"You know the signs of the Antichrist;
remember them not only yourself, but also generously share them with everyone."
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Lord Jesus Christ said, “I will build My Church , and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” ( Matthew 16:18 ). What does “the gates of hell” mean?
“The Jews had a custom of gathering under the chairmanship of the elders at the city gates to discuss political, judicial, and social matters. These assemblies were the highest authority in all matters; all of God’s commands were also proclaimed here. They enjoyed a certain authority among the people. References to this Jewish custom of holding meetings at the city gates can be found in the book of Ruth ( Ruth 4:1, 11 ). In the description of an active wife in the book of Proverbs ( Proverbs 31:23 ), it is said that “her husband is always well dressed” and that “he is well known in the gates,” i.e., he is invested with public trust and he takes an active part in important meetings (Prof. V.V. Bolotov ).
Therefore, the "gates of hell" signify not simply the forces of hell, but the "general headquarters" of the forces of hell—their most important meeting, dedicated to developing a plan for a decisive battle with the Church. The Church and hell are presented as two warring forces. And in this war with hell, the Church, according to Christ, will remain unconquered.
The hellish plan to fight the Church in Holy Scripture is called “the mystery of lawlessness” ( 2 Thessalonians 2:7 ), which has been in effect for centuries and will end with the appearance of the Antichrist ( 2 Thessalonians 2:8 ).
The Antichrist can only come as a result of a worldwide apostasy, i.e., the people's apostasy from God and from His ways, when God's grace departs from people. "When the apostates have fulfilled the measure of their iniquities, then shall a king arise, bold and skillful in deceit" ( Daniel 8:23 ). "His coming is after the work of Satan" ( 2 Thessalonians 2:9 ).
The person of the Antichrist will concentrate all the evil in its fullest and most powerful form, which human nature can absorb and withstand. Just as the purest and most perfect fruit on the human tree, in the person of the Most Holy Virgin, required a thousand years of development and perfection of the good human seed, so too, to produce the most vile fruit, capable of containing all Satan's malice, will require the efforts of several human generations to achieve the greatest possible corruption and defilement of human nature, based on a mindless hatred of Christ and the struggle against His Church. "It is conceivable," says Professor Belyaev, "that natural and acquired evil, gradually accumulating in the long line of the Antichrist's ancestors, passed on with each new generation, will reach in the Antichrist himself a degree of power that human nature can only contain, manifest, and withstand." In it, the evil that lives in the human race will reach the ultimate peak of its development” (“On Atheism and the Antichrist”, vol. I , p. 193).
Of course, as man's evil will intensifies, so too does the devil's assistance, gaining ever greater access to his soul. Since the Antichrist's own evil will and corruption of the will will reach its utmost, its highest development, the devil's relationship with him will also reach its utmost closeness, which will be expressed in the fact that the devil himself will constantly act in the person of the Antichrist. "God," says St. John of Damascus , "foreseeing the future corruption of his (the Antichrist's) will, will allow the devil to dwell within him" (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book 4, Chapter 26). St. Cyril of Jerusalem also teaches this (Catechetical Instruction, XV , 14). Archbishop Andrew of Caesarea says that the Antichrist "will emerge from the dark and deep regions of the earth, to which the devil has been banished" (Commentary on the First Chapter of the Apocalypse, Ch. 30). And Blessed Theodoret writes: "Before the coming of Christ, the enemy of men and the adversary of God, the demon, the thief of the Divine Name, will appear in the world, clothed in human nature" (Brief Exposition of Divine Dogmas, Ch. 23 – "Christian Reading", 1844, IV , p. 355). Lactantius , Hesychius I of Jerusalem, and Blessed Jerome call the Antichrist the son of Satan.
According to this patristic teaching, not a single moment in the life of the Antichrist can be allowed to be free from Satanic influence. This influence must manifest itself at his very birth, and even in his conception, which is unique and exceptional in its defilement. "From a defiled virgin will truly be born his (the devil's) instrument," says St. Ephraim the Syrian . St. John of Damascus confirms the same : "Man (the Antichrist) will be born from fornication."
The Holy Fathers – Irenaeus (“Against Heresies,” book 5, chapter 30), Hippolytus (“The Tale of Christ and the Antichrist”), as well as Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine – note that the Antichrist will be of Jewish descent, from the tribe of Dan.
In the synaxarion dedicated to Meatfare Sunday, we read: "The Antichrist will come and be born, as Saint Hippolytus of Rome says , of a vile woman and a false virgin, a Jew, of the tribe of Dan" (Lenten Triodion). There are several grounds for this indication in the Word of God:
a) In the prophecy of the patriarch Jacob about each of his sons, who became the ancestors of the tribes of Israel, the fate of the descendants of Dan is depicted in such features that can only be attributed to the Antichrist: "Let Dan be a serpent in the way, sitting in the crossroads" ( Gen. 49:17 ). b) In the prophecy of Jeremiah: "From Dan itself the snorting of horses is heard, and at the neighing of the mighty horses the whole earth trembles; they are coming to swallow up the earth and all that is in it" ( Jer. 8:16 ). c) In the prophecy of the Apocalypse, listing the remnant of all the tribes of Israel, sealed by the Angel for salvation, the tribe of Dan is completely excluded ( Rev. 7:4-8 ).
According to the teachings of the Holy Fathers, the devil, raising up the Antichrist, will strive to clothe his coming with all the signs of the coming of the Son of God to earth (see St. Cyril of Jerusalem , "Catechetical Sermon," 15th Chapter ; St. Ephraim the Syrian , Homily 39; Blessed Theodoret, "A Brief Exposition of Divine Dogmas," Chapter 23; St. Hippolytus, "The Tale of Christ and the Antichrist"). Of course, any resemblance between the Antichrist and Christ will be only superficial and essentially deceptive, for the entire life and deeds of the Antichrist will be a fierce and blasphemous rebellion against Christ and His Church. This false external resemblance to Christ will manifest itself at the very birth of the Antichrist. Considering that Christ was born of a Virgin, the devil will produce his weapon from a virgin—not a pure one, but one filled with all manner of vices and satanic filth. Then, just as the Lord remained unknown until He reached His thirtieth year, so too, presumably, will the Antichrist remain in secret solitude and obscurity until the same age. Just as Christ began His saving ministry by preaching His divine teaching and performing miracles, so too will the Antichrist begin his destructive ministry by deceiving people with his false teaching and the great spectacle of his false miracles. Just as the Lord was pleased to publicly reveal Himself as the Messiah in His triumphant entry into Jerusalem and his entrance into the Temple, so too will the Antichrist reveal himself as the Jewish false Messiah, a universal monarch, in his triumphant entry into Jerusalem and his seat in the Temple, which is to be rebuilt by that time. The Lord's entry into Jerusalem, says Archbishop Innocent of Kherson , was "a public declaration to all Jews that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah. Irrefutable proof of this is His own words, spoken before the gates of Jerusalem: 'Oh, if you (addressing the people) had understood at least on this day the things which belong to your salvation!'" ( Luke 19:42 ). "On this day, with the rejection of the Messiah, the fate of the people of Israel was decided forever" (The Last Days of the Earthly Life of Jesus Christ, Part 1, p. 153). So, on the coming day of the entry of the false messiah—the Antichrist—into Jerusalem, the fate of contemporary humanity will be decided forever and irrevocably. Blessed are those who, on that last day, given by God for the final self-determination of people, will be able to see in the Antichrist a servant of Satan and the inevitable destruction that will come with him for all humanity that has recognized him. And finally, just as the Lord revealed Himself to the world and performed His ministry as a Prophet, as a King, and as a High Priest, so the Antichrist will concentrate in his hands all threefold power and perform his all-destructive ministry as a teacher of all humanity, as a monarch of a universal monarchy, and as the supreme high priest of all religions, demanding worship as God.
