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Last week I spoke
to you of the Signs of the times spoken of by Christ in the Gospel of
St. Matthew. The signs point to a time when the Antichrist will come,
but more importantly the end of the world as we know it and the Second
coming of Christ. The book par excellence dealing with these things is
the Book of Revelation found at the end of the New Testament.
Interpreting the Book of Revelation is a very difficult task because it
deals with a vision of symbols and images of things seen in heaven and
earth which cannot be confined only to what is to happen in the future.
The vision and prophecies have to do with the past, the present and the
future and unlike most interpretations available to the English speaking
world; the events are not confined to geographical areas like Greece,
Rome or America, and neither do they point to specific people in
contemporary history.
Much has
been written on the Book of Revelation. There is no other book in the
history of humanity that has as many commentaries, writings, and
references as this book and a great deal more will be written in the
future. The majority of these writings are misleading and dangerous,
giving interpretations that come from sick imaginations. To give a few
examples, in the 70's there was a popular book titled “The Late Great
Planet Earth” which allegedly “interpreted” the Book of Revelation.
Among the things found in this book was the idea that Revelation was
speaking about such things as the Soviet Union, nuclear attacks between
the USSR and the US, etc. When Mikhail Gorbachov became president of
Russia, those individuals who were influenced by this book believed that
Gorbachov was the antichrist, citing the references in Revelation to the
“mark of the beast”—666—as proof of this. Gorbachov, if you recall, had
a rather large birthmark on his forehead. But even though the birthmark
in no way resembled the numbers 666, people still associated it with the
mark of the beast. So, many people were saying that the end of the world
was near because Gorbachov, complete with the “mark of the beast” on his
forehead, had emerged as a world leader but in reality was the
antichrist and that the Soviet Union was going to devour the nations of
the world. All sorts of “proofs” from Revelation were given for this
idea. Of course, the Soviet Union collapsed, as did the communist
system, and Gorbachov was in fact rejected by his own people and retired
into a quiet life.
The Book of
Revelation speaks of a Harlot that sits on seven mountains, thus because
Rome is built on seven hills, Rome must be the Harlot mentioned in
Revelation that drinks the blood of the martyrs. Again because she is
clothed in red and purple this must mean that the Roman Catholic Church
is the harlot because the official colours for Roman Catholic bishops
and archbishops is red and purple.
There is
mention of a woman who brought forth a man child who was persecuted by
the dragon but escapes with the help of eagle's wings. In Orthodox
understanding this is a reference to the Mother of God who gave birth to
Christ. But to others it refers to some event in the future which will
be rescued by the United States because the USA has the greatest airlift
capabilities in the world and the official sign for the USA is the
Eagle. This is of cause just Americans believing that they are the
saviours of the world. There is a saying in Greek that if you don't
praise your own house it will fall down and crush you. So justifiably,
as the Muslim world see the USA as the hand of Satan, the Americans see
themselves as the hand of God.
Revelation
also mentions a lion which many associate with England and a bear which
they associate with Russia. A leopard is also mentioned which they
associate with Germany because Germany's biggest tank is the tank
Leopard.
There are
all sorts of weird and misleading interpretations which cause a great
deal of confusion especially among people who do not have the Orthodox
Church to guide them. But Weird interpretations of Revelation are not
new. Already in the second and third centuries there were so many
twisted and sensational misinterpretations that the false teachings that
arose caused great confusion to the Christians of the time. Even from
the times of the Apostles Christians were convinced that Christ’s Second
Coming was near. Certainly with the persecution of Christians that
followed, they believed that the prophecies concerning the persecutions
of Christians in the last times was at hand and so they willingly went
to their martyrdoms praising God that soon they would reign with him in
the New kingdom of heaven.
Possibly the
misleading interpretations and the confusion they brought played a major
role in the fact that the Book of Revelations was not accepted by the
Eastern Church for several centuries. Even when it was finally included
in the Canon of Scripture it was not permitted to be read publicly in
the services of the Church, something that is observed even to this day.
