her: “You will suffer martyrdom at the hands of the Chinese in the stadium of your city, where they will drive Christian residents and those who disagree with their rule.” This was a response to her doubts about the elder’s words that almost all of Siberia would be captured by the Chinese.

The elder said what was revealed to him about the future of Russia, he did not name dates, he only emphasized that the time for the fulfillment of what was said was in the hands of God, and much depended on how the spiritual life of the Russian Church would develop, how strong the faith in God would be among Russians people, what will be the prayer feat of believers.

Unfortunately, we will be pitted against each other by politicians (the world elite, as they call themselves), and ordinary Chinese themselves are responsive, normal people, with even more cordiality than many Russians.

About Gog and Magog

St. Ephraim the Syrian and John Chrysostom meant by Gog and Magog the peoples who oppressed the Jews soon after their return from Babylon (Creations of Ephraim the Syrian. T. V. P. 58; Chrysostom. T. P. 668).

The word "Magog" is used for the first time in the book of Genesis (X, 2). This is one of the sons of Japheth. Ezekiel's prophecy speaks of Gog and Magog; from it these names were transferred to the Apocalypse with the same concepts in which they were adopted by Ezekiel, but with different applications. Ezekiel’s Gog is portrayed as a glorious and terrible conqueror who invades with a large army into the land of the people of Israel (XXXVIII, 15,-16)... Gog was an instrument of God’s wrath against Israel, but then he himself, for his cruelty and wickedness, became the subject of vengeance for the wrath of God. The word Magog meant either the land or the people whom Gog commanded... From the Apocalypse it is clear that predictions sometimes in the same words also referred to God’s Judgment over the wickedness of the last times of the world’s existence, the time of the coming of the kingdom of the last Antichrist. The concept of Gog at all times was the concept of a fierce, warlike ruler, commanding diverse and numerous crowds of warriors, trampling on the statutes of God, a bloodthirsty villain, an enemy of God, His faith and Church and His worship. Gog - Antichrist; Magog is his army. Gog means the one who gathers, and Magog means the gathering of peoples (Blessed Jerome. Interpretation. On the 7th article of the XXth chapter of the Apoc. P. 259).

Satan is unleashed at the end of times and will raise them up to battle with the city of God. Gog and Magog are those nations in which the devil is, for the time being, imprisoned, as it were, in the abyss. (On the same topic, S. Nilus “There is a Door Near” chapter L’empire du Milieu - The Middle Kingdom).

And I saw another beast coming out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. He acts before him with all the power of the first beast and forces the whole earth and those living on it to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed; and performs great signs, so that fire comes down from heaven to earth before people. And with the miracles that it was given to him to perform before the beast, he deceives those who live on the earth, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast, which has the wound of the sword and is alive. And it was given to him to put spirit into the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would speak and act in such a way that anyone who would not worship the image of the beast would be killed. And he will make it happen that everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, will receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and that no one will be able to buy or sell except the one who has this mark. , or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. He who has intelligence, count the number of the beast, for it is a human number; his number is six hundred and sixty-six (Rev. 13:11-18).

Revelation tells us that a world state will be built, covering the entire earth, all countries and peoples, social groups, built on total control and despotism, that without some mark of the beast it will be impossible to “neither buy nor sell.” Complete total world control. Under the rule of a single ruler, the Beast from the Sea - the Antichrist. (Rev. 13:1).

We see the fulfillment of this prophecy every day when we come to the store; now all products have a bar code; long parallel stripes; at the beginning, middle and end they indicate the number 6. Archimandrite (now bishop) Tikhon (Shevkunov), rector of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow, wrote about this many years ago in his article “Schengen Zone”.

The international spelling of the word “barcode” is bar-code, and the word “bar” translated from English is bar, bolt, rod, stripe, line. The Apocalypse was originally written in Greek, where the word “to draw” literally means to draw deep straight lines, cut them out, scratch them. Encoding on magnetic tape in various types of bank cards is carried out using the same barcode.