The entire life and work of the Antichrist can be considered in three periods.
The first period of the Antichrist's life, from the day of his birth until his public appearance, will pass in hidden obscurity. St. John of Damascus says that "the Antichrist will be raised in secret" ("An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith," Book 4, Chapter 26).
The second period of the Antichrist's life will open with his resounding emergence as a world teacher, or "prophet." It is quite possible that he will begin his activities amid a new world war unleashed by secret forces , when nations, enduring all its horrors, will see no way out of their dire impasse, for all the secret levers for resolving it will be in the hands of a secret society aiding him. The Antichrist will propose a plan for the most successful resolution to the global crisis, from the standpoint of political and social wisdom—the establishment of a uniform political and social order throughout the world. And humanity, weary from the turmoil of war and spiritually blinded, will not only fail to see in this plan a cunning trap, luring it into the most hopeless and merciless slavery, but, on the contrary, will recognize it as a manifestation of scholarship and genius.
Worldwide publicity about the Antichrist as a brilliant thinker, a new leader and savior of the nations will soon resound throughout all countries. "Evil spirits, sent throughout the universe, will arouse in people a general, exalted opinion of the Antichrist, a general admiration, and an irresistible attraction to him" (St. Ephraim the Syrian , Sermon 16).
During this period of his activity, the Antichrist will not use any violence and will seek to win people's trust and favor through deception and his hypocritical, ostentatious guise of virtue. He, in the words of Vladimir Solovyov, "will cast a glittering veil of goodness and truth over the mystery of lawlessness." He will come, says St. Ephraim the Syrian , "in such a form as to deceive everyone; "a humble, meek man will come, a hater (as he will say about himself) of unrighteousness, averse to idols, preferring piety, kind, loving the poor, highly comely, constant, kind to everyone, especially respecting the Jewish people, because the Jews will await his coming... He will take cunning measures to please everyone, so that the people will soon love him, he will not take gifts, speak angrily, show a gloomy appearance, but with a decorous appearance he will begin to deceive the world until he reigns" (ibid.). From the rich ascetic experience of our great ascetics, we know that when the dark devil fails to overcome the ascetic, encountering staunch resistance, then the mighty devil appears in the guise of an "angel of light" ( 2 Cor. 11:14 ), seeking to arouse the ascetic's sympathy and trust, easily luring him to destruction. Therefore, we can imagine how easily and quickly, after the vile devil in the form of Bolshevism, the bright image of the Antichrist can attract universal sympathy.
As a result of such deception, “in the very mood of the human spirit a demand will arise, an invitation to the Antichrist. ... A calling voice will be heard in human society, expressing an urgent need for a genius among geniuses, who would elevate material development and success to the highest level, establish on earth... prosperity” (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , vol. IV , p. 313).
The hypocrisy of the Antichrist during this period will reach such a level that, even in his dealings with Christians, he will not only refuse to present himself as their adversary, but will even readily offer his protection. In his outward, ostentatious life, he will strive to imitate Christ. Most Christians, guided not by the spiritual wisdom of the Church, but by carnal wisdom, will fail to see this deception and will recognize the Antichrist as Christ, come to earth a second time. The monks of the Solovetsky Monastery relate the answer St. Zosima gave to his disciples, who asked him how to recognize the Antichrist when he came. The saint said: "When you hear that Christ has come to earth or has appeared on earth, then know that he is the Antichrist." The answer is most accurate. "The world, or humanity, will not recognize the Antichrist: it will recognize him as Christ, will proclaim him as Christ..." But “it will be neither necessary nor possible for people to convey to each other the news of the coming of the Son of God. He will appear suddenly, will appear, according to His omnipotence, to all people and to the whole earth at one time” (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , vol. IV , p. 275). The Savior Himself warned: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is Christ,’ or ‘There!’ believe it not. ... If anyone says to you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; ‘Behold, he is in the treasures’ (i.e., in some secret compartment of the house), believe it not. For as the lightning comes from the east and goes even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man” ( Matt. 24:23, 26-27 ; Luke 17:23-24 ).
To deceive people, the Antichrist will display many astonishing miracles. His coming, says the Apostle Paul, will be "according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders" ( 2 Thessalonians 2:9 ). "Being the father of lies, he will deceive the imagination through false deeds, so that the people will imagine that he sees a dead man raised from the dead, when he has not been raised; he will see the lame walking and the blind receiving sight, when there has been no healing" (St. Cyril of Jerusalem , "Catechetical Sermon" XV , 14).
All these measures of the Antichrist—his teachings and glory as a brilliant thinker, his false miracles, and his entire hypocritical, ostentatious life of virtue—will have one goal: to seize global power over all nations. The first step on this path will be to achieve popularity among the Jews. The Antichrist will make every effort to ensure that the Jews recognize him as their promised messiah. He will succeed in completing the establishment of the Jewish state and begin to realize the millennial Jewish dream—the restoration of Solomon's Temple. And then "the people will be compelled, and a king will be proclaimed, and he will love the Jewish people more, and he will go to Jerusalem, and he will build their temple" (Synaxarion for Meatfare Sunday.—Lenten Triodion).