But this
does not mean that the Orthodox Church discourages the private reading
of Revelation. The Church does not discourage but she does caution
people to read it carefully with a solid background knowledge of the
rest of Scripture, especially the New Testament, and with a basic
understanding of the times which produced Revelation. At the same time,
the Orthodox Church does not accept the notion that everyone can
properly interpret the Bible as he or she wants as do many protestant
churches. There is a great difference between reading scripture for
yourself and interpreting it by yourself. The only authority that can
properly and reliably interpret Scripture and teach it is the Church
that Christ founded 2000 years ago. Holy Scripture is the inspired word
of God, revealed to the Church, revealed to mankind and not to single
individuals. No individual has the right to interpret Scripture without
consulting what the Church has to say lest one comes to the ridiculous
conclusions we saw earlier like Gorbachov’s birthmark being the “mark of
the beast.”
Within the
church we see that many Church Fathers did not over occupy themselves
with the book of the Revelation. Of recent years Panayiotis Trembelas, a
great Greek Biblical scholar of the 20th century, regarded as an
authority and whose works are read and used by most orthodox priests,
interpreted and published commentaries on all of the books of Holy
Scriptures with the exception of the book of the Revelation.
In the past
I had been ask to speak of the prophecies contained in the Book of
Revelation, but I always felt, as I still do now, that I am not
adequately qualified or spiritually enlightened enough for such an
undertaking. Saying this I also feel that I have a responsibility to
help you understand how the Church understands and interprets this book
which has been described as a true masterpiece of the Holy Spirit.
So from
today and in the next few weeks, because the subject cannot be covered
in just one talk, we will have a study of the Book of Revelation, but
not according to my weak and humble understanding. The talks will be
based on lectures given by Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios who died
in 2006. Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios, has been christened in
Greek spiritual circles as the New Chrysostom. He was born in the area
of Athens, Greece but his family roots are from the beautiful Aegean
island of Mitilini, as his last name suggests. Ordained at a young age,
he preached incessantly from village to village where he was appointed a
chancellor to the Metropolitan of Larisa. While teaching and
illuminating many souls, he was called by Divine Providence to restore
and revive the abandoned Monastery of Komnineiou and St. John the
Theologian on the mountainside of Stomion overlooking the Aegean Sea. He
has left us with 8,000 recorded lectures, imbued with the aroma of
patristic traditional Orthodoxy: many of which can be downloaded from
the internet. His lectures on Revelation follow the path of the Church
and are based on older commentaries of three God-inspired Holy Fathers:
St. Andrew of Caesarea of the sixth century, St. Arethas, Archbishop of
Caesarea, of the ninth century and St. Ecumenios, Archbishop of Tryki of
the sixth century.
Before we
begin our analysis of Revelation, there is much we need to understand
concerning prophecies and the time span of the Book. Thus today's talk
will be like an introduction which will prepare us in how to read and
understand what the Book of Revelation is.
As you all
know Revelation is the last book of both the New Testament and of the
entire Holy Scriptures. This book forms the conclusion of the Holy
Scriptures and it corresponds considerably to the first book, the book
of Genesis. These two books form the axis of the fall and salvation.
Now, if the book of Genesis refers to the history of man’s fall, the
book of the Revelation refers to the history of man’s restoration and
salvation. In the book of Genesis, we have the description of the
creation of the world and of man. Man was created to be with God, but
unfortunately, he fell into sin at the instigation of the devil, and
since then, in addition to sin, both death and corruption were
introduced into the world. To all appearances, God’s beautiful plan for
man to draw near to him, for man to unite with him and be deified and
sanctified was negated. However, that which God creates cannot be
nullified or negated. In order to renew the visible created world, God’s
economy brought forth the incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy
Trinity, Jesus Christ.
