The Revelation of St. John: Conclusion

In his book, The Lamb's Supper, Scott Hahn tells the story of how the Ukrainian Christians "discovered" the liturgy:

In 988, Prince Vladimir of Kiev, upon converting to the Gospel, sent emissaries to Constantinople, the capital city of Eastern Christendom. There they witnessed hte Byzantine liturgy in the cathedral of Holy Wisdom, the grandest church of the East. After experiencing the chant, the incense, the icons--but, above all, the Presence--the emissaries sent word to the prince: "We did not know whether we were in heaven or on earth. Never have we seen such beauty.... We cannot describe it, but this much we can say: there God dwells among mankind" (p.115. The quotation is from The Orthodox Church, Timothy Ware. Baltimore, Penguin Books, 1963, p.269).

Throughout our study of the Book of Revelation, we have seen some bizarre sights and symbols, and have done our best, with the aid of the Tradition of the Church, to decipher their meanings. We have seen the destruction of Jerusalem, the persecutions of the Church, and the continual struggle between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the world and the devil.

But through it all, we have seen most fully the Presence of Christ among His people: The Sacrifical Lamb, constantly presenting His atonement before the Father on our behalf; the Warrior King who fights on behalf of those who faithfully persevere; and the Husband, who lives among His Bride with faithful love.

And His presence has been shown through and accompanied by worship. The continual liturgical worship of Heaven gives glory to God and to His Christ. It is the weapon of the warfare against Satan. And it brings about the judgement of all peoples--do they join in the unending song, or do they shut their ears and hearts, and curse God?

But again, more than the worship of Heaven, Revelation gives us a glimpse at the spiritual reality behind our worship in Sunday Mass. Again, Scott Hahn writes,

If we want to see the liturgy as Prince Vladimir's emissaries saw it, we must learn to see the Apocalypse as the Church sees it. If we want to make sense of the Apocalypse, we have to learn to read it with a sacramental imagination. When we look into these matters once again, now with new eyes of faith, we will see the sense amid the strangeness in the Book of Revelation, we will see the glory hidden in the mundane in next Sunday's Mass.
..Look again and discover that the golden thread of liturgy is what holds together the apocalyptic pearls of John's vision:

Sunday worship.........................1:10
a high priest............................1:13
an altar..................................8:3-4; 11:1; 14:18
priests (presbyteroi)...................4:4; 11:15; 14:3;
...........................................19:4
vestments...............................1:13; 4:4; 6:11;
...........................................7:9; 15:6; 19:13-14
consecrated celibacy...................14:4
lamp stands, or Menorah..............1:12; 2:5
penitence................................ch. 2 and 3
incense...................................5:8; 8:3-5
the book, or scroll......................5:1
the Eucharistic Host....................2:17
chalices..................................15:7; ch. 16; 21:9
the Sign of the Cross (the tau)........7:3; 14:1; 22:4
the Gloria................................15:3-4
the Alleluia...............................19:1, 3, 4, 6
Lift up your hearts......................11:12
the "Holy, Holy, Holy"...................4:8
the Amen................................19:4; 22:21
the "Lamb of God"......................5:6 and throughout
the prominence of the Virgin Mary....12:1-6, 13-17
intercession of angels and saints......5:8; 6:9-10; 8:3-4
devotion to St. Michael, archangel....12:7
antiphonal chants........................4:8-11; 5:9-14;
.............................................7:10-12; 18:1-8
readings from Scripture.................ch. 2-3; 5; 8:2-11
the priesthood of the faithful..........1:6; 20:6
catholicity, or universality..............7:9
silent contemplation.....................8:1
the marriage supper of the Lamb.....19:9, 17

Taken together, these elements comprise much of the Apocalypse--and most of the Mass. Other liturgical elements in Revelation are easier for modern readers to miss. For example, few people today know that trumpets and harps were the standard instruments for liturgical music in John's day, as organs are today in the West. And throughout John's vision, the angels and Jesus pronounce blessings using standard liturgical formulas: "Blessed is he who..." If you go back and read Revelation end to end, you'll also notice that all of God's great historical interventions--plagues, wars, and so on--follow closely upon liturgical actions: hymns, doxologies, libations, incensing.
..Yet, the Mass is not just in selected small details. It's in the grand scheme, too. We can see, for instance, that the Apocalypse, like the Mass, divides rather neatly in half. The first eleven chapters concern themselves with the proclamation of the letters to the seven churches and the opening of the scroll. This emphasis on "readings" makes Part One a close match for the Liturgy of the Word. Significantly, the first three chapters of Revelation mark a sort of Penitential Rite; in the seven letters to the churches, Jesus uses the word "repent" eight times. For me, this recalls the words of the ancient Didache, the liturgical manual of the first century: "first confess your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure." Even John's opening assumes that the book will be read aloud by a lector within the liturgical assembly: "Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear" (Rev 1:3).
..Revelation's second half begins in chapter 11 with the opening of God's temple in heaven, and culminates in the pouring of the seven chalices and the marriage supper of the Lamb. With the opening of heaven, the chalices, and the banquet, Part Two offers a striking image of the Liturgy of the Eucharist (The Lamb's Supper, pp. 118-121).

So we see, amid the symbolism of Revelation, the definite spiritual reality behind the Mass. And we now see, in the Mass, our own place in history: each and every Mass, we present ourselves before the Throne, to find mercy and forgiveness in the eternal sacrifice of Christ, and to be more united with Him when we receive Him in the Eucharist. And we see the power of that encounter, when Heaven and Earth meet, to save souls and conquer the enemy.

Amen; come, Lord Jesus.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen.

God bless.

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Revelation 22

22 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

In Ezekiel 47, verses 1-12, this river is also described, with more detail. It comes from the Temple, in Ezekiel, and is so wide that no one can swim across it. But just as John claims, it gives life, and on its shores, fruits blossom in every season. Since in Revelation, the Temple is the Throne of God and of the Lamb, this River springs directly from them. From the banks of the river grows the Tree of Life, bringing us full-circle through the Bible, right back to Genesis 2:9, where the Tree of Life grew right in the middle of the Garden of Eden. It was so that Adam and Eve could not get to this tree and eat of it to live that God banished them from Eden (Genesis 3:22-24). Now, for His People, who have lived and died for Him, God grants that they may finally eat of that Tree. Liturgically speaking, this Tree is the Cross of Christ, and the fruit of it is the Eucharist, which Jesus promises that those who eat of it will never die, but have eternal life (John 6:54). This truth will be finally consummated at the Heavenly Banquet, but before we enter the City, He offers us His Life-Fruit, for the healing of the nations.

3There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; 4they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. 5And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.

These verses are an allusion to Zechariah 14:1-11, which describe the end judgement. They remind us that nothing impure or unholy can stand before the All-Holy God. Unless we are made perfectly holy, we cannot enter Heaven. This is the reason for Purgatory. It is God's Grace to us yet again, preparing us to truly enter into His presence!

His name shall be on their foreheads: God brands us, owns us, and claims us as His own. He knows us and all who are there are wanted.

6And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place. 7And behold, I am coming soon." Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.
8I John am he who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me; 9but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

Jesus gives us His own guarantee that these things are certain. Nothing will change. Nothing will take Him by surprise or catch Him off guard. John once again reminds us of the evil of idolatry--worshipping even God's servants in place of God is sin. Even the most glorious and most perfect of God's servants are still His servants.

10And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy." 12"Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." 14Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood.

This is a hard passage. Jesus' return is soon, so we should let the sinner keep sinning?! I do not think that is the correct interpretation of those words, for verse 14 says that they are blessed who wash their robes white (through baptism and repentance). However, there is a stern warning in verse 11 that there will come a day when they will fail to hear the words of prophecy and righteousness, and there will come a time when it will be too late to repent. If we are baptised, and remain in a state of Grace, we may eat the Tree of Life (The Eucharist) so that we can enter into the City (Heaven)!

16"I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star."
17The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let him who hears say, "Come." And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price.

Jesus again reminds us who He is, and the Holy Spirit and the Church repeat His promise of Living Water without price. It's not yet too late!

18I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

People hesitate to study Revelation, because it is so confusing. The Reformer, Martin Luther, wanted to remove it from Scripture because he said, "A revelation should be revealing." And yet it is revealing! When we take the time to study it with the Church and the Spirit, we see more clearly the full depth and wonder of Jesus, His plan, and His presence--especially in the Mass!

20He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

AMEN!

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Revelation 21

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; 3and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; 4he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."

Chapter 21 starts off with an allusion to Isaiah 65:17: "For look, I am going to create a new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered and will come to mind no more." Verse 1 mentions that in the New Heaven and New Earth, there will be no sea. It seems like a random detail, but in the Hebrew mind, the sea is a symbol of chaos, uncertainty, and death. That John (as a fisherman, who had at least twice in the Gospel been rescued by Jesus at sea) mentions it, is a clear indication that its absence is integral to the structure of the New World--one of peace, perfection, order, and life!

The context talks about God's just judgement and those who have served Him will be rewarded with peace, and will forget all the pain that had ever afflicted them. Verse 2 compares the Church to the Bride, the most common image of our relationship with God in the Bible, already seen in Chapter 19. In this new heaven and earth, God will be with His People in a way never before experienced. Verse three and four contain allusions to Ezekiel 37:27, a prophecy of the New and Eternal Covenant that God would make with His People, and which Jesus made with us in the Eucharist (Luke 22:20), as well as an allusion to Isaiah 25:8 (wiping away every tear). Isaiah 25:6-12 is about the Divine Banquet that God's people will come to at the end. Liturgically, again, we are at the Eucharist.

5And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. 7He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. 8But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."

In the movie, The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson puts verse 5 into Jesus' mouth when He meets His Mother as He carries His cross. Through Christ's death and resurrection, He has indeed made all things new--and in the end, will complete what He has started! In fact, as verse 6 tells us, from God's perspective, it has indeed already happened! The end of verse 6 is the same promise that Jesus gave in John 7:37-38. Further, He challenges us to press on and conquer, to realise our destinies as sons and daughters of God. All those who fail to hold out, but fall into deadly, mortal sin, will be punished in Hell. This is the flip-side to God's Love. If He was not just in His punishment, He would not truly love those who had faithfully served Him.

9Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed; 13on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

This section begins with an allusion to Ezekiel 40:2, which describes an angel taking Ezekiel to the top of a high mountain in order to show him the New Jerusalem. Ezekiel then describes the New Jerusalem for 9 chapters (40-48) in order to finish his book. John condenses those 9 chapters into half of one, but throughout, the allusions are to that passage. In short, the New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ, the Church, will be radiant, beautiful, pure, and precious. It will also be vast and perfect.

15And he who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its breadth; and he measured the city with his rod, twelve thousand stadia; its length and breadth and height are equal. 17He also measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits by a man's measure, that is, an angel's. 18The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. 19The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. 22And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24By its light shall the nations walk; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it, 25and its gates shall never be shut by day--and there shall be no night there; 26they shall bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

In various versions of Scripture, the gems and the measurements vary. While I do not believe that the exact identity of the gems is entirely relevant, except to say that the New Jerusalem is glorious and priceless, the measurements being 144,000 cubits high does ring as symbolic, referring once again to the perfection of the New Jerusalem (as well as to its inhabitants, recalling the 144,000 witnesses from chapter 7). Unlike Ezekiel's vision, which spends nearly the whole 9 chapters describing the New Temple, John says that there will not even be a Temple, for that will be God the Father and Jesus Himself. And all who are there are there on purpose. They have been listed in the Book of Life! With God, there are no oversights. Only perfection and justice, and peace for ever.

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Revelation 20

20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended. After that he must be loosed for a little while.

According to the traditional teaching of the Church, this 1000 year period is symbolic of the Church Age--that is, now. Satan, while not destroyed, is hindered from deceiving the nations, as evidenced by the spread of the Church throughout the World. In fact, Christianity is growing more now than it ever has before! Compare this passage with what Jesus says in Luke 10:17-20, right after the 70 disciples return from their missionary journey. Seventy, notably, is the symbolic biblical number representing the totality of the Gentile nations!

4Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand years.

Verse 4 contains an allusion to Daniel 7:22, which is the Messianic Judgement, in which Daniel's fourth beast is finally judged. The Beast of Revelation, recall, is a combination of all four of Daniel's beasts.

The 1000 years is again the Church Age. How is this reconciled with talk of first and second resurrections? The key, obviously, is to understand what the first and second resurrection refer to, as well as the first and second death, for they are related. The first resurrection corresponds to the second death, and the second resurrection to the first death.

The first resurrection is our rebirth, where our souls come to life by God's Grace and we enter His Covenant. The Second Death is spiritual death and separation from God for eternity in Hell. While those who are alive in Christ will die physically, they will not die spiritually. Our physical death is the first death, which corresponds to the second resurrection--that of our bodies.

So our first resurrection is our souls coming alive in Christ. This is followed by the first death, that of our bodies. After this, at the end, our bodies will be resurrected and we will come before the final judgement, where if we were partakers of the first resurrection, we have no need to fear the second death.

Those who have received the first resurrection are the Church, who reign with Christ this "1000 years".

7And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be loosed from his prison 8and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9And they marched up over the broad earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city; but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

At the end of the Church Age, there will be the Great Tribulation that Jesus predicted in Matthew 25:15-25, which was immediately fulfilled by the Sack of Jerusalem, but ultimately is fulfilled here, at the end of time. Gog and Magog were the enemies that God overcame in Ezekiel 38 (and in the last chapter, the references to Ezekiel 39 were to the triumph over Gog and Magog). God is the one who fights the battle against these figures, representative of the power of the world led by Satan. This final rebellion results in Satan's ultimate defeat.

11Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.

In the presence of Almighty God, nothing else seems to exist, let alone have any relevance, hence the earth and sky fled away. There are no more hiding places and no more excuses. Rather, the books are laid open (an allusion to Daniel 7:10). These books contain the written account of all our deeds, which form the basis of our judgement. Further to that, another book was opened, the Lamb's book of life. This book is the one mentioned in Revelation 13:8, about which it says that those who worship the beast are those who are not in this Book of Life. Some translations of Rev. 13:8 make the statement that the names written in this Book were there from the foundation of the world, while others make the claim that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. The Church accepts both teachings.

This Book, therefore, is the Roll of those who have been predestined to Grace. It raises the age-old question of "Does God predestine everything, or do we have free will?" The Catholic Church, again, teaches both, that God predestines, but does so in a way that leaves our will free to choose. It is a mystery, along with how is One God, three separate persons?

However, the important thing to note is that we are judged by our deeds, which we are responsible for. In that mysterious way, we will deserve the judgement that we receive, which will also be corroborated by the Book of Life. This is why Revelation 13:10 stresses that "the saints must have perseverance and faith."

13And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. 14Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; 15and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

God's just judgement is completed, and even Death and Hades are destroyed by the second death. How can Hell (the second death) destroy Hades (commonly understood to be Hell)? I think, rather, Hades refers to the state of separation from God that precedes the final resurrection, where souls before the resurrection go that are not saved, whereas the second death refers to that place where the resurrected bodies of those who are not saved end up.

Let us rejoice in God's justice and love for us, and strive to continue in that love and in His Grace.

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Revelation 19

19 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2for his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants." 3Once more they cried, "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever." 4And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!"

This comes immediately after the destruction of "Babylon" described in the 17th and 18th chapters. Verse 3 contains an allusion to Isaiah 34:10, which prophesies the destruction of Edom, one of Israel's many enemies. The Babylon of the last two chapters is the enemy of the New Jerusalem, and so that New Jerusalem, the Church, rejoices in her destruction.

Keeping with the notion that Revelation is a spiritual look at the Liturgy, verse 4 brings us to the Great Amen that we sing out just before praying the Our Father and receiving Communion.

5And from the throne came a voice crying, "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great." 6Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure"--for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God." 10Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God." For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Verse 5 ends with an allusion to Psalm 115:13: you who fear him, small and great. Psalm 115 is a poem that exults in the reality and power of God, and derides idols and their worship, reminding us again of the crimes of Babylon, and reminding us that we must fear God alone. Vv. 7-9 bring us right up, liturgically, to the main event: The Eucharist--the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! Notably, the Bride, the Church, is clothed in white, which represents purity. She is robed so because of the deeds of the saints: a reminder again to persevere in holiness. Verse 10 once again highlights the theme of combating idolatry.

11Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. 13He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. 15From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords.

The coming of Christ! Just as we see Him at the beginning of Revelation, so He comes at the end, triumphant and in power! The Scriptural allusions in this section, in vv. 11, 13, 15, and 16, are from Isaiah 11:4; 63:1; and Psalm 2:9. They serve to show that this person is indeed the Messiah.

Christ comes among us in the Eucharist no less powerfully, though perhaps less dynamically. The Eucharist is our key weapon in the combat against the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. Those who persevere fight with Christ, dressed, as He is, in white.

This isn't "at the end of the world" necessarily. This is Now! Christ is among us now! Yet, also, He will come again in glory at the End.

17Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great."

The end of verse 17, and beginning of verse 18 are an allusion to Ezekiel 39:17. The allusion is completed in verse 21 of this chapter, which alludes to Ez 39:20. It is a reference to God's final defeat of Israel's enemies, and His showing His glory to the whole world.

19And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who sits upon the horse and against his army. 20And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had worked the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. 21And the rest were slain by the sword of him who sits upon the horse, the sword that issues from his mouth; and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

This is it! The huge climactic battle of Revelation--the whole World verses the Church with Christ. You'd think there'd be more to it, but victory is a given when you're with God!

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Revelation 18

18 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor. 2And he called out with a mighty voice, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird; 3for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness."

