Revelation 22:21Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

We also learn that God is surrounded by the holy bodiless powers and by those who pleased Him in the flesh. We learn that thunders and lightnings precede His coming. We learn that the book of God's judgments, sealed with the seven seals of the Spirit, cannot be comprehended or explained, since only through the Lamb of God did it receive the disclosure of all that happens from His coming until the end.

We also learn of the bravery and courage of the martyrs, the fearful punishment of unbelievers, the fruit-bearing of the seed of the Gospel, the falling away of the weak and fainthearted, the desire of the saints for the second coming of Christ, the calamities before the antichrist, and his persecutions against Christians.

In addition, it is shown how honorable before God the saints are, for the punishments of sinners are delayed until they have been marked by the angels who punish. From this book we also learn of the seven plagues that will strike those dwelling on earth in the last times, so that we may turn our gaze toward repentance and prayer to God, lest we experience them.

It also points to the love for mankind of the angels who hold the Gospel and preach it to those on earth. It shows the firmness and courage of the souls of the saints who will appear before the end to convict the antichrist. It shows the destruction of Jerusalem, the ruin and destruction of the cities of the nations, and the thanksgiving of the heavenly powers for this.

It shows the persecution of the Church, the fall of the devil, the coming of the antichrist, and the deceptions of the false prophet. It shows the multitude of those being saved, the fall of Babylon, and the harvest of the universal field. It shows the cutting of the bitter clusters, the rest of the saints like a pure glassy sea, and the pouring out from the seven bowls of God's wrath upon the earth, the sea, the rivers, and the other elements.

This pouring out comes because of men's sins. It brings punishment and darkens the throne of the beast. It opens for the helpers and servants of the devil a way and passage through the Euphrates. It exposes their weakness and produces the universal and final shaking of the world, for the transformation of the present order, when the city like a harlot will be struck. That city is adulterous and beast-like, having the devil within itself and resting upon him.

Then we see that the higher powers hymn God. The Church, or heavenly Jerusalem, is most closely united to Christ. The winepress of wrath is trodden. After the destruction of everything earthly, and after the antichrist and his servants have been handed over to Gehenna, the angelic powers and the saints become participants in the spiritual supper.

From this same book we learn of the binding of the devil, his temporary release, and his condemnation to torments. We learn of the blessedness of the martyrs who reign with Christ until the coming of the antichrist. After this, the devil, who stirred up Gog and Magog for war, will be punished together with them. Then the books of life will be opened. Some will go to the second death, while others will be counted worthy of heavenly Jerusalem and will be betrothed to Christ.

We also learn of the dimensions of the city, of the divine river of the Spirit flowing there, and that the splendor of the things above, or the endless glory, cannot be described by anything. Turning us toward this glory, the Theologian commands us to say: "Come," that is, let Him Who desires to give what has been prepared for the saints come.

Grant us, O God, to acquire this through long-suffering, meekness, humility of mind, and purity of heart, which gives birth to constant and undisturbed prayer, raising the mind to God, the Initiator into mysteries.

For when the heart prays to God, the deceiving enemy tries to penetrate it, to sow evil seeds that tear it away from union with God. He strives to prevent the fire kindled by meditation on God from burning, the fire that consumes his assaults and temptations.

For our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29). He makes the soul that converses with Him purely and without disturbance warm even during its sinful cooling, and able to receive the burning fire. So the sun, when it shines strongly upon a glass vessel filled with water, sends fire into it through the heating and refraction of its rays.

Therefore let us also show ourselves pure before the Sun of righteousness, like a glass temple of the Spirit, and not like perishable earthen vessels unable to receive the divine rays.

The Lord, Who desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4), shines upon all with the unhindered grace of His light. Yet He communicates it to each according to the measure of the purity of his spiritual eyes.

May the all-merciful Christ our God, Who suffered for us in the flesh, count us worthy to receive it. To Him, with the Father and the All-Holy, Life-giving Spirit, belong all glory, honor, and worship, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Much is told about the antichrist and his false prophet, and about some of their miracles. Especially much is told about the cruel persecutions of the antichrist and his struggle with Elijah and Enoch, who will appear with preaching before the second coming.

Finally, much is said about the coming of Christ itself, about the lot of the antichrist and all who believed him, and about the eternal blessedness of the righteous in the Kingdom of Heaven.

From Revelation we learn enough about the last time to satisfy Christian inquiry and lead the believer’s thought to pious reflections, without confusing the means with the end.

Recognizing our limitation through the doing of the commandments, we must be content only with what Holy Scripture reveals to us about the future. At the same time, we must understand the testimonies of Scripture not willfully, but according to the understanding of the holy and divinely wise fathers.

We must firmly remember that no prophecy in Scripture is to be resolved by oneself (2 Pet 1:20). To direct one’s curiosity beyond this means to go by a path that can become a ruinous delusion.

Even when we restrict ourselves to what Holy Scripture reveals about the final destinies of the world, we must be interested in this not from empty and idle curiosity. We must seek it solely for the purpose, and only to the extent, that it is needful for us.

Thus the dread and glorious day of the Second Coming of Christ will not find us wholly unprepared, according to the word of the Savior: “Watch, therefore, for you do not know at what hour your Lord is coming” (Mt 24:42).