Book of Revelation Fr. Thomas Hopko Part IV

April 2 The Millennial Reign
In this fourth lecture Fr. Thomas Hopko interprets the meaning of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ including the
significance of redemption, the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment before the throne of God.
The marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready (19:7). It was granted the bride to wear
fine linen, bright and pure. The fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints (19:8). The angel says, “Write, ‘Blessed
are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ These are the true words of God.” (19:9) John, upon
hearing these words, falls down in reverence. The angel says, “Stand up. I am a creature like you” (21:10). This is
very important because in the Book of Acts, when people witness miraculous events they fall down to worship at the
Apostles feet. The apostles tell them to stand up because they are creatures also. However, in the Gospels and
certainly in the book of Revelation, when everyone gathers around the Lamb and falls down to worship, He does not
say, “Stand up!” It’s one of the greatest proofs of the divinity of Christ.
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood (to show that He died) and His name is called The Word of God
(v.13), which of course is another name for Christ. His armies are with Him (v.14) and “out of His mouth goes a
sharp sword” (v.15) which is an image for the Word of God. On His robe and thigh is written, “King of Kings and
Lord of Lords” (v.16) which is a reference to Psalm 45. Those who belong to the Lamb do not carry a sword. They
carry this inscription. For the Christian, his/her sword and weapon is the Word of God.
In Chapter 20, the theme of the 1,000 years and second death is presented. For the Orthodox, the millennium is
now because the 1,000 years is a symbol for Christ’s reign on earth in those who belong to Him. Hopefully, Christ is
reigning on earth in us right now. Then He will come at the End and raise the dead. Those who belong to Christ have
already been raised from the dead. According to John, those who have done good come forth to the resurrection of
life and those who have done evil come forth to the resurrection of damnation. Those who come forth to damnation
are subjected to the second death—the lake of fire forever (v.10). This damnation, unlike Jehovah Witnesses belief,
does not mean annihilation. Hopko interprets it to mean that the life of the damned consists in an unending dying.
They would like to die but cannot. Just as the saints go from one glory to another in a process of deification, those
who are with the beast and refuse to worship the Lamb (even though they’re invited to even at this point) go from
one process of dying to another. The damned will experience an eternal process of consumption of themselves.
The Orthodox are not Universalists who believe that everyone will be saved and go to heaven with God. The fire
of the second death (20:15) after the Resurrection is not the fire of Babylon being destroyed. The second fire is the
presence of God Himself. In the city there is no sun (22:5). The sun is Christ the Lamb whose light fills the whole
creation including all the realm of the dead. Even the unrighteous dead are raised. St. John Chrysostom said it’s not
necessarily wonderful to be raised. If you’re being raised to damnation because you refused the grace and mercy of
God, even in the act of Resurrection, then the resurrection becomes your torment. Therefore, God ultimately
punishes nobody. This is the message of the Apocalypse. Babylon gets smashed because of its own evil. St. Gregory
the Theologian said, “The light of the final Parousia of the Lord, which is delight to the righteous, is torture to the
damned.” Hell is not the exclusion from the presence of God so much as having to put up with the presence of God
when it torments you.
Chapter 22 18For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to
these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19and if anyone takes away from the
words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book. 20He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 21The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
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Nothing is to be added, nor taken away because, according to the Tradition, this is the perfect revelation of God.
The Eastern Patriarchs quoted this passage in their response to Papal Letter in 1848 do distinguish Orthodoxy from
Rome. When we celebrate the Eucharist, we enter into the bridal chamber to have the most intimate physical
communion with God to become one flesh with Him. We become His body and bride. These are very erotic images.
