But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.
— Luke 21:9

When all kinds of disasters happen in the world, people begin to talk about the approaching end of the world, the so-called apocalypse. Many try somehow to explain the terrible events, trying to find the truth.

By the way, the word apocalypse frightens many people and is associated with all kinds of disasters. All this came about because of a misunderstanding of the last book of the Bible (the Revelation of John the Theologian), and also thanks to all sorts of preachers who, instead of telling people the good news, scare them with stories of what is to come.

The books of the New Testament, including the book of Revelation, were originally written in Greek, and the first word with which the book of Revelation begins is apokalypsis. It literally means opening, unveiling, appearing or revelation.

The revelation, or appearing, of whom? Let’s read on in the first verse of this book: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ…” (Rev.1:1)

When the name of Jesus Christ is spoken, for people, especially those living in the former Soviet Union, it is associated with an icon looking at you with condemnation, or with the feast of Christmas, when people go carolling, or with the feast of Easter, when people greet one another with the words “Christ is risen”, without attaching any importance to it or understanding the meaning of what is said.

All this is so because the person of Jesus is hidden from people. Hidden not because Jesus is hiding from us, but because we have a veil over our eyes that keeps us from seeing the glory of God.

The Bible says that even to this day, when people read Moses, a veil, or covering, lies on their heart. (2 Cor.3:15) Through Moses God gave the 10 commandments, or, as they are called in the Orthodox world, “the Law of God”.

So the more a person’s mind or heart is filled with all kinds of God’s laws and commandments, the thicker this veil, and the less understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for us.

Then how can a person see the glory of God? It goes on to say: “Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” (2 Cor.3:16)

I want to draw your attention to the word turns. Some of you may have heard that turning to the Lord means repenting and confessing your sins, but that isn’t true!

In the Greek original the word epistrephō, translated as to turn, literally means to turn round, to return. Turn round from what? From the Law of God, which the person is looking at, or focusing on!

Imagine that you walk into a room, and on the left wall hang two tablets on which God’s commandments are written, and on the right stands Jesus. If you look to the left, you will learn what is evil and what is good, but at the same time Jesus will be standing behind you, hidden from your sight.

What will He be doing at that moment? In the book of Revelation He says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev.3:20)

And right now He is knocking at the door of your heart, so that you will turn to the right, turning away from the Law of God, from trying to know what is good and what is bad, what is right or wrong, what is just or unjust. So that you turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, and then He will come into your heart to dine there, not to condemn.

Jesus reveals Himself through the Scriptures

When a person looks at the Law of God, he sees God’s judgment in everything, and so he condemns others, while doing the same things himself without even realising it. He says that God punishes people, countries or nations for their sins and iniquities.

So, condemning others and justifying himself, considering himself above others, or in some way better than them, the person himself is under self-condemnation, which leads to death, because the Law kills. (Rom.2:1; 2 Cor.3:6)

But when a person turns, or turns round, to Jesus, who is full of grace and truth, all condemnation dissolves in His glory and in His forgiveness.

“But how do I turn to the Lord?” someone may ask. God has given us the Scriptures, the Bible, in which His word is written. And these Scriptures, as the Lord Himself said, “testify of Me”. (Jhn.5:39)

As we read the Bible, we can ask the Lord to give us a revelation of Himself. Every time we receive a personal revelation of Jesus Christ and experience an apocalypse, we are transformed from glory to glory. In other words, our character and behaviour become like His. We become as healthy and full of strength as He is.

Did Jesus condemn sinners and prostitutes? On the contrary, the legalists accused Him of being a friend of sinners and eating with them.

But Jesus Himself said that whoever opens the door to Him, He will come in and dine with him. (Rev.3:20) Tax collectors and prostitutes were the most sinful people among the Jews of that time, but they opened the door of their hearts to Jesus, while the self-righteous legalists hardened their hearts and so condemned Jesus, His ways and His works, just as they condemned those He dined with.

Coming back to the subject of all kinds of disasters, we can say that, seeing what is happening around us, we can hear condemnation aimed at one or another of those caught up in the tragedies.

In the Gospel of Luke we can read how some of those who were listening to Him told Him about the Galileans, His fellow countrymen (Jesus lived in Galilee from childhood), whom Pilate had ordered to be killed while they were offering sacrifices to God.

Some may condemn Pilate for his brutality, while others say that these Galileans must have been sinners and so got what they deserved. Such reasoning arises, as we found out earlier, because people have a veil over their eyes.

Here is what Jesus answered: “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luk.13:2-3)

Jesus goes on: “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luk.13:4-5)

Why would they perish like them? Because the Law, as we have already found out, kills, and they were looking at “good and evil”, not at “grace and truth”, for they were legalists, and so they condemned sinners.

For those who condemn Pilate for his brutality, Jesus gave a hint as to who the real murderer is.

The number 18 is obtained by adding 6+6+6, and these sixes can also be found in chapter 13 — only of the book of Revelation. It says there: “Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.” (Rev.13:18) It is calculated by adding up these three digits.

So it turns out that those on whom the tower fell were killed by the beast, the devil, as were those whom Pilate ordered to be killed, acting under the devil’s direction.

Pilate once told Jesus that he had the power to release Jesus or to crucify Him. The Lord answered: “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” (Jhn.19:10-11)

Earthly leaders who kill innocent people are doing the will of their master, of whom Jesus said: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” And then Jesus contrasts Himself with the thief and enemy: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (Jhn.10:10)

Salvation in the name of Jesus

There is a wonderful proverb that King Solomon wrote down under the inspiration of the Spirit of God: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.” (Pro.18:10)

Our Lord and Saviour’s name is Jesus, and in Aramaic, or Hebrew, this name literally means Salvation.

I once heard a story about a man who was the uncle of a pastor. For a while he went to that church, but somehow believing in God didn’t really work out for him, and he stopped going.

He worked as a minibus driver, so his nephew sometimes asked him to drive the women from the worship choir.

Once, as they were driving along the road and the women were singing and praising God, the minibus hit some object on the road at high speed; the vehicle was thrown up and flew off the road.

While the minibus was in the air, the women had no time to pray for the Lord to save them, so they all cried out together: “JESUS!” At that instant the minibus hung in the air and then dropped sharply onto its wheels at the roadside. Everyone escaped with nothing worse than a fright.

The pastor of that church said that the Sunday after this event his uncle came to church and received Jesus into his heart.

The Bible says that “the goodness of God leads you to repentance”. (Rom.2:4) God’s goodness shows itself in God’s salvation, when He saves us from sickness, accidents and death.

Notice that it is the righteous who run into the strong tower. And who is righteous? The righteous person is one who believes that God sent Jesus to die for all his sins!

King David spoke of the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.” (Rom.4:6-8)

Every person who believes that God has forgiven all his sins and mistakes through Jesus Christ now becomes righteous and blameless in God’s eyes.

And the righteous can boldly say [in the words of Psalm 91]: “I will not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the missile that flies by day, nor of the virus that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand, but it shall not come near me. Because I have made the LORD my refuge and my dwelling place, no evil shall befall me, nor shall any plague come near my dwelling!” (Ps.91:5-10)

All God’s blessings of protection written in Psalm 91 belong by right to the righteous, for his hope and trust are not in man but in the Lord!

“May the peace of God guard your hearts!” <3