Since the Apocalypse is not a book of riddles and clues, but a symbolic book, the method of interpreting the number 666 must proceed from the fundamentals of numerical symbolism, and any other method will be incorrect. Thus, the concept of “seal of the Antichrist” includes: 1) the mark of the beast; 2) the name of the beast; 3) the number of the beast. Acceptance of the seal of the Antichrist is equated in the Apocalypse to the worship of the Antichrist himself or his image (depiction).
The concept of the “seal of the Antichrist” was formed on the basis of several texts from the Revelation of St. John the Theologian: 1. And he (the beast from the earth, i.e. the false prophet of the Antichrist) will do what is due to everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave there will be a mark on their right hand, or on their foreheads, and that no one will be able to buy or sell except the one who has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, count the number of the beast; for this is a human number. His number is six hundred and sixty-six (Rev. 13:16-18).
2. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice: whoever worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he will drink the wine of the wrath of God... and they who worship the beast will have no rest, day or night. his image and those who receive the mark of his name (Rev. 14:9-11). 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 (Rev. 19:20). And I saw thrones and those sitting on them, to whom it was given to judge and the souls of those who were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads or on their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4). Let us consider, according to the interpretation of the holy fathers, firstly, what the mark, name and number of the name of the beast are, and secondly, when, how and by whom the seal of the Antichrist can be accepted.
Mark of the Beast
By the mark of the beast, most fathers understood a seal, and the following definitions were used as similar concepts: brand (bestiae sigillo), sign, mark (notam), sign (signaculum).
The report was read by the author at a meeting of the Synodal Theological Commission on February 19, 2001 - Approx. ed.
Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
{mosimage} The mark of the beast can include the number of the beast (St. Victorinus, Pseudo-Hippolytus), the name of the beast (Andrew of Caesarea). Since the mark of the beast is accepted instead of the cross of the Savior (Reverend Ephraim the Syrian), it can be assumed that this mark itself is a blasphemy against the cross, distorting the mark of the cross (for example, a cross turned down). The special thing about the mark of the beast is that it will be placed on the right hand and forehead. We can name three reasons for choosing these members of the body for imprinting: 1) natural (“so that they don’t have trouble with this,” that is, so that they don’t worry that vital organs will be damaged, St. Ephraim the Syrian); 2) general religious (the custom of placing signs on the hand and forehead is inherent in many religions, for example, Jews wore phylacteries with quotations from the Torah on the forehead and on the hand - Deut. 6:8; Matt. 23:5); 3) anti-Christian (Christians depicted a cross on their foreheads and hands).
Reverend Ephraim believed that a person whose right hand is sealed with the seal of the Antichrist will not be able to make the sign of the cross, and sealing the forehead with the seal of the Antichrist does not make it possible to depict the cross and the name of the Lord on it. St. Ephraim does not explain why a person who has accepted the seal (mark) of the Antichrist will not be able to make the sign of the cross. In the work of Pseudo-Hippolytus “The Sermon on the End of the World...”, which most influenced eschatological ideas, it is said that a person who has accepted the seal of the Antichrist “will not have the opportunity to seal any of his members (with the sign of the cross), but will submit to the flatterer and he will be serve, and there will be no repentance in him: he perished both in relation to God and in relation to people.”1
Those who do not receive the mark of the beast will be unable to buy or sell anything, and are thus doomed to starvation. The Monk Ephraim the Syrian writes that those who accepted the seal will starve and ask the beast for food, since the earth will not produce harvest or fruit. Andrew of Caesarea says that the armor bearer (that is, the forerunner) of the Antichrist “will spread the mark of the beast everywhere: both in purchase and in sale, so that those who did not accept it would be forced to die from lack of what is necessary for life”2.
In this one can see an indication that the mark of the beast will be placed not only on the hand and forehead of a person, but also on the products of his activity. Unlike other holy fathers, Saint Hippolytus understood the mark on the hand as the burning of sacrificial incense to an idol, and the mark on the forehead as the crowning with a ritual pagan crown3.
Some holy fathers, without refuting the traditional understanding of the mark of the beast on the right hand and forehead, gave a moral interpretation: the right hand is an active life according to the commandments of God, the forehead is knowledge of the truth of God. He who has received the mark of the beast on his right hand and forehead cannot make a purchase, that is, a ransom of the Kingdom of Heaven for earthly life.
