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[Alexandr Korol]

“Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on them were twenty- four elders clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.” Early interpretations claim this refers to the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. Others tend to believe that the twenty-four elders symbolize the Old Testament community. The Apocalypse also speaks of a book sealed with seven seals. “And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written inside and outside, sealed with seven seals.” The Lamb, that is Christ, is the only one worthy and able to open it. He takes the book from the hand of God the Father sitting on the throne and breaks its seals. The book is understood as a symbol of the divine plan for the world or as sacred scripture. Four living creatures worship the One sitting on the throne; they have faces of a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. These living beings have six wings and many eyes. The most famous characters of the Apocalypse are the four horsemen. “I looked, and behold a white horse, and its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him; he went out conquering and to conquer. Then another horse, fiery red, whose rider was granted to take peace from the earth so that people would kill one another. He was given a great sword. Then I looked, and behold a black horse, and its rider held a pair of scales in his hand. I looked, and behold a pale horse; and its rider’s name was Death. Hell followed with him. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts.” Another famous character is the “woman clothed with the sun.” “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.” Her image can be interpreted as the church. In the prophetic books of the Old Testament, the relationship between God and His people was often portrayed as marital, and many images of Israel as a wife appeared. The book ends not with a gloomy expectation of the end of the world, but with the anticipation of meeting Christ and the desire for God’s works to be revealed to every reader, urging them to join in the expectation of the new world and sincerely exclaim with Apostle John, “Amen, come, Lord Jesus.”

After that article, I also opened an article called “What the White King Does.” Here is a mention of him from the prophecies of Ezra. “The Third Book of Ezra contains prophecies about the last times and the establishment of the kingdom