The dirges sung over Babylon the great are drawn from the prophetic indictments against proud cities, especially Jeremiah 50-51; Ezekiel 26-28; and Isaiah 47.

4Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed. 7As she glorified herself and played the wanton, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning. Since in her heart she says, 'A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see,' 8so shall her plagues come in a single day, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she shall be burned with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her."

When Rome invaded and destroyed Jerusalem, no Christians were harmed, because they had come out of her, as Jesus had instructed them in Matthew 24:15-22.

9And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and were wanton with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; 10they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

Alas! alas! thou great city,
thou mighty city, Babylon!
In one hour has thy judgment come.

11And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, 12cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.
14"The fruit for which thy soul longed has gone from thee, and all thy dainties and thy splendor are lost to thee, never to be found again!"
15The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

16Alas, alas, for the great city
that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet,
bedecked with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!
17In one hour all this wealth has been laid waste.

And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, "What city was like the great city?" 19And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,

Alas, alas, for the great city
where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
In one hour she has been laid waste.

Fascinatingly, her once-allies and consorts stand afar off, mourning, not so much for her, but for the loss of her wealth and power that they participated in.

20"Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!"

We are instructed to rejoice in her judgement, because God has judged truly and righteously. The evil that she has done against the saints has been requited, and God has displayed His justice.

21Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

So shall Babylon the great city
be thrown down with violence,
and shall be found no more;
22and the sound of harpers and minstrels,
of flute players and trumpeters,
shall be heard in thee no more;
and a craftsman of any craft shall be found in thee no more;
and the sound of the millstone shall be heard in thee no more;
23and the light of a lamp shall shine in thee no more;
and the voice of bridegroom and bride
shall be heard in thee no more;
for thy merchants were the great men of the earth,
and all nations were deceived by thy sorcery.
24And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of all who have been slain on earth.

Jerusalem, Babylon the great city has been judged for her treason against God's covenants and the killings of the prophets and the saints. God uses the very beast she has ridden and allied herself with, to bring about her ruin. The beast, though, continues its persecutions of God's people, and finally comes to wage war against Christ Himself, and it too will be destroyed.

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Revelation 17

17 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, 2with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk." 3And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; 5and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations." 6And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her I marveled greatly. 7But the angel said to me, "Why marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.

We come here to the description of the downfall of Babylon the great, mother of harlots. In the Old Testament, Babylon was the epitome of evil nations, having conquered and led Judea into exile in 586 BC. Babylon, however, by John's day, no longer existed. Hence, John is using the term figuratively. So what is the identity of Babylon, and what is the beast she is described as riding?

8The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition; and the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
9This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while. 11As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to perdition.

The Beast we recall from chapter 13 as the spirit behind corrupt political empires. Here, it is narrowed down a little bit more, with the seven heads referring both to seven hills, and to seven kings. The Seven Hills suggest the Seven Hills of Ancient Rome, and the kings its Caesars--probably to those especially that persecuted the Christians: Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Decius, Valerian, and Diocletian. The seventh, who is still to come, could refer to another in the line, or, more likely, to the final Anti-Christ. Hence, in the final analysis, the Beast immediately relates to Rome, but just as in chapter 13, cannot be confined to it. The final persecution (the great tribulation) will be in the same spirit as the Neronic persecution that killed Sts. Peter and Paul.

12And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13These are of one mind and give over their power and authority to the beast; 14they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

These ten kings are vassal kings under Rome, who work in allegiance to it. They are mentioned also in Daniel 7:24.

15And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. 16And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot; they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and giving over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18And the woman that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth."

Here we come to the woman. Above, she is described as committing fornication with the kings of the earth. Throughout the Old Testament, and especially in Ezekiel 16, harlotry is metaphorically used as violating God's covenant to commit idolatry. She is described as being dressed in royal garments and decked with wealth, referring to her power and commerce under Rome's authority. She is seated on the beast, Rome, indicating her alliance. Together with the beast, she persecutes the saints and martyrs of Jesus. Finally, she is described as the great city, and throughout Revelation, there is only one "great city." Chapter 11 identifies it as Jerusalem.

Rome and its allies did indeed turn on Jerusalem, and utterly destroyed it with fire. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh, an allusion to the fate of Jerusalem in Ezekiel 16:39, because of her harlotries described there.

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Revelation 16

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."
2So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea.4The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. 5And I heard the angel of water say, "Just art thou in these thy judgments, thou who art and wast, O Holy One. 6For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. It is their due!" 7And I heard the altar cry, "Yea, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are thy judgments!"

The Seven Bowl Judgements begin, causing plagues on the earth that are reminiscent of the 10 Plagues with which God struck Egypt to free the Israelites (Exodus ch. 7-12). The angel and the martyrs (under the altar, see chapter 6) proclaim God's justice in His judgements and celebrate His triumph over evil.

8The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; 9men were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.
10The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish 11and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

God's judgements continue, but note, through it all, God's mercy: though the people refuse to repent of their wickedness, John's mentioning that fact tells us that even now, they still have the chance to. Instead, unlike Job, who suffered similarly but refused to "curse God and die," but "in all this misfortune Job uttered no sinful word" (Job 2:9-10, NJB), rather, the people do in fact [curse] the name of God rather than give Him glory.

12The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs; 14for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15("Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!") 16And they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew Armageddon.

The sixth judgement is that the Euphrates dries up to make a highway for the world's armies to come together to fight against God. At first, this does not seem like a judgement or a plague, but realise that a) all things are in God's plan, and b) the nations who come together will not only surely lose (who can fight against God?) but in their act of war against Him will seal their fate and show God's justice to be altogether true.

Satan and the two beasts send forth evil spirits to rally the troops. Even in this, they are not achieving anything against God, but playing right into His hand. They meet at the place called Armageddon, which is a symbol for disaster since the good King Josiah was killed there in 2 Kings 23:29). Satan is no fool. He knows his fate (John recorded it in this very book!), and he will try to take as many souls down with him when he goes. This is why spreading the Gospel throughout the world is so incredibly important.