This interpretation is based on the words from the Lord’s parable: I will buy and until I come (Luke 19:13). A similar interpretation, as a secondary one, is also contained in Archbishop Andrew of Caesarea4.
How will the seal of the Antichrist be affixed?
The Antichrist is a major religious leader who will act through seduction, through deception. If you are tied up and forcibly stamped, it will no longer be a lie and deception. You must voluntarily accept the mark of the beast and thus voluntarily worship it.
But we have already found out in this study that the mark of the beast is the law of the beast as a change in the Word of God. Now it is clear that nothing will be “set”, especially since Revelation says that the mark will be “set”. The word “ordained” in the Bible is used specifically in relation to the law:
“Knowing that the law is not made for the righteous, but for the lawless and disobedient” 1 Tim. 1:9
Compare now with the quotation about the position of the mark in Revelation:
“ a mark will be laid ” Rev. 13:16
From this we can safely conclude that the “seal of the Antichrist” will not be placed, but the “position of the mark” is the “position” of the law, or more precisely, a change in the law of God. Because it is said that the Antichrist will set out to change the law. (Dan.7:24)
Name of the beast
It is generally accepted that the name of the beast, that is, the Antichrist, is not indicated in Revelation. Archbishop Andrew of Caesarea o5. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons believed that the unknown name of the Antichrist warns us against deception, since the Antichrist, contrary to our expectations, may come with a different name6. However, both of these arguments relate to attempts to determine the name of the beast based on its number. Meanwhile, the same Archbishop Andrew of Caesarea testified “that the devil, the Antichrist and the false prophet are common to each other both in actions and names, this is evident from the fact that each of them is called a beast”7.
The name of the angel of the abyss, that is, the devil, is given elsewhere in Revelation: his name in Hebrew is Abbaddon, and in Greek - Apollyon (Rev. 9:11), that is, the Destroyer. Archbishop Andrew of Caesarea also mentions this name in his interpretation of Rev. 13:16 - 17e. The name of the Antichrist is exactly the opposite of the name of Christ: Jesus (God saves. Savior) - Abbaddon, Apollyon (destruction, Destroyer). There are also indications of the name of the Antichrist in the Old Testament, where it speaks of a destroying angel (1 Sam. 21:15), a destroying angel for destruction (Is. 54:16).
Number of the beast
Saint Irenaeus gives two possible types of interpretation of the number of the beast 666:
1. according to numerical symbolism; 2. according to the Greek alphabet.
According to numerical symbolism, the number 666 is associated:
5. With the number of six days, the creation of the world, since the Antichrist must restore all the apostasy that occurred during the existence of the world (this was previously associated with the idea that the world would last 6000 years);
6. Happy sixth day, the day of the creation of man, through which sin entered the world;
7. Happy six hundredth year of Noah, when sin reached such proportions on earth that only a worldwide flood could destroy it;
8. With the image of Nebuchadnezzar, “which was sixty cubits high and six cubits wide; the image was a foreshadowing of the coming of the Antichrist.”
Unfortunately, this type of numerical symbolism, based in the Holy Scriptures, was not continued by the subsequent patristic tradition. Only Archbishop Andrew of Caesarea once used this interpretation of St. Irenaeus, but in another place - Rev. 14:20. A number of interpretations of Saint Irenaeus can be supplemented.
We do not discuss questions about the laws of numerical symbolism, which, ultimately, are rooted in a symbolic worldview. Naturally, a number becomes a symbol only in a certain symbolic system. It is then that the number becomes capable of carrying meaning, which is determined by the context.
In different contexts, the same number can have different meanings, even the opposite.
So, for example, the number 6 can probably symbolize creation, creativity, which is why it is used as a building module (1 Kings 10:16-20; 1 Kings 6:26); can only carry a quantitative meaning (cf., for example: 666 sons of Adonikam - 1 Ezra 2:13). Some symbols that had one meaning in the Old Testament acquired an opposite meaning in the New Testament (the Star of David, the Temple of Solomon). But in the context of Christian symbolism, based on Holy Scripture and Tradition, the number 666 has always been a symbol of the Antichrist and has been perceived as such throughout the history of Christianity.