The OT Book Song of Songs could not be read until one reached 30 years of age. Yet, it’s an image of the ultimate
union with God. If you’re familiar with mystical literature, you know it’s filled with nuptial, conjugal and erotic
images expressing the reality of the union. Therefore, unfaithfulness to God is expressed as adultery. This is why
marriage is so very precious and highly esteemed in our Tradition. For Orthodox, unlike the West, marriage (if it’s
done right according to God) is just as much of an eschatological image as celibacy is. Marriage may be more
difficult because of its other responsibilities. However, it is still possible and what we are created for. That’s why
marriage is a great mystery. This is why in the Christian tradition, the sin of sins will always be adultery—
unfaithfulness. This is why the quintessential sinner will always be the fallen woman. [4,1,11:20] This is not
implying that women are inherently bad. In fact, it means just the opposite. If the greatest image we have of
humanity is a woman (Virgin Mary) and we are all feminine in our relationship with God, then the greatest evil is to
betray that calling and commit fornication (Jeremiah says, as a stallion in heat on every high place and under every
green tree) with the one who is not God, who is not your lover (the one who loves and loves to the end). The Bible is
about God’s love for us that will not be broken, even by death. The peak of the love affair is when Christ on the
Cross says, “It is finished/consumated.” One can submit/surrender to this love and live in the house of the Father
forever or perish by having another lover. Life is basically a clash of loves.
So we have the woman (Jerusalem) and the harlot (Babylon). The woman is totally pure and holy. The harlot
fornicates with princes, kings and rulers of the earth (17:2; 18:3). There is also the clash between the son of the
woman who is the Lamb and the beast from the sea who comes with the harlot (12:13; 17:3). There is also the clash
between the offspring of the woman, those who belong to the Lamb, and those who belong to the beast (12:4,17).
Then there is the clash between Michael the Archangel and Satan (12:7-9). Then there are those seal by the lamb and
marked by the beast (13:16-17). Then there are those who are in the image of the Lamb and those who worship the
image of the beast. There are those who bear the name of the Lamb’s Father and those who bear the name of the
beast. Seal, mark, image, name are very biblical, relevant images to the reader of 100AD. They should be very
present to Orthodox Christians. We have our name, we are sealed on the day of our Chrismation “sealed with the
gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Those, who are patient with endurance, conquer with the Lamb (14:12). The Lamb is victorious. [4,2,00:01].
The 144,000 and the great crowd are they who have not committed fornication (14:1). They are called in the text
“parthenoi” which means ‘virgins” (14:4). This does not mean sexual virginity. It means they have not committed
fornication with the beast. They have not sold themselves to the rulers and kings of this earth. Their only king and
lord is Christ. Therefore, they are virgins. They have kept their baptismal robe pure, white and unstained.
The clash eventually ends. The woman on the scarlet beast is drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of
Jesus (17:6) because, for a time the beast is allowed to be victorious or appear to be victorious. The beast does not
realize that it is the very destruction of the saints and martyrs by which he gets destroyed. Just like when Christ was
crucified the devil won but was destroyed by the crucifixion itself. The martyrs and saints become victorious when
they are crushed to death. Those who make war with the Lamb, the Lamb will overcome them, for He is the Lord of
Lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called chosen (‘eklecte’ has same root as ‘ekklesia’) and
faithful (17:14). Jerusalem then conquers Babylon. The kings who committed fornication with the harlot are
crushed. In Chapter 18, it says in one hour [4,2,2:32] Babylon is laid to waste (18:10,17,19).
21Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “With such
violence Babylon the great city will be thrown down, and will be found no more; 22and the sound of harpists and
minstrels and of flutists and trumpeters will be heard in you no more; and an artisan of any trade will be found in
you no more; and the sound of the millstone will be heard in you no more; 23and the light of a lamp will shine in you
no more; and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more; for your merchants were the
magnates of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. 24And in you was found the blood of prophets
and of saints, and of all who have been slaughtered on earth.”
In the Russian tradition, the Song of Light on Holy Friday (Thursday) is sung three times during the 12 Gospels.
In the hymn it says, “The wise thief was made worthy of paradise in one hour.” It’s the same language in Revelation.
In other words, when Christ is on the Cross, in that hour, Babylon is destroyed. Then there is the end of the vision of
the heavenly Jerusalem. This perhaps is the easiest part of the book to read because there is simply the vision of the
final victory.
In Chapter 20, according to the Orthodox tradition, we are in the last time from the time of Christ until the End.
This last time may be long chronologically. The Christian always lives in the immediate/imminent coming of Christ.