There is a lot of debate about what kind of mark the beast-false prophet will put. Human number – i.e. This is some kind of number instead of a name. The number will replace the person’s name; instead of the name that we are given in baptism, expressing our personality, there will be some kind of satanic depersonalizing digital code. This code will be a pass to the world economic system, and since such a system is built by the mystery of lawlessness (2 Thess. 2:7) with the sole purpose of enslaving humanity to one world leader, a false messiah, the Antichrist, then participation in this system is a direct renunciation of Christ and acceptance, agreement with the Antichrist. Therefore, all discussions on the topic of universal cards, biopassports, microchips, and laser application technologies are completely incomprehensible. No matter how a person entered into this anti-Christian system, the world kingdom of the Antichrist, he equally renounced Christ.

Moreover, when describing the mark of the Beast, the Apostle John directly speaks of three different types of seals: “the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev. 13:17). Or one, or the other, or the third. If, through a certain document, we enter the world economic system, then, using this document, we will be able to “buy and sell,” i.e. Let us quite consciously accept the mark of the Antichrist, under whatever guise it may be. From a passport card, to a microchip and laser marks (this technology is registered in the USA).

All these cards and so on are being introduced under the slogan of convenience and security, - the words of the Apostle Paul come to mind: “For when they say: “Peace and security,” then destruction will suddenly befall them” (1 Thess. 5:3).

The process of apostasy, the decomposition of a living and integral Christian worldview, predicted by the Lord Jesus Christ almost two thousand years ago, is close to completion. Apparently, God destined us to become contemporaries of the “end times.” The Antichrist as a real political possibility of our days is no longer in doubt. Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga John (Snychev).

Consecrated Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church (February 2-5, 2013) Position of the Church in connection with the development of technologies for recording and processing personal data

“The Church considers unacceptable any form of coercion of citizens to use electronic identifiers, automated means of collecting, processing and recording personal data and personal confidential information. The implementation of the right to access social benefits without electronic documents must be ensured by material, technical, organizational and, if necessary, legal guarantees. The Church considers it unacceptable to forcibly apply any visible or invisible identification marks to the human body, or to implant identification micro- and nanoelectronic devices into the human body.

Due to the fact that the possession of personal information creates the opportunity to control and manage a person through various spheres of life (finance, medical care, family, social security, property, etc.), there is a real danger of not only interfering in a person’s daily life, but also introducing temptation into his soul. The Church shares the concerns of citizens and considers it unacceptable to restrict their rights if a person refuses to consent to the processing of personal data...

The Church carries out a dialogue on these issues with the authorities of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Central Asian states and other countries, seeking to take into account and understand the position of believers. The Council considers it especially important to observe the principle of voluntariness when accepting any identifiers, which presupposes the possibility of choosing traditional methods of identification. The Council calls on the authorities of the states of the canonical space of our Church to adhere to this principle. At the same time, it is necessary to show respect for the constitutional rights of citizens and not discriminate against those who refuse to accept electronic means of identification.

In case of forced citizens to accept such means and discrimination associated with their non-acceptance, the Council invites these people to go to court, as well as inform the diocesan hierarchy and, if necessary, the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society.

However, many things warn us that we may be faced with new challenges. If the narrowing of the boundaries of freedom, carried out including by means of electronic control, leads to the impossibility of freely confessing the faith of Christ, and if legislative, political or ideological acts that are mandatory for execution become incompatible with the Christian way of life, the time of confession will come, which the Book of Revelation speaks of. (Ch. 13-14).”

In response to the statements of modern Gnostics that there is nothing terrible, everything can be accepted, it is worth asking to whom and why the Apostle John revealed these terrible events. Why don’t we listen to the voice of the Church, to our Archpastors, who call to go to confession, but not to accept the mark of the Beast in whatever form it is offered to us. The Council of Bishops, referring to the 14th chapter of Revelation, had in mind the following words: “And the third Angel followed them, saying with a loud voice: whoever worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or his hand. He will drink the wine of the wrath of God, the whole wine prepared in the cup of His wrath, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb; And the smoke of their torment will ascend forever and ever, and they who worship the beast and his image and who receive the mark of his name will have no rest, day or night.”