17The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" 18And there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. 20And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; 21and great hailstones, heavy as a hundred-weight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.

The seventh plague comes, and it is beyond anything we've ever seen. Such as had never been since men were on the earth: an allusion to Daniel 11:40-12:1:

When the time comes for the End, the king of the south will try conclusions with him; but the king of the north will come storming down on him with chariots, calvary, and a large fleet. He will invade countries, overrun them and drive on. He will invade the Land of Splendour, and many will fall; but Edom, Moab, and what remains of the sons of Ammon will escape him.
He will reach out to attack countries: Egypt will not escape him. The gold and silver treasures and all the valuables of Egypt will lie in his power. Libyans and Cushites will be at his feet: but reports coming from the East and the north will worry him, and in great fury he will set out to bring ruin and complete destruction to many. He will pitch the tents of his royal headquarters between the sea and the mountains of the Holy Splendour. Yet he will come to his end--there will be no help for him.
At that time Michael will arise--the great Prince, defender of your people. That will be a time of great distress, unparalleled since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, your own people will be spared--all those whose names are found written in the Book (NJB).

Daniel's prophecy refers to the persecution and downfall of Antiochus Epiphanes, one of Israel's greatest enemies, and a prefigurement of the AntiChrist. Hence, John's allusion to this passage sets up both the climactic battle, and the ultimate defeat, of the Dragon and his Beasts.

But first, John mentions that God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. The next two chapters relate the identity and punishment of Babylon.

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Revelation 15

15 Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended. 2And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

Great and wonderful are thy deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are thy ways,
O King of the ages!
4Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord?
For thou alone art holy.
All nations shall come and worship thee,
for thy judgments have been revealed.

This brings us to the beginning of the end: the Seven Bowl Judgements. These are the final element of God's justice on the world. Those who have overcome the evils in this world praise God for His justice. The Song of Moses: Sung in Exodus 15, after the Egyptian Army has been destroyed by God at the Red Sea, celebrates God's deliverance of the Israelites. However, this hymn that John records is actually from Jeremiah 10:7 and Psalm 86:9, which in context celebrate the True God over false idols (Jeremiah 10) and His victory over enemies (Psalm 86).

5After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, 6and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, and their breasts girded with golden girdles. 7And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever; 8and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.

God again reveals His glory in the Temple, an allusion to 1 Kings 8, when Solomon has built the Temple, and brings the Ark into it. In verse 10, God's glory fills the Temple so thickly that, according to verse 11, the priests are unable to perform their duties because of God's Glory.

At the End, God's presence will be so thick with us, that there will be no denying Him, but everyone will have an awareness of Who He Is, and that His Judgements are true and just.

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Revelation 14

14 Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpers playing on their harps, 3and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth. 4It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste; it is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are spotless.

Here we have again the 144,000 people from Revelation 7:1-8. There, they were described as having been "seal[ed] on the foreheads," an allusion to Ezekiel 9:4, and a reference to the Sign of the Cross. Here in chapter 14, that seal is again mentioned, described this time as having the Lamb's name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. Again, this clearly represents the Sign of the Cross, as when at baptism and confirmation, and even when we make the Sign of the Cross in our prayers, we say "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" as we mark ourselves (or are marked by the priest) with the cross. More is revealed about these redeemed ones--it is only they who learn the New Song, they are consecrated to virginity, they always follow the Lamb, they do not lie and are pure, and they have been redeemed as the "firstfruits" for God. This is an allusion to Jeremiah 2:2-3, and identifies this group as the New Israel, under the New Covenant.

Liturgically, their consecration to celibacy is striking, as it was a rarity in John's time, in the Middle East. Yet we find it plentifully in the Catholic Priesthood and Religious.

6Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water."

Again, with God's just judgement, there is an opportunity to repent, and be saved. His Mercy is always present.

8Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of her impure passion."
9And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." 12Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 13And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!"

V. 8: We'll discuss the identity and fall of Babylon when she reappears in chapters 17 and 18.

Those who have betrayed God and taken the Mark of the Beast are to be punished. They have made their choice with full knowledge, and there is no going back. Sadly, it is eternal punishment for them. This is why we as Christians must continue to endure, and never turn our backs on Christ.

Those who have died in Christ, at this point, are called blessed, because they can rest (a contrast to those "stalled in the sixth day" of work, as Scott Hahn writes about those who take the mark of the beast, in chapter 13). They are blessed especially because their good deeds which they have done go with them into Heaven.

14Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat upon the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe." 16So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17And another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has power over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Put in your sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe." 19So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God; 20and the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse's bridle, for one thousand six hundred stadia.

This is a fascinating passage. Liturgically, as I've said, we have entered the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This passage, then, could be interpreted as the "Bringing of the Gifts", when the bread and the wine are brought forth to be consecrated. This scene is described throughout with the metaphor of harvesting the wheat and preparing the wine.

What is striking about it, though, is that the "wheat" and the "wine", are those on the earth who are to be judged! Rather than the familiar Eucharistic imagery, we are presented with a rather violent scene. But as we mentioned in Chapter 5, the Mass is a Court of Justice for us. We find forgiveness and the renewal of the Covenant through the Eucharist; but for those who refuse to repent, the Eucharist is also a punishment. In 1 Corinthians 11:28-32, St. Paul tells us,

Everyone is to examine himself and only hten eat of the bread or drink of the cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognising the body is eating and drinking his own condemnation. That is why many of you are weak and ill and a good number have died. If we are critical of ourselves we would not be condemned, but when we are judged by the Lord, we are corrected by the Lord to save us from being condemned along with the world (NJB).

Mass is serious business. Jesus Himself is present in the Eucharist. We must persevere in a right relationship with Him, and approach Him with due honour.

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Revelation 13

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads. 2And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder. 4Men worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?" 5And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months; 6it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, 8and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. 9If any one has an ear, let him hear: 10If any one is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if any one slays with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

For this chapter, I defer to Scott Hahn's descriptions of the beasts and the Mark of the Beast, and will add my own comments only sparingly.

