Valeriy Sterkh - Apocalypse. Millennium. Chiliasm and Chillegorism

Chapter 30. Although the number of the name of the Antichrist is known, we should not make rash conclusions about this name because this number fits many names; concerning the kingdom and the doom of the Antichrist.

1. Considering all this and that this number (666) is present in all the best and ancient manuscripts (of Revelation), and John himself personally attested to this, and reason itself teaches us that the number of the name of the beast according to the Greek numeration through the letters contained therein adds up to six hundred and sixty-six, that is, it contains as many tens as hundreds and as many hundreds as units – for the repetition of number six symbolically points to the healing of all apostasy (of the Antichrist) that was at the beginning and in the middle and will be at the end of time – I don’t know how some, in their ignorance, fell into the delusion, distorting the average number of the name by subtracting from it fifty and positing one ten instead of six tens. I think this arose from the error of the scribes, as is usually the case, since the numbers are represented in Greek letters, and the Greek letter [xi], which stands for “sixty” [ξ], can easily be changed into the Greek letter “jot” [ι]. Then, others must have accepted it without consideration using the number ten blindly, while others, through their foolishness, dared even to look for a name containing this erroneous and incorrect number. To those who have done it without any evil intent, God will grant forgiveness, I am sure. As for those who, through their vanity, search for names based on erroneous numbers or ascribe to the future Antichrist a name that they have invented, these will not go unharmed for they have deceived themselves and those who put their trust in them. And the first harm is that they have deviated from the truth and have accepted something unreal as true. Such a person will certainly entail severe punishment, prepared for those who add or take away from the words of Scripture. Also, there’s another danger for those who falsely usurp the knowledge of the name of the Antichrist. For if they propose a name, and he comes under a different name, they will be easily deceived by him, (thinking) that there is no one to watch out for.

2. Therefore, such people should recognize the true number of the name and embrace it, so as not to be counted among the false prophets. But those who know the correct number revealed in Scripture, that is, 666, let them first acknowledge that the kingdom will be divided between the ten, and secondly, when these kings reign and begin to prosper and spread their kingdom, and he who has the above-mentioned number in his name suddenly appears snatching away their kingdom and bringing fear upon them, – let them acknowledge that this one is truly the abomination of desolation. This is what the Apostle says: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them” (1 Thess 5:3). Jeremiah predicted not only the suddenness of his coming but also the tribe from which he would come: “The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein” (Jer 8:16). That’s why this tribe is not listed in Revelation among the saved (Rev 7:5—8).

3. Therefore, it is more accurate and safe to wait for the fulfillment of the prophecy rather than suppose and predict possible names, for there may be many names containing the above number, and yet this question will remain unresolved. For if there are many names matching this number, which of them will be the name of the Antichrist who is to come? I say this not because of the lack of names containing the number of his name but for the sake of the fear of God and the love of truth, for the name Evanphas (ΕΥΑΝΘΑΣ) has the required number, and yet I do not claim anything about him with certainty. Also, the name Latiner (ΛΑΤEΙΝΟΣ) has the number 666, and the last kingdom may very well bear this name: for now the Latins do reign, yet I do not wish to boast about it. But of all the proposed names Titan seem the most appropriate – if we write down the first syllable using the two Greek vowels E and I (TEITAN). It contains the above-mentioned number and consists of six letters, each syllable with three letters. It is an ancient and uncommon name – none of our kings were called Titan, and none of the idols openly worshiped by the Greeks and barbarians bears such a name. Yet it is honored as divine by many, so that the Sun is called Titan by the current rulers [Massuette cites Cicero and Ovid as evidence that the Sun was called Titan], and also it contains some hint of revenge and the avenger, just like he (the Antichrist) will pass himself off as the one who avenges the oppressed. Besides, it is an ancient, reasonable, and a royal name befitting a tyrant. Therefore, since the name “Teitan” has so much in its favor, the one to come (the Antichrist) might very well be called Teitan. However, I do not dare to conclusively say that it is so, knowing full well that if it was necessary to openly proclaim his name at this time, it would have been announced by that very person who had received the revelation. For revelation was granted not long before our time, almost in our age, closer to the end of the reign of Domitian.

4. He states the number of the name (of the Antichrist) so that we would be vigilant when he comes, knowing who he is; the Apostle didn’t reveal his name because it is too disgraceful to be proclaimed by the Holy Spirit. For if it had been proclaimed by Him, then perhaps the Antichrist would have endured for a long time. And now, since “he was and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition” (Rev 17:8), as if he had never existed, his name was not declared since the name of the non-existent should not be declared. When the Antichrist has laid the world bare, having reigned for three and a half years, and has sat down in the temple of Jerusalem, then the Lord will come down from heaven in the clouds in the glory of the Father and will cast him and his subjects into the lake of fire, while the righteous will receive the Kingdom, that is, peace, the holy seventh day. He will restore the promised inheritance to Abraham, the Kingdom, in which, according to the word of the Lord, “many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 8:11).

Chapter 31. The preservation of our bodies is sealed by the resurrection and ascension of Christ; the souls of the saints are waiting for the time when their full glory will be revealed.

1. But some who say that they are believers violate the established order of the exaltation of the righteous and, by holding on to heretical teachings, do not know how to prepare themselves for the incorruptibility. For heretics, degrading the creation of God and not recognizing the salvation of their flesh by despising the promise of God and putting themselves above God in their thoughts, say that they will ascend above the heavens and above Demierge immediately after death and will go to the Mother or Father of their own invention. They reject the resurrection of the whole person and thus completely deny it in any way they can. But it isn’t surprising since they do not know the order of the resurrection. But He was in the place of the dead for three days, even as the prophet says about him: “The Lord remembered His dead saints who had rested in the land of their burial, and came down to them to raise them and save them” [See 3, 20, 4]. Just as the Lord Himself said: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mt 12:40). And the Apostle: “Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?” (Eph 4:9). David also says in his prophecy about Him: “And thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell” (Ps 86:13 [Ps 85:13 rus]). After His resurrection on the third day, the Lord said to Mary, who first saw Him and fell prostrate before Him: “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (Jn 20:17).