All these efforts of the Antichrist to pose as the true Messiah will meet with unexpected and miraculous resistance in the form of two Old Testament prophet-reprovers who, by God's will, without experiencing death, were taken alive to heaven until their time. They are destined to appear on earth before the end of the world to fulfill their mission and taste death. The names of these holy prophets are Enoch and Elijah. The Lord will send them to Jerusalem to give people, during these final earthly periods, a final and miraculous warning against the deception that engulfs them. For three and a half years, they will unhinderedly expose all the lies of the Antichrist throughout the entire second period, when he will prepare to seize all world power. Never parting with his façade of meekness and benevolence even toward his opponents, the Antichrist will be unable to interfere with the prophets' accusatory speeches or use any violence against them during this time.
In vain do some attempt to interpret this miraculous appearance of Enoch and Elijah allegorically. Holy Scripture and Church Tradition clearly speak of their actual coming to earth seven years before the end of the world, of their denunciatory sermon, of their martyrdom, their resurrection, and their ascension to heaven.
In the Apocalypse we read: “And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days (1260 days make three and a half years), and they shall be clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wishes to harm them, fire shall come out of their mouth and devour their enemies. If anyone wishes to harm them, he must be killed. They have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls on the earth in the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes out of the valley shall make war with them, and shall overcome them, and shall kill them” (11:3-7).
In the book of the prophet Zechariah: “What are those two olive trees... what are the two olive branches that pour out gold through two golden pipes... And he said: these are the two anointed with oil who stand before the Lord of the whole earth” (4, 11-12, 14).
Archbishop Andrew of Caesarea proves to us that by the two olive trees the prophet Zechariah means the two prophets Elijah and Enoch, referring to the fact that in the Apocalypse they are also called “two olive trees” (Commentary on the Apocalypse, ch. 30).
In the book of the prophet Malachi, one of the witnesses is directly named: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (4:5).
The Holy Fathers – Ephraim the Syrian (“Sermon on the Coming of the Lord”) and John of Damascus (“An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith”) – clearly teach that in the persons of the “two witnesses” who must appear before the end of the world, one should understand the holy prophets Elijah and Enoch.
The Tradition of the Church, expressed in our liturgical books, also speaks for a literal understanding of the prophecy of the Word of God about the appearance of Elijah and Enoch before the end of the world, without giving any grounds for an allegorical understanding.
In the synaxarion read on Meatfare Sunday, it is said: “Before the seven years, as Daniel says, Enoch and Elijah will come, preaching to the people not to accept him (the Antichrist); he will torture them, and then cut off their heads” (Lenten Triodion).
In the service to the holy Prophet Elijah, in the sticheron at "Lord, I have cried," it is sung: "O Elijah the Tishbite, you have made you incorruptible, so that you would not see death, until you proclaimed the end to all." In the troparion, the Prophet Elijah is called "the second Forerunner of the coming of Christ," and also in the sedalion after the polyeleos - "Prophet and Forerunner of the coming of Christ, Elijah of great name" (Monthly Menaion, July 20).
In the Menaion (July 20), we read: "The holy prophet of God, Elijah, taken in the flesh by the fiery chariot, is alive even to this day. He was seen in the flesh during the Transfiguration of the Lord on Tabor by the three holy Apostles, and will again be seen by fleshly, mortal men before the Lord's second coming to earth. Having previously escaped the sword of Jezebel, he will suffer at that time from the sword of the Antichrist, and not only as a prophet, but as a martyr, he will be deemed worthy of greater glory from the righteous Rewarder, God."
The Prologue for the same day says: “This Elijah and the second coming of Christ with Enoch will come to denounce the wickedness of the Antichrist and to console the faithful.”
But despite all the divine warnings, most people, due to the nature of their carnal minds, not only will not see all the falsehood in the Antichrist's outward behavior, but, on the contrary, will surround him with their admiration and glorification. "When many classes and peoples see such virtues and powers of him (the Antichrist), all will have one thought... to proclaim him king, saying to one another: will there ever be found another man so good and truthful!" (St. Ephraim the Syrian ).
The impressions from the theatrical behavior of the Antichrist, who reveals himself everywhere as the Divine messenger, the true Messiah, will be so strong that, even in spite of the formidable denunciations of him by the prophets Elijah and Enoch, the Jewish people will be the first to proclaim him as their king.
The Apocalypse speaks mysteriously of the Antichrist's royal power in Israel, inviting each reader to decipher the name of the beast or the number of his name: "Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is SIX HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX" ( Rev. 13:18 ).
Many interpreters of this mysterious number of the beast, without first establishing any principle for its decipherment, have been unable to provide a correct explanation. "By practicing the word (i.e., deciphering)," says Archbishop Andrew of Caesarea , "many names can be found: both common and proper nouns." (Proper nouns include: Lamnetis, Titan, Benedict... Common nouns include: Evil Leader, Ancient Envious One, Truly Harmful, Unrighteous Lamb, etc.). Archpriest M. Polsky attempted to decipher "666" in the same spirit , publishing his article "The Number of the Beast" in the journal "Holy Land," issue No. 1, 1938. According to his explanation, the number 666 denotes the power of gold and power over human labor. The power of the beast is the power that “takes away not only all your wealth, but also all your labor, takes away your hands” (p. 15).
But before inventing any explanations, let us try to establish the only correct principle of deciphering the code, which consists of the fact that the decipherment of the number itself could simultaneously explain the reason that compelled the holy Apostle to resort to cipher and not to utter the name of the beast clearly and openly. Thus, if we ask: why did the holy Apostle find it necessary to encrypt such simple concepts as gold, or the power of gold over human labor, or such names as "Bad Leader," and so on? All these interpretations will fall away of their own accord, for, by failing to answer this question, they render the code itself an empty and practically meaningless pastime, something akin to modern crossword puzzles, which, of course, is in no way compatible with either the divine inspiration or the seriousness of the holy writer.
The only serious and profound attempt to decipher the number of the beast, which could well explain the reason for the cipher itself, is the opinion of the Catholic priest Fr. Sloet , published in the Revue Biblique of 1893, in a note to the Apocalypse of St. John, on page 512:
“Concerning the name of the apocalyptic beast, we received the following letter, which, with the author’s permission, we consider it our duty to place here:
"Reverend Father! In the previous issue of Biblical Review, on page 298, Reverend Father Semeria mentioned the opinion of Mr. Gode, who identifies the apocalyptic beast with "the resurgence of Jewish power at the end of time." Observing the ever-growing strength of Judaism, one must admit that this opinion is confirmed by modern history. If so, then the Antichrist will be a Jewish king.