THE FIRST BEAST
..Unsuccessful in his assaults on the woman and her son, the dragon returns to attack her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. The dragon summons his own seed, two dreadful beasts. Oddly enough, amid all the hopeful and awe-inspiring images of the Apocalypse, these hideous monsters seem to spark the most interest. Moviemakers and televangelists dwell longer, by far, on 666 than on the glassy sea or the Lion of Judah.
..I feel an urgency to impress upon you the reality of the beasts. They are symbols, but they're not just symbols. They are real spiritual beings, members of the satanic "lowerarchy," demonic persons who have controlled and corrupted the political destiny of nations. John describes two ugly beasts. But I believe the beasts he saw were much more horrible than his description.
..In much of Revelation--but especially chapters 4 and 5--John describes the realities behind the Mass. Now, he does the same with sin and evil. Just as our actions in the liturgy are united with unseen heavenly things, so are our sinful deeds attached to infernal wickedness. In the Mass, what does God want to make us? A kingdom of priests who reign through their sacrificial offerings. On the other hand, what does Satan want to accomplish through the beasts? He wants to subvert God's plan by corrupting both kingdom and priesthood. Thus, John shows us, first, the demon that corrupts government authority, the state. Next, he reveals the demon of corrupt religious authority.
..First beasts first: from the sea arises a hideous seven-headed, ten-horned monster, a terrifying combination of leopard, lion, and bear. The horns symbolise power; the diadems (or crowns), kingship. Both its power and its kingship it receives from the dragon. We would err, however, if we identified this beast with monarchy in general. No, the beast represents corrupt political authority of any sort.
..It's tempting, too, to identify the beast exclusively with Rome, or with the Herodian dynasty that Rome maintained in the Holy Land. Certainly the Rome of John's day typified the sort of government represented by the beast. But the beast itself does not allow for such a simple identification. It's actually a combination of all four of the beasts from a vision of the Old Testament prophet Daniel (see Dan 7). I follow the Church Fathers, who saw Daniel's beasts pointing to four gentile empires: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome--all of whom persecuted God's people before the Messiah's coming.
..Revelation's seven-headed beast, then, stands for all corrupted political power. For it's a human impulse to look upon the power of the state as the greatest power on earth and say, like the people in the Apocalypse, "Who can fight against it?" Out of fear for this power--or desire for a piece of the action--people constantly compromise themselves and worship the dragon and the beast. History's most blatant example of a human institution usurping God's prerogatives is Rome and its Caesars. They literally demanded the worship that belongs to God alone. And they made war on the saints, instigating bloody persecutions of those who would not worship the emperor.
..Again, however, I must emphasize that the beast is not only Rome, or Rome's puppet, the Herodians. The beast refers also to any corrupt government, any state that puts itself above God's covenant order. More than that, the beast represents the corrupting spiritual force behind these institutions. (The Lamb's Supper, pp. 80-82.)

Before we move on, I just wanted to briefly comment on verse 8. All the world will worship this first beast, except those who are written in the Lamb's book of Life. According to the RSV used here, as well as the New Jerusalem Bible that I use, tell us that those whose names are in the Sacrificial Lamb's book of life, have been recorded since before the foundation of the world, emphasising the soveriegn election of God, who has predestined them to grace. However, other translations, such as the King James Version and the Douay-Rheims, read "And all that dwell upon the earth adored him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb which was slain from the beginning of the world" (D-R), emphasising the eternal sacrifice of the Lamb (from heaven's perspective). This is also the wording that St. Jerome used in the Latin Vulgate, and the way that the words themselves are ordered in the original Greek. As such, we have a double truth here: God has predestined many to receive His Grace, and those who persevere in that have no need to fear the Beast (verse 10). Second, Christ's sacrifice is eternal, extending before the past began and beyond the end of time. This is why John portrays Him throughout Revelation as the Slain Lamb. And this is how, in the Eucharist, we are participating in that selfsame sacrifice on the Cross, represented to us in the Mass!

11Then I saw another beast which rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13It works great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men; 14and by the signs which it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on earth, bidding them make an image for the beast which was wounded by the sword and yet lived; 15and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast should even speak, and to cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
18This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.

Again, Scott Hahn writes about the Second Beast:

