Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15
“Let every breath praise the Lord”
Icon of the Nativity of Christ, “Let Every Breath Praise the Lord” Let’s say that this vision, this experience of the Apostle John, who saw how everything praises God and becomes a communicant of the Divine presence, is often repeated in Holy Scripture (Let every breath praise the Lord [Ps. 150:5]—clouds, birds, beasts—everything). In their spiritual lives, the saints often contemplated the glorification of God, in which participated all of creation, every creature—with its own voice, in its own way. That doesn’t mean that rocks and trees possess rationality, but every creation of God has its power and ability to hymn God with its presence (God knows how). And all of this was created for man. I remember how once Elder Paisios told us about his first spiritual experience among many others. After a particular great sorrow and a very serious temptation, he was in his cell and saw in the Spirit all of creation—every star, the whole earth, every planet, even the depths of the sea. Imagine, it’s possible to see everything before you! And all of it was blessing and glorifying God, saying that everything was created for man to bring him into communion with God the Father.
Everything sang the praises of the One sitting upon the throne and the Lamb, concluding with the words: Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power … for ever and ever. This phrase is repeated quite often in church: “Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages.” We say it and think: “Okay, forever and ever, amen!” We said some words, and it’s finished. But the experiential knowledge of these words is amazing. I think I’ve already spoken about this, but I’ll repeat it now. There was a priest, a hieromonk of the Holy Mountain whom I knew who told me about it. After his ordination to the priesthood, he went to serve Liturgy. When he said the first exclamation: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages,” the Holy Spirit opened up time before him and he saw the expanse of space and time. He saw the blessing that was uttered spreading across the ages.
How can I describe it to you to make it clear? You make a sound that reaches to the depths of everything. Imagine how many light years can exist in the depths of the world so you can hear your voice—the same voice, not weakened at all—in the depths of this world? And when he saw it—not in a fantasy or mentally, but experientially, with his whole being—he saw that our word, our blessing addressed to God reaches eternity. He realized how great it is when a man prays. Because the words that come from our mouths don’t end here, where we’re standing; they don’t drop off. Do you remember when Mickey Mouse would say something and the words would just fall to the ground? But our word extends across the ages. I read a whole lot of Mickey Mouse when I was little. Thousands of times! Sometimes I think how much I’ve read the Holy Fathers, but I don’t remember their words. But I remember everything from Mickey Mouse! I don’t remember if there was anything good there—just nonsense.
Every word extends throughout the ages. Our words aren’t so simple. Christ told us to be attentive to our words, to not utter idle, foul words. Imagine, if a blessing extends into the ages, then what a blessing it brings us. But when we swear, when we say something unpleasant, what consequences it has for us, how serious it is. Our word and our standing before God—nothing goes by without a trace. Scientists are saying today that it’s possible to create a device (theoretically, they haven’t actually done it yet) with which you’ll be able to hear the words people said two thousand years ago. I read somewhere that we’ll even be able to find and hear the words of Christ. Nothing is lost. The sound comes from your mouth and goes away, but in fact, it doesn’t disappear, but continues on into the ages. I don’t know how. After all, they’ve already invented the telephone that lets us easily talk to people regardless of distance. I was just talking with a man from Japan and I was thinking about how my voice is carried over such distances without mixing with other voices and is heard at that very moment on the other end of the world. You don’t even have to wait a bit—it happens that very second. Even your breathing, your yawning can be heard. Just imagine what a journey your voice has to go on to Japan and how many voices there are in the air, and how they don’t get mixed up, and we can hear each other. If we had talked about this a hundred years ago, people wouldn’t have believed it: “Sounds like some fantasy! That doesn’t happen!”
St. Kosmas of Aetolia said 300 years ago: “There will come a time when people will be able to communicate with each other over long distances, as though they were in two adjacent rooms.” Probably, the saint said this because he saw this picture. He said that the time would come when demons could enter dwellings under the guise of small boxes, and their horns would stick out from the roof. People said: “What, is he crazy? Will satan really put horns on the roof and climb into a box? What’s he going to do in a box?” But the saint spoke about it. He said that people would fly, like birds, from one country to another. This was around 1750. Around 300 years ago—not so long ago. All of this was fulfilled, you see—it became clear what he was talking about.
We don’t know if we’ll have such a device, but we know that the Word of God extends into the ages. Nothing is lost. 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). This is a testimony of the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Great revelations
Icon from Revelation with Patristic Commentaries And now we move on to the great revelations. And 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 (Rev. 6:1). The Lamb took the book and opened it. We’ve already said that this happened in the Incarnation of Christ. This already happened—here it’s not about coming events. Revelation doesn’t only talk about coming events, but also about those that have already happened, and about current events.