So, wrote Saint Irenaeus, the number 666 means the one “in whom everything is restored... apostasy, untruth, ungodliness, false prophecy and deception, which is why the fiery flood will come (to the earth)”1.
Let us consider the second type of interpretation of the number of the beast, which was given by Saint Irenaeus .
It comes down to finding the name of the Antichrist. The letters of the Greek alphabet corresponding to certain numbers are selected so that their sum makes the number 666, and they themselves are read as a name. Thus, Saint Irenaeus brought out the names: Evantas, Latin, Titan2, Saint Victorinus - Antemos, and in Latin - Dilux3, Archbishop Andrew of Caesarea - Lampetis, Benedict, evil leader, ancient envious person, truly harmful, unrighteous lamb4. Unfortunately, it is precisely this type of interpretation that has prevailed among researchers of the Apocalypse.
What this led to can be seen in the interpretation of the co-religionist priest Ioann Malyshev, who, for some reason using the Slavic alphabet, lists more than 200 names of the Antichrist in special tables5. The end to such interpretations should have been put by the remark of Saint Irenaeus himself that “although the number of the name of the Antichrist is known, we cannot rashly assert anything about the name itself, because the number is applicable to many names... Therefore, it is more correct and safer to wait for the fulfillment of the prophecy than to assume and predict any names, for there may be many names containing the above-mentioned number, and yet this question will remain unresolved”6. One can also add that since the Apocalypse is not a book of riddles and solutions, but a symbolic book, then the method of interpreting the number 666 must proceed from the fundamentals of numerical symbolism, and any other method will be incorrect.
Thus, the concept of “seal of the Antichrist” includes: 1) the mark of the beast; 2) the name of the beast; 3) the number of the beast. Acceptance of the seal of the Antichrist is equated in the Apocalypse to the worship of the Antichrist himself or his image (depiction).
Neither the Apocalypse, nor patristic interpretations, nor Orthodox theological studies contain the concept of “pre-seal of the Antichrist”, which is now disseminated in eschatological expectations. It can be assumed that the concept of “pre-seal of the Antichrist” is formed in the likeness of the “forerunner of the Antichrist”. But the forerunner of the Antichrist, or his false prophet, acts, according to the Apocalypse, simultaneously with the Antichrist.
The concept of “pre-seal” is very close to eschatological ideas in some schools of the Old Believer schism.
When, how and by whom can the seal of the Antichrist be accepted?
The Holy Fathers believed that the imposition of the seal of the Antichrist by his false prophet would occur during those three and a half years of the reign of the Antichrist, which would immediately precede the Second Glorious Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. They included other signs of the last times - the construction of Solomon's Temple, the reign of the Antichrist in it, the preaching of the prophets Enoch and Elijah and their murder in Jerusalem, the preaching of a false prophet, and so on.
Is it possible to unconsciously accept the seal of the Antichrist without renouncing Christ, through any technical or medical-biological improvements? Some holy fathers do not explain this at all, others give a very definite negative answer.
“This unfortunate one knows that the cross of the Lord, if imprinted on anyone, will destroy all his power... For by all means he will contrive so that the name of the Lord and Savior - this most holy and pure name - is not called at all in the time of the serpent.” (Reverend Ephraim the Syrian. Homily 91 on the coming of the Lord)1. “If our soul is protected by such a weapon (the Consubstantial Trinity), then the serpent is trampled under foot... But those who know well the holy voice of the true Shepherd will immediately recognize the deceiver, because the voice of the wicked does not in the least resemble the voice of the true Shepherd.” (Reverend Ephraim of Syria. Homily 92 on the coming of the Lord)2.
(Rev. 14:9): “If, he says, anyone worships the beast-like Antichrist and adheres to his wicked life, in word or deed he proclaims him god, as indicated by the mark received on his forehead and hand, he will drink the cup of torment with him.” .
(Rev. 14:11): It should be understood “by night is the torment of sinners, which will be accepted by all those who, through the devil’s deeds and blasphemy against Christ, have depicted in themselves the image of the beast and imprinted in their hearts his dishonorable name as honorable” (Archbishop Andrew of Caesarea. Interpretation on Revelation)3.
