War Against the Church
We continue our interpretation of the Revelation of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. Let’s recall our previous talk. We spoke about seven seals that were removed, and seven angels who blew their trumpets. The first angel sounded his trumpet and hail, fire, and blood fell upon the earth. The second angel sounded his trumpet, and one third of the creatures in the sea perished. The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the springs and rivers became bitter. The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun, the moon, and the stars were hidden; day and night were deprived of a third of their light. Then there appeared a soaring angel who spoke of the grief that came to those living on earth from the voice of the other three trumpets. The fifth angel sounded his trumpet and a star fell from the sky, and a well opened, from which came terrible locusts that began to do harm on the earth. The sixth angel sounded his trumpet and freed the four angels at the Euphrates River.
An angel by the Euphrates River. French manuscript, 14th C.
Now we continue; let’s read the tenth chapter. And 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 (10:1). The Apostle John continues to see these images by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Another angel appears, surrounded by a cloud, descending from Heaven. Above his head is a rainbow, and his feet are like pillars of fire.
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 (10:2). This angel, who appeared in such amazing and magnificent glory, was holding an open book in his hands. He put his right foot in the sea, and his left on earth.
Then he continues to describe the angel: And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices (10:3). We’ve talked about how we can express all this in our everyday language, but we can’t explain it. It’s dangerous for us to start talking confidently about the meaning of images, naming times and circumstances. Nevertheless, we can make some definite conclusions from these texts.
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 (10:4). Do you understand that these weren’t ordinary, natural thunderings, but voices uttering words—very loud and powerful words—similar to thunderclaps? When the Apostle heard them, he went to write it down. But what happened? He was told to conceal them, to keep these words secret, not to record them. God didn’t allow him to record these words. We don’t know why. Despite the fact that the Apostle and Evangelist John heard these words, God didn’t allow him to preserve them
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to Heaven (10:5). A majestic vision: a huge angel, a giant, something supernatural, an angel of God, with one foot standing in Heaven and the other on earth. He lifted his hand to Heaven. What did he do?
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 (10:6). This angel raised his hand to Heaven and began to swear by the eternal, immortal God, Who created Heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, swearing that that there would be no more time. There is no time left to wait; there will be no delay. And there’s another interpretation: Time no longer exists; we now live outside of time; we’ve gone beyond the boundaries of time. The usual interpretation is that there’s no time left—what’s going to happen will happen soon. He swore by Him Who lives eternally and created everything. He swore by Christ, the Creator of everything.
Christ will win in the end
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. 10:7). This is one of the mysteries: When the seventh angel trumpets, then God’s plans will be fulfilled, which was revealed as joyful good news to His servants, the prophets. Maybe this was about the Nativity of Christ? Perhaps. Maybe this is talking about the Second Coming of Christ? This is also possible. Either way, what Christ said will come true down to the smallest detail. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away (Mt. 24:35). Everything will be fulfilled with absolute precision.
Reading Revelation, we’ll always feel that everything that happens, although it seems terrible and horrifying (and it is), will end. Behind all this and amidst all this, there’s a light of hope for the good news given us by God, which is the Coming of Christ and His eternal Kingdom. Christ will win in the end. Evil won’t win; the devil won’t win; unrighteousness and sin won’t take God captive. God is powerful and strong. He is the One Who liveth for ever and ever, Who created Heaven … and the earth … and the sea, and the things which are therein (Rev. 10:6).
This is important for us—it’s the foundation of our faith, patience, and life, in which we encounter many serious problems and difficulties, temptations and sorrows. This sends us to the Living God. And the Living God can never be in a difficult position. For God, nothing is difficult, impossible, or unrealizable. Absolutely nothing. God won’t say, “This is difficult, and this is easy,” or, “This is easier, and this is harder.” This concept doesn’t exist for God, but it does for us. For God, everything is simple; nothing is hopeless. Hopelessness is the lot of man. God Himself is the way out and salvation for man, so we have to learn to resort to God. Let us learn to commit all our difficulties and trials, problems and sorrows to God. And when we see that everything is crumbling, lost, carried away by the wind and destroyed by a thunderstorm, then let us resort to God in strong prayer, in many prayers, and God will do His own thing.
I think each of you has a wealth of experience. Every one of us, in difficult moments in life, has prayed to God, that the Lord might come and show the way through this difficult situation, leaving everything in God’s hands. And when it seemed all was lost, that the end had come, God acted and again arranged everything so wonderfully and beautifully.
Our problem lies in the fact that we don’t pray, but we try to fix our problems ourselves—with our logic, our reasoning and arguments, our own strength, our own perspectives, our own way of thinking. But if we learn to place everything in God’s hands, pray with fire and fervor, as St. Ephraim of Katounakia put it, then we’ll fully trust God: “Let us commit ourselves and one another, and all our life unto Christ our God.” Then we’ll see that God manages everything much better than we do. Logic can tell us: “Of course, we’ll leave everything in God’s hands, and the world’s collapsing. We have to try to do something, to accomplish something.”
We work and we work, and in the end, we turn everything into shards and nails. Let us learn to give God a place to do what we can’t; let us learn to trust the Living God, Who controls nature, Who is the King of the world, Who loves every man who comes into the world, Who is the Father of all men.