"St. John reveals to us <should be so:> 4 "the number of his name": 666 ( Rev. 13:18 ) - and invites us to count "the number of the beast." If the meaning of this is that from it (i.e., the number) the name of the Antichrist must be deduced, and if this deduction is possible before the coming, then it seems unlikely that St. John had his proper name in mind: when performing operations with proper names, we (inevitably) arrive at completely arbitrary operations.
Since the Antichrist will come in the guise of the Messiah, he will likely assume the title of Jewish King; he will undoubtedly be called, above all, King of Israel. To express this pompous title in Hebrew, instead of using the genitive case, place the prefix ל (lamed) before ישרא . Then the Antichrist's title will be as follows: (read from right to left)
The king of Israel
HA–MELEK–LE–ISHRA"EL
And the sum of the numbers of these Hebrew letters will be exactly 666.
Here is the calculation:
He (he) = 5
Mem (mem) = 40
Lamed (lamed) = 30
Kaf (kaf) = 20
Lamed (lamed) = 30
Yod (yod) = 10
Shin (shin) = 300
Resh (resh) = 200
Aleph (aleph) = 1
Lamed (lamed) = 30
Total – 666
There is just a slight stretch; it lies in the fact that the kaf in the word "melek" is not a final kaf, but an ordinary one (in the sense of counting). Please accept the assurances... etc. Oldenzaal. D. A. V. U. Slot. Holland. 18. V. 1893."
Here, Father Slott makes a reservation, considering it a stretch to assume he chose the ordinary kaf, but the opposite would be incorrect in this case. Father Slot's account is entirely correct, since in the early days of Christianity, as well as in all later substitutions of letters with numbers (according to Kabbalah), all manipulations were performed only on the 22 letters of the "sacred alphabet." They have a precise numerical value corresponding to their ordinal number. And this ordinal number is the same for both the ordinary kaf and the final kaf (as well as for all double letters).
This interpretation of the number of the beast simultaneously explains the practical necessity of using a code for it. After all, if the holy writer had dared to write openly that the beast, or Antichrist, would be the King of Israel so passionately awaited by the Jewish people and who, according to the interpretations of his teachers, was first to liberate the Jews from the Roman yoke and then subjugate all nations and form a single world power, then such a statement not only could not have been a strictly religious warning but would have been perceived by the Jews as an antipatriotic statement and would have provoked an outburst of indignation against its author. Furthermore, an open announcement of the coming King of Israel, even regardless of his characteristics, could have been perceived by the Jews as political treason, for the Jews carefully concealed their plans for their king from the Roman authorities and tried to assure the Romans that they did not have and did not desire any other king than the Roman Caesar.
The third and final period of the Antichrist's activity will open with his seizure of all global power. This will be greatly facilitated by the extreme devastation of nations caused by the world war. Most will see a single global government, concentrated in the hands of the universally lauded Antichrist, as the only guarantee against the possibility of new wars and the only path to the continued peaceful prosperity of humanity.
The Word of God depicts the very rise of the Antichrist to world power in the following way: on the body of the world devastated and ravaged by war, “ten kings will arise” ( Dan. 7:24 ). Seven of them will have “one mind” with the Antichrist: they will “deliver to him their power and authority” ( Rev. 17:13 ). The other three kings will defend their independence – the Antichrist will have to subdue them only by military force ( Dan. 7:20, 24 ). “When the nations,” wrote Lactantius , “having excessively multiplied their armies and abandoned agriculture – which is the beginning of ruin and defeat – have destroyed, exhausted, devoured everything, then from the extreme borders of the northern country a powerful enemy will suddenly arise against them. He will destroy three of them..., and the rest will make an alliance with him, and he will become the leader over them all. This will be the Antichrist” (“Divine Instructions”, Book VII , Chapter 16).
The three kings that the Antichrist will “cast out,” according to the interpretation of St. John Chrysostom , are the kings or rulers: “Egyptian,” “Libyan,” and “Ethiopian” (Abyssinian).
After the Antichrist's victory over three states and the removal of their only obstacle to world domination, Revelation depicts him (the Antichrist) as a red beast with ten horns (i.e., having subjugated ten states) and seven heads (i.e., having left seven rulers who voluntarily submitted to him as his plenipotentiary representatives in their countries). "Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns" ( Rev. 12:3 ; see the interpretation of the holy fathers: Irenaeus of Lyons and Cyril of Jerusalem ).
Revelation speaks of the worldwide political power of the Antichrist: "And power was given him over every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation" (13:7). Although ordinary human efforts and means will play a role in the process of the Antichrist's seizure of global power, the main source of his success will not be in them. "And his power shall be strong, though not by his own power" ( Dan. 8:24 ). The Antichrist will receive his power and authority from Satan. "And the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority" ( Rev. 13:2 ). And only this constant satanic assistance can explain his unusual success in quickly seizing all power over the world and his exceptional strength, which no human power and authority will be able to resist or hinder. "The Antichrist," says Professor Belyaev, "will act by the power of the devil and by miracles, and this power is very great..." then “he will have a great multitude of powerful helpers”; in addition, “with fast communication routes and means of communication, it will be possible to immediately carry out a revolution throughout the entire earth” (“On Atheism and the Antichrist”, vol. 1, p. 765).
The universal recognition of the Antichrist as a world monarch will simultaneously be linked to his nationwide recognition as the sole spiritual leader of all religions. Vladimir Solovyov, in his final work, Three Conversations (1900), 5 suggested that the Antichrist, having attained power, will convene an ecumenical council of representatives of all religions. At this council (in Jerusalem), the Antichrist will propose that everyone unite into one flock under a single shepherd. He will focus his attention on Christians of all faiths, promising them every protection in exchange for recognizing him as their ruler. "He will trumpet his name," writes St. Ephraim the Syrian , "as the forerunners trumpeted him, calling himself a preacher and restorer of true knowledge of God; those who do not understand Christianity will see in him a representative and champion of the true religion and will join him. He will sound his trumpet and call himself the promised Messiah; the disciples of carnal wisdom will cry out in meeting him, seeing his glory, power, genius abilities, vast development in the elements of the world, they will proclaim him a god, and will become his helpers” (sermon 106, part 2; see Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , vol. IV , p. 301).
Incidentally, it is very important to note that all the Holy Fathers consider the main reason for such a rapid and reckless infatuation with the Antichrist to be the lack of spiritual reason, their complete immersion in the flesh. And since spiritual reason can only be acquired and developed within the context of a proper spiritual life taught by the true Orthodox Church, only Orthodox Christians will be fully spiritually prepared and able to discern all the machinations and wiles of the Antichrist—not all, but only that small portion of them who will live a spiritual life according to the rules of the Church. Heretics and false believers, who either lack spiritual life altogether or practice it in incorrect and distorted forms, will inevitably fall prey to the Antichrist's deception.