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However, we must guard against using the book of Revelation to try to determine chronologically when the End will
be. People in every generation since Christ have tried to do this and have been wrong. We are still here. It does not
matter what anyone predicts or if they are right or wrong. We must be ready and prepared for the Second Coming of
Christ. In Luke 12, Jesus says when the Master comes He wants to find His slaves working. He does not want to find
them sitting around trying to figure out when He is going to come.
40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
43Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives.
Christians are always to be in a state of readiness because Christ is always coming. He comes every single Sunday in
the Eucharist whether we’re ready for Him or not. We better be ready every Sunday otherwise we are under
condemnation and judgment. Christ is always coming, even every minute.
Hopko believes that the Orthodox teaching (the teaching of Revelation as well) is that those who die before the
Lord comes, especially those who belong to Christ, have been baptized and believe in Him, they enter into His
kingdom and reign with Him already, now in spirit. The souls of the righteous dead are in Him. If we are in Christ
and have the Holy Spirit in us, if Christ is raised from the dead and lives to make intercession to the Father on our
behalf, then those who die are already raised in Him. This is the first resurrection which begins with the baptismal
resurrection in the Church. We believe it enables us not to be overcome by death because Christ is risen and
destroyed Sheol. He is already glorified. If we die and are in Christ, then we are glorified with Him. That’s why we
believe that the Saints, whose bones are in/under the altar, are making intercession for us. They are in Christ, with
Him and alive. Those who believe in Him have passed over from death to life.
Everyone who dies must come into this presence of Christ. We believe that at the end of history, Christ will
come in glory, that all the dead will be raised with a spiritual body (see St. Paul in Corinthians). We are not raised
biologically. Even Jesus’ resurrection was not biological resuscitation. The angels did not roll away the stone to let
Jesus out. They rolled it away to show He was not there. St. Paul says that at the general resurrection we will be like
Jesus with a divinely energized body. That’s important for Orthodox because we believe the body is not evil. We are
not Manicheans, Platonists or Spiritualists. We believe that the whole of material creation is good and will be saved
by God. The scriptures testify to this repeatedly by naming all the different elements of creation as they praise God.
The book Revelation does the same thing. We are not spiritualists. It is not just our souls that are saved. The
salvation of the material world is our faith. We don’t know how but we are certain that God will save the material
world because He made it and it is good, indeed it is very good. That’s why someone once said that you cannot go to
Orthodox worship without drumming, crumbing, dripping, chewing and aching. Our body is in the worship. We
have bread, wine, oil, vestments, candles, etc. It’s a material mess in an Orthodox church after the Liturgy. Yet, it
says something about our belief regarding the world. There is a physical side to being spiritual to quote Fr. Gilquist.
Material elements are not just ‘used’. They just are. As a high-priest in Christ I let physical elements be what they
are because they are in agony and travail unless I use them, delight in them and consecrate them in the proper way.
4And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those
who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ
for a thousand years. (Rev.20:4) Rev. Thomas Brown’s thesis is correct. He states that the souls of the beheaded are
with Christ. Their bodies have not be resurrected yet. Their souls are with Christ because they have been baptized,
are already risen, and their baptism took. IOW, they fulfilled their baptism by actually dying. Therefore, they
actually, in spirit, arise. That is a dogma of our Church. Every saint, the quintessential saint is a martyr who has died
either physically or spiritually or both (Dostoevsky said, “if not with a spear then at least with a sneer.”) is already
reigning with Christ. Therefore, the second death cannot touch them (20:6,14; 21:8). At the End, when those who
are alive are caught up into the air (Thessalonian expression; it does not mean a particular group of people who are
raptured and then their car crashes into a tree; it simply means that everybody will be raised), the alive will not
precede those who have died, then there will be the ultimate, final judgment of the world. This is a Christian dogma.
There is accountability. Our life has meaning and the end will either be with God for ages of ages or not.
The martyrs who die in Christ, we actually pray to them because we believe they are alive. So we say, “Holy
Peter pray for us…St. Herman pray for us...etc,” because they have been shown to us by God to be spiritually in His
kingdom. But even they have to be raised because their life is not complete either until the End of the world. It’s an
interim state where the saints are already glorified and alive with Christ. So are the souls of the righteous dead. They
are in the hands of God. Sometimes this state is called a “sleep/kimissis” but it’s an alive/wakeful sleep. This is the
first resurrection (20:5-6).
