О путях спасения

For all people going to salvation, life is built according to the same plan, but the paths they follow are different. Imagine a circle: lines go from different points of the circle, which all converge at one point at the center. The center is Christ, the goal of every soul seeking salvation, and the radii are the different ways in which people approach Christ. The plan for the salvation of the human soul is set out in the Bible, namely in the history of ancient Israel. The Jewish people lived in Egypt under the rule of the pharaohs. Not content with dominating Israel, the pharaohs began to oppress its people, forcing them to do hard work and participate in the construction of pyramids, which have survived to this day. Moreover, the pharaohs issued an order to kill Jewish male babies, since the Jews multiplied very quickly. The people groan under someone else's yoke and wait for a deliverer from God. A deliverer is sent to them in the person of Moses. He performs many miracles, inflicting various plagues (punishments) on the Egyptians, and finally, Pharaoh releases the Jews. Moses leads them out of Egypt. This is the history of ancient Israel, but it serves as a prototype of what is happening to this day with the new Israel, with every Christian soul seeking salvation. Each soul languishes under the yoke of the mental pharaoh - Satan, each groans and waits for a deliverer; and the Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ, whose prototype was the ancient Moses. Did he himself know that he was a prototype of the Savior? I think I did. The Lord delivers the soul from the oppression of Pharaoh, but what happens next? As soon as Israel left Egypt, Pharaoh already regretted letting the people go and chased after them. This is what happens with the human soul. Leaving behind their previous negligence, they set out on the good path. Will they really follow it firmly and without stumbling? You are wrong. Satan, who released them from under his power, will certainly regret it and rush after them. The Israelis are fleeing, and here they are at the Red (Red) Sea. There is a chase behind, robbers on the right, desert on the left, and water in front of them. Where to go? Where to look for salvation? It would seem a hopeless situation. What about Moses? He prayed to God, hit the water with his rod, and it parted. The Jews entered the long water corridor: they walked with fear along the bottom of the sea, and hordes of Egyptians were drawn in behind them. This corridor was not small. According to the research of scientists, it stretched up to forty miles long. The Jews came out of the water, and Pharaoh and his army were already in the middle of the sea. What does Moses do? He prays again - and a new movement with the staff, which together with the previous movement formed a cross, and the waves close over the Egyptians. The entire army perished, not one was saved, according to the word of Scripture. There is no more danger, no more pursuit, and Israel calmly continues on its way, heading towards the promised land. Every human soul experiences a similar state. But Satan does not leave her alone: ​​sorrows and temptations approach from everywhere, darkness surrounds her; It seems that her situation is hopeless, it seems that there is nowhere to wait for help. But this is where God appears with His help. Ancient Israel was saved by the Cross; new Israel will also be saved by the Cross of Christ, and often a soul close to despair does not know that it is standing on the brink, beyond which a new path begins. So, the Red Sea has been passed. But it is still far from the promised land, from the land flowing with honey and milk. The Jews do not get there right away; Moses circles with them through the deserts for forty years... So another person, having learned about the path of salvation and embarked on it, thinks that everything has already been done, that he has achieved holiness and is ready to almost fly to Heaven. He's wrong. It is not enough to begin the path of salvation, it is not enough to turn to God - the country where honey and milk flows does not begin here. For forty years the Israelites walked with Moses through the desert, striving for the Promised Land. The desert is barren, there is nothing around, the Jews are often overcome by doubts, but the Lord does not allow them to perish. Likewise, souls who have chosen the path of pleasing God, having freed themselves from the oppression of passions, having broken away from everything that previously constituted the content of their lives, are often afraid when they see themselves immediately in the desert: “Lord, what should we do now? What to live with? Such a soul is in vain confused. God, who sent her Moses to lead her out of Egypt, will also send manna, as he did to the ancient Jews. The forty-year wandering of the Jews ends, which typified the wandering of every soul seeking the Kingdom of Heaven. Did the Jews realize that they served as such a type? I don't think they understood. Who brings Israel into the promised land? Moses? No, because he doubted Divine Providence, he dies before reaching Canaan, and Joshua brings the Jews there. Pay attention to this name: Jesus leads us into the promised land, and Jesus Christ opens the doors of heaven to us. By His Cross He leads us there. The Cross of Christ is the greatest sacrament. Notice the details related to Christ's saving suffering. He is crucified in the midst of two thieves. Why between robbers? There is also a deep meaning here. By His Crucifixion, the Lord saves us people from damnation and death, and all of us, sinners who have fallen away from God, are thieves before Him. It is no coincidence that the robbers hang to the right and left of Christ; this is the subsequent history of all mankind. The one hanging on the left spews out blasphemies, and on the right a voice is heard: Remember me, Lord, when you come into Your Kingdom (Luke 23:42). And now we see division among people, and now we know both the right and the left. Having accepted such a name, they pronounce a sentence on themselves, and they are not deterred by the example of the hanged man on the left. In the different fate of these robbers, the fate of all humanity: one part of it, together with the blasphemer, is cast into hell, the other hears the voice of the Lord Himself: Today you will be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43). Some go to destruction, others to eternal life. You might be interested in: