Читать книгу Apocalypse. Interpretation of the XXI century - Valeriy Sterkh - Страница 14

After a series of visions, the apostle was given the Book of Heaven:

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices… And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings (Rev 10:1—3, 8—11).

The open book is the Apocalypse.

The sweetness of the book is the sweetness of the Revelation concerning the salvation of those who believe in Jesus Christ. The bitterness of the book is the bitterness of the Revelation concerning the doom of unbelievers.

The ancient prophets also received their prophecies by symbolically eating the scroll:

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts (Jer 15:16).

And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness (Ezek 2:9—3:3).

The Apocalypse was sent from heaven and must be preserved in its original form:

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book (Rev 22:16—19).

The Church faithfully kept the Revelation of John intact, and it has reached our day in its original form. Those who tried to distort the text of the Book of Heaven have received their due punishment.

In the middle of the 20th century, the Dead Sea scrolls containing the sacred books of the Essenes were discovered near the Dead Sea. Among all the others, they found a scroll containing the Apocalypse of Essenes, which had a significant amount of deviations from the original. As punishment for their presumption, the Lord wiped out the community of the Essenes from the face of the earth.