THE SECOND BEAST
..This beast comes from the earth and has horns like a lamb. The lamb imagery is jarring, as we've come by now to associate it with sacred things. John's use of it, I believe, is intentional, for I believe that this beast is meant to suggest the corrupted priesthood in first-century Jerusalem.
..The initial clue is that this beast comes out of "the earth," which in the original Greek could also mean "the land" or "the country," as opposed to "the sea," which brings forth the gentile beasts (see Dan 7). Further, John was likely bearing witness to the ultimate compromise of priestly authority, which had occurred only a few years before. In a dramatic historical moment, religious authority had given its allegiance to corrupt government authority instead of God. Jesus, the Lamb of God, High King and High Priest, stood before Pontius Pilate and the chief priests of the Jews. Pilate said to the Jews, "Here is your king!" They cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!" Pilate replied, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar" (see Jn 19:15). Indeed, it was the high priest himself, Caiaphas, who first spoke of Jesus' sacrifice as politically "expedient" for the people (see Jn 11:47-52).
..So they rejected Christ and elevated Caesar. They rejected the Lamb and worshiped the beast. Certainly Caesar was the government's ruler and as such deserved respect (see Lk 20:21-25). But Caesar wanted more than respect. He demanded sacrificial worship, which the chief priests gave him when they handed over the Lamb of God.
..The beast resembles a lamb in some superficial features. We see that everything he does is in mimicry and mockery of the Lamb's saving work. The Lamb stands as though it had been slain; the beast receives a mortal wound, but recovers. God enthrones the Lamb; the dragon enthrones the beast. Those who worship the Lamb receive His sign on hteir foreheads (Rev 7:2-4); those who worship the beast wear the mark of the beast.
..Which brings us to the difficult question: What is the mark of the beast? John tells us that it is the name of the beast, or the number of its name. What is that? John answers in a riddle: "This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six" (Rev 13:18).
..One one level, the number may represent the Roman Emperor Nero, whose name transliterated into Hebrew indeed has the value 666. Yet there are many other, or additional, possibilities. Consider that 666 was the number of gold talents King Solomon required from the nations yearly (see 1 Kgs 10). Consider also that Solomon was the first priest-king since Melchizedek (see Ps 110). Moreover, John says that discerning the identity of the beast "calls for wisdom," which some interpreters have seen as another reference to Solomon, who was renowned for his wisdom.
..Finally, 666 can be interpreted as a degredation of the number seven, which, in Israel's tradition, represented perfection, holiness, and the covenant. The seventh day, for example, was declared holy by God and set aside for rest and worship. Work was done in six days; it was sanctified, however, in the sacrificial worship represented by the seventh day. The number "666," then, represents a man stalled in the sixth day, serving the beast who concerns himself with buying and selling (see Rev 13:17) without rest for worship. Though work is holy, it becomes evil when man refuses to offer it to God.
..Yet we should be clear about something. This interpretation should not lead any Christian to justify anti-Semitism. The Book of Revelation overwhelmingly demonstrates the dignity of Israel--its Temple, its prophets, its covenants. The Apocalypse should rather lead us to a greater appreciation for our heritage in Israel--and to a sober consideration of our own accountability before God. How well are we living according to our covenant with God? How faithful are we to our priesthood? The book stands as a warning to all of us.
..The beastly message is this: we are fighting spiritual forces: immense depraved, malevolent forces. If we had to fight them alone, we'd be trounced. But here's good news: there is a way we can hope to overcome. The solution has to match the problem, spiritual force for spiritual force, immense beauty for immense ugliness, holiness for depravity, love for malevolence. The solution is the Mass, when heaven touches down to save an earth under siege. (The Lamb's Supper, pp. 82-85)

Amen!

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Revelation 12

11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
12And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.

Here we have a startling development! Liturgically, we move into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, preceded by the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet. John sees the Heavenly Sanctuary open, and, wonder of wonders, there is the Ark of the Covenant, displayed with lightning and thunder! Perhaps to us, the significance is lost, but this Ark was the most holy relique in all of Judaism. But it had not been seen in more than 500 years, because at the time of the Babylonian Captivity, the prophet Jeremiah had hidden it away in the wilderness (2 Maccabees 2:1-8). "The place is to remain unknown," he said, "unitl God gathers his people together again and shows them his mercy" (v.7, NJB). As such, St. John's revelation of the Ark of the Covenant is of monumental importance, and yet, he seems to spend just one verse on it before changing the subject entirely.

The truth is, he does not change the subject at all, in turning his attention to The Woman. The Ark seen in Heaven, and the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars are one and the same. Who is this Woman? John describes her as pregnant and in labour, later saying that she gives birth to a child who would rule the nations with an iron sceptre--a Messianic reference to Psalm 2:9. The Child, then, is Jesus. The Woman is His Mother, Mary. Scott Hahn writes:

...When John describes the woman, he is describing the ark--of the New Covenant. And who is the woman? She is the one who gives birth to the male child Who will rule the nations. The child is Jesus; His mother is Mary.
What made the original ark so holy? Not the gold that coated the outside, but hte Ten Commandments inside--the Law that had been inscribed by the finger of God on tablets of stone. What else was inside? Manna, the miracle bread that fed the people in thier pilgrimage through the wasteland; Aaron's rod that blossomed as a sign of his office as high priest (see Nm 17).
What makes the new ark holy? The old ark contained the word of God written in stone; Mary contained in her womb the Word of God Who became man and dwelt among us. The ark contained manna; Mary contained the living bread come down from heaven. The ark contained the rod of the high priest Aaron; Mary's womb contained the eternal high priest, Jesus Christ. In the heavenly temple, the Word of God is Jesus, and the ark in whom He resides is Mary, His mother. (The Lamb's Supper, pp. 77-78)

We are briefly seeing the Heavenly perspective on Salvation History from Christmas onward.

3And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. 4His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; 5she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

The Dragon is Satan. seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads represent his pretentions to perfection, completeness, and authority. The third of the stars of heaven represent the angelic warriors who rebelled with Satan. Verses 5-6 recall the ancient first prophecy of the Messiah in Genesis 3:15:

'I shall put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
it wiil bruise your head
and you will strike its heel' (NJB).

Satan's plans to destroy the Messiah fail, ultimately resulting in his own destruction, while the Child and the Woman are kept safe.

7Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"

Going back to the Ark of the Covenant parallel for just a moment, historically, according to the Old Testament, the priests would carry the Ark into battle, and God would fight for His people. Here again we see the Ark in the context of war--the greatest of wars, between Heaven and Hell. Michael, the defender of Israel, and his heavenly armies route Satan and his legions, and cast them out of Heaven. This is not simply "Heaven" as in God's Home, but the Kingdom of Heaven, the Church. While we still must persevere in fighting against Satan and evil, the victory is won, and God has the Kingdom, Christ has the power, and we have the duty to spread that Kingdom throughout the earth. The Battle was won through by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. We must persevere in that victory.

13And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child. 14But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

Having been defeated by God and His armies, Satan turns his attentions to the Church, trying to destroy the woman (but all of nature is at God's command, and He fights for us), and to her offspring: those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. We are the sons and daughters of Mary. Scott Hahn again writes:

Others object that the woman cannot be Mary because the woman in Revelation has other offspring, and the Church teaches that Mary was perpetually virgin. But Scripture often uses the term "offspring" (in Greek, sperma to describe one's spiritual descendants. The children of Mary, her spiritual offspring, are those "who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus (Rev 12:17). We are the other offspring of the woman. We are the children of Mary.
Thus Revelation also portrays Mary as the "New Eve," mother of all the living. I the Garden of Eden, God promised to "put enmity" between Satan, the ancient serpent, and Eve--and between Satan's "seed and her seed" (Gen 3:15). Now, in the Apocalypse, we see the climax of this enmity. The seed of the new woman, Mary, is the male son, Jesus Christ, Who comes to defeat the serpent (in Hebrew, the same word, nahash, can apply to both dragon and serpent).
This is the overwhelming teaching of the Fathers, Doctors, saints and popes of the Church, both ancient and modern. It is the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (see no. 1138).... Pope St. Pius X spoke eloquently for the Tradition in his encyclical letter Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum:

Everyone knows that this woman signified the Virgin Mary.... John therefore saw the Most Holy Mother of God already in eternal happiness, yet travailing in a mysterious childbirth. What childbirth was it? Surely it was the birth of us who, still in exile, are yet to be generated to the perfect charity of God, and to eternal happiness.