The world
did not accept Jesus Christ and it crucified Him. Still, the plan of
salvation was not negated. By His death on the cross, Christ crushed the
devil; and by His Resurrection, death and corruption were defeated. So,
the Church, the Body of Christ, continues to travel through history
facing much tribulation, turmoil and martyrdom from the God-opposed,
God-fighting powers that continuously crucify the flesh of Christ. In
the end, the Church will be victorious, triumphant, because Christ
defeated the devil, the world and death! The Church sanctifies nature
and leads it to the Kingdom of God. So if the book of Genesis gives us
an account of the creation of man and his fall, the book of the
Revelation describes apocalyptically the journey of the Church, of the
faithful through the history of creation, and more specifically, the
rebirth, re-creation, and the eternal glory of man and the visible
creation. The book of Revelation, contains the entire mystery of the
Divine dispensation, of Divine economia, in the form of a summary - from
the Incarnation of the Word of God up to the Second Coming of Christ,
the Judgment Day and the appearance of the Kingdom of God.
To give you
an idea of what I mean, in one scene alone in the book of the
Revelation, the Mystery of Incarnation is made manifest. In chapter
twelve we read about the woman who holds a male child that I mentioned
before. Before she gave birth, the beast was waiting for the pregnant
woman to give birth so he could grab the newly born child and devour it!
However, when the child was born, the woman was led into the desert, and
the beast ran behind the woman spewing water from his mouth like a river
to sweep her away with the flood. However he does not reach the child
because the child ascends into heaven. This is a reference to the entire
history of the Incarnation. The devil, according to one of our Church
Fathers, was searching out the virgins even from the Old Testament to
see which one would give birth to the Messiah. However, according to St.
Ignatius of Antioch, the male child escaped the attention of the prince
of this world. The devil was not informed about the Son of God’s birth
from the Virgin. The devil had no clue. The devil is not omnipresent.
Nor does he know everything. However, he kept a close watch. We see this
very clearly in the book of the Revelation, "And
the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he
might devour her child when she brought it forth!" (Rev.12: 4)
Now the
woman swept away in the torrent signifies the Mother of God, or the
Church. The person of the woman here has two aspects, two
applications—the Mother of God, or the Church. Certainly the Church,
because the Church is the body of Christ, which body Christ received
from the Mother of God, the Panagia. Consequently, the Mother of God and
the Church are the same thing, with two views or aspects. So here, we
have two sides of the same coin. The Church is persecuted, the disciples
and the Mother of God are persecuted, but the child was snatched up to
heaven. In other words, we have the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and
the Ascension of Christ. The devil can no longer do anything to the
child. He cannot go to Heaven; so then, he pursues the woman in the
desert. He turns against the Church, day in and day out, and we can see
in this scene alone the cross section of the mystery of God’s holy
economy. Scenes like this permeate the book of the Revelation. So the
book of the Revelation refers to the establishment and the expansion of
the Church of Christ; the Kingdom of God on earth, which is the Church;
the unfolding of the battle between the Church and the beast, or the
God-opposing powers. In the end, the plagues take place against the
beast, against the unbelieving world. The Church is triumphant. Christ
comes, judges the world, the devil is bound, and the Kingdom of God
glows! This is the general diagram of the book of the Revelation. The
central theme of the book is the Second Coming of Christ as Judge and
King! The book begins and ends with this same theme. The Church—the
bride—and the Spirit who remains in the Church will say, Come Lord
Jesus! And the response is, Yes, I am coming soon!
This
describes the state of expectation, characteristic of both the book and
the Church. The Church is expecting Christ; it awaits Him as Judge and
as King to put away all evil—to expel the devil so sin will cease to
exist, so corruption and decay will cease to exist, so death will cease
to exist. The central idea of the book is Jesus Christ, the Second
Coming of Christ, Christ coming back as Judge and King. Another central
theme is the battle between the Kingdom of God and the God-opposing
power, with the resulting triumph of the Church of Christ. The purpose
of the book of the Revelation is both the preparation of the faithful to
face the tribulation that awaits them, and the consolation and
strengthening of the faithful that they might fight the good fight up to
the end. All these things are recorded in the book of the Revelation
with visions, images, and descriptions that make up its symbolic
language. To be sure, the book of the Revelation is primarily a
prophetic book. However, prophecy does not only reveal future events,
but the present as well! Thus, we have here prophecy in its broad sense.