The Antichrist will subtly replace the cult of the God-Man with the cult of the Man-God and demand worship as God. In Holy Scripture, he is depicted as exalting himself "above all that is called God or that is worshiped" ( 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 ), as speaking "arrogantly and blasphemously," as blaspheming God and "His tabernacle and those who dwell in heaven" (Revelation 13:5-6).
Note : It is important to note here that both adherents of Eastern religions and yoga, as well as their Western followers – theosophists – are currently actively promoting anti-Christian, god-like views . They all say that our human self is divine and consubstantial with God. “The spirit in the soul of man is the true self of man, in which he is truly consubstantial with the Father” (Jnani Yoga, p. 100). “The true self of man is a manifestation of God, and in it (the true self) lies the very essence of the Divine” (Raja Yoga, p. 50). “The Divine Being, which we ‘in ignorance’ imagine as separate from us, is not at all far from us, but is our own self, contained within us” (Suomi Abedananda, How to Become a Yogi, p. 28). The same author asserts that revelation does not come from any special source, but that it (inspiration from above) is only the revelation of the higher “I” in man himself (p. 32).
We find the same religious anti-Christian views among the preachers of Theosophy. The president of the Theosophical Society, A. Besant, asserts: "The Higher Self of man is the very power that created the universe...; it is part of the life of the Logos and is inseparable from it" ("The Power of Thought," 1912). "The Higher Self is the Divine Spirit," says H. Blavatsky ("Occultism and Magical Art," 1912). Theosophists recognize that the appearance of God on earth is not a single phenomenon, but is repeated in so-called "avatars." The appearance on earth of "avatars," or "saviors of the world," according to their teaching, has occurred many times. A. Besant asserts that nine avatars have descended to earth so far. "The tenth must appear" (Lecture by A. Besant "Ideas of Christ," 1914). These avatars are Buddha, Krishna, Jesus of Nazareth, and others (A. Besant, “On the Universal Teaching,” 1913).
Christian doctrine asserts that only the Son of God and the Holy Spirit are consubstantial with God the Father—the Holy Trinity, Consubstantial and Indivisible. The salvation of the world was accomplished once and for all. The only Savior and Redeemer of mankind is the incarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. There have never been, nor will there ever be, other "saviors."
The views of representatives of Eastern and Western occultism presented here testify to the preparation of the proclamation of the coming Antichrist as God and “savior of the world” 9 .
According to the prediction of St. Apostle Paul, the Antichrist "will sit in the temple of God... as God, showing himself that he is God" ( 2 Thessalonians 2:4 ). Without a doubt, "the Antichrist will have neither the time, nor the desire, nor the opportunity to sit in the temple constantly. He will do so only on special, solemn, and important occasions, for example, when proclaiming himself the king of the world and God. But he will not need to be in the temple constantly. Having sat in the temple once and declared himself God, he will by this very act give a sign and at the same time give the command that his images (statues or icons) be erected in all churches, Christian and non-Christian, and that all people will worship them as himself, as images of God. And indeed, the service of the Antichrist as God will begin in the churches" (Prof. Belyaev, "On Atheism and the Antichrist," Vol. 1, p. 384).
This desecration of the sanctity of the Christian temple and the Christian faith is mysteriously foreshadowed in the Holy Scriptures in the sayings about the placement of the “abomination of desolation” in the holy place:
a) ... "in the middle of the week (after three and a half years of the second period and at the beginning of the third period, which is to last three and a half years, the activity of the Antichrist) the sacrifice and the offering will cease, and on the wing of the sanctuary will be the abomination of desolation" ( Dan. 9:27 ). b) ... "and they will appoint a part of the army, which will defile the sanctuary of strength and will cease the daily sacrifice and will set up the abomination of desolation" ( Dan. 9:31 ). c) ... "from the time of the ceasing of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the abomination of desolation, 1290 days will pass" ( Dan. 12:11 ).
Here, three events are simultaneously depicted in prophetic perspective, although separated by centuries, yet deeply connected. In reality, the first two events are merely prefigurations of the final, coming event, to which the prophecy primarily refers.
a) The first event is the persecution of the faith by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria. Antiochus succeeded his brother Seleucus IV in 137 BC, or 176 BC. His terrible reign and his cruel persecution of the faith are described in the first two books of Maccabees. "He entered the sanctuary with pride... and commanded that in his kingdom all should be one people, and that everyone should abandon his own law"... and "mocked the Sabbaths and feasts, and defiled the sanctuary and the saints"... "And whoever did not do according to the word of the king, let him be put to death"... and "built on the altar an abomination of desolation"... "and the books of the law, which they found, they tore and burned with fire; "Whoever was found with the book of the covenant, and whoever kept the law, was put to death by the king's command... They killed the women who circumcised their children, and hanged the infants by their necks, and plundered their houses... The temple was filled with fornication and outrages of the Gentiles" (1 Book 1:2 Book 6:1-9). Christian theologians recognize Antiochus Epiphanes as the most striking prototype of the coming Antichrist.
b) The second event is the destruction of Jerusalem and the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple by the Roman troops in 70 AD. "If Daniel's prophecy referred only to Antiochus, then Jesus Christ, repeating the abomination of desolation spoken of through the prophet Daniel ( Matthew 24:15-21 ; Luke 21:20-24 ), could not have spoken of it as an event destined to take place in the future, since for His time the era of Antiochus Epiphanes had long since passed" (Professor Belyaev, "On Atheism and the Antichrist," Vol. 1, p. 230).
This event is described by the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius. According to him, the Romans, suppressing the Jewish revolt, destroyed Jerusalem and "brought their standards into the sanctuary and set them opposite the Eastern Gate; they offered solemn (pagan) sacrifices before the standards and, with loud cries, proclaimed Titus autocrat." Thus arose the "abomination of desolation" in the holy city and in the sanctuary of this city..., in the Temple of Jerusalem. In this temple, a sacrifice was now offered to pagan gods by pagan hands; henceforth, sacrifices and prayers to the true God in it ceased forever" (Prof. Belyaev, ibid., p. 216).
c) But this prophecy about the abomination of desolation could only partially refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. It primarily refers to another, coming era, "when all the temples on earth will be desecrated and at the same time the desolation and desecration of the New Zion – the Church of Christ... will occur throughout the earth. This will happen before the end of the world – under the Antichrist" (Prof. Belyaev, ibid., p. 219). Blessed Jerome attributes the entire prophecy of Daniel about the establishment of the "abomination of desolation" to the Antichrist and only some features to Antiochus.
