The seven trumpets, the marking of the chosen, and beginning of calamities.

(Chs. 7-11)

The trumpets of the angels foretell mankind's calamities, both physical and spiritual. But

before the beginning of these, St. John sees an angel conferring a mark upon the foreheads of

the sons of the New Israel (Rev. 7:1-8). “Israel” is the Church of the New Testament here.

The marks symbolize selection and blessed protection. This vision brings to mind the Sacrament

of Chrismation, during which the “mark of the gift of the Holy Spirit” is conferred

upon the brow of the newly baptized. It brings to mind the sign of the cross, which protects

“against the foes.” People who are not protected by the blessed mark suffer harm from the

“locust” that has emanated from the bottomless pit, i.e., from the devil's power (Rev. 9:4).

The prophet Ezekiel describes the same imprint on the righteous citizens of ancient Jerusalem

before it was taken by the Chaldean forces. Then, as well as now, the mysterious mark was

placed with the purpose of saving the just from the fate of the impure (Ezek. 9:4). At the

counting by name of the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev. ch. 7), the tribe of Dan was purposely

omitted. Some see in this the indication that the antichrist came from this tribe. This thought

is based on the enigmatic words of the Patriarch Jacob regarding the future descendants of

Dan: “a serpent on the way, a viper by the path” (Gen. 49:17).

Thus, the present vision serves as an introduction to the subsequent description of the

persecution of the Church. The measuring of the temple of God in the eleventh chapter has

the same meaning as the marking of the sons of Israel: the preservation of the children of the

Church from evil. The temple of God, like the Woman clothed in sunshine, and the city of

Jerusalem are different symbols of the Church of Christ. The basic thought of these visions is

that the Church is Holy and is dear to God. God allows the persecutions for the sake of

achieving moral perfection of the faithful but protects them from enslavement by evil and

from the same fate as the godless.

Before the removal of the seventh seal there is a silence “for approximately a half hour”

(Rev. 8:1). This is the calm before the storm that will rock the world during the time of the

antichrist. (Does not the current process of disarmament resulting from the break-up of

communism appear to be an intermission, which is given to mankind for his conversion

toward God?) Before the onset of calamities St. John sees the saints ardently praying for

mercy upon mankind (Rev. 8:3-5).

Calamities of nature. Following this, the sound of the trumpets reverberates from each

of the seven angels, after which various calamities begin. At first, a third of the vegetation

dies, then, a third of all the fish and other marine creatures, which is followed by the poisoning

of rivers and water sources. There will be a falling upon earth of hail and fire, a flaming

mountain, and a glowing star. This seems to point allegorically, in other words, to the vast

dimensions of these calamities. Does this not appear as a prophecy of the global contamination

and the destruction of nature that we are observing in our time? If so, then the ecological

catastrophe foretells the coming of the antichrist. By further defiling within themselves the

image of God, mankind ceases to value and love God's beautiful world. With mankind's own

refuse it pollutes the lakes, rivers, and seas. With oil spills it jeopardizes vast expanses of

shoreline. It destroys forests and jungles, and it annihilates many species of animals, fish, and

birds. In poisoning nature the perpetrators become ill and perish from their own actions, as do

the innocent victims of their cruel greed. The words “the name of the third star is Wormwood

. . . and many perished from the water because it became bitter” remind us of the catastrophe

at Chernobyl because “Chernobyl” means “Wormwood.” But what does the damage of a

third of the sun and of the stars and their eclipse mean (Rev. 8:11-12)? Evidently this is a

discourse regarding the pollution of the air to such an extent that the light of the sun and stars

reaching the earth appears less bright. (For instance, due to air pollution in Los Angeles, the

sky appears to be of a dirty-brown color, and sometimes at night, with the exception of the

brightest, the stars are hardly visible.)

The narrative of the locusts (the fifth trumpet, Rev. 9:1-11), which emanated from the

bottomless pit, talks of the strengthening of demonic powers among people. Heading it is

“Apollyon” which means “the destroyer,” referring to the devil. To the degree to which man

by his non-belief and sins depletes God's blessings, a spiritual void forms within him, which

is filled more and more by demonic strength, which in turn torments him with doubts and

various passions.

