Valeriy Sterkh - Apocalypse. Interpretation of the XXI century

From among the antichrists, the Holy Scriptures single out the three greatest sinners, the three beasts who are allowed to inflict the most damage on the Church, and many believers will suffer martyrdom at their hands.

In Christian theology, special attention is given to the last beast, typically referred to as the Antichrist. Although the world knows about the misfortunes that the Beast from the bottomless pit will bring, people will still accept him, and the Church will again be persecuted. The reason for this is the spiritual blindness of those lost in false teachings.

The blind world will not recognize the Antichrist. This is what happened with the first two beasts, and this is what will happen in the last days when the third beast is revealed.

The birth of the Orthodox Christian monarchy was not easy:

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev 12:1—17).

The Holy Church is represented here as Queen. The Church is clothed in Christ, the Sun of the righteous. The pillar of the Church is the Most Holy Mother of God, who is like unto the Moon, and the Church is crowned with the twelve Apostles who are like stars.

For several centuries, the Church was constantly persecuted by Christ-haters. Many believers were exiled, many were killed, others were tortured, humiliated, and oppressed.

After long labor pains, the Church gives birth to a baby, the Orthodox Christian monarch, the head of the Christian Empire, who is to rule over all nations.

The Roman emperor Constantine put an end to the persecutions of the Church. Later, Constantine himself was baptized. Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and the Church found protection under the wings of the double-headed imperial eagle:

I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it (Is 46:9—11).

After that, the great dragon, the ancient serpent, called the Devil and Satan (Rev 12:9), began to plot against the Church and the Roman Empire, setting up against them the numerous pagan hordes which rushed in like a mighty river. The Roman Empire fell, but by that time the Church had spread so wide that it remained safe and well. For, as the Lord said, the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Mt 16:18) .

After the fall of Byzantium (the Eastern Roman Empire) the Russian Empire became the main stronghold of Orthodox Christianity. The rage of the Red Dragon turned against Russia. At the beginning of the 20th century, the blood-thirsty beast of the revolution tore the country apart. Then, the words of the Lord came true:

And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows (Mk 13:7—8; compare Mt 24:6—8).

The Russian Emperor Nicholas II was dethroned and executed. Troubles swept over the Church again:

And her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days (Rev 12:5—6).

And the dragon was infuriated seeing the Church unbroken and the believers keeping the commandments of God and having the testimony of Jesus Christ .

In the ancient symbolism, the Sun and the Moon represent the masculine and feminine principles, respectively. In the second dream of Joseph, the Sun and the Moon stand for his father and mother:

And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? (Gen 37:9—10).

Generally, the symbolism of the Sun and the Moon in the twelfth chapter of the Apocalypse is understood as representing Jesus Christ and his mother, the Virgin Mary.

In the liturgical service, Christ is referred to as the Red Sun of Righteousness. This imagery goes back to the prophecy about the new world, in which the light of the Sun will be replaced by the glory of God:

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended (Is 60:19—20).