If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. (Rev.13:9-10)

By identifying the coming of the Savior with secular and spiritual goods, we repeat the mistake the Jews of Christ’s day made. That is, with salvation of the Orthodox believers by rescuing them from the state of Antichrist (see The Guide to studying the Holy Scripture of the New Testament by Archbishop Averky (Taushev).
This is what Ezra also asks in 3Ezr.6:59: “If the world has indeed been created for us, why do we not possess our world as an inheritance? How long will this be so?” And he gets the answer in3Ezr.7:15-16: “Now therefore why are you disturbed, seeing that you are to perish, and why are you moved, seeing that you are mortal? Why have you not considered in your mind what is to come, rather than what is now present?”
If we accept the view that every large currently existing state is a part of the last beast, then all of them make up the so-called body of the Antichrist, just as the Church makes up the body of Christ.
Therefore, a Christian’s goal should be repentance, humility, and refusal of the senseless struggle both with his own and the opposing states in favor of the internal struggle.
Moreover, in 3Ezr.4:11 the Angel also says: “how then can your vessel contain the way of the Most High and how can you already worn out by the corrupted age understand incorruption that is evident in my eyes?” That is, not only do we look for the root of corruption outside of ourselves, but we also fail to notice it inside ourselves. Being born into a “corrupted age”, we no longer pay attention to many iniquities and consider them normal.
This spiritual blindness makes us impervious to comprehending corruption of our age, and the idea that we are living in the very end times is unacceptable to us. But are we honest with ourselves?

Therefore, let us not be like the Jews, especially like the scribes from the time of the first coming of Jesus Christ, who knew when “Christ the Lord” was to come from Dan.9:24-27:
“Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city: to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
Know therefore and understand: from the time that the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time of an anointed prince, there shall be seven weeks; and for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with streets and moat, but in a troubled time.
After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing, and the troops of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.
He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall make sacrifice and offering cease; and in their place shall be an abomination that desolates, until the decreed end is poured out upon the desolator.”
See Interpretation of the book of prophet Daniel by A.P. Lopukhin.

And yet they didn’t accept Him, because they dreamed of the “Messiah as a glorious conqueror King” (Holy Gospel of Matthew interpreted by the Holy Fathers ).
But let us feel supported by the words of Rev.22:20: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus”, so that we won’t hear from Him:
“Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” (Lk.24:25-27).

God’s pleasure in people’s understanding the prophecies of the end time.

In the Book of Daniel the Prophet
In Dan.12:4 it is said: “But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be running back and forth, and evil shall increase.” Here, we see one of the direct proofs that understanding of the prophecies of the end times is God’s pleasure.
The idea that people of the “time of the end” will understand Daniel’s visions is once again repeated in Dan.12:9-10, however, not to all of them: “He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked shall continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.”

In the Third Book of Ezra
The following words in 3Ezr.14:19-22 are an absolutely direct proof that understanding of the prophecies of the end times is God’s pleasure: “for I will go, as you have commanded me, and I will reprove the people who are now living; but who will teach those who will be born hereafter? For the world lies in darkness, and its inhabitants are without light; for Your law has been burned, and so no one knows the things You have done or the things they must do. If then I have found favor with you, send the Holy Spirit to me, and I will write everything that has happened in the world from the beginning, the things that were written in your law, so that people may be able to find the path, and that those who want to live in the last days may do so”.
And receives an answer from the Lord in 3Ezr.15:1-4: “Speak in the ears of my people the words of the prophecy that I will put in your mouth, says the Lord, and cause them to be written on the charter; for they are trustworthy and true. Do not fear the plots against you, and do not be troubled by the unbelief of those who oppose you, for all unbelievers shall die in their unbelief”.


In the Revelation to John the Divine
Unlike in the books of Daniel and Ezra, there is no direct evidence of its understanding by the people of the end times. However, there is an indirect one: “And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly amazed. But the angel said to me, “Why are you so amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come”. (Rev.17:6-8)
As you will see further, “a beast rising out of the sea” (Rev.13:1) is an image of the global empires: the Roman, the Mongol, the European, and the Contemporary. And “the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints” is the state that requires worship just as the church does.
Then why did John the Divine, who lived in the Roman era and waited for the Kingdom of God, “was greatly amazed”, but those who “have been written in the book of life” were not? The answer is obvious – the people of the end time, which includes the fall of the Contemporary Empire and the final fall of the beast, will wait for this fall and will have no illusions about the nature of “the woman drunken with the blood of the saints.”