It is very important to note that this mark will be introduced before the appearance of the Antichrist as a person; the mark will be introduced not by the Antichrist - the beast from the sea (Rev. 13.1), as the Apostle John writes, but by the beast from the earth - the false prophet. “And I saw another beast coming out of the earth (Rev. 13:11)” - another beast is the forerunner of the Antichrist. Revelation makes this abundantly clear. Moreover, the seal will be introduced precisely as a world trading system - “no one will be allowed to buy or sell,” no one will demand an explicit renunciation of Christ, everything is done craftily, which is why the Apostle John writes, in order to understand that this will have to be reasoned: “Here is wisdom. Who has the mind." Modern interpreters believe that the false prophet is a set of media with the help of which anti-Christian morality and ideology of the “new world order”, new paganism, the cult of violence, debauchery and profit are propagated, knowledge only necessary for earthly carnal, animal life, conveniences, although it will also be a certain personality. “And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet, who performed miracles before him, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image: both were thrown alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone” (Rev. 19:20).

See explanation. St. Andrew of Caesarea: the serpent is Satan (Rev. 12:3), he is also the beast emerging from the abyss (Rev. 11:7); the beast that comes out of the sea is the Antichrist (Rev. 13:1), and the beast that comes out of the earth is a false prophet (Rev. 13:11). The mark on the forehead or on the right hand will not be placed by the Antichrist, as many believers incorrectly believe today, but by the false prophet, who will precede the Antichrist in time.

“And I saw that one of his heads was, as it were, mortally wounded, but this mortal wound was healed” (Rev. 13:3) - writes the Apostle John about the beast from the sea - the Antichrist and further about the false prophet - the beast from the earth: “He acts before him with all the power of the first beast and forces the whole earth and those living on it to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed” (Rev. 13:12). Christianity inflicted a mortal wound on paganism, but what we see now is a real revival of paganism, “the wound has been healed.” “Bread and circuses” is a pagan slogan that has become the slogan of modern humanity, “take everything from life” is the slogan of one Western company and the Church of Satan of America, “do whatever you want.” A complete overthrow of not only Christian ideals, but also human morality. The spread of unnatural debauchery, which was so widespread in the Roman Empire.

This very animal life, expressed in serving one’s passions, makes a person, even before accepting any mark, a servant of the Antichrist. The Antichrist is called a beast in the Apocalypse; a person living according to the flesh also becomes a beast. The absence of fasting, prayer, sincere service to God, the search for God, puts a person on a par with dumb animals.

The distinctive feature of a sinner, instructs St. Theophan the Recluse, is not always obvious depravity, but actually the absence of inspired, self-sacrificing zeal for pleasing God, with a decisive aversion to everything sinful - that for him piety does not constitute the main subject of care and labor, that he, caring about many other things, is completely indifferent to his acquisitions, does not feel the danger he is in, does not care about a good life and spends a cold life in faith, although sometimes serviceable and impeccable from the outside.

A friend of the world, writes Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), will certainly become, perhaps unnoticed by himself, the worst enemy of God... When serving the world, service to God is impossible, and there is no such thing, even if it seems to exist. He's gone! And what appears to be nothing more than hypocrisy, pretense, deception of oneself and others.

But outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices iniquity” (Rev. 22:15). The Apostle calls dogs not animals, but people, just as the Apostle Peter writes: “They, like dumb animals led by nature, born to be caught and destroyed, speaking evil of what they do not understand, will be destroyed in their corruption. They will receive retribution for their iniquity, for they delight in daily luxury; disgraces and defilers, they enjoy their deceptions, feasting with you. Their eyes are filled with lust and incessant sin; they seduce unsteady souls; their hearts are accustomed to covetousness: they are the sons of the curse. Leaving the straight path, they got lost, following in the footsteps of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the unrighteous reward, but was convicted of his iniquity: a dumb donkey, speaking in a human voice, stopped the madness of the prophet. These are waterless springs, clouds and mist, driven by a storm: the darkness of eternal darkness is prepared for them. For, uttering inflated idle talk, they ensnare those who are barely behind those in error into carnal lusts and debauchery. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whoever is conquered by someone is his slave. For if, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome by them, then the latter is worse for them than the first. It would be better for them not to know the path of righteousness than, having learned it, to turn back from the holy commandment handed down to them. But what happens to them is according to the true proverb: the dog returns to his vomit, and the washed pig goes to wallow in the mud (2 Pet. 12-22).

