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Apocalypse
From the Greek
apokalypto, for 'to reveal', it is the name given to the last book in
the Bible. It is as well called the
Book of Revelation. Also, any prophetic
writing or utterance concerned with the end of the
world and/or the Antichrist.
The Apocalypse is also equated with the mysterious
number 666, the number of the beast, a mystical number of unknown meaning, but
referring to some man mentioned by St John, possibly the Antichrist, the universal enemy of mankind,
sent to scourge the world for its
wickedness.
Our planet is in crisis as we start a new millennium. In a world
rent by war, hunger, disease, poverty and crime, a better future seems beyond
our grasp. An ancient apocalyptic theme
assumed new prominence today: the accelerating destruction of the environment,
possibly caused by humanity itself. Nuclear accidents, global
warming, vanishing forests, oil spills, rapid desertification of vast areas of Africa, damage to the ozone layer,
the greenhouse effect, the sighting of
comets and
meteors, the arrival of new plagues and the distortion of usual climatic
patterns — all these bring to mind similar environmental events and motifs
written about in the Bible.
The end of the world has always had a grim
fascination for prophets and
visionaries, which since time immemorial
have elaborated in many different annihilation scenarios. However, most common folk
see it in terms of either natural disasters — like earthquakes, famine, plague,
fire, flood, freezing, cosmic collisions, as a rule some type of ecological
catastrophe — or a divine being punishing human kind for wrongs
committed. Either way, the Apocalypse of St John is full of compelling
references to this unpleasant end.
The Apocalypse of St John tells of the breaking of
the seven seals. The first four seals unleashed the renowned four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse, plague, famine, war and death (6:1-8).
The fifth seal revealed martyrs and saints. The sixth seal disclosed natural and
ecological disasters (6:12-9:2):
"And, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the
sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood."
The sky and sun every now and then show strange lighting
effects before an earthquake, and the moon taking a bloody cast has always been
deemed an omen as well as being a indicator of natural disaster.
Perhaps a fall of great comets or meteors is
implied in
"the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even
as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty
'wind' (6:13)".
The shaking might be suggestive of a wobbling of the
Earth's axis, which is likely to be associated with the arrival of these destructive
heavenly bodies.
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