In the Book of Ezekiel the Prophet
The Book of Ezekiel does not provide any direct evidence of its understanding by the people of the end times either. However, there is an indication of when Ezekiel’s “lips will be opened.”
The Lord promises to “open the lips of the prophet” for the first time in the year (“the day”), when He will give Egypt as a reward to the kingdom of Babylon and restore the dynasty of the kings of the Jews (“I will cause a horn to sprout up for the house of Israel”): “I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, says the Lord God. On that day I will cause a horn to sprout up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezek.29:20-21).
Indeed, Cambyses II conquered Memphis and was officially proclaimed Pharaoh of Egypt by the end of August 525 BC. And Zerubbabel, who headed the first group of Jewish prisoners returning from Babylonian captivity in 538 BC, became the governor of Judah. We do not know in what year he became the ruler, but in 520 BC, Haggai the Prophet explicitly called Zerubbabel governor of Judah:
“In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest” (Hag.1:1). We can assume that it was in in 525 BC that Zerubbabel was proclaimed the governor of Judah, since “the house of Israel” clearly understood the prophecy, which is proven by the words “will open your lips among them.”
In Ezek.24:25-27, the God promises to “open the lips” of the prophet for the second time after Jerusalem falls and “the one who has escaped” comes. As you will see further, the fall of Jerusalem can be understood as the destruction of the above-ground part of the church in 2009.
So, when will Ezekiel’s lips will be opened after the destruction of Jerusalem in 2009: “In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, someone who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen.” Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the eveningbefore the fugitive came; but he had opened my mouth by the time the fugitive came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer unable to speak” (Ezek.33:21-22).
In the Revelation to John the Divine, you can find, what is the evening and the morning.
“Then 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, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and their riders—flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.” Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against the rider on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed in its presence 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 sulfur. And the rest were killed by the sword of the rider on the horse, the sword that came from his mouth; and all the birds were gorged with their flesh” (Rev.19:17-21).
“It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” (Rev.22:16).
Т Thus, the evening is the time right before the fall of the Contemporary empire, and the morning is the time of Jesus Christ’s coming. Therefore, the words “Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth” should be understood as interpreting Ezekiel’s words exactly in the evening — on the eve of the fall of the false prophet and the beast in 2023. And the words “came to me in the morning” — as a meeting of “the one who has escaped” with the prophet at the Last Judgement in 2030, after which everyone will clearly understand Ezekiel’s words: “On that day your mouth shall be opened to the one who has escaped, and you shall speak and no longer be silent. So you shall be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezek.24:27).


As is evident, in all the books interpreted here, there is evidence that from the beginning the Lord determined to reveal His plan to the people of the end time. But I noticed this after I had written the interpretation of the four prophets. Although the other prophets also have references to the end time and the Last Judgement, only in these four authors we can see the timeframes. And it is only in these books that the Lord specifically indicates the revelation of the prophecies contained therein. This alone is evidence that God, by His mercy, wished to reveal the year and perhaps even the date of His Second Coming to the people of the end time.

The main objection to the fact that understanding of the prophecies in the last time is pleasing to the God is the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Matthew: “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mat.24:36) and in the Gospel of Mark: “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark.13:32).
However, if we remember that the prophecies were given by the Father through the Holy Spirit, this objection becomes void: “In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, “Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus.” (Acts.1:15-16).
St John Chrysostom, Blessed Jerome, Augustine, Theophylact, and others understood the Son’s ignorance of the day and the hour as a wise teacher’s educational tool. According to the aforementioned fathers, it looks as if the Lord said that, although He knew, He did not want to reveal the date to His disciples, because this knowledge would do no good to them: knowing that it was still long before the judgement, they would become careless in piety. (See Interpretation of Gospel of Mark by A.P. Lopukhin). However, this concern is senseless for people of the end times, since despite the fact that the judgment is near, our last Laodiceanchurch behaves as if it is at least centuries or even millennia ahead.

On the unity of the Old and New Testaments and the “days (times) of the end”

In the prophetic books under consideration, the words “the days (time) of the end” and “the day of the Lord” are frequently found. From the context of these prophetic books, it becomes clear that these words refer to the time before the second coming of Jesus Christ and the Last Judgment.