If a person’s entire life is devoted to acquiring wealth, seeking pleasure, idleness, and seeking power, then he truly becomes a beast. And everything is placed on the altar of this cult; from parents to their own wives and children. Divorces go beyond all imaginable limits, abortions number in the millions; drug addiction, alcoholism, sexually transmitted diseases are comparable to an epidemic, people die out a million a year. And at the same time, someone is talking about spiritual uplift, when we should be talking about complete spiritual impoverishment.

Nowadays Russia is one giant unhealed wound of spiritual and moral troubles prepared by its executioners over the last century. There has never been such a thing in it that obscenity, the permissibility of debauchery, unbridledness and nakedness of vices were not so criminally proclaimed in all its corners, so that bribe-takers and robbers, thieves and embezzlers were so impudent, so that everyone who is not too lazy to drag, grab, received freedom , to plunder, to enrich themselves, turning not even into animals, but into some unknown monsters... The oncoming beast is dearer than man to man in the present Fatherland! (outstanding Russian scientist, academician F.Ya. Shipunov).

But fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness should not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints. Also, foul language and idle talk and ridicule are not becoming for you, but, on the contrary, thanksgiving; for know that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for for this reason the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience; therefore, do not be their accomplices (Eph. 5:3-6).

It is idle talk that you can commit sin and remain a Christian.

(St. Theophan the Recluse in the interpretation of 1 Cor. 5:11):

Nowadays you will not interfere with the writings, if a certain brother is called a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or a troublemaker, or a drunkard, or a predator; with those below food.

This, he says, is the sense in which I wrote to you! – Do not mix, do not enter into relations, do not have close communication with someone who, bearing the name of a Christian, indulges in obvious vices. It is beneath you to deal with such a person - of course, ordinary hospitality - do not invite him to your place, do not go to him, and do not enter into transactions with him. Theodoret notes: “If one should not have fellowship with such people in ordinary food, then much less in mysterious and Divine food.” And in the course of the speech it is clear that if you yourself do not mix with those, then you should not allow them to mix with you; and if this is in the ordinary order of life, then even more so in the church. This means that the Apostle defines: to consider such as alien to the Christian society, the same as excommunicated, like that incest - the erupted old kvass. The Apostle gives the reason for this - so as not to become infected from them, not to become fermented. Christians should be so holy and so faithful to the commandments that it should not even occur to them that they could sin while remaining a Christian. If their obvious sinners remained in society, then this zeal for moral purity would be greatly shaken by the thought that, it is true, Christians can have a name and not actually be what the name requires. To prevent this general relaxation, the Apostle orders us to cut off communication with such persons.”

The Venerable Nile the Myrrh-Streaming One calls much-concern and covetousness the forerunners of the Antichrist. “Increasing worldly cares foreshadow the near implementation of the dispensation of destruction in the world, i.e. the birth of the Antichrist... Much care will darken a person’s feelings in order to make a person insensitive to his salvation, so that from the multitude of carnal worries he cannot feel salvation, that is, people will not feel either the desire for an eternal future life, or the fear of eternal condemnation.”

The Apocalypse describes the state of the world at the end of time, i.e. our time is a description of the society in which we actually live. Unprecedented development of trade, it seems that everyone and everything is trading. Among the goods there are also very scary ones: human bodies and souls.

And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their goods anymore, goods of gold and silver, and precious stones and pearls, and fine linen and purple, and silk and scarlet, and all kinds of fragrant wood, and all kinds of ivory products. , and all kinds of products made of expensive wood, copper and iron and marble, cinnamon and incense, and myrrh and incense, and wine and oil, and flour and wheat, and cattle and sheep, and horses and chariots, and the bodies and souls of men. And the fruits pleasing to your soul were no more, and everything that was fat and brilliant was removed from you; you will no longer find him (Rev. 18:11-14).

Slave trade, trade in girls, children (“human bodies and souls”), sale for debauchery, isn’t that the sale of the soul, trade in human organs, cosmetics made from aborted babies, fetal therapy, etc.