(The Lamb's Supper pp.79-80.)

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Revelation 11

11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told: "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months. 3And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." 4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth. 5And if any one would harm them, fire pours out from their mouth and consumes their foes; if any one would harm them, thus he is doomed to be killed. 6They have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during 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, as often as they desire. 7And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them, 8and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9For three days and a half men from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

Those who date the book of Revelation as preceding the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 tend to do so primarily based on verse 1 of this chapter, saying that if the temple had been destroyed, John would not have been able to measure it. However, these people seem to me to fail to take into account the fact that, according to John himself, he was exiled on the Island of Patmos, and would not have been able to measure the Temple, anyway.

Again, though, John uses the Sack of Jerusalem as a type of the end judgement of the world. The two witnesses mentioned have sparked much debate, as to their identities. John suggests their identities by the powers that are attributed to them--turning water into blood and calling down plagues: Moses. Shutting up the sky and calling down fire from heaven: Elijah. These together testify to the sins of the world and the just judgement of God. Verse 4 calls them the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth, an allusion to Zechariah 4:1-14.

Moses and Elijah (who appear talking to Jesus during His transfiguration, Matthew 17), typify the Law and the Prophets. Thus, their appearance and witness are not specifically literal, especially in the case of the original sack of Jerusalem. However, the Scriptural warnings about keeping the Law contianed in their Scriptures, which they forsook when they rejected and killed the Messiah, proclaimed to them the just judgement they received. Will Moses and Elijah literally return in the end times? That remains to be seen. However, it seems likely that they will, somehow (they did, after all, appear with Jesus). It says that the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will war with them and kill them. We will meet this beast in chapter 13. The deaths of the two witnesses are met with celebration and rejoicing that almost resembles Christmas! The world believes that the destruction of the Word of God brings freedom, and Satan counterfeits true joy. John calls the city where they are killed by the symbolic names of Sodom and Egypt--two great historic cities that were in opposition to God's plan, and so were judged. Then John lets us know the literal identity of the city, as being where Jesus was crucified. The indictment is that Jerusalem itself had opposed God's plan in killing the Messiah, and the Roman destruction of her was God's judgement. Again, Jerusalem stands as a type for the world that is in opposition to God.

11But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up hither!" And in the sight of their foes they went up to heaven in a cloud. 13And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

God's Word cannot be silenced. Moses and Elijah are resurrected, and then taken back up to Heaven--so that everyone could see! After this, there is an earthquake that kills 7000 people. Again, it is a symbolic number--7, symbolising perfection, and magnified by 1000. Hence, a lot of people, but the perfect amount at this time. God again is in control of every detail. Now, witnessing the witnesses come back to life and ascend to Heaven, and surviving the earthquake, the remaining people, struck with fear, give glory to God. However, this giving of glory is only temporary, as we shall see in chapter 13.

15Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." 16And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying, "We give thanks to thee, Lord God Almighty, who art and who wast, that thou hast taken thy great power and begun to reign. 18The nations raged, but thy wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding thy servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear thy name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth."

The seventh trumpet is blown, and Heaven exults that the Kingdom of the World is ruled by God and Christ! Looking at Revelation through the eyes of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word has ended, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist is about to begin.

I do realise that I have omitted Revelation 11:19. This was intentional, because it fits better as a part of verse 12, and will be commented on in that chapter.

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Revelation 10

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring; when he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down." 5And the angel whom I saw standing on sea and land lifted up his right hand to heaven 6and swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there should be no more delay, 7but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God, as he announced to his servants the prophets, should be fulfilled.

Before the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, we have a mighty angel descend from Heaven. Who is this angel? Though He is called an angel, it is Jesus Himself. We see this based on John's description of Him. He is wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. The cloud alludes to the glory of God (cf. 1 Kings 8:10-11; Matthew 17:1-8, esp. v. 5). By the rainbow, we see that even as God judges the world, He is still mindful of His covenant (cf. Genesis 9:12-17). His face like the sun and legs like pillars of fire recall John's description of Jesus from the first chapter. His feet, one on land and one on the sea, signify His authority over all of creation. His voice like a lion roaring, is an allusion to Amos 1:2 and 3:8, and confirm that this angel is indeed Jesus Himself:

Yahweh roars from Zion,
and makes Himself heard from Jerusalem...(Amos 1:2, NJB).

The Lion roars: who is not afraid?
Lord Yahweh has spoken: who will not prophesy? (Amos 3:8, NJB)

This allusion also sets up the exchange between John and Jesus in the next verses below. John is commanded not to reveal what the seven thunders proclaimed, and then Jesus swears that now is the time of judgement (another allusion, to Deuteronomy 32:40, where God swears to judge those who refuse to obey His Covenant).

8Then the voice which I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, "Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." 9So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll; and he said to me, "Take it and eat; it will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth." 10And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11And I was told, "You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings."

John is instructed to take the open scroll (the same scroll that only the Lamb who was Slain was worthy to open?) and to eat it, alluding to a similar command from God to the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:1-13. To eat the scroll is to know and to own the message. It tastes like honey, but turns the stomach--hearing a word from God is wonderful and exciting: God has spoken, to me! But the burden to proclaim that message is a heavy one--especially when it is a message of judgement that people will not want to hear. And this is just what the scroll signified. John now has to prophesy again, about the fate of the world.

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