The conclusion that the words “the days of the end” refer to the first coming of Jesus Christ and have nothing to do with the Last Judgment or the Christians, and thus cut off the Old Testament from the New one, results from the misinterpreted book of Malachi the prophet – first by the Jews at the time of Jesus Christ and later by the Christians.
Thus, Mal.3:1 promises the coming of John the Baptist (my messenger) before Jesus Christ: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.” The fact that the words “my messenger” refer to John the Baptist, is clear from the words of Jesus Christ: “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” (Mat.11:10 and similar abstracts from Lk.7:27, Mk.1:2).
Moreover, Mal.4:5-6 promises the coming of “the prophet Elijah” before the “day of the Lord”: “Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.”
According to the logic of most of the Gospels, the priests and levites and therefore all the people believed that “my messenger” from Mal.3:1 and “the prophet Elijah” from Mal.4:5-6 was one and the same person. Consequently, “the great and terrible day of the Lord” that greatly resembled “the days of the end” referred to the first coming of Jesus Christ. What the interpreters failed to notice is that the description of “the great and terrible day of the Lord” and “the days of the end” both by the prophet Malachi and by all the other prophets describes the Last Judgment and has very little to do with the time of the first coming of Jesus Christ.
It’s hard to say why the priests and levites from the time of Jesus Christ were sure that “my messenger” from Mal.3:1 and “the prophet Elijah” from Mal.4:5-6were one and the same person. However, the Christians’ certainty easy to explain.
The first proof is found in the Gospel of Matthew: “And the disciples asked him, “Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He replied, “Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.” (Mat.17:10-13 and similar abstracts from Mk.9:10-11). As you can see, here Jesus Christ speaks of John the Baptist as the one who “will restore all things”, that is about “my messenger” from Mal.3:1, but not about the one who “will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents” from Mal.4:5-6. John the Baptist is called Elijah only because the scribes think of him like that.
The second proof is the words of Jesus Christ about John the Baptist in the Gospel of Matthew: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Let anyone with ears listen!” (Mat.11:12-14). The words “if you are willing to accept it” somehow hint that John the Baptist is called Elijah only because others think so about him, just as in the first proof. From the same words we can definitely conclude that John the Baptist is not the prophet because “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came.”
The third proof of the fact that “the prophet Elijah” is John the Baptist are the words from the Gospel of Luke about him: “With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Lk.1:17). It’s only Luke who describes John the Baptist with these words. From the words “the hearts of parents to their children” becomes clear that the author (Luke) is sure that John the Baptist is “the prophet Elijah” from Mal.4:5-6. However, he may also be mistaken about it, having misinterpreted the words of Jesus Christ.
The fourth proof in favor of the fact that “the prophet Elijah” is John the Baptist, we again find in the Gospel of Luke, where John the Baptist is called a “prophet: “For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Lk.7:28). However, Matthew, who was a disciple of Jesus Christ unlike Luke and witnessed those words, says nothing about the “prophet” John in a similar place: “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Mat.11:11). In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ speaks of John the Baptist as one who is “more than a prophet”, but not a prophet: “What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.” (Mat.11:9).
Another eyewitness of these events, the apostle John the Evangelist gives no indication of John the Baptist’s prophetic gift: “This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” (Jn.1:19-21). Many interpreters explain John the Baptist’s answer by his modesty. But this point of view doesn’t correspond to the honest nature of John the Baptist.
So, two of the eyewitnesses of those events – the apostles Matthew and John the Evangelist, say nothing about John the Baptist’s prophetic gift. And this despite the fact that John the Evangelist witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, after which the words of the first proof from Mat.17:10-13were said, meaning that “the prophet Elijah” from Mal.4:5-6 is John the Baptist. Moreover, John the Evangelist was one of the two disciples of John the Baptist who became the first disciple of Jesus Christ along with the apostle Andrew: “The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.” (Jn.1:35-37).
Thus, because of the misinterpretation of the words “the great and terrible day of the Lord”, as well as “the days (time) of the end” was attributed to the first coming of Jesus Christ, instead of the Last Judgment and the Second Coming. As a result, the New Testament was deprived of a gold-mine of prophecies and knowledge of the Old Testament.
The words “He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents” from Mal.4:6 should be understood as removing all the contradictions between the New and Old Testaments. That is, the coming of the “prophet” before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ doesn’t contradict the words of Jesus Christ: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came.” (Mat.11:12-13), since one doesn’t need new prophecies to fulfill this goal; “practicing” the law and studying the old ones are enough.

The fact that the Old and New Testaments are the same becomes obvious from the Gospel of Luke: “So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God. “The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped. Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commitsadultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery”. (Lk.16:15-18).
The speech to the Pharisees in chapter 16 is suddenly interrupted by the words from the Sermon on the Mount: “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery”. (Lk.16:18). These unexpected words are easy to explain if you pay attention to the words before them: “The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped.” (Lk.16:16-17).
Here, the wife is the church, and the husband is Jesus Christ. Hence, “anyone who divorces his wife and marries another” is the one who denies the importance of the Old Testament for saving the Christians. And the one who “marries a woman divorced from her husband” is the one who denies the New Covenant. With these words, Jesus Christ testifies to us and to the Pharisees that although the age of the prophets has come to an end, He didn’t come to “commits adultery” by creating a new Church, but to transform the old one.


P. S. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. (Heb.11:1)
Can one have faith without being confident that the word given through the prophets has come true? Jesus Christ gives the answer Himself: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished”. (Mat.5:17-18) That is why it is so important for us to interpret the prophetic books not in a fragmentary and patchwork-like manner, as they are used to being seen nowadays, but as a whole, complementing and confirming each other from different angles. For only thus can we see that the word given through the prophets has come true and is coming true. And through this to strengthen the faith of those who “wishes to live” in the hardships to come.

Most of the interpretation was written between December 2015 and March 2016. Later, certain parts were just added to anyhow confirm what had been said before. The interpretations are presented in the order they were written: the first ones at the top, the latest – at the bottom.