Pseudo-Hippolytus in his “Sermon on the End of the World...” depicted the consciousness of renunciation of Christ in this way: “This will be the (mark) and seal during the time of this hater of good - that seal that will read: “I renounce the Creator of heaven and earth; I renounce baptism; I renounce my service (to God) and join you and believe in you.”4
This question is most clearly revealed by Saint Theophan, the recluse of Vyshensky1 in his interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2:9-13:
In the perishing. No matter how great and varied the efforts and methods of the Antichrist will be to seduce and draw into his lies, he will have success, however, only in the circle of those who are of the same spirit with him, that is, have fallen away from God and the Lord, in heart they despise His commandments, and, knowing that their path leads to destruction, they do not leave it, abandoning themselves to their fate in despair. Since he himself is the son of destruction, he will only have time to attract to himself those who are perishing. And these perishing ones will perish not by God’s determination, but because they have loved a destructive way of life and disposition. God uses everything to reason and convert sinners, and when it is no longer possible to take them with anything, and it is not foreseen that it would be possible, then he betrays them into the hands of his will. And everyone in his life meets people to whom, no matter what you say, they are all their own, as if dumbfounded and petrified. During their preaching, the holy Apostles met such people everywhere, and testified through the mouth of Saint Paul that the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are saved the power of God is (1 Cor. 1:18). and that they themselves are sheep (perishing) screaming mortal to death; for the sheep (those being saved) the stench of animals is in the stomach (2 Cor. 2:15). During the time of the Antichrist, his foolishness will seem like wisdom to perish, and his noxious stench will seem like a fragrance. Here, too, it will be that with cholera epidemics, which capture only those who have a predisposition to them.
For lack of love for the truth, I did not accept the possibility of being saved by them. That is why they are perishing! Because they did not accept the saving truth. God sees that people are perishing, having fallen into the abyss of sin and into the destructive bonds of slavery to the passions and their sower, the devil. For this purpose He sent His only begotten Son, to pave the way for them to begin with, and to show it in faith in Him and in the grace acceptable by faith. The holy Apostles spread the news of this everywhere. Those who accepted were among those saved; those who did not accept remained in destruction. Such are they during the time of the Apostles, such are they after them, until now, and such will they be in the last days. The Apostolic God-enlightened eye of the mind sees all this mass, and gives them the inscription: perishing.
The Thessalonians had these perishing unbeliefs in front of them. The Apostle says, as it were: in this area of those who did not accept our saving word, he will have success, and not among you who believed, and like you who will believe. It is worthy of note that the Apostle with his word embraces not only those who did not accept the Christian truth, no matter how much they wanted to listen to it, but also those who heard it, understood what was the matter, and did not accept it, and even those who accepted with their minds, but did not love her with their hearts; embraces not only non-Christian unbelievers, but also Christians by name, and not in heart, who are indifferent to the faith they profess and are not jealous of being obedient to its demands, becoming what they are called, indifferent to it. For he says: having not accepted the love of the truth, they have not loved the truth; they do not have it in their hearts, although they see it. They see the truth, but keep their hearts on the side opposite to the truth. Therefore, they themselves are lies, and being such, they will love lies.
The essential saving truth is that God sent his Son into the world as the Savior of the world. That is why the Holy Fathers interpret the words: love of truth did not accept as follows: they did not accept Christ the Lord. For He is both boundless Love and all-perfect Truth. Saint Chrysostom writes: “He calls Christ the love of truth. For Christ was both, and came for the sake of both, out of love for us and to reveal the true meaning of everything.” Theodoret and all the others are the same. But it's the same thing. For it is necessary not only to accept the Gospel, but also to be united with the Lord, for in this combination lies the proper acceptance of the Gospel truth. He alone is extracted from the mass of the perishing who cleaves to the Lord Jesus Christ, becomes one spirit with Him, is grafted into Him as into the one true living vine.
Verse 11. And for this reason God will send upon them the power of flattery, so that they may believe lies.
This is a terrible moral punishment from God! The afterlife does not mean that he deliberately sends what they do not want, but lets through to them what they want and seek. The evil spirit of flattery and lies is constantly trying to take possession of everyone, darken everyone and drag them into lies; but God does not allow him, when among those who do not follow the truth there are still those who give hope of conversion, who have not yet completely given themselves over to false paths, who sometimes still think to give up lies and take the side of the truth - he does not allow him, so that they do not suffer violence from him inside, for it can shake even the strong, and not only these weak ones.