Our Lord Himself instructs John, Now write what you see, what is and
what is to take place hereafter. (1:19)
According to
our Tradition, St. John was exiled to the island of Patmos, the cave of
the Revelation. The cave is still there today. John used to pray there
incessantly. On a certain Sunday—as he will tell us in the beginning of
the book—he was in the spirit and he saw these revelations and visions
which he recorded following the command of Christ, Now write what you
see, what is and what is to take place hereafter. (1:11) From this we
see that the book of the Revelation is prophetic. We mentioned that
prophecy in its broad sense is not limited to the future, but may
contain or include the future, the present, and even the past, which I
will explain.
When a
prophecy pertains to the future, it comes to reveal something that will
take place in the future and which is unknown to every created being.
The future is not known to any man or angel, or even to the devil! In
reality, the future is known to God and to no one else! Therefore,
prophecy is a privilege of the true God only, and as the Church is the
Body of Christ, prophecy is also a privilege of our true Orthodox Faith.
The prophecy can also pertain to the present—to whatever thing or event
that escapes the attention of the people at that time. For example, St.
John the Baptist is called a prophet, but he did not prophesy the
future. John prophesied the present! His prophecy was, "Here is the
Messiah! Here is the lamb of God!” The leaders of the people asked him,
“Who are you? Are you the Messiah?” No, I am not the Messiah! I am the
voice of the one crying out in the wilderness! I am here to witness for
the Messiah. The One who was before me, is now in front of me! The One
who is more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy
to untie! (John 1:23) John is prophesying about Christ, but Christ is
already present! John the Baptist is a great prophet, but he is only
prophesying the present.
Finally, a
prophecy also pertains to the past if it prophesies those things that
human eye has not seen. When Moses, for instance, records in the book of
Genesis the creation of man and the world, how does he know these
things? He is writing prophetically! Therefore, he is a prophet
referring to the past. To add another dimension to the meaning of
prophecy, it has the element of teaching. It comes to advise—to move
people towards straight paths and repentance, to bring consolation and
encouragement to those who are fighting the hard fight of the spiritual
life, and so on. Many times the prophets come to strengthen and help
people and move them towards repentance, and to elevate those who listen
to them. So prophecy does not limit itself to what happened and what
will happen, but also comes to teach God’s people how they must walk.
For this reason we must not look at the book of the Revelation in the
narrow sense of prophecy, as a book that will reveal the future to us!
The book of the Revelation will take us back into the past and the
present as well. Our Lord said, What is now—those things that exist now.
When John writes about Babylon the great harlot, meaning Rome, Rome is
not limited to that period of two thousand years ago. “What is now” is
also valid for today, so we must not limit our interpretation to the
historical facts only. Thus, “what is now” is for today and for
tomorrow—it refers to the present.
We need to
understand that the book of the Revelation transcends the past, present,
and future. It comes to comfort, to uplift, to restore, to warn, to call
out, to point out the Antichrist, and this is at all times, at all
seasons, but especially at times when spiritual awareness is very low.
The book of the Revelation is a very graphic book, with much
inexpressible grace and freshness despite some of horrific images.
The book of
the Revelation amazes people with its wonderful imagery and scenery. The
main scene is Heaven and Earth. Its place of reference is the entire
Universe. Its time frame is not limited to the Earth’s history, but
moves beyond to the universal history and eternity. This is why we would
be making an interpretive mistake if we would wish to interpret the book
of the Revelation based on a certain topography, a certain geography
such as the United States, or Greece, or Constantinople. There is a
tendency to want to interpret events of this book in the narrow space of
New York or Iraq or Constantinople or some other country. The book of
the Revelation is not just for the Greeks, or the Americans. It is a
universal book, its stage is Heaven and Earth. Its period is the history
of the universe and eternity.