The seals begin to be removed. 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). This is the picture the Apostle saw. The phrase, and He went forth conquering, and to conquer, reminds us of Christ. Christ went out to conquer.
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 One sitting upon the red horse had the power to take peace from the earth, to permit war on earth, so people might kill each other. He had a great sword. This was a fearful horseman who did this. You may ask: “Did God really give Him such power? To remove peace, so people would kill each other?” No. It doesn’t mean God gave Him such power. It was the sins of men that gave him the right to act this way. And he didn’t do this because it’s written here, but because He did this, it’s written here.
Viktor Vasnetsov, Warriors of the Apocalypse, 1887
Prophecies aren’t written and then fulfilled. They’re written because certain events are coming. People aren’t subject to prophecies. Prophecies testify to what people will do; they don’t define their actions. Otherwise, people would start saying: “What responsibility do I bear for my sins and mistakes? It was all foreordained that I would make such mistakes. Those who foretold these things are to blame.” I go to kill someone and I say: “It was foretold to me that I would kill you. It’s not my fault. The fault lies with the person who foretold it.” It’s not like that. You bear full responsibility for your actions. God may know about it, but you didn’t do it because God knew it. It’s just that God knows your actions. This is the difference between human freedom and the prophecies of God.
The Apostle saw the removal of the second seal. A red horse, and upon it a horseman who removed peace from the earth. People started killing one another. The horseman held a great sword in his hands.
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). Another vision. It seems it’s a lack of food being described here. There is the righteousness (goodness, justice) of God that provides everything. God allows people to suffer these difficulties for the sins of the world, but God won’t allow wine and oil, which are truly necessary for us, to be damaged. We can’t know what that means, when it will happen, or whether we’ve already experienced it.
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 horse was pale, yellow-green in color. Upon the horse was a horseman named Death, and hell followed after him. This horseman mowed down people’s souls with death and took them to hell. The fourth terrible horseman is death itself. And because of the sins of men, he was given authority to remove a fourth of all people from the face of the earth, killing them by sword, hunger, death, and the beasts of the earth. Another vision that everyone can interpret as they feel, as they believe. Such terrible things happen, but Christ told us that as we approach the end, all of this will multiply, and there will be more evil in the world.
The Fourth Horseman, from Revelation with Patristic Commentaries 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). Here’s another vision. Under the altar were the souls of those who were killed for the word of God and for the testimony of the Lamb. This was all the martyrs, all the saints who were killed for remaining faithful to God, to Christ. They were killed for their testimony, for their fidelity and patience, and thus their souls ended up under the altar. This is one of the testimonies of Sacred Scripture on the immortality of the human soul. Jehovah’s Witnesses say that after death, man goes into oblivion. But here St. John the Theologian tells us that man dies, but his soul lives. He sees the souls of the slain martyrs under the altar. They weren’t just under the altar, but also cried out with a loud voice. Do you see the spiritual law, God’s justice? There is much injustice in the world; people are killed unjustly, but there exists eternal justice from God. None will be left without justice. In eternity, God will justify everyone who endured injustice here. They all prayed and asked God for His justice. God’s righteousness isn’t in punishing, but in enlightening people so they would come to love, to repentance, so everyone would draw near to God.
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. 6:11). They still had to wait for their brothers and co-workers to be martyred for their love for the Lord. So those who thirst to receive death for Christ could sacrifice themselves so as not to lose the glory of the martyrs.
Let’s move on to the sixth seal: 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; 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. 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. 6:12-17).
Albrecht Dürer, The Opening of the Fifth and Sixth Seals Thus ends the sixth seal. The end of this seal is the end of this world: A great calamity; everyone disperses in fear, and all people, out of despair, fear, and horror, ask the rocks to hide them, feeling the wrath of God. Although God is not wrathful; God has no nerves like us, but our sins make us fear God. A man who loves God doesn’t fear Him. But a man who lives by sin fears God. Before, the thug was afraid when he saw a cop. Now I don’t know, it seems like the cops are afraid of the thugs. It used to be that thugs would tremble at the sight of the police. That was the psychology of the guilty. The guilty feels that the wrath of God, a catastrophe has come upon us. But God doesn’t get angry and doesn’t destroy us. The sins of men destroy the world and all of us.
I repeat, Revelation was written to give us the optimistic message that everything that is, that was, and that will be should not lead us to despair and scare us, but we should know that God will prevail in the end. A man of God shouldn’t fear anything; to him it belongs to have blessed hope, an optimistic expectation of the eternal Kingdom of God.