Question- Will only baptized Christians be in the kingdom of God? Answer- Yes, with explanation. Our
teaching is that only those who have died and risen with Christ can be in His kingdom. However, St. Gregory the
Theologian (4th cent.) and St. Nicholas Cabisilas (14th cent.) both asked, “What do you mean by ‘baptism’?”
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Because we believe, that one can be baptized in the ocean, be anointed with pounds of Chrism, receive the Body and
Blood of Christ every Sunday Liturgy and go right to hell. The more you do it (worship & sacraments), the worse
you get. St. Theophan the Recluse said, “Why is that some people who go to church a lot become worse instead of
better?” The answer is, “Because they go through all the rites, all the motions, read the bible, etc. but they don’t
really love God or their neighbor.” Unless there is a real love of God and neighbor, then there is no death to self. St.
Gregory the Theologian said, “There are many who die for what is good, true and right, who never heard of Jesus
Christ. However, when He returns in glory, these people will recognize Him as the longing of their life and will bow
down and worship Him.” The ultimate end is the final judgment and for us death is the last chance. In Isaiah, quoted
by St. Paul in Romans 2, people will blaspheme the name of Christ because of you.
[4,3,00:00] Some people, to their credit, may have nothing to do with Jesus Christ because they met
hypocritical, arrogant, self-centered Christians. They may be closer to Jesus, ready to bow down to Him than some
people preaching on television right now who would not recognize the real Christ if He was standing right in front
of them. So, recognizing and knowing the real Christ is essential because the beast will do great signs and wonders
to lead astray even the elect (see Mark 2) in Christ’s name. This may mean that many who claim to be Christians on
earth will be shown to not have cared anything about truth, light, love, and Jesus Christ, and who will not be able to
recognize Him even when He comes on a cloud with the angels. Then there will be others who thought their whole
life they were not a Christian but then discover that they are. As St. Ignatius says, “Not even a Christian, but a
human being.” Because a human being is one who loves, loves truth and light, one who struggles, hungers and
thirsts for them. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness sake for their’s is the
kingdom of God” (Mt.5:?). It may be for some people that their fulfillment only comes in the End. We Orthodox
claim that we already have a foretaste of that fulfillment in the Church. We pray before Holy Communion: “Let not
these holy gifts be to my condemnation because of my unworthiness, but for the cleansing and sanctification of soul
and body and the pledge of the future life and kingdom.” IOW, let my body be broken, let my blood be spilled. It is a
dogma of our Church, anyone who dies for righteousness and truth’s sake (what is objectively right and true, not
what they think is right and true because anyone can be sincerely sinful and wrong) is automatically saved by the
blood of Crucified Lord on the Cross because Christ died for those people. Christ died on the Cross for those people
so that no act of righteousness or justice done by anyone at anytime would be lost. Therefore, this great crowd that
comes from the nations will certainly include people who were never members of the Orthodox Church. There are at
least two examples of this: Isaac of Syria and Constantine the Emperor were not Orthodox Christians when they
were on the earth. It will include those who, considering what they knew and were given by God, have been very
faithful the light, life, truth, love and the glory of God as it was given to them to experience. St. Gregory the
Theologian said, “There is a baptism of fire and a baptism of desire. Baptism of fire means people who actually die
at the hands of the beast. They may not be self-identified-consciously Christians but factually they are if they do not
say ‘yes’ to the beast. The baptism of desire is for those who want it but for whatever reason cannot. This includes
people who never heard the gospel, all those who belong to the nations, live where the gospel has not been preached
or in a place where the most stupid version is preached (some, to their credit did not believe it). So who is there and
who is not, we cannot really judge.
We must be firm and say, “Are You Saved?” [4,4,4:31] Yes, I’m saved. In fact, every idiot on earth is saved
because Christ died for them. Whether I actualize and appropriate that salvation is another matter. That’s why we
should pray everyday, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” I want to be saved, I pray to be saved, I struggle to be
saved, not by my own power, but by the Spirit of God in me. St. Sisoes in the desert was dying and his disciples
heard the angels singing, they smelled the fragrance of the Holy Spirit, they saw the uncreated light around his cave.
