1
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Luke 8:31.
Rev 1:18.
2
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
2 Peter 2:4.
Jude 1:6.
Rev 12:9.
3
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and
I saw
the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received
his
mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands;
and
they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years
(καὶ ἔζησαν καὶ ἐβασίλευσαν μετὰ Χριστοῦ τά χίλια ἔτη).
Dan 7:9,22.
Dan 8:17.
Matt 19:28.
1 Cor 6:2.
2 Tim 2:12.
Rev 6:11.
5
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This
is
the first resurrection.
6
Blessed and holy
is
he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Is 61:6.
Rev 1:6.
Rev 21:7.
In the further course of the Apocalypse, only general consolations and warnings for us are visible and understandable. Namely, firstly, it is clear that the work of God in the destinies of the church and the world is moving towards the overthrow of centuries-old cruel dominations over faith — both Mohammedan Babylon
(XVII,
XVІІІ),
and the bestial apostate mind, with the same direction of civilization
(XIX),
and the draconian the spirit of papism
(XX:1-3),
so that this will be followed in the world by the so-called
first resurrection
of everything previously killed by spiritual atrocity
(5-6).
But at the same time, the new Israel is inspired to come out of Babylon (no doubt, according to the power of the New Testament, to come out of the corrupt spirit of Babylon),
so as not to participate in its sins and not to be exposed to its plagues,
but, if possible, to exchange the Babylonian children for Zion’s
(ХVІІІ:4);
and in this way everything Babylonian can be defeated only with the Lamb, with the spirit of His love for mankind, who takes away the sins of the world
(XVII:14).
Secondly, from the continuation of the Apocalypse it is also revealed that the Lord, having appointed even at the very conversion of the Slavic-Russian tribes to Orthodoxy — to show His grace in them —
to shepherd the tongues with a rod of iron
(XII:5),
then appears in all the power and full effect of this salvation, bringing down to the end the bestial apostate trend of reason and speech or civilization in general — Himself, however,
clothed in blood-stained clothing
(XIX:11-12).
Here it is — our blessed calling and our world task — to serve the purification of thought and knowledge, literature and the entire civilization of the Christian world from a terribly deceitful direction and spirit — apostasy from Christ, from His truth and spirit. And the Lord will fulfill His good will for us, Orthodox Slavic-Russians, of course, however, only under the condition of compliance with Him on our part.
