1 And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book, written within and without, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel declaring with a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to open this book, and to open its seals?' 3 And no man was able, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, to open this book, nor to look into it. 4 And I wept a lot because there was no one worthy to open and read this book, and even look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, 'Weep not; Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, and is able to open this book, and to open the seven seals thereof. 6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. 8 And when he took the book, then the four beasts and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sing a new song, saying, 'Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and by thy blood hast redeemed us unto God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,10 and hast made us kings and priests unto our God; and we shall reign on the earth. 11 And I saw, and heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders, and their number was ten thousands, and thousands of thousands, 12 who said with a loud voice, 'The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.' 13 And every creature that is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all that is in them, I have heard, saying, To him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and dominion for ever and ever. 14 And the four beasts said, 'Amen.' And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshipped Him who lives forever and ever.

Comment

Open. 5, 1. The first act of this vision is the picture of the throne of God, with which Dante's "Paradise" ends. The second act is the appearance of the book, and this book is the history of the universe, the one that is visible to God from the transcendental heights in a complete and perfect form. Not exactly what is intended – we will not use such a harsh term – but what is actually being done. It is difficult for us to fit this into our consciousness, in our dimension of existence there are always opportunities to go right and left, but if we look back, we will see that our choice can no longer be changed, somewhere it has already been made. And here are the events being written somewhere; By the way, this is quite on the other side of time, which means going beyond the limit of creation, since a creature can only be in time. And so the apocalypticists, the ancient authors of the apocrypha, hoped that this secret book would be revealed to them, and in these hopes they often came to a determinism that was far from the biblical understanding: that everything was defined rather rigidly and there was no other way. This was the opinion of the authors of the Book of Enoch, the Book of the Sibyl, the Book of Jubilees, the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, etc.

In the prophet Daniel, the canonical apocalyptic, this is not expressed in such a harsh form. He seems to have an alternative. Here, in the author of the Apocalypse, although it would seem that he is completely imbued with the same spirit, it is clearly stated that this is a mystery into which no one can penetrate. Only he who stands on the other side of created existence can penetrate it. This thought is given with profoundly dramatic concreteness: he sees a mysterious book, he is so eager to know what will happen that he even cries — he is so bitter that the future is closed

(Rev. 5:4) But it is not fitting for a Christian to live in the future and look into the future, it is closed, and who can do that? No one. The elder told him that "the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, conquered."

And this is where the superhuman dignity of Christ is manifested (Rev. 5:6). He stands in the midst of the elders, mind you, not on a throne, no, Christ comes as a seeker, as one to be exalted, and as He walks on earth, He voluntarily deprives Himself of almost all the prerogatives of divinity. He not only needs rest, sleep, food, but also suffers and dies. He has no power in heaven or on earth. And only by conquering death, He, namely the man Christ, receives this power. He, being at the same time a man, is on the other side of creation, so He can open this book, the only one of all. Although the Apostle John does not yet give a complete formula for God-manhood, he immediately wants to emphasize that he is not just a prophet lifted up from somewhere into the depths of man. Jesus appears before the elders in a symbolic form. He's a winner; the victor must come with a sword, on horseback, wearing a crown, as later in the Apocalypse. He will be the victor of the empire. And here, "the lion of the tribe of Judah" – according to biblical prophecy, this is the Messiah, the Deliverer. The "Root of David" is also a clear reference to the Messiah-Christ. He won and can open this book. But despite the fact that He has conquered, He does not appear fully armed, but comes like a Lamb with the signs of the slaughter, as if slain.

It is impossible to depict this image of Christ standing before the throne, there are no such picturesque colors, because He has seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, that is, the seven powers of the Holy Spirit (the horn in the Old Testament and in ancient Eastern symbolism always denoted power).