Neither
should we make the mistake of identifying a certain religion or movement
with the spirit of the Antichrist. At the beginning of the 20th Century
a certain Greek biblical scholar identified Islam as the dark power or
the spirit of the Antichrist! There is no question that the expansion of
Islam is included in the entire spectrum of this book, but we cannot say
that the book of the Revelation deals with this exclusively. This is a
mistake! Neither Islam, nor Communism, nor atheism, nor materialism can
take a central theme on the stage of this book. They are simply links of
the chain. They are great factors, and they are included in this book
because these systems take on universal dimensions. However, the book of
the Revelation does not confine itself to these systems alone. So let us
never say that the Beast is communism, or Islam! This is not so! These
are forerunners of the Beast, there is no doubt about it, but they are
not the actual apocalyptic Beast.
St. Irenaeus
said something excellent, “It is safer and less dangerous to await the
fulfilment of a prophecy than to keep trying to guess and estimate and
foretell what is about to take place.” St. Andrew of Caesarea also tells
us something very important, “Time and experience will reveal to the
vigilant.” Time will reveal these events. But if time will reveal these
things why should we bother with things that will happen in the future?
It is important for us to know in advance what this book says so we will
know how to stand.
Let's for
example take the presence of the Antichrist. When he comes, he will
mesmerize the masses. He will be wise, thoughtful, a philanthropist,
extremely civilized. He will be an amazing personality! He will enchant
the entire world! This is what the Fathers say. People will boast about
his governing abilities, about his wisdom. He will be a universal king.
The unions that are taking place geographically one day will solidify to
a great union, and then the Antichrist will come forth. It may sound
strange, but it is true! This is the warning that we have from the word
of God. In those days, the Prophets Elias and Enoch will appear. These
two prophets did not taste death. They will serve as prophets of the
present, not the future! They will call out that this is the Antichrist,
and people will be amazed. “What? He is the greatest governor this world
has ever known!” “No, they will say, he is the Antichrist!” They
prophesy the present. Those who are vigilant, with a pure heart, who
live a spiritual life, will recognize him instantly! The rest of the
masses will seize the prophets and hang them in the centre of Jerusalem
from the tallest tree! Now, when will all these things happen? When will
we know? We will know only when they are happening!
We will
recognize each event at the time of its outcome. Therefore, how we
approach and how we study the book of the Revelation is very important.
When we open the book of the Revelation, we feel that we are in front of
some disorder, or in front of an abyss, with no beginning and no end—an
abyss of visions, depictions and images. However, in reality, there is
no abyss, nothing of this sort! The book of the Revelation is not
chaotic. We can easily find the beginning, the middle, and the end.
However, the main problem is that we do not know how to interpret it.
We need to
say something about the title of the Book. In Greek it is known as the
Apocalypsis. The word is a combination of από and καλύπτω meaning the
"uncovering" - that which has been disclosed or revelation and refers to
the revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John the Theologian, but when we
translate this word to English we have the Apocalypse which today is
commonly used in reference to a disaster of great magnitude or the end
of the world in general.
The Book
takes it name from the very first words: It says: The Revelation of
Jesus Christ! However, what is the proper meaning of the word Apocalypse
or revelation? Initially it means that this book is prophetic. It is the
only prophetic book of the New Testament even though the other books of
the New Testament have prophetic elements as well. Whether they have a
historical character, like the Gospels, or a letter character like the
Epistles of Sts. Paul, Peter, John, James and so on, and even though
they are full of prophetic references, these are not especially
prophetic. They are historical, advisory, and so on. The book of the
Revelation is especially prophetic, the only one of its kind in the New
Testament, even though it is full of spiritual counsels as well.