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 (Rev. 10:8-9). The taste in his mouth will be sweeter than honey, and the book will taste bitter in his belly. Why? We can’t know. The meaning of the words is a mystery too. Why was the book bitter? Why did he have to eat the book? Do people eat books? Of course, when we were babies we probably chewed on books, but to eat an entire book… I don’t think this is really about him eating a book, but about how he received grace, received a message, a gift from God; a message about everything that was written in this book, that was sweet in his mouth, because the gifts of God are sweet, but bitter in his belly, because the gifts of God often bring pain to human souls.
St. John Devouring the Book, Albrecth Dürer, late 15th C.
For example, the prophets were people of pain; they suffered a lot. Why? Because through the gift of prophecy that they possessed, they saw a people making tragic mistakes, sinning before God; they saw a spiritual law that began to work in people, a punishment that came to them for their folly. They warned the people, they tried to protect them and stop them from making mistakes, and endured, seeing that no one was listening to them. Then came hardships into the world; the prophets remained among the people and suffered grave consequences together with the people of God. The gift is sweet, because it’s from God, and bitter because you’re compassionate, tormented, sick, experiencing love and pain together with the people.
One ascetic from the Paterikon received from God the gift to see human hearts and thoughts. Then he went and began to tearfully beg God both day and night: “Take this gift from me! I don’t want to see what’s beyond the visible.” Who can bear to see all this! We can’t even stand to hear things, but to live and see them… Those who possess this gift experience severe pain. Remember how Elder Paisios often said this phrase: “With great pain and love.” He had great love for the world, but was also in great pain for this world. He had such a gift that he could see the heart of a man better than the man knew his own heart. The Elder was greatly tormented when he saw people sinning, far from God. He suffered. A man could be having fun, thinking he was doing something good, while the Elder saw his true state, ached for him, and tried to help him change his way of life and reform himself. He saw the soul, how far it had retreated into unrighteousness without knowing it. There was a lot of pain and love for the world in his heart. And this pain led him to fervent, fiery prayer for the whole world. After he received this gift (in roughly his last twenty-five to thirty years), his life was filled with great love and compassion for man, for everyone who came to his kalyvia. But it was a torment, a torment of compassion for the whole world. He was a true pillar holding the universe in his hands. But to do this, you have to be a giant of spirit, as Fr. Paisios was. We’re not like that. He had a gift that was sweet in the mouth but bitter in the belly. This is my personal interpretation; maybe it’s like this, maybe not.
Everything that happens is under God’s watch
And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings (Rev. 10:11). He had to continue this path of the Cross—prophesying to all people.
And 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. But the court which is without the Temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the Holy City shall they tread under foot forty and two months (Rev. 11:1-2). The Apostle was given a reed, resembling a staff, to use it to measure like a ruler. He was told to measure the Temple and the altar. He saw the Temple of God. It was probably similar to Solomon’s Temple. But they told him not to measure the outer court because it was given to idolaters, who would then trample the Holy City for forty-two months. How many years is that? Three and a half. We will encounter this time period several times. Three and a half is half of seven. Here we encounter a prophecy about Jerusalem: It will be given to the Gentiles and will be trampled for a specific period of time. Perhaps this speaks of the time when the Jews returned and took it back? We don’t know. It’s possible.
The request to measure the Temple shows us that everything that happens is under God’s watch. Nothing happens beyond His control. Absolutely nothing. The slightest detail is under control; there’s nothing accidental, nothing that isn’t controlled by someone. Everything is under the control and gaze of God. Even that which is yet to happen.
Having said that, he continues: And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth (Rev. 11:3). 1,260 days is forty-two months, three and a half years. In those days, when the Holy City will be trampled by the pagans, two witnesses of God will be prophesying the whole time, dressed in clothes of mourning; they will call the people to repentance. Who are these two? According to Church Tradition, they are the Prophets Enoch and Elijah.
These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth (Rev. 11:4). He mysteriously says that these prophets are fruitful olive trees and two candlesticks that constantly burn before the Lord of the earth.
And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed (Rev. 11:5). If someone wants to harm them, he’ll be burned by the fire that comes from their mouths. Whoever wants to hurt them shall be killed. Of course, we mustn’t think that these prophets will burn the world with the fire of their mouths. The fire coming from their mouths is the truth and power of Christ, the Gospel. Nothing can resist the truth of the Gospel and the truth of the preaching of these people of God. Absolutely no one and nothing. The word will have such power that it will be like an all-consuming fire. No one will be able to hinder them. All obstacles that arise before them will disappear. There will be many obstacles and oppositions, great resistance, but they will all fade away.
Prophets Enoch and Elijah. 17th C.
These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will (Rev. 11:6). In those days, when Jerusalem will be trampled by pagans, these two prophets will begin to prophesy. They will possess power from God to deliver the word of God. They’ll have the authority to shut up the heavens, to stop the rain, to turn water into blood. They’ll be able to perform various acts by the power of God. Let us dare to say a little about what seems obvious. I repeat, this could all be mistaken. I don’t know if what I’m going to say is true or not. But one thought comes to mind. Jerusalem was trampled by pagans. Then, after three centuries of persecution, the Church began to flourish. Then they stopped trampling Jerusalem, and the Jews returned. After their return, a new era began.
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them (Rev. 11:7). The power, boldness, and state that characterized these prophets became visibly suppressed. People will feel as though they’re defeated. The beast coming out of the abyss (we’ll see this often further on)—satan, possessing satan’s power, the antichrist—fights and kills them.
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified (Rev. 11:8). Their corpses will be left on the square of the great city, which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was crucified. This is the city of Jerusalem.
To be continued…