When, finally, they completely give up and indulge in the destructive path they have chosen, form with him and unite their hearts, and stop thinking about leaving him behind, then God will accept His hand, which restrains the evil spirit of flattery, and he , missed, will rush at them, pass into their hearts and there will begin to exert the effect of flattery, to attract them to lies - and will attract them. They will accept the lie with all their hearts, and then they will reveal it outside, apparently joining the Antichrist. But this will only bring out what is hidden inside. Saint Chrysostom writes: “Why, you say, will God allow all this to happen? Fear not, beloved, but listen to what (the Apostle) says: (the Antichrist) will prevail only over those who are perishing, who, even if he had not come, would not have believed.”
Theodoret adds: “This: God will send them the power of flattery,” the Apostle said instead, “He will allow flattery to appear, so that lovers of deceit may appear. For God will not send this flattery, but will destroy it with the word of His mouth.”
Ecumenius: “Do not accept the afterlife as if God sent it, but this is how the Apostle usually expresses permission from God.”
Theophylact: “Afterwards, he will allow him to come instead. Look, at first they rejected the truth, and then God forsook them, and lies took possession of them”: Verse 12. Let those who did not believe the truth, but take pleasure in unrighteousness, receive judgment.
Yes, they will accept the judgment - they will be righteously condemned. God willing, their evil moral and religious system will be revealed, and they will be ripe for judgment. A lie is self-incriminating, and those who follow lies are self-incriminating. They will be unrequited at the trial because they believed an obviously destructive lie and did not believe the obviously saving truth. - All those who did not believe the truth, but were pleased with unrighteousness. From the Greek: all these, unbelievers and others, who did not accept in their hearts with living faith the truth of the Gospel and their lives, did not establish their feelings and dispositions according to its demands, but, on the contrary, lied with their hearts - they favored all untruths and unjust wisdom, and to wrong morals, they found pleasure in staying and wallowing in these wrongs.
The most obvious denunciation of them will be that they will believe the Antichrist. Saint Chrysostom writes: “The lips of those who are condemned to destruction will be blocked. How? They would not have believed in Christ, even if the Antichrist had not come, but he would come for the purpose of exposing them. So that they would not then say that since Christ called himself God, then for this very reason we did not believe in Him; because we heard that there is one God, from whom are all things, and as a result we did not believe: this pretext of theirs (for justification) will be taken away from them by the Antichrist. For when he comes, and, despite the fact that he does not command anything righteous, but only lawlessness, they believe in him, solely for the sake of his false miracles, then their lips will be stopped. For if you do not believe in Christ, then even more so you should not believe in the Antichrist. The first said that He was sent by the Father, but this last one (will say) something completely different. That is why Christ says: I came in the name of My Father, and you do not accept Me; If another comes in his own name, him you will receive (John 5:43). But we, they will say, saw many great miracles, so we should rather have believed in Him. In addition, much was predicted about the Antichrist: that he is a lawless one, that he is the son of perdition, that his coming (with pomp) will be according to the work of Satan; whereas, on the contrary, about Christ, that He is the Savior and will bring countless benefits.” Theodorit, Ecumenius and Theophylact have the same speech.”1
So, accepting the seal of the Antichrist is associated with the rejection of Christ, with such a sinful life, which in itself, regardless of accepting the seal of the Antichrist, leads to death. The violent technical or medical-biological imposition of the seal of the Antichrist on a believer in Christ and living according to His commandments, especially if he is not aware of this, cannot separate him from Christ.
What will happen when the Antichrist comes?
“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53).
Doesn’t it follow from these words of Jesus Christ that Christians who are deprived of the opportunity to receive Holy Communion “will not have life in them”? But this is exactly what the Antichrist will do when “he sits in the temple of God as God, showing himself to be God.” 2 Sol. 2:4
Christians without communion of Christ's sacraments will slowly die spiritually, losing the life that they received from Christ through the sacraments of the church.
And it will be a war against Christians. It is said that the red dragon at the end of time will go to war with “those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:17)
Obviously, the dragon needs to destroy not the body, but the immortal soul. If in this situation Christians are physically destroyed by the dragon because they believe in Christ, then the dragon will only lose. There will be millions of martyrs in heaven who died because they confessed Christ. This will be a defeat for the dragon. So there is no longer any doubt that his goal is to destroy souls and prevent them from being saved and gaining eternal life.