The word "on the wing" ( Daniel 9:27 ) in the verse about the "abomination that causes desolation" is somewhat confusing . A clever attempt at interpretation is a translation with an explanation by Gesenius, a renowned compiler of Hebrew grammar and a Judeo-German lexicon. He translates Daniel's verse as follows: "And on the wings of the abomination is the destroyer." He explains his translation as follows: "The enemy of the Church, that is, the Antichrist, is represented here as carried on the wings of an abominable idol, just as Jehovah is represented as carried on cherubim." It is quite possible that the Antichrist will be carried from place to place on a winged idol, as on a chariot or a throne. But it would also not be improbable if the Antichrist, on the wings of an abominable idol, were to fly through the air (in an airplane specially built for him—in the form of a winged, abominable idol). This latter hypothesis, although not specifically applicable to this verse, was expressed many centuries before Gesenius by St. Ephraim the Syrian ("Homily on the Coming of the Lord," 39, part 3, p. 25).
By revealing his world dominion, the Antichrist will ensnare all of humanity in his satanic captivity using the same techniques that Satan used to tempt the Lord Himself.
1. Satan's first temptation was expressed in his proposal to the Lord to turn stones into bread ( Matthew 4:3 ). At first glance, it may seem "fully consistent with the ultimate purposes of the ministry of the Son of God." What could be against the desert blossoming like a lily ( Isaiah 35:1 ), and the hunger, poverty, want, and all the toil and sweat of earning bread that resulted from the first curse on the ground to punish sinful man ( Genesis 3:17-19 ) finally ending? However, the sin and deceit of this proposal lay in the fact that "it was proposed to begin with this instead of ending with it; it was proposed to bring about complete abundance in the visible world, but not as a consequence and expression of the inner kingdom of righteousness" (Trench). An external improvement in material living conditions alone, without the preliminary moral improvement of people themselves, would be the complete triumph of evil, since such satiated well-being would perpetuate the hopeless carnal state of its participants, paralyzing any possibility of moral correction and spiritual perfection. Therefore, Christ answered Satan: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" ( Matthew 4:4 ). This answer by the Lord does not ignore people's physical needs, but places them second only to spiritual ones. The Gospel condemns only attempts to please the flesh while completely forgetting God; it condemns the intention to make people materially happier without making them morally perfect. The Lord warns us: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with surfeiting and drunkenness” ( Luke 21:34 ), for in the latter case we lose moral freedom, become slaves to our base needs and kill our soul with eternal death.
The leaders of the modern world revolution are leading people to this kind of complete spiritual slavery. Their teachings and appeals are couched in lofty words about "universal equality" and "brotherhood," but in reality, they seek to entice people solely toward material well-being, diverting them from all lofty aspirations—moral and religious. When material wealth becomes the sole value for a person, they will inevitably become the complete slave of whoever provides it. The materialistic upbringing of people will give unlimited power to the Antichrist, for all means of existence will be at his complete disposal. He will generously distribute them only to his followers and henchmen. And a person who has not accustomed himself to abstinence, who does not have spiritual and principled steadfastness, will be forced to submit to his will: “... all - small and great, rich and poor, free and slave - will receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and ... no one will be able to buy or sell except the one who has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” ( Rev. 13:16-17 ).
2. Satan's second temptation was revealed when he took the Lord to the Holy City and placed Him on the pinnacle of the temple. He said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, 'He will give His angels charge over You, and in their hands they will bear You up, lest You dash Your foot against a stone'" ( Matthew 4:5-6 ). The devil meant this: "Throw Yourself down and appear before the astonished crowd, surrounded and carried by a host of angels, so that the people, seeing this sign, will immediately recognize You as the Son of God." And this temptation of Satan, under the pretext of a specious concern for arousing in the people faith in the Divine dignity of the Savior, represented nothing other than a complete rejection of the Cross of Christ, a rejection of the Atonement, for it offered Christ to become a leader, drawing the crowd along with him with one empty effect and not requiring from it any moral feat and self-sacrifice.
A similar demand for a sign from the Lord came repeatedly from the Pharisees. "The Pharisees, not satisfied with the miracles the Lord performed, demanded of Him a special miracle – 'a sign from heaven' ( Mark 8:11 ).... The desire for a 'sign from heaven' was sometimes expressed by the people. Thus, after the miraculous multiplication of the five loaves and their feeding of the crowded congregation, which included five thousand men, excluding women and children, the eyewitnesses of this miracle, the participants in this meal, said to the Lord: 'What sign do You do, that we may see and believe You? Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat' ( John 6:30-31 ). "The wondrous multiplication of the loaves in the Savior's hands seemed insufficient to them: it had been accomplished with silence, with the holy humility that permeated all the actions of the God-man. But they needed a spectacle, they needed an effect. They needed the sky to be covered with thick clouds, for thunder to rumble and lightning to flash, for the loaves to fall from the air" (from heaven 10 ) (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , vol. IV , pp. 296–297).
It was a grave sin to demand such a sign from the God-man, for it stemmed from a carnal mind that rejected any lofty spiritual goal for the sake of external effect. The Lord, hearing this bold, blasphemous demand for a sign, sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation. And leaving them... He went to the other side" ( Mark 8:12-13 ). This demand for a sign from heaven was a demand for a miracle, in the nature of Satan's miracles. A sign from heaven could have no special credibility. Why could only a sign from heaven testify that it was from God? "From the Divine Scripture the opposite is evident... The Holy Scripture relates that through the action of the devil "fire fell from heaven and devoured the sheep and the shepherds" of righteous Job ( Job 1:16 ; see "The Evangelist" on Matthew 16:1 ). Obviously, this fire was formed in the air, just as lightning is formed in it. Simon the sorcerer amazed the blinded people with miracles, who recognized in him the power of Satan, "the great power of God" ( Acts 8:10 ). Simon especially astonished the pagan Romans when, in a large gathering of them, he declared himself a god and his intention to ascend to heaven, and suddenly began to rise in the air; "Blessed Simeon Metaphrast tells of this , borrowing the story from the most ancient Christian writers (see the Life of St. Apostle Peter, Chetyi-Minei, June 29). Pinetti, who lived at the end of the 18th century, performed similar miracles. Others have performed and continue to perform them" (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , vol. IV , pp. 299–300).
What Christ refused to do, the Antichrist will do: he will give a sign from heaven, that is, a sign in the air, where Satan predominates (see St. Ephraim the Syrian , Homily 106, Part 2; Eph. 2:2 ). St. John the Theologian says that the Antichrist will perform great deeds, "and will also make fire come down from heaven to the earth before men" ( Rev. 13:13 ). "This sign is indicated by Scripture as the highest of the signs of the Antichrist, and the place of this sign is the air: it will be a magnificent and terrible spectacle." It will "act primarily on the sense of sight, enchanting and deceiving it" (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , Vol. IV , p. 302).
St. Simeon the New Theologian warns that "one should very rarely look up to heaven for fear of the evil spirits in the air. This is why they are called aerial spirits, who produce many and varied deceptions in the air" (Philokalia, Part 1, "On the Third Form of Attention"). St. Apostle Paul calls Satan "the prince of the power of the air" ( Eph. 2:2 ). Being captivated by an aerial demonic manifestation threatens inevitable destruction for those who heed it. "All demonic manifestations have the property that even the slightest attention to them is dangerous; from such attention alone, admitted (even) without any sympathy for the manifestation, one can become imprinted with the most harmful impression, be subjected to severe temptation" (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , Vol. IV , p. 329). The signs of the Antichrist, performed by Satanic power, will have an irresistible effect on spectators. "People will not realize that his miracles have no good, rational purpose, no specific meaning, that they are alien to truth, filled with lies, that they are monstrous, all-malicious, meaningless theatrics, striving to surprise, to confuse and lead to self-forgetfulness, to seduce, to deceive, to captivate with the charm of a luxurious, empty, foolish effect" (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , Vol. IV , p. 300).
Having witnessed these miracles, people, in their blindness and the triumph of their carnal reason, will immediately recognize them as the work of Satan, the greatest manifestation of God's power, and will enthusiastically embrace the Antichrist as a god. The Antichrist will instill fear with the thunder and wonder of his miracles, satisfying reckless curiosity and crude ignorance, gratifying human vanity and pride, satisfying carnal wisdom, satisfying superstition, and perplexing human learning: all men, guided by the light of their fallen nature, alienated from the guidance of God's light, will be drawn into obedience to the deceiver ( Rev. 13:8 ) (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , vol. IV , p. 302).
3. Satan's third temptation was that, having led the Savior up a high mountain and shown Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You will fall down and worship me" ( Matthew 4:8-9 ; Luke 4:5-7 ). Satan's power over the kingdoms of this world is repeatedly attested to by the Word of God itself. The Lord Himself calls the devil "the prince of this world." And St. John the Theologian writes in Revelation that Satan gives "his power, his throne, and great authority" to those who serve him (13:2). Satan's power is based on deception, seduction, and violence. The Lord Jesus Christ, however, came to establish His power through free moral achievement and free filial obedience to the Father. And what Christ rejected, the Antichrist will fully realize. He himself will receive all his power over the world from Satan for his complete obedience to him, and will also reward others with it - to the extent of their obedience and service to Satan's will.
Having achieved world power, the Antichrist will dramatically change his behavior. Instead of a hypocritical and cautious attitude toward people, instead of a ostentatious theatrical benevolence toward his opponents, he will openly act as a merciless persecutor of all believing Christians who refuse to worship him as God. He will "oppress the saints of the Most High, even thinking of changing their holy times and the law" ( Dan. 7:25 ; Rev. 12:13-17:13, 6-7 ). Open public Christian worship will have to cease. "The Antichrist and his followers," writes Professor Belyaev, "will destroy the books of the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures will persecute and torment the preachers of the Word of God and the performers of Christian worship, they will make sure that the Eucharist is not celebrated anywhere, and yet the preaching of the Word of God will not be silenced, and the worship will not cease, and the Eucharist will be celebrated” (ibid., p. 346), but, of course, only in hidden places, as in the first centuries of Christianity.
The Antichrist will have an active assistant in persecuting Christians and forcing them to worship him as God. Due to his cruelty and mercilessness, this assistant of the Antichrist is called the "second beast" in Scripture. "Then I saw," writes St. John the Theologian, "another beast coming out of the earth... He exercises... all the authority of the first beast and compels the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast... And he deceives them that dwell on the earth because of the signs which he was granted to do in the presence of the beast, saying... that they should make an image to the beast... And he was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause everyone who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed" ( Rev. 13:11-12:14-15 ).
"A terrible trial will come for the saints of God: the cunning, hypocrisy, and miracles of the persecutor will intensify to deceive and seduce them; the refined, thought-out, and treacherous ingenuity of persecution and oppression, the unlimited power of the tormentor will put them in the most difficult position; their small number will seem insignificant before all of humanity... general contempt, hatred, slander, oppression, and violent death will become their lot"... "The opponents of the Antichrist will be considered troublemakers, enemies of the public good and order, will be subjected to both hidden and open persecution, will be subjected to torture and execution"... (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , Vol. IV , pp. 302–303).
The first victims of the Antichrist will be his accusers – the holy prophets Enoch and Elijah. “And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss (the Antichrist) will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them, and leave their corpses in the street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified (Jerusalem). And many of the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations will look upon their corpses for three and a half days, and will not suffer their corpses to be laid in graves. And they that dwell on the earth will rejoice over this, and be glad, and will send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented those that dwell on the earth. But after three and a half days the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they both stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those that looked upon them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. “And they ascended into heaven on a cloud; and their enemies looked upon them. And in that same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. And in the earthquake seven thousand men were killed. And the rest were afraid, and gave glory to the God of heaven” ( Rev. 11:7-13 ).
After this, a remarkable event is to occur, which can only be attributed to the preaching of the holy prophets, their miraculous resurrection, and ascension into heaven—the conversion to Christ of a significant portion of the Jews contemporaneous with the Antichrist. Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria writes on this subject: "Elijah will come... as the forerunner of the Second Coming, and will return to faith in Christ all Jews who prove obedient, bringing them, as it were, to their ancestral inheritance, those who have fallen away from Him. The basis for this assertion is the following prophetic words in Holy Scripture:
a) “Behold, I will send you (the Jews) Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse” ( Mal. 4:5-6 ). b) “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and the escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no longer trust in him that smote them: but shall trust in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, with a sincere heart. The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God” ( Isaiah 10:20-21 ). c) “But Isaiah proclaims concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, A remnant shall be delivered” ( Rom. 9:27 – see Isaiah 10:22 ). d) “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplications; and they shall look on me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only son, and be bitterly grieved for him, as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo” ( Zechariah 12:10-11 ). d) “For if you (a Gentile convert to Christ) were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these (Jews), who are natural born, be grafted into their own olive tree... I do not want you, brethren, to be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own interests, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in” ( Rom. 11:24 ).
Vladimir Solovyov, who attempted to explain the entire prophecy of the appearance of the prophets Elijah and Enoch allegorically (see "Three Conversations," chapter "The Tale of the Antichrist"), was inevitably mistaken in his explanation of the conversion of the remnant of Israel to Christ, which was closely linked to the appearance of the prophets. In his opinion, the Jews, upon learning that the person they considered the Messiah would suddenly turn out to be uncircumcised, would become disillusioned with him and embrace Christianity. Even if this premise of the Antichrist's uncircumcision had proven correct, it might only have prompted fanatical Jews to turn away from him and await another, more suitable candidate for the role of the Messiah, but it could not have caused them to become disillusioned with their entire religious and national ideology and embrace the Christian faith. The Jews had many unsuccessful claimants to the title of Messiah, who led rebellious movements against Rome. And yet, subsequent disillusionment with them never led Jews to believe in the truth of Christianity. This explanation by Vl. Soloviev must be considered very inadequate. Only the testimony of Holy Scripture to the miraculous appearance of the prophets Elijah and Enoch, their preaching and denunciation of the Antichrist, their martyrdom and resurrection can fully explain the miraculous conversion of the remnant of Israel to Christ during the era of the Antichrist.
This conversion of the Jews to Christ will provoke the Antichrist to intense hatred toward Christians. Then, for them, "a great tribulation will come, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be" ( Matthew 24:15-21 ). "And it was granted to him (the Antichrist) to make war with the saints (Christians) and to overcome them" ( Revelation 13:7 ).
Salvation for the small remnant of believers will only come during the short reign of the Antichrist. "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake those days will be shortened" ( Matthew 24:22 ).
The Antichrist's world reign will last three and a half years. "From the time the daily sacrifice ceased (the beginning of the third period of the Antichrist's activity, when he inaugurated his universal monarchy) and the setting up of the abomination of desolation, 1,290 days will pass" ( Dan. 12:11 ; cf. 12:7). The same period of the Antichrist's reign is also noted in Revelation: "And power was given to him (the Antichrist) to continue forty-two months" (13:5).
No human power will be able to resist the Antichrist. Only the Lord Himself, coming a second time to earth in all His glory, will defeat him. Then will come the Last Judgment of Christ and the end of our world ( Matthew 24:30-31, 25:31-46 ; Rev. 1:7, 20:11-15, 21:1-8 ). And “the beast will be captured, and with him the false prophet who wrought signs before him, with which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two will be cast alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone: and the rest will be killed with the sword that proceeds out of his mouth” ( Rev. 19:20-21 ). “And the devil, who deceived them, will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever” ( Rev. 20:10 ).
The chief calamity of the era preceding the worldwide reign of the Antichrist will be the exceptional spiritual blindness of mankind. Spiritual reason, that is, the reason that alone can clearly perceive the light of Truth, will become an extremely rare phenomenon. Humanity, guided by carnal reason, will not only fail to recognize the Antichrist, will not see him as its wily enemy, but, on the contrary, will recognize him as its benefactor. "Many will believe in him," said one blessed monk, "and will glorify him as the mighty God. Those who always have God within themselves... will see the truth by pure faith and will know Him. For all who possess the vision of God and reason, then the coming of the tormentor will be understandable. But for those who always have their minds on the things of this life and love earthly things, this will be incomprehensible: for they are bound to the things of this world. "Even if they hear the word (warning about the Antichrist), they have no faith, but rather the one who speaks this will abhor them" (Letters of George, the Recluse of Zadonsk , book 1, p. 62, 1850; see also Sermon 106 of St. Ephraim the Syrian ). The word of Christ is a constant warning for us: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be weighed down with surfeiting, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come upon you unawares" ( Luke 21:34 ). For excessive immersion in the interests and concerns of material life contributes to the development of the carnal mind, which will always be in conflict with Divine teaching and revelation.
To acquire spiritual wisdom, one must first obey the wisdom of the Universal Orthodox Church. One must test all one's reasoning against the Word of God and the teachings of the Holy Fathers. "It is absolutely necessary to pay attention to the Word of God, justified by the very events of a time and mood hostile to it, lest we ever fall away" (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov , Vol. IV , pp. 227-228). "Do not cease," says St. Ephraim the Syrian , "to examine the Divine Scriptures, do not cease to question your Mother, the Church : when will the desired Bridegroom come? Ask and inquire about the sign of His coming, for the Judge will not hesitate. Do not cease to ask until you know for certain; do not cease to resort to the help of those who know this for certain" (Works, 1850, Vol. IV , p. 133). All the Holy Fathers recommend constant guidance from Holy Scripture. The advice of those close to us, who are themselves guided by the Word of God and the writings of the Holy Fathers, is also helpful. “Such guidance by the mind of the Church will protect believers from being carried away by widely disseminated false teachings and views. The absence of this guidance and the habit of always following public opinion will inevitably lead down the wrong path. Moreover, even if a person were to decide to go against established social views, against the generally accepted path, he would inevitably be subjected to the following temptation: he will inevitably hear: ‘Are you alone right, while all or most people are wrong?’ Only for those who are guided by Holy Scripture will such reasoning be of no value. Scripture will tell him that not the majority, but only a few walk the narrow path, and in the last days of the world this path will become extremely impoverished” (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov ). Holy Scripture will also inspire him with courage: he will not be dismayed by the fact that the number of true believers will prove to be a small island in a boundless ocean of lies and wickedness. He will remember Christ's commandment: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" ( Luke 12:32 ).
Another disaster of the era of the Antichrist will be that any organized resistance to his power will then become impossible. Then, "do not attempt to stop him with your feeble hand. Depart, guard yourself from him; and that is enough for you" (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov) . "Be content with this," says Elder Isaiah, "that salvation has been granted to those people who desire it." Therefore, we must fight the approaching kingdom of darkness now, while the opportunity to fight has not yet been taken away from us. Any deviation from the struggle now , even the most insignificant compromise with evil for the sake of coexistence with it, allowed today, will only further increase the difficulty of fighting it tomorrow. We must "work while it is day," before the "night comes, when no one can work" ( John 9:4, 12:35 ).
Night is that advancing satanic kingdom of spiritual darkness, preparing to engulf all of humanity. Then the lives of believers will be so difficult that, despite their sinfulness, even forgetting the fear of the coming Judgment, they will cry out, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" ( Rev. 22:20 ).