We live in a consumer society, when the purpose of people's lives on earth has become the acquisition of various goods. Go to any shopping center, a huge number of people seem to be there from morning to evening; not a single Church, even on Easter, has as many cars as every day at any seedy shopping center. The desire of people to acquire goods and depend on everything “fat and brilliant” and “fruits pleasing to the soul” isn’t this a direct description of our time.

“And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their theft” (Rev. 9:21). The description of common sins before the end of the world corresponds exactly to our time. Killings in various wars are nothing compared to the killing of children - abortions, which are committed by millions, and there is no repentance for this sin. We ourselves kill our children, we kill in such a way that His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II exclaimed: The question is, is such a people even worthy of the sacred gift of life? Doesn’t it justly become a reproach for people?” And His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said that when flying by plane over Siberia, you see “colossal expanses where no one lives or so few people live that it’s scary.”

Witchcraft is the spread of various kinds of occult sects, Satanism, magic, witchcraft, astrology - after all, every newspaper publishes forecasts of this pseudoscience, belief in the pagan Chinese New Year with their dragons, pigs and other animals, which, nevertheless, is preached from all television channels and other media, unheard of debauchery, it has become the norm to fornicate, cheat, betray, live without a marriage even concluded in front of people, and not just without a wedding, adultery, abandonment of a husband or wife, divorce, abandonment of children in maternity hospitals and orphanages, sodomy, perversion . Theft - they steal terribly and don’t know what to do with it, but they steal anyway.

The Lord still gives time for repentance, but seeing the hardness of many in sin, the Lord leaves such people to judgment: “Let the unrighteous still commit unrighteousness; let the unclean one still become unclean; Let the righteous still do righteousness, and let the holy one still be sanctified” (Rev. 22:11).

“But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). We see that the Apostle John places the “fearful” together with the unfaithful, the abominable, murderers, fornicators, idolaters and liars, and therefore, when some who, out of fear, betray Christ by receiving the mark of the beast or “resigning themselves” to the advent of the kingdom of Antichrist, let them ask themselves what is more terrible: to endure eternal torment or to “endure to the end” (Matthew 10:22) in order to be saved and be with God. Spiritual strength to everyone in the fight against their passions, temptations, seductions. Faith in God and faithfulness in keeping His commandments. “Hey, come Lord Jesus.” Amen.

Archpriest Alexander Khlebnikov. The sermon was read in the Church of the Holy Royal Martyrs on October 26 at the All-Night Vigil before the Six Psalms.

Next on page 3 read the addition to the sermon from 2016 →

Is it possible to correctly understand predictions without interpretation?

Why is the “Revelation of John the Theologian” so difficult for correct perception even by saints? It is necessary to understand that the apostle saw everything described in revelations more than 2000 years ago and spoke about it in words accessible to that time. As for the heavenly (or spiritual), it is impossible to convey it in simple language, hence the symbolism in the prophecy. Riddles and encrypted predictions are for people far from God. The true meaning of everything said in the Apocalypse can only be revealed to spiritual people.

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

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

Fulfilled prophecies

When the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred, many saw it as a fulfilled prophecy of the Apocalypse. The book says that the Wormwood star should fall from the sky. It will make the waters bitter and people will die because of it. In Ukrainian, wormwood means Chernobyl. There was also an explanation for why the explosion in a nuclear reactor was called a star - nuclear reactions occur in a star, and therefore it can symbolize nuclear explosions.

Christian leaders are also concerned about the situation with the church. The fact that believers everywhere began to visit churches only on holidays, while not observing either fasting or the commandments of Christ themselves, speaks of the beginning of the times of the Laodicean church.

The description of the army of recent times also seems frightening. John the Evangelist writes that people dressed in fiery armor will fight on “horses” whose breath spews fire, smoke and brimstone. Doesn't what the apostle saw in Revelation resemble modern military equipment? In addition, the Apocalypse says that there will be “darknesses” of warriors. Some tend to see this as a warning about a future war with China.

However, the onset of the Apocalypse was expected before. There is evidence that in 666 Christians were convinced that the end of the world was approaching. They expected it after - in the Middle Ages, in modern times, in the 20th century. Nevertheless, each time humanity successfully survived the fateful date. Maybe we don’t have anything to worry about now?