Having described in detail the three demonic beasts in chapters 12 and 13, in chapter 14 John testifies to the great moment of the harvest of the world and human souls: “And one like the Son of Man sits on a cloud, and on his head is a golden crown, and in his hand is a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple and cried with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in your sickle and reap, for the time has come to harvest, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.’ And he who sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle to the earth, and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from behind the altar, who had power over fire, and cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, ‘Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.’” And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the grapes in the winepress were trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, for a distance of one thousand six hundred furlongs " (14:15–22).
Fig. 27. The grape harvest symbolizes the "harvest" of the world. England , 1320-1330 London . British Library. Add . M.S. 17333, fol . 28 r .
Chapters fifteen and sixteen describe the judgments of the seven angels in bowls filled with God's wrath: " The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth: and there came a grievous and disgusting sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and on those who worshiped his image. The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea: and it became blood as of a dead man, and every living thing died in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water: and it became blood. The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun: and it was given power to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God, who had power over these plagues, and did not repent, so as to give Him glory. "The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast: and his kingdom became dark, and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates: and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared."
“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. These are the spirits of demons, working signs. These go out to the kings of the earth of the whole world, to gather them together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty (The image of foul language and blasphemy is also conveyed by the image of vile frogs crawling out of the mouths, see Fig. 2: 8). Behold, I come as a thief: blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame… And he gathered them together to a place which is called in Hebrew Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air: and out of the temple of heaven came a loud voice from the throne, saying, It is finished. And there were lightnings, thunderings, and voices; and there was a great earthquake, such as had not been since men were upon the earth. Such an earthquake! So great! And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His anger. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And hail, about a talent in weight, fell from heaven upon men. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail: for the plague of the hail was exceeding grievous (16:1–21, see figs. 29, 30).
Then comes the punishment of the Great Whore of Babylon, riding on a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns. However, this is not just a woman, but a city that must be burned, "standing afar off for fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe to the great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come '" (18:10, see Fig. 32 ).
After this, another thousand years will pass, at the end of which Satan will be released from prison and will once again begin to corrupt the nations. But God's wrath will destroy him once again. In fact, this is where the Last Judgment begins: the sea gives up its dead, death and hell give up their dead, so that everyone will be judged (19–20).
These chapters constitute the central corpus of John's visions, consisting of three sections: the vision of the seals (6:1–8 : 1), the vision of the trumpets (8:2–11 : 14), and the vision of the bowls ( 15–16 :21). The narrative is full of apocalyptic symbolism and the unified imagery of the Apocalypse and the Last Judgment unfolding on earth. Each cycle of plagues increases in scale, culminating in a war between the forces of evil and the people of God and the final Judgment. Good is contrasted with evil, Babylon with the New Jerusalem.
In conclusion, John sees a new heaven and a new earth, after the Judgment. He is given a vision of the holy city—the New Jerusalem—prepared and adorned by God, like a bride for her husband: “ Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them; they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things have passed away ” (21:3–4).
The New Jerusalem is a lofty city of pure gold, like clear glass, adorned with multicolored precious stones and pearls, with twelve gates, at which are twelve angels. The wall of the crystal city has twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. The length, width, and height of the city, built of jasper (or diamond), are perfectly equal. The city itself is a divine temple, the place of human life in God.
Alpha and Omega
When was the Revelation of John written?
The text of the Apocalypse definitely existed already at the beginning of the 2nd century, it was known to Papias of Hierapolis and the martyr Justin the Martyr . The earliest direct evidence for the text is found in Irenaeus of Lyons, who believed that the revelation was received by John at the end of the reign of Emperor Domitian (81–96 ) . 13Theophylact of Bulgaria, however, wrote that John was exiled thirty-two years after the ascension of Christ, that is, during the reign of Nero ( 54–68 ). Traditionally, scholars associate the time of the text's creation with the latter's reign. The image of the "beast" (17: 7–11 ), on which the "great harlot" sits, is associated in Revelation with the notorious persecutor of Christians—the power-hungry, voluptuous Emperor Nero. The heads of the "beast" are identified with seven kings, of whom " five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come, and when he comes, he will not continue for long ." In the 3rd century AD . In his commentary on Revelation, Victorinus of Petavia, drawing on the legend of Nero's resurrection, combined the images of the emperor and the Antichrist. According to a popular theological theory that became established in the 19th century, the diabolical number 666, when written in the Hebrew alphabet, in which letters have their numerical equivalents, spells out the phrase "Nero Caesar."
As with everything related to deciphering the symbols of Revelation , this is just one version, which, upon closer examination, crumbles like the shaky houses of the two pig brothers in a popular fairy tale. Traditionally, the number of the beast in all translations is the famous number of the devil — 666 (χξϛ). However, in the oldest known manuscript of Revelation , Papyrus 115 (housed in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University), as well as in other ancient sources ( the Codex Ephraemi, the testimonies of Tichonius, Irenaeus, and others ), the number of the beast is given as 616 (χις). In current modern commentaries on the New Testament, the number 616 already appears as one of the options, and in the second century CE, Irenaeus of Lyons also knew of this number but considered it a copying error. In ancient times, numbers were written with letters: through a simple operation, any number could be converted into a set of letters, and vice versa, a word or phrase could easily be translated into a number. Such operations were called isopsephy (in Kabbalah, gematria) and were extremely popular in antiquity. Therefore, the question of Ephraim the Syrian (c. 306 – 373) seems quite logical: “ Did he who uttered the number of the name not know the name of the beast? First, he knew the syllables, and then he decomposed the name into letters; first he uttered the name to himself, and then, having put the letters together, he uttered the number, that is, that the letters make up six hundred sixty-six ? 14”