Everyone is gathered around him and he’s saying he sees the Lord Jesus, the Holy Mother, the angels, the saints, the
prophets, and the company of the martyrs. One of the disciples says to St. Sisoes, “Give us your final word, Abba.”
He replies, “Pray for me for I have not yet begun to repent.” One cannot know sin unless he/she knows God. The
more one knows God, the more he/she knows how creaturely and sinful he/she is. Therefore, you have to be a real
great saint to know how sinful you are. Notice that St. Sisoes did not say, “Repent” or “Accept Jesus as your
personal savior.” Every time Peter saw Jesus, he jumped in the lake.
Professor Verhovsky used to speak about the abominable and disgusting preoccupation with who goes to
heaven. He said, “We’re here to love God. Let Him figure out who goes to heaven.” That’s His job. My job is to
worship, obey and to live with Him. We are not to sniff around looking for the minimal conditions in order to be
saved. According to the Final Judgment as recorded in Matthew 25, Jesus is not going to ask, “Were you
Orthodox?” or “What do you believe?” He’s not going to say, “Recite the Nicene Creed and then you can enter.” All
these things exist so we can learn love so we are ready to wash the feet of the worst sinner and die on the cross for
him/her without judging them. We would just say, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know.”
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We do not believe that Jesus will come at the End and have a 1,000 year reign over the evil people on earth. We
do not believe Jesus will reign 1,000 years after He raises all the dead. Hopko teaches that there is neither Pre-
Millenialism nor Post-Millenialism. The teaching of the Church is that when Christ returns in glory, He will
establish the final kingdom, the dead are raised, the sheep and goats separated. There are those who are resisting it
unsuccessfully for all eternity and that constitutes their torture. [4,3,8:41] That torture is the love of God itself. His
mercy becomes justice when you do not accept the mercy. That’s the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which
according to Jesus, cannot be forgiven because it is to look at light and call it darkness, to love the darkness more
than the light, to look at Jesus and call Him a Samaritan and say He has the devil, to not confess Him as the Son of
God full of the Holy Spirit.
It is our teaching that those in hell will think that they should be in the kingdom. They’ll gripe and wail that
they ought to be in heaven but when the Spirit says, ‘Come’, they don’t want to go. It’s like a kid and candy. He
says, “Give me the candy.” We say, “No, you can have it after dinner. Do these things and you can have some
candy.” After dinner, we put the candy out and say come and eat it and he says, “No, I don’t want it now.” He is
mad as the devil that everybody else is eating that candy. He thinks he deserves the candy, he wants it and he
tortures himself by not taking it but not because it’s not being offered to him. It’s because he does not want to take
it. That’s hell. Christ comes bringing the kingdom of God, free of charge and says here it is. All we can do is
take/receive it and God takes care of everything else. Even our taking it is an act of God within us.
At the End is the resurrection and the second death that is eternal dying by saying no to God. One of our
dogmas is that there will be people so hardened that they will not bow down to Christ even at the End. However,
they will have to bow in some way because it says so in Corinthians 15 and Philippians 2. Everyone will look at
Christ and recognize Him. For some that sight will be torture for others it will be delight. So God loves us and gives
us the kingdom whether we like it or not. He forgives and saves everyone whether we like it or not. If we like it, it’s
called Paradise. If we don’t like it, it’s called hell.
We do not teach that only those who came to know Jesus during their earthly lifetime and became a part of the
Church, will automatically be saved. It’s much more complicated than this. [4,4,11:45] There are biblical texts that
cause people trouble like “No one comes to the Father but by me” (???). What the Church Fathers would say is that
anyone, anywhere who knows anything of God, knows it through the Logos by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
That Logos is the one Who is incarnate in Jesus. So, even if a Buddhist has a real sense of love, compassion and
wisdom, it is because of the incarnate Logos and inspiration of the Spirit even he may not articulate that himself.