The Apocalyptic wars. The trumpet of the sixth angel brings into motion a great army

beyond the Euphrates River due to which a third of mankind is lost (Rev. 9:13-21). In Biblical

representation, the river Euphrates denotes the boundary beyond which the nations hostile

to God are concentrated, threatening war and annihilation to Jerusalem. For the Roman

Empire, the Euphrates River served as a rampart against attack from eastern peoples. The

ninth chapter of the Apocalypse is written against the backdrop of the cruel and bloody

Judeo-Roman war of 66-70 AD that was still fresh in the memory St. John. This war had

three phases (Rev. 8:13). The first phase of the war in which Gasius Flor headed the Roman

forces lasted five months, from May to September of 66 (five months of the locusts, Rev. 9:5

and 10). Soon the second phase of the war began, from October to November of the 66th

year, in which the Syrian governor Cestius headed four Roman legions (four angels by the

Euphrates River, Rev. 9:14). This phase of the war was especially ruinous for the Jews. The

third phase of the war under the command of Flavius Flavianum lasted three and a half years,

from April, 67 A.D., to September, 70 A.D., and ended with the fall of Jerusalem, the burning

of the temple, and the scattering of captive Jews throughout the Roman Empire. This

blood-letting Judeo-Roman war became the prototype of the terrible wars of later years,

which the Savior pointed out in His sermon on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 24:7). In the

attributes of hell's locusts and the Euphrates’ hordes, one can recognize contemporary weapons

of mass extermination, tanks, cannons, fighter planes, and nuclear missiles. The following

chapters of the Apocalypse graphically describe the increasingly larger wars of recent

times (Rev. 11:7, 16:12-16, 17:14, 19:11-19, and 20:7-8). The words “the waters of the

Euphrates River dried up, so that the way of the kings from the East might be prepared”

(Rev. 16:12) may point to peril from further east in Asia. In conjunction with this, one must

consider that the description of the Apocalyptic wars bears the characteristics of real wars,

but in the final summation it refers to a spiritual war, and the proper names and dates have an

allegorical meaning. Thus St. Paul explains: “For we are not contending against flesh and

blood, but against principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this

age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

The name Armageddon is composed of two words: “Ar” (meaning level ground in

Hebrew) and “Megiddo” (an area in the North of the Holy Land, near Mt. Carmel, where in

ancient times Barrack defeated the armies commanded by Sisera and the prophet Elijah

executed more than five hundred priests of Baal) (Rev. 16:16, 17:14; Judges 4:2-16; 1 Kings

18:40). In light of these biblical events, Armageddon symbolizes Christ defeating the godless

powers. The names Gog and Magog in chapter 20 remind us of the prophesy of Ezekiel

regarding the invasion of Jerusalem by an indeterminate number of regiments under the

leadership of Gog from the land of Magog (south of the Caspian sea; Ezek. chs. 38 and 39;

Rev. 20:7-8). Ezekiel attributes this prophecy to the times of the Messiah. In the Apocalypse,

the siege of “the camp of the saints and the beloved city [the Church]” by the regiments of

Gog and Magog and the destruction of these regiments by the Heavenly fire must be understood

in the sense of the total defeat of the godless forces, both human and demonic, by the

Second Coming of Christ.

Concerning the physical calamities and the punishment of sinners that are often mentioned

in the Apocalypse, the Seer himself explains that God allows them as a lesson in order

to bring sinners to repentance (Rev. 9:21). However, the Apostle mentions sorrowfully that

mankind does not heed God's call, continues to sin, and serves the demons. As if having

taken “the bit in their mouths,” people are rushing toward their own perdition.

The vision of the two witnesses (Rev. 11:2-12). The tenth and eleventh chapters occupy

an intermediary place between the visions of the seven trumpets and the seven signs. In the

two witnesses of God, some Holy Fathers see the Old Testament righteous ones Enoch and

Elijah, who will come to earth before the end of the world in order to disclose the falsity of

the antichrist and to call mankind toward loyalty to God. Or the two might be Moses and

Elijah. It is known that both Enoch and Elijah were taken up alive to Heaven (Gen. 5:24, 2

Kings 2:11). The capital punishment that these witnesses will impose on mankind brings to

mind the miracles performed by the prophets Moses, Aaron, and Elijah (Exo. chs. 7-12, 1

Kings 17:1, 2 Kings 1:10) The Apostles Peter and Paul, who had recently suffered in Rome

under Nero, could have served as examples (prototypes) of the two witnesses for St. John.

Evidently, the two witnesses in the Apocalypse are a symbol for other witnesses of Christ

who spread the Gospel in a hostile pagan world and often seal their preaching with a martyr's

death. The words “Sodom and Egypt, where even our Lord is crucified,” point to the city of

Jerusalem, in which our Lord Jesus Christ suffered, as well as many prophets and the first

Christians.