Revelation
is the declaration of hidden mysteries which take place by the
illumination of the nous, whether by divine dreams or visions, or in a
state wakefulness like St. John.” St. John was not asleep. He was quite
awake! He was not dreaming. Daniel, in the Old Testament however, saw
these things in his dreams, while he was asleep. He saw those great
images, great visions, but he was asleep. St. John here is quite awake,
he will say, I was on the island of Patmos.... I was in the Spirit on
the Lord's Day, (Kyriaki, on Sunday) I heard behind a loud voice… Then I
turned around and I saw what I saw, someone like the Son of Man, the
glorified Jesus! And He told me, I am the one walking among the
lampstands… to the seven churches write these things that I am about to
tell you. (Rev.1: 10-13) So, St. John is fully awake.
However, the
word revelation also has a deeper meaning. Many times, we use this term,
“revelation,” without managing to understand it fully! Generally
speaking, revelation means that God is revealing Himself to man and this
revelation is either direct or indirect, with its purpose being always
to lead people to the knowledge of God. God is not unknown. He is known
and unknown at the same time! He is known because God wants to be in
communion with His creation. At the same time, He is unknown because He
is the Unsearchable, the Untouchable, the Unfathomable, the Everlasting,
the Timeless, the One above the sensual and created nature because the
essence of God will always escape the knowledge of all created beings.
This is why He is the Unknowable Known!
These are
all expressions of what is called “apophatic theology;” or to put it
simply negative theology. Let us for example take the statement: “I
don’t know what God is, and the more I learn about Him, I become more
certain that I don’t know God!” This is an apophatic stand towards the
knowledge of God, however God loves to reveal Himself! He never keeps to
Himself; He reveals Himself either directly or indirectly, He reveals
Himself through creation; through man himself; and through the human
history and the history of the creation.
Before we
finish for today I want us to look at the first few lines of the Book
because they are a wonderful introduction to the Book which reveal to us
a number of essential elements.
It begins:
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to
pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus
Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and
they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which
are written therein: for the time is at hand." (1-3)
First, it is
distinguished by its official tone that reminds one of the inscriptions
of the books of the Old Testament. Second, the character of the book is
made known by the name Revelation and the holy writer calls to our
attention that what we have in front of us is a prophetic book! Third,
the validity and authenticity of this book is declared because the
source of this book is God Himself, Jesus Christ, whether He speaks
personally or through an angel. Fourth, the purpose of the writing of
this book is pointed out where he says to show unto His servants what
must soon take place. So, we have a record of the purpose of the writing
of the book of the Revelation. A fifth observation is the identification
of the writer, who is none other than His servant, St. John the
Evangelist. This is the disciple that Jesus loved, the writer of the
Gospel according to John and of the three catholic epistles. A sixth
point, is that the content of the book is revealed, who bore witness to
the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that
he saw. Therefore, St. John bears record of the Word of God; so the book
of the Revelation is the word of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ and
all the things that St. John saw. He will not add or subtract. At the
end of the book John himself will note, anyone who adds anything to the
words of this book, God will add to him the plagues described in this
book! And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy God will
take away from him his share in the Tree of Life, meaning he will not
enter the Kingdom of God. St. John is very careful to record only what
he saw and heard and nothing more!
The central
theme of this book as we have already said is the Second Coming of
Christ, which includes the war of the godless powers against the Church,
their great defeat, handed to them by Christ, and the glorious reign of
Christ unto the ages of ages. A seventh point, is that the purpose of
this book is made clear by the blessing which it bestows on those that
read, those that hear, and those that keep the word of God. Blessed is
he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who
hear, and who keep what is written therein; Finally, what is also
recorded here is that the time of the fulfilment of the content of this
book is short, …for the time is near. The time is at hand! So All these
things that we see in the introductory outline of this book, comprise a
great deal of information in just a few lines!
Here then I
will end the introduction to the Book of Revelation and from next week
we will open the Book and proceed with the church's interpretation
word-by-word and phrase-by-phrase!
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