Another text is “He who believes in me and baptized in me will be saved. He who does not believe in me will be
damned” (???). The Church Fathers would say yes but to believe in Him one has to know who He is. So, the dogma
is if one sees Christ as He truly is and does not entrust his/her life to Him and does not love and worship Him, then
that person is really lost because he/she is denying his/her own true self. So, there is no possibility of salvation for
that person. Baptism means to truly die and be risen with Christ. Only those who have truly died and risen with Him
will be in the Kingdom. Those of us who are baptized, we believe we enter into a community where all of this is
experience already now on earth. We die and rise to live the new life in Christ, to grow-up in it, to nurture it, in
order to overcome the beast who still attacks. The beast sometimes catches us and takes us away and we have to
escape from him. It’s all a big battle, the unseen warfare, which is all in the book of Revelation. The battle is right in
our own hearts between the beast and the lamb. It’s not automatic, there is no magic or miracles on this level. IOW,
it needs to be done by us in cooperation with God. It will not be done by anyone or anything else for us. The one
who conquers though, by faith and grace, inherits the kingdom.
What about relating to the people in the mean time? We pray for people who are dead who need forgiveness and
those whom we claim to be already saved. For example, in the Eucharistic prayer of the Liturgy we pray, “We offer
to You these gifts, from Your own gifts, in all and for all.” So, in some sense we are praying for Mary and all the
Saints. [4,4,00:05] because Christ died on the Cross for them too. It’s that eternal sacrifice that we are plugging into
at that time. If we know that these people are already saved and in heaven, then we can dare to say, by their
intercession and prayer, be with us and help us. We can have a deep relationship and communion with them. If we
believe that they are in peril, we can pray that God be merciful and forgive their sins and grant them rest. God does
not apply our prayer to the dead person now. He applies our prayer to the total life of the dead person and to the
whole of divine providence. We make our prayers in time but God answers the prayers out of eternity. God knows
all the prayers of all from before the foundation of the world. So our prayer for our loved one applies to their whole
life and is a fulfillment of our whole relationship with them. It is absolutely un-Orthodox to say more prayers will
save you and with less you will not be saved.
There was a Roman Catholic lady who arranged to have 10,000 masses in France said on her behalf on the day
of her death. It’s recounted in Philip Areia’s book “The Ways of Death in Western Culture.” The Orthodox do not
offer liturgy because of temporal punishment due to sin, we do not have a purgatory. Although we do believe that
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the process of death is the final purgation. That’s the meaning of the toll gates. We believe our prayers help people
through that. Thus, this lady with 10,000 masses will not automatically go to heaven while some poor person who
did not have any mass said for them will automatically go to hell. Hopko would say if can arrange 10,000 masses we
probably need them and have to answer for them. If there are more people praying for you, be careful, because we
are responsible for the prayers we offer and the prayers on our behalf. In the Liturgy of St. Basil it says, “He will
render to each according to his works. To those who by patience in well doing seek glory and honor, eternal life. To
those who are factious, wrath and fury.” That’s also in Romans 2. That’s also in Revelation. 12And I saw the dead,
small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of
Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
(Rev.20:12). 15And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (20:15). IOW, we are
judged by what we have done, not what we have claimed, said, or written. Every grace and every gift is for doing
something.
Story from 2nd-3rd century: A person asked St. Pachomios, “How is it possible according to the scripture that
people could come to Jesus and say we did mighty signs in Your name, we cast out demons in Your name, we
worked miracles in Your name. And then Jesus says to them, ‘Depart, I do not know you.’?” Jesus says the same in
the Sermon on the Mount, “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’ will be saved. But he who does the will of my
Father.” St. Paul repeats this in 1Corinthians 13 when he says you can do anything but if you don’t have love it
profits you nothing. Why would God even let them work the miracles, prophecy, speak in tongues in His name in
the first place? St. Pachomios answers with a classic Orthodox response, “It’s none of your business.” IOW, God
does what He does and He has His reasons. There is a mystery here that we do not know. He goes on to say, “Maybe
God is defending His honor to show He can do it. Maybe He allowed it so another person might be saved.” There
may be a teacher and all his/her students go to heaven. When they get there they discover the teacher is not there
because he/she did not live and do what he/she taught. Pachomios goes on to give the knock-out punch answer,
“God lets them do all this stuff so when they find themselves in hell, they have no excuse.”
6Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she
has mixed, mix double for her. 7In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure
give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’
(Rev.18:6-7)
Another question- People read Revelation and the Gospels and many other religious writings. There are so
many different opinions about it. How do we know that we are correct in our interpretation and the others are
wrong? First, in Luke 12, summarized by St. Basil, we believe that God has given all things to us.
47And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be
beaten with many stripes. 48But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with
few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed,
of him they will ask the more.
If we as Orthodox claim that we not only have much but all that Christ has given and claim to know that and
love Him, then we have a lot to answer for. Our dogmatic teaching is the providence of God covers the totality of
the universe, not just planet earth. God is working in all sorts of stuff. We believe that God has revealed Himself to
us, given us His truth and Spirit and we believe that this is true. We test it, we try to follow it, we live by it, we listen
to others teach about it, we try to answer questions about it. Ultimately, though, we believe that God is guiding the
whole process because we pray to Him, “Teach us, show us.” We say, “Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your
statutes.” On that basis, we would just try to follow what we know and believe to be true. Orthodox Christians claim
that there is a covenanted community that God began with Abraham, within which the God of heaven and earth acts.
Through this community there have been witnesses to God’s actions like Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, all the
prophets. Then there is God’s faithful witness Jesus Christ and His teaching. Then there is the Apostles, Martyrs,
Saints, worship, liturgy, councils, canons, icons, etc. For Orthodox, we say all of these are a witness to, at least what
a certain community of people, believe to be true. And we identify ourselves with that community. We talk with
other people about what they believe to be true. We listen to them. We try to tell them with love, humility, kindness,
and care what we believe to be true. We try to live our life in concordance with our words. Now how do we know
we are right? We don’t. We’re not puppets with some external certitude. We are made in God’s image and likeness
and we are free. When John the Baptist is sitting in prison as recorded in Luke 7 [4,4,13:15]
18Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. 19And John, calling two of his disciples
to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” 20When the men had
come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for
another?’” 21And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He
gave sight. 22Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the
7
blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel
preached to them. 23And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
IOW, Jesus cannot do anymore than what we have seen and heard in order for us to believe and follow Him. It’s
up to us to accept it as truth and the fullness of God’s revelation for our salvation. Hopko went to Boulder Colorado
to teach at a Buddhist school. Someone asked him, “Why did you come here?” Hopko answered, “Because you exist
and you asked me.” Plus, you gave me $400 and with five kids it helps. The real question is: “Is this Jesus the
ultimate and definitive revelation of God and is He raised from the dead or not?” We must look at the evidence and
we have to answer that question. How and why we answer is up to us. Interestingly, a woman who was a former
Christian and now a Buddhist was preparing to take a bunch of students (who were also former Christians, now
Buddhists) on a field trip to Tibet. Hopko was staying at her home. She told him, “All of us who’ve been taking your
class the last two weeks had a meeting today. We all agreed that if we had heard Christianity somehow presented to
us in the past, like you have done the last two weeks, we wouldn’t be Buddhists now.” So, all we can say is we live
on the planet with you. We have heard this message and tested it and this is what we believe. This is our faith. Now,
tell us what you believe and let’s discuss it. However, as long as we’re in competition for polemics and to see who
will win, then forget it, nobody wins. We even screw up our own faith in the process. IOW, if you’re listening to this
lecture to get ammunition to fight Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, then chances are you did not hear a thing. We
cannot do it this way. We are not in it to fight with anyone, except evil.
All we can say is that we listen, hear, test, believe, pray and we try to be honest with ourselves first of all. We
try to understand and come to terms with God’s will and then share that with others. “From the abundance of the
mouth, the heart speaks.” That’s all we can do. If people don’t like it and get angry, that’s their problem. Jesus said
at the Passion, “If I’m wrong, point out the wrong. If I’m right, then why are you beating me?” All missions and
evangelism must be done this way. If it’s not, it’s not born of the Spirit of God. We believe if we pray to God, truly
want Him, truly invoke the Spirit, truly try to follow, without any coercion, authorities, magesteriums, or popes, we
will come to one mind and one heart as far as the Gospel is concerned because God Himself has promised that. He’s
done everything He can do to make that happen.


April 2 The Millennial Reign
Source:
http://www.stgeorgegoc.org/sermons/revelation%20the%20millenial%20reign.pdf