The seven eyes signify the fullness of His knowledge and at the same time His gaze upon the churches. They are "the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth," active in the churches. "And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne." And here there is an appeal not only to the One who sits, but also to the Lamb Himself. The Cosmos present, celebrating the Liturgy in the person of monstrous cherubs, angels and elders – all of them prostrate themselves before the Angel, and musical instruments, bowls with incense – all this, as the Apostle himself explains, is the essence of the prayers of the saints. "A new song is being sung."

What does "new song" mean? A new song is mentioned here several times, because the "old song" is one of the most important Old Testament hymns. In this case, the old hymn is considered to be "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts." And here is a new one, "Thou art worthy – this is already an appeal to the Lamb – to take a book and open the seals from it." The Lamb conquered, but He conquered not by force, but by being slain, and "with His blood He redeemed us to God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation." And He made us kings and priests to our God." These words confirm the general idea of the interpreter that the twenty-four elders denote the humanity of the elect. It does not matter whether twelve of them belong to the Old Testament and twelve to the New, but somehow it is the totality of the church as mankind and humanity as the church, the transfer to the church of the common adoption that was given first to Israel, and then to the whole church.

Open. 5:10." "And we shall reign on the earth," that is, the kingdom of God is the dominion of blessed principles which the Lord wants to lay at the foundation of creation, and which do not exist as long as there are opposing powers. And the entire Apocalypse is devoted to this battle, this tragedy, that the world rises up against God and resists Him: it is, as it were, an answer to people in the very first days of the first persecutions. It is an answer to the perplexed who were waiting for the immediate descent of Christ in power and glory, an answer to those who could not understand why there was no mass conversion such as they thought. The world resists God, but when God reigns, it will no longer be. And then the elect, that is, those who followed Him, will reign on earth. But this is not a small handful or a handful, as the Qumran sectarians or similar groups thought. Here it is said: the voice of many angels around the throne and animals and elders, and their number was ten thousand and thousands of thousands" – this is the number not only of angels, but also of people. Perhaps this is one of the songs of the early Christians about the worthiness of the Lamb slain. Who receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit, power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor and glory and blessing, and possesses these treasures. And here the whole creation is emphasized that all the Christians in heaven and on earth, that is, the entire cosmos, are already singing glory to God and to the Lamb who sits on the throne, "and to the Lamb blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." .

He Who was Man, He Who was slain, is now standing at the right hand of God. Jesus, as God, is always in the Trinity, and as the God-man, He rises from the earth – this is the mystery of the Ascension – and enters the divine world. After this comes the opening of the seals, the revelation of the mystery of the catastrophes that precede the appearance of Christ in power and glory.

The number four, in the case of four animals, always in antiquity signified the world circle, the four cardinal points, the fullness of this kind. And when asked why there are four Gospels, the early Christian writers answered: because there are four corners of the world. To many, this answer seemed strange, but in fact it meant symbolic completeness, like the square Jerusalem in Ezekiel's vision, like four gates; it was such a universal, universal sign, there was a parallel development, and so the four Gospels and the four animals were chosen. They were once depicted separately; Four animals, four cherubs, were depicted in early Christian churches, and only later were the evangelists, and then they somehow merged. There are already subsequent interpretations about this, but purely arbitrary, which anyone can come up with.

The usual traditional interpretations boil down to the fact that the evangelist Matthew is symbolized by a person, because he begins with the human genealogy of Christ. The Evangelist Mark is depicted with a lion, because he begins with a description of the desert and the Baptist. The Evangelist Luke is with a calf, because he begins with a description of the sacrifice in the temple performed by Zechariah. And the Apostle John, like an eagle, ascends into the heavenly spheres. It was accepted in the Middle Ages, but it doesn't really matter.

What is to be done with those creatures that possess eternal life—angels, heavenly powers, cherubim, etc., including souls? To what extent do they partake of eternity, or, having partaken of eternity, must they lose something of their creation, but in all cases they remain creatures? Remember the words of the Savior: "The angels of heaven do not know when the day and the hour will be. "And the